This fresh and zesty Vegan Strawberry Lime Layer Cake tastes like summer! The frosting is made with homemade lime curd for an even more flavorful treat.
Hi buddies and happy Tuesday!! This is officially my first post as a married woman. Eep! I know we had a lot of sugar last week with #SpringSweetsWeek, but... well, I am a poor planner and I got another dessert for you today. This Vegan Strawberry Lime Layer Cake was such a labor of love, and I am so excited to finally be sharing her with you! Seriously, I don't know why getting this cake to happen ended up being such a big ordeal, but I'm just happy to be DONE. Ha! Let me explain...
The idea for this cake initially came from one of my very first blog posts way back in the day - Strawberry Limeade Cupcakes. I thought it would be fun to re-do the recipe and clean up the steps a bit, and of course make it vegan! And then I was thinking, well, cupcakes aren't really my style, so why don't I turn it into a layer cake. Simple enough, right? The first test run was totally fine - I made a strawberry puree and mixed it into the cake but I felt like it wasn't a strong enough flavor. And then I made a lime curd which was delicious but.... with ONE SINGLE DROP of green food coloring, it was turned into a decidedly unappealing shade of slime green. Oh jeez.
I just kept running with it and the filling for the cake was basically lime slime with strawberry slices. Totally delicious but structurally unsound (too slippery) and that green was just... blah. OH, and the cherry on top was that I apparently went through a cake decorator identity crisis and decorated it like it was for a 5 year old's party. ANYWAY. I didn't like it but I took pics anyway, and when I saw it through the lens, then I really realized how much I actually hated it. LOL. So back to the drawing board.
This version of the strawberry lime cake is new and improved, but don't worry - it still had its fair share of goof-ups. I did change the cake to be a LIME cake with strawberry chunks, and omitted the whole curd and sliced strawberry slippery mess that was inside the first time. But, since I had a bunch of said lime curd left, I simply mixed some into the frosting for this decidedly lime-y green and it added the perfect little punch of flavor! I really like how this one tastes!
So where are the goof-ups? Well. Still with the decorating. I still couldn't figure out what I wanted to do, but I felt like a white chocolate drip would look good on here. HOWEVER, my dilemma has always been that I don't have a vegan alternative to white chocolate, and it seems weird to make a vegan cake with a non-vegan drip. I made homemade vegan white chocolate (actually very delicious and easy to make) but, of course, it came out BEIGE not pure white. In a fit of frustration, I said "EFF THIS" and melted some white candy bark I had in my pantry to make a white drip. You may notice that however, this cake still doesn't have a drip. That's because when I poured it on, somehow it ended up looking like melted candle wax... it was frankly horrifying. I mean I can laugh now because it did look pretty funny but like, can a girl catch a break? Long story short - I scraped off all that hideous white drip and just went super simple with the deco. Lime slices and fresh strawberries. Done, end of story, cake JUST GO AWAY. ????
If you ever wanted a glimpse into the life of a food blogger/recipe developer, there you go! I'm just glad this strawberry lime cake came out as good as it did because I was THISCLOSE to throwing in the towel. The fluffy strawberry lime cake layers pair so well with the fresh and zesty lime frosting, and it totally tastes like summer. I hope you love it!
Tips for success:
- Always prepare the flaxseed + water mixture FIRST so that it has time to set while you prepare the rest of the cake batter!
- If you don't want to bother with making the lime curd for the frosting, simply flavor the frosting with fresh lime zest and lime juice instead! If it's too thick, just add a bit of nondairy milk.
- Don't care for vegan cake? The vegan butter/milk/yogurt can be substituted for their dairy counterparts. The 2 tablespoon of flaxseed with water can be swapped for 2 whole eggs. When making the frosting, feel free to use all dairy butter - no need for the shortening in that case!
- For best results when stacking and decorating your cake, let it rest in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight) so it gets very cold and solid! It's easier to handle this way, and will help the frosting stay stiff as well.
- *for the lime curd*
- ¼ cup unsweetened nondairy milk
- 2 tablespoon water
- ½ tablespoon corn starch
- 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- zest of 1 lime
- 2 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon vegan butter
- pinch of salt
- green food coloring (optional)
- *for the cake*
- 2 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 6 tablespoon water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegan butter, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup nondairy yogurt {I used Silk almond}
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup unsweetened nondairy milk
- ⅓ cup lime juice
- zest of 1 lime
- 1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
- *for the frosting*
- ½ cup shortening
- ½ cup vegan butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- lime curd (recipe above)
- *for decorating*
- fresh lime slices and fresh strawberries
- First, prepare the lime curd. In a small pot, whisk together the nondairy milk, water, and cornstarch.
- Place over medium-high heat and add in the lime juice, lime zest, sugar, and vegan butter, continuing to whisk. Mixture should start bubbling and thickening. Whisk for 1-2 minutes as it boils, then remove from heat. Set curd aside to cool until needed. It has to be COLD before it can be used in the cake.
- Next, make the cake. Preheat oven to 350F and spray two 6" round cake pans with nonstick baking spray. In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed with the water and set aside to thicken.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
- Add in the vegan butter, and beat on low until it's incorporated and has a sandy texture.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, flaxseed mixture, nondairy yogurt, lime zest, and add them to the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
- Pour in the unsweetened nondairy milk and lime juice, and beat on medium-low until smooth and creamy. Finally, gently stir in the strawberry pieces.
- Divide batter evenly among the 2 pans, and bake for 45 minutes until cake is set in the center and a toothpick comes out clean.
- When lime curd and cakes are completely cooled, you can make the frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the shortening and vegan butter together until completely smooth and creamy. Add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until a thick frosting forms. Add in a few spoonfuls of the lime curd until frosting reaches desired color and flavor. If it gets too runny, just add in a bit more powdered sugar.
- To assemble the cake, divide the 2 cake layers in half to create 4 thin layers. Place one cake piece on your cake stand or platter, and pipe a layer of lime frosting on top. Repeat with all.
- Frost the outside of the cake as desired, and decorate the top with an open star tip (1M). Finish with halved lime slices and fresh strawberries on top!
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