Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake Cake

This gluten free strawberry shortcake cake is a twist on the classic! With fluffy vanilla cake layers, lots of fresh strawberries and a homemade frosting, this gluten free cake is sure to be a summer favorite.

Strawberry shortcake has always been one of of my favorite desserts. But it’s not a classic cake, and I LOVE cake. Good old fashioned cake. So I decided to combine the best of both worlds and create this gluten free strawberry shortcake cake.

It’s light, fluffy with a moist crumb, layers of fresh strawberries and your choice of frosting. It’s the perfect spring or summer dessert and is a total crowd pleaser – just like my gluten free peach cobbler.

I promise you won’t even be able to tell it’s gluten free, it has the same fluffy and moist texture of a classic cake, but all without the gluten. It can also be completely dairy free and nut free, so it’s a totally allergy friendly recipe.

It makes a small cake, just a two layer six inch cake, so it’s perfect for a small get together or summer barbecue dessert! Try my lemon poppy seed blackberry cake, gluten free birthday cake or strawberry shortcake inspired gluten free crumbl cookies next!

How to make gluten free strawberry shortcake cake

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the melted butter, eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla and almond extract with an electric mixer. Mix for about 30 seconds.

Add in the remaining dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flour. Beat until combined. The batter will be on the thicker side.

Transfer to your prepared pans and spread evenly. Bake for 42-48 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, then flip onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Meanwhile, combine the sliced strawberries and strawberry jam and mix well. Set aside. To frost, you can use a classic buttercream or whipped cream. For a dairy free whipped cream, I like the tubs of coco whip (just don’t get the light one, it’s too thin).

Add a layer of your frosting to one cake (once completely cooled-I suggest chilling in the fridge for at least an hour before frosting), then top with half of the strawberries and the other layer of cake.

Frost the top or simply dollop with whipped cream, then top with the remaining strawberries. I swirled some strawberry jam onto the frosting as well, but this is optional, just adds a great flavor! Slice and enjoy! Try my strawberry sugar cookies or gluten free fruit tart next!

Frosting options

Buttercream. Buttercream is what I always make for any traditional cake. You can try my strawberry buttercream, or stick with a classic vanilla. Either way, I really like to add swirls of strawberry jam because I think it adds such a nice, fresh flavor that closely mimics traditional strawberry shortcake.

Whipped cream. I love adding some fresh whipped cream on top of each layer, and leaving the sides naked for a very traditional strawberry shortcake flavor. For a dairy free option, I suggest the Coco Whip tubs. Just don’t use the light one since it is way too watery.

Whipped cream frosting. There are lots of recipes for whipped cream frosting, which has a slightly different texture than traditional whipped cream. I suggest this one.

How to store and freeze

Once prepared, this gluten free strawberry shortcake will keep for about 3-5 days. I suggest storing it in the fridge because it has such fresh ingredients in the frosting and the fresh berries.

You can slice it up and store in tupperware, or just cover your cake stand and store right in the fridge. The ingredients in the cake will keep it super moist so you don’t have to worry about it drying out.

You can freeze this cake before frosting as well! Once it’s baked, allow the cake to cool completely (really completely) and then wrap each layer in plastic wrap, place in a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 1 month. You can decorate and frost the cake while it is frozen, just make sure it defrosts before serving.

Ingredient swaps

Eggs. I do not recommend subbing the eggs for any vegan alternatives. Eggs are super important in most gluten free cake recipes to add structure, stability and create a fluffy texture. You can instead try my vegan gluten free vanilla cake and add 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract and use the strawberries and cream to top!

Dairy. You can easily make this cake dairy free by using non-dairy milk and butter. I do not recommend oil in place of butter because it will change the flavor and texture a bit. I like earth balance for a dairy free option.

Sugar. This recipe calls for one cup of granulated sugar. I highly recommend sticking to regular white sugar for a traditional texture and color. However, if you want to make it refined sugar free, you can try coconut sugar, though the color of the cake will be much darker. I do not recommend a liquid sweetener here.

Almond Flour. If you cannot have almonds or nuts, you can swap the almond flour for an additional 1/2 cup of gluten free all purpose baking flour. So simply use two total cups of the GF flour. On the other hand, I do not recommend swapping the GF all purpose flour for almond flour. Instead, you can try my almond flour vanilla cake.

Try these cakes next!

• Gluten Free Lemon Cake
• Almond Flour Vanilla Cake
• Orange Cake
• Oat Flour Cake
• Gluten Free Cheesecake
• Mini Vanilla Cake
• Orange Olive Oil Cake

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