Simple Strawberry Cake

My latest food obsession for the past several weeks: Vegan Baking!
I've become completely intrigued with the idea of baking without animal products....So I have been baking away, trying to soak up as much as I can.

There’s still so much to learn, but the few tips and tricks I’ve gathered from various resources on the web have given me enough confidence to at least start making up my own simple vegan baking recipes. The one in this post is the first that I think is good enough to share...

I have to admit, I haven't always been this enthused about vegan baking or baked goods. In the past, recipes I came across either had too many specialized ingredients, or were just plain weird (no offense to any vegans, lol). Luckily, vegan baking has come a long way and there's quite a collection of cool vegan baking books out there.

This one looks especially cute... and even though I don't think my place can take another cookbook, I may just break down and get it, lol.

June's not yet busting out all over, but since I'm itching to get a head start on strawberry season, I've been playing around different recipes that could showcase a nice ripe batch of berries when the time comes.

For now, I'll start with this simple cake that's just sweet enough...and acts as nice canvas for the strawberries (or any fruit really).

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A few notes: I've also tried switching out a 1/2 cup of the unbleached flour for whole wheat and it turned out fine. You can also use regular bleached all-purpose flour for the whole thing if you'd like. Basically, use whatever you like or have stocked.

All in all, this cake is a breeze to make: you don't need a mixer at all... a plain whisk will do just fine. If you have flax meal on hand, you can save yourself an extra step and forgo grinding the seeds...

Summer Strawberry Cake

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons ground flax seed +
3/4 cup lukewarm water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or half almond extract)
1/4 cup oil
1 cup white sugar*
1/2 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

2 tablespoons demerara or other coarse sugar
confectioner's sugar (optional)

* you can also try using raw sugar or sucanat, but you may have to add an extra tablespoon or 2 of water to the batter since these sweeteners absorb more moisture...


Spray an 8" x 8" pan with baking spray and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon into a bowl and set aside.



Grind the flax seed into powder, then combine with the warm water in a large bowl. Whisk the mixture vigorously for about 30 seconds...it doesn't take long at all for it to come together...you'll feel it thicken up to a consistency similar to beaten eggs! It's so cool, lol...



Mix in the extract(s) and oil, then beat in the sugar until everything is well combined. Everything will be extra gooey at this point.

Stir in the sifted flour mixture until a smooth batter forms.



Spread the batter into the prepared pan...



and scatter the strawberries, skin-side up, over the batter. Sprinkle coarse sugar over the top.

Bake the cake in the center of a preheated oven for about 35 - 40 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool completely before dusting with confectioners sugar (if desired).

Enjoy!