Gluten free strawberry shortcake cake piles a rich and buttery gluten-free cake with a fluffy pouf of whipped cream and ripe, juicy strawberries. Your favorite summer dessert - strawberry shortcakes - turned into a cake.
Similar to my gluten free strawberry shortcakes recipe but a dessert in its own right, this gluten free strawberry shortcake cake is absolutely irresistible. From the tender gluten free butter cake to the lightly sweetened whipped cream to the vibrant strawberries, each bite sings of summer.
This cake differs from a traditional shortcake in that you won't make biscuits and fill them with whipped cream and strawberries. Instead, the cream and fruit are piled on top of a one-layer cake. So it's not exactly a strawberry shortcake as you may know it but in my opinion, it's so much better!
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It's So Simple ...
I love the ease of assembling this cake - just bake the cake layer, whip some cream, slice strawberries, and pile them on top! It's such a decadent yet simple dessert that's so sweet and light it's hard to stop at one piece. Here are a few more high points:
- Gluten free but you can't tell. I know I say this often, but this is another one of those cakes where I truly don't believe you can tell it is gluten free. This is always my goal - to create a recipe that's gluten free but you'd never know it.
- Not too sweet. Despite the amount of sugar on the ingredients list (then again, what is dessert without a bit of sugar?), this strawberry shortcake cake manages to be not cloyingly sweet. I attribute this to the whipped cream, which always lends a bit of richness that's also light.
- Sweet strawberries. Use ripe, in-season strawberries for this cake - you won't be disappointed. The colorful, juicy fruit is what makes this cake stand apart from the rest.
Ingredient Notes
You can see a few ingredient notes below to guide you through making this cake but, spoiler, it's really easy and the ingredients are widely available. The full ingredient amounts and detailed instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Gluten free flour - My homemade gluten free flour blend works perfectly in this recipe, or you can use your favorite 1:1 blend.
- Baking powder - We'll use baking powder in this recipe to give the cake its perfect rise.
- Salt - A little bit of fine sea salt enhances the sweetness of the cake.
- Butter - Unsalted butter is best, at room temperature, so that it doesn't compete with the sweetness of the cake.
- Granulated sugar - To make this cake refined sugar-free, substitute coconut sugar, although the color of the cake may be a bit darker.
- Eggs - I developed this recipe using large eggs, which are found in most baking recipes.
- Milk - Whole milk is best to give the cake a soft richness, but 2% milk will work in a pinch.
- Heavy cream - There's no substitute for heavy cream in this cake, so please do use heavy cream!
- Powdered sugar - This is optional if you wish to sweeten your whipped cream a bit. I like about ¼ cup of sifted powdered sugar in my cream.
- Strawberries - Ripe red strawberries make the prettiest, juiciest finish to this cake. If you can, use the strawberries the day that you bring them home.
How to Make Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Here's a glance at how you'll make this simple, delicious cake:
- Prep: Grease and line the bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan with a circle of parchment.
- Make flour mix: In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Cream butter: In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.
- Add the eggs: Slowly beat in the eggs.
- Add the milk and flour mix: Add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk.
- Rest and bake: Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, then rest it for 20 mins. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Cool: Cool the cake in the pan on a rack.
- Assemble: Whip the cream, and add it to the cake.
- Finish: Top the cooled cake with whipped cream and a layer of strawberries.
Recipe Tips & Substitutions
A few best baking practices will ensure success every time! Here are some tips plus substitution options:
- Bring the ingredients to room temperature - For most baking recipes other than pie or scones or some pasties, bringing the ingredients to room temperature helps them to incorporate better into the batter. This is especially helpful with butter!
- Rest that batter - Always rest a gluten free batter. Up to 30 minutes is ideal, or use the time that the oven preheats to rest the cake batter. This helps to avoid any grittiness and lets the flour hydrate.
- Bake in an 8-inch or 9-inch pan - I prefer to bake cakes in an 8-inch cake pan because they bake up a bit thicker and I adore a thick slice of cake. However, you can also bake the batter in a 9-inch cake pan.
- Use gluten free flour - Swap your favorite 1:1 gluten free flour for the DIY flour blend. Note that my blend doesn't contain xanthan gum so your cake may turn out a bit differently if you use a blend that contains gums.
