This gluten free strawberry cake recipe is the mother of all strawberry cakes! Tall and proud, and sweet as can be, she’s the perfect celebration cake for that special birthday, holiday or whenever you need to impress the socks off of someone. Yes, like most cakes it takes a multi-step process. But, if you’ve been working from home as I have, it’s the perfect thing to do when you’re “listening” to a webinar (I see you…).

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This gorgeous cake hits all the right notes including:

My (never-before-shared recipe for) PERFECT, moist gluten-free vanilla cake as a base
A light schmear of buttercream frosting
Generous dollops of fresh whipped cream
Piles of fresh strawberries
Homemade strawberry syrup

Some recommended supplies to decorate this gluten free strawberry cake recipe as I have done are three, 8-inch cake pans, piping bags, a large french (or open star) piping tip, and a small offset spatula. They are worth the small investment to have a professional looking cake masterpiece!

Looking for more delicious gluten free cake recipes? I’ve got you covered!

Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and star rating below (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) and post a picture and tag us on Instagram using the hashtags #agirldefloured #deflouredrecipes! Thank you!

Mother of All Strawberry Cakes

Alison Needham

This gorgeous strawberry stunner has a vanilla cake base and is topped with buttercream, fresh whipped cream, organic strawberries and homemade strawberry syrup. For those who prefer to cook with weight instead of cups – click the button below to toggle to metric.

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Prep Time 1

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1 30

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings servings

Calories 899 kcal

Equipment

Stand Mixer
3 9" cake pans

Ingredients

FOR THE VANILLA CAKE

4 cups + 2 tablespoons of Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour or 650 g
3 teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon sea salt
1¾ cups + 2 tablespoons butter room temperature
2¼ cups of cane sugar
3 large eggs + 3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons sour cream
1¾ cups + 2 tablespoons whole milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 pints strawberries divided

FOR THE STRAWBERRY SYRUP

8 ounces stemmed sliced strawberries
⅓ cup cane sugar
splash pure vanilla extract

FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

1 cup room temperature butter
6 cups sifted powdered sugar
about a ¼ cup of whole milk add a little at a time to get the right consistency
pinch sea salt

Instructions

Prepare the cakes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray three, 8-inch cake pans lightly with gluten-free cooking spray. Line each of the bottoms with a round of parchment (use a pan as your guide to cut rounds of parchment) and spray again. Set aside.
Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt in a large bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat for a couple of minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Repeat with the egg whites. Stir in the vanilla.
Add half the flour mixture to the butter and beat to combine. Add the milk and sour cream and the remaining flour mixture and beat until smooth. Pour the batter evenly between the three prepared pans and smooth with an offset spatula so they are even.
Bake on the center rack of the oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the pan and invert onto a cooling rack. Cool cakes completely. At this point, I usually wrap the cakes in plastic and freeze over night so they are easier to work with.
Make the strawberry syrup. Put strawberries, sugar and vanilla in a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the strawberries give off their juice and it begins to thicken. Remove the cooked strawberries with a slotted spoon and set aside, reserving both the syrup and the strawberries. Cool both completely (the freezer can help speed this process).
Make the whipped cream. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment add the cream. Beat until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat again until firm peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Make the buttercream. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and about half the milk. Beat until it begins to come together, adding more milk as necessary to get it to a spreadable consistency.
Now it’s time to assemble the cake. Stem and slice about half a pint of strawberries, and set aside. Spread a thin layer of buttercream over whatever cake base you are using to help the cake stay put.
Place one layer of the cake on the base. Spread the top thinly with buttercream leaving about a ½ inch border around the edge of the cake.
Snip the bottom off of a piping bag and fit it with the star tip. Fold down the edge of the bag and fill it with about ¾ of the prepared buttercream frosting. Pipe a rim of frosting stars around the edge of the cake using your star tip.
Put a large dollop of whipped cream into the middle of the round and spread to the inner edges of the frosting stars. Set fresh strawberry slices around the edge of the cake over the frosting stars, pointy ends going out. Spoon ½ of the cooked cooled strawberries over the whipped cream. Top with the second layer of cake and repeat the process.
Top with the third layer of cake and repeat the process up to the point where you set fresh strawberry slices around the edge of the cake. Then top the cake with stemmed, whole and sliced strawberries (in a pile or decoratively) using additional whipped cream to hold them in place if necessary. Pipe buttercream stars around the base of the cake.
Drizzle the top of the cake with reserved, cooled strawberry syrup, and garnish with mint or even fresh flowers if you want. Keep refrigerated until you are ready to serve it.

Notes

I always use salted butter in my baking (gasp!) because I’m wild like that. This recipe calls for both whole eggs, which add moisture and structure, and egg whites which make a nice, light crumb. I use Bob’s 1 to 1 Baking Flour in my cakes with great success. I haven’t tried any other blends, but if you do, let me know how they work.

Some recommended supplies to decorate this cake as I have done are three, 8-inch cake pans, piping bags, a large french (or open star) piping tip, and a small offset spatula. They are worth the small investment to have a professional looking cake masterpiece!

Finally, if you don’t want to use a flour blend you can substitute it with the following: 1½ cups of white rice flour, ¾ cup brown rice flour, ¾ cup potato starch, ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons milk powder, ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons sweet rice flour, ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons tapioca starch

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 899kcalCarbohydrates: 115gProtein: 7gFat: 49gSaturated Fat: 30gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 170mgSodium: 612mgPotassium: 205mgFiber: 5gSugar: 90gVitamin A: 1641IUVitamin C: 43mgCalcium: 149mgIron: 2mg

Keyword Gluten Free Strawberry Cake

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An Impressive Gluten Free Strawberry Cake Recipe

Looking for more delicious gluten free cake recipes? I’ve got you covered!

Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and star rating below (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) and post a picture and tag us on Instagram using the hashtags #agirldefloured #deflouredrecipes! Thank you!