Vegan gluten-free strawberry cake with chocolate buckwheat base recipe

Our vegan gluten-free strawberry cake is simple to make and tastes great.

In this recipe we use buckwheat flour – it´s a great gluten-free option – but you can use any flour that works for you (including whole-wheat flour if you are not gluten-free). The art of making this egg-free cake base is to make sure you first combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl, combine the wet ingredients in another, and then combine the two, gently folding wet ingredients into dry. Try not to bash it together or whisk madly – it will not make the base rise (the opposite in fact!). Be gentle with the mixture. The cake base is designed to be only a couple of centimetres high and the topping 2-3 centimetres.

If you have some lovely fresh sweet strawberries then you can omit the rice syrup. Taste the topping mixture first – if it is sweet enough in the pan, then it will be sweet enough when it firms up. You can also use frozen strawberries – allow them to defrost first and then follow the same steps.

You do need a few hours prep time, as you need to leave the base to cool. Once the base is cool you then pour over the topping, which then needs a couple of hours to set, so allow yourself at least four hours before you want to eat this vegan dessert!

Agar-agar is a seaweed, which is commonly used in vegan foods (desserts) as a thickener – an animal-free alternative to gelatine. You should be able to find it in any good natural health food store. Try to find the powdered version (rather than the strands) as this will dissolve easier into the “milk”. Store agar-agar in an air-tight container, in your store cupboard. In this cake recipe we dissolve the agar-agar in non-dairy milk, then pour the topping over the cake base. You can place it in your fridge to allow to cool, or put it for a shorter time into the freezer – remember to take it out before it freezes! Once cold, agar-agar turns firm. This means that you can easily slice the cake into pieces.

If you are watching your weight, note that the calorie count on the cake is quite high per serving. The majority of these calories are in the base of the cake (the flour and the oil), which is one reason we suggest that you keep the base small.

Store any left-over cake in an airtight container in your fridge. Enjoy!

Vegan gluten-free strawberry cake with chocolate buckwheat base recipe

Serves: 10
Calories: 2143, 214 per serving

Ingredients – base

2 cups buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 cup water
2 tbsp rice syrup (or to taste)

Ingredients – strawberry topping

Large handful fresh strawberries
2 cups coconut milk (or other non-dairy milk)
½ lemon juiced using juicer
2 tbsp agar agar flakes
2 tbsp rice syrup

To decorate: 5 strawberries – slices in half (leave the top on)

Method

First make the chocolate buckwheat cake base
1. Combine the dry ingredients first, by stirring together the flour and baking soda. Then add the cocoa powder and vanilla extract, stirring well.
2. Combine the wet ingredients together in a jug
3. Make a dip in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients, slowly stirring (folding) until all the ingredients are combined.
4. Line the cake tin with baking paper. (We like to use a rectangular cake tin – roughly 20cm by 30cm), but you can also use a traditional round cake baking tin if you prefer)
5. Preheat the oven to medium (170 degrees)
6. Pour the base mixture into the baking tray / cake tray, making sure it fills the corners.
7. Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes. The top will start to firm up. The base might not rise much – you are looking for a 2cm base.
8. Remove the cake tin from the heat and place the tin onto a cooling tray. (Leave the cake in the tin).
9. Allow the cake to go cold.

Now make the strawberry topping

10. Place the strawberries into a pan and pour over the coconut milk. Using a hand blender, combine the strawberries into the milk. Then add the lemon and agar agar flakes.
11. Bring the liquid to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 5 minutes until the agar agar flakes are dissolved. Whisk vigorously until the mixture thickens.
12. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
13. Then add the rice syrup (to taste) mixing well.
14. Pour the mix onto the top of the base and leave it to set in the fridge for about 2 hours until it becomes solid.

Serving suggestion: top with half a strawberry and a dusting of chocolate.

Enjoy plant-based vegan food at the retreat

If you would like to try a healthy nutritious dessert in person, then come along to the retreat. We´re open all year. Read more about the food served and our detox and weightloss retreats. You can find more vegan recipes on our blog.