- Make it dairy-free - To make a dairy-free cake, substitute the butter for coconut oil or a non-dairy butter of choice. Substitute the milk for your favorite non-dairy milk. To make the whipped cream, use coconut cream (not coconut milk).
Variations
You can add a few extra ingredients to this cake, swap the strawberries for other fruit, and more. A few variation suggestions are below:
- Make it a two-layer cake: For a real show-stopper of a gluten free strawberry shortcake cake, make a layer cake. Double the ingredients to bake two cake layers, and use double the amount of cream and strawberries. Then, fill the bottom half of the cake with half of the whipped cream and half of the sliced strawberries. Top it with the other cake half and the remaining whipped cream and berries.
- Add vanilla to the whipped cream: Make the whipped cream into vanilla whipped cream by adding 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract to the cream before you whip it.
- Other berries: Make gluten free blueberry, blackberry, or raspberry shortcake by substituting berries for the strawberries (bonus: you won't need to slice these berries!).
- Try other fruit: Or, make it into a gluten free peach shortcake by adding sliced white or yellow peaches instead of the strawberries. You could also try nectarines, plums, or pitted cherries.
- Sprinkle with nuts: For a little crunch, scatter toasted sliced almonds on top of the whipped cream before you add the strawberries.
- Turn it into a trifle: A trifle is a fabulous layered dessert that you can easily recreate with this recipe for strawberry shortcake cake. Cut up the cooled cake into cubes, then layer them into a trifle dish or bowl with the whipped cream and strawberries.
Storage Options
I don't recommend freezing the assembled strawberry shortcake cake because the whipped cream will separate after it's defrosted. You can freeze the cake itself, by wrapping it in a layer of plastic wrap, placing it in a freezer-safe bag, and storing it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Then thaw the cake in the fridge overnight before assembling the shortcake.
To store the finished cake, cover it lightly with foil and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can serve the cake straight from the fridge, or let it sit on the counter for 15 minutes before serving to let the gluten free crumb relax a bit.
Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 ¾ cups homemade gluten free flour blend (210 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- ½ cup whole milk
For the Topping
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- ¼ cup powdered sugar, optional, to sweeten the cream
- 2 cups strawberries, sliced
Instructions
- Grease and line the bottom of an 8 or 9-inch round cake pan with a circle of parchment.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl and using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until the butter is lighter in color, about 45 seconds. Then add the sugar in a steady stream and mix on medium speed until the mixture is very light in color and texture, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Slowly pour in the eggs a little at a time, and beat very well for about 2 minutes.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three doses, alternating with the milk in two doses. Scrape down the sides of the bowl in between additions.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Preheat the oven to 350℉ and let the batter rest while it heats, up to 20 minutes. Place the cake in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and set on a rack to cool for 10 minutes then turn out onto rack to finish cooling completely.
- Sift the powdered sugar if using into the heavy cream, then whip it until light and fluffy. Top the cooled cake with whipped cream and a layer of strawberries.
Notes
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- Bring ingredients to room temperature - For most baking recipes other than pie or scones or some pasties, bringing the ingredients to room temperature helps them to incorporate better into the batter. This is especially helpful with butter!
-
- Rest that batter - Always rest a gluten free batter. Up to 30 minutes is ideal, or use the time that the oven preheats to rest the cake batter. This helps to avoid any grittiness and lets the flour hydrate.
-
- Make a double batch - For a layer cake, double the ingredients to make two cake layers. You can either use two layers for the cake or split each layer in half to make a stunning presentation.
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- Bake in an 8-inch or 9-inch pan - I prefer to bake cakes in an 8-inch cake pan because they bake up a bit thicker and I adore a thick slice of cake. However, you can also bake the batter in a 9-inch cake pan.
-
- Use gluten free flour - Swap your favorite 1:1 gluten free flour for the DIY flour blend. Note that my blend doesn't contain xanthan gum so your cake may turn out a bit differently if you use a blend that contains gums.
eliza says
so delicious! made this for my family and friends and they all raved about it! i’m the only one who can’t eat gluten and they still all said it was absolutely delicious.
Anonymous says
so delicious! made it for my family and friends and everyone raved about it and i’m the only one who can’t eat gluten.
Kathy says
Does not say how much vanilla.
Nicole Spiridakis says
Hi Kathy, Thanks for pointing that out. I updated the recipe to reflect that it doesn't call for vanilla.