This gluten-free Summer Strawberry Cake recipe takes time to make, but the reward is very sweet. The flavors of rhubarb and strawberries will give you the first taste of the oncoming summer.
Serves: 8 people
Time: about 1 hours, including resting and baking time
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE BASE
75 g margarine
1 tablespoon molasses syrup
235 g coconut flakes
170 g brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
175 ml water
1 teaspoon psyllium husk powder or crushed flaxseeds
FOR THE RHUBARB COMPOTE
500 g rhubarb, washed and peeled
250 g preserving sugar
1 vanilla pod
FOR THE VANILLA CREAM
400 ml soymilk
4 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
FOR GARNISH
1-2 packages plant-based cream (optional)
500 g strawberries, washed (or other seasonal fruits like peaches, figs, pears…)
fresh mint or lemon balm for decoration
confectioners sugar (powdered sugar) for dusting the cake
Directions
BAKE THE CAKE BASE
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 390°F.
Melt the margarine in a pan and add the molasses syrup.
Mix the coconut, sugar, baking powder, and a pinch of salt in a bowl.
Pour the mixture over the melted margarine and molasses syrup, and then mix it all into a paste.
Next boil the water in a pot and slowly add the psyllium husk powder while stirring.
Remove the pot from the heat as soon as the mixture starts bubbling.
Now add the coconut mixture to the psyllium mixture, mix well and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Cover the bottom of a springform pan (26 cm) with baking paper (parchment paper) and pour the cake mixture into the baking pan.
Bake the cake base on the bottom rack of the oven for 15 minutes. Then remove it from the oven and let it cool.
MAKE THE RHUBARB COMPOTE
Cut the rhubarb into 1 cm thick pieces and mix with preserving sugar in a saucepan.
Split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds.
Then pour both the vanilla pod and seeds into the saucepan and bring the compote to a boil, stirring over medium heat. You may need to add a few teaspoons of water.
Continue cooking on medium heat for 10 minutes. Then remove from heat and allow it to cool.
Remove the vanilla bean pod.
MAKE THE VANILLA CREAM
In a small pot, whisk the soymilk with cornstarch and brown sugar.
Heat the mixture on low temperature while stirring until the sauce thickens.
Then stir in the vanilla sugar.
Let the cream cool down, before you assemble the cake.
WHIP THE CREAM
Whip the cream in a bowl with a mixer until it forms peaks.
ASSEMBLE AND GARNISH THE CAKE
Slice the strawberries.
Place the cake base on a large nice plate and spread the vanilla cream and the rhubarb compote on top of the cake base.
Decorate with strawberries, mint, or lemon balm and sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.
Serve the whipped cream along with the cake.
Enjoy!
Variation – “Summer Fruit Cake”
This cake can be decorated with peaches, figs, plums, pears or other seasonal fruits from your garden instead of strawberries.