Eggless Strawberry Cake
This Eggless Strawberry Cake is soft, spongy, moist and delicious. If you love serving seasonal fruits with desserts, you will adore this easy cake baked with fresh strawberries. It’s perfect for a tea-time snack or to share with friends. In this post I share my easiest egg-free sponge strawberry cake.
This is the easiest cake you can bake with fresh strawberries. You don’t need a stand or a hand mixer to make the batter. We are going to mix the dry ingredients and then the wet with the dry using a whisk or a spatula. If you don’t have an oven, you can also dry bake this in a heavy bottom aluminum pan or a pressure cooker, following this pressure cooker cake post.
Many years ago I was looking for an egg-free strawberry cake that does not require food coloring. I found a few and tried out but was disappointed with the way they turned out without food coloring. Strawberry puree oxidizes upon baking/heating and changes its color.
The baked cakes though tasted fantastic, never had the charming looks I adored. Finally I gave up the idea of trying. Years later I found this idea of topping a vanilla cake with strawberries in one of Martha Stewart’s Strawberry cake. But her recipe had eggs and I wanted to make an eggless version.
So I used my tutti frutti cake batter and was really surprised with the outcome. Though this tastes different from the pureed version, it still has a great refreshing flavor of strawberries. On occasions I also made the strawberry syrup to serve over the cake and it was mind-blowing.
Ingredients you need
- Flour: I use organic all-purpose flour. Pastry flour or white wheat flour are close substitutes. Though the recipe works with wheat flour, the flavor would be different and the cake turns out dense.
- Fresh strawberries: Use fresh strawberries at room temperature. It is essential to wipe dry them before using. We don’t want any moisture on the cake.
- Leavening agents: You need baking powder and baking soda for this recipe. They don’t make 1:1 substitution for each other.
- Sugar: Use organic or refined sugar.
- Milk: This recipe requires full fat milk at room temperature.
- Lemon juice or vinegar: This acidic ingredient is used to make buttermilk with helps leaven the baking soda and make the cake fluffy and light.
- Butter/oil: Use unsalted butter or neutral oil.
Step by step Instructions
1. Here are the ingredients needed. Bring milk to room temperature or warm it in a small pot. Melt the butter. You can also use oil. You can do all in one bowl in the microwave.
2. Wash and wipe dry strawberries. Slice them and set aside.
3. Grease a 7 or 8 inch cake tray. Line it with butter paper or dust some flour evenly.
4. To a mixing bowl, pour milk, add sugar, vinegar or lemon juice.
5. Pour melted butter or oil.
6. Add vanilla extract or strawberry extract. Mix well until the sugar dissolves.
7. Place a sieve over the bowl. Add flour. Here is the correct way to measure the flour in case you do not have a weighing scale. Fluff up the flour in the jar. Spoon it to the measuring cup. Level it with a spatula.
8. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt.
9. Give a light mix.
10. Sieve half of the flour. Mix just until combined, using a whisk or a spatula.
11. Sieve the rest of the flour.
12. Mix until just combined. Do not over mix. The batter is slightly thick but of pouring consistency.
13. Pour this to the greased tray. Tap it to the counter a few times.
14. Place the strawberries gently covering the top. Avoid placing them towards the extreme end. Sprinkle sugar.
15. Bake this for 10 mins at 360 F -180 C. Later at 340 F – 170 C for 20 to 25 mins. I baked it for a total of 40 mins as I wanted the cake top to be crusty. To have a moist cake top, check the cake after 30 mins. Tester comes out clean when the cake is baked.
16. Cool the cake in the pan, placed over a wired rack for 10 minutes. Then remove it to a wire rack.
17. Cool it completely before slicing.
18. Dust some powdered sugar just before serving.