Gluten Free Strawberries and Cream Cake
Gluten free strawberries and cream cake is a family favorite gluten free strawberry dessert recipe! Layers of gluten free white cake, sweet berries, and homemade whipped cream make this gluten free cake as beautiful as it is delicious, and it’s one of the best gluten free spring desserts! During the spring and summer, there is nothing more classic than this gluten-free cake recipe with strawberries and whipped cream.
Gluten-Free Cake Recipe with Strawberries and Whipped Cream
For the first twelve or thirteen years of my life, grandma lived five blocks from me, so I spent a lot of time with her. After church on Sundays, we would go to her house for dinner – pot roast or spaghetti or stuffed cabbage for the family (she always made me Grandma’s Polish Meatballs since I didn’t like cabbage). Every now and then, she would honor my special request for chicken noodle soup.
We would frequently drop by in the evening to watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy with her and my grandpa, especially if she had made a big pot of Easy Beefaroni (which she affectionately called “junk”) then sit in the breezeway while she puffed away on her cigarettes. Grandma never smoked in the house, only in the breezeway or in the basement. In the dead of winter, if she was at our house, we would send her outside to smoke.
If I was sick or had a day off from school, I’d stay at her house. She would make me toast with cream cheese, or scrambled eggs with American cheese for lunch. I’d watch Sesame Street or The Frugal Gourmet or Bob Ross while she watched her “stories” in the afternoon. If it was a Wednesday, I’d go to Bingo with her, where I’d draw my own Bingo boards and play along. Although more often than not, she would take me to McDonald’s for a chicken nuggets Happy Meal, then to the bakery for a cupcake. Sometimes I’d even get to go to the beauty parlor with her.
I actually used to love sleeping over at her house, too. She and my grandpa had twin beds, a la Fred and Ethel, and if I was there, he would sleep in the spare room so I could be in the room with her. We would watch the Golden Girls on her twelve inch television, and I might make it to the opening credits of Dallas before falling asleep. In the morning, I was greeted with a bowl of sweet, buttery farina.
How Strawberries and Cream Cake reminds me of Grandma
My grandma sounds like a pretty lively lady, doesn’t she? Well she did her best, but she was about forty when the rheumatoid arthritis hit. By the time I was born, she already had a hard time using her hands. Those Sunday dinners were struggle for her, and didn’t last very long in my life before she just couldn’t do it anymore. A full set of plastic knuckles didn’t make chopping and mixing very easy for her, and for Easter, my mom always had to knead the Paska while Grandma supervised..
While the simple foods she made for me hold a special place in my heart, I’m told she was actually an amazing cook. But, between her arthritic hands and my childhood pickiness, by the time I was old enough to appreciate and perhaps even learn from her, it was too late. I have a few scrawled recipes I’d like to try sometime, but that stuffed cabbage recipe is now only a memory.
As I grew older, I cooked a lot of Sunday dinners for her and my grandpa, and while I think she usually enjoyed my cooking, I had to keep it a secret if I ever used any lighter or healthier ingredients. She insisted that healthy food tasted terrible, and always seemed a little annoyed if she liked something, and then learned it was healthy. Wonder what she would think of cauli-tots?
Grandma was a tough cookie, though. Even though she couldn’t run around with her grand kids, she found a way to connect and be close to us. She taught me how to play solitaire, and we would do puzzles together. She would take me and my cousins to the park, or just sit in the backyard or talk to her backyard neighbor while we played.
Her health problems got worse as she got older, and she was supposed to quit smoking. She never really did though, even though some of the family thought she had. So when we would have family gatherings, as soon as we had dinner, she was ready for her dessert. Because she had to have her dessert before she left. I’m fairly certain it was not because she was tired or losing patience. I’m pretty sure it was because she needed to go have a cigarette, but didn’t want to let any of us know she was still smoking. But she was caught on multiple occasions sitting in her car, puffing away in random grocery store or department store parking lots.
She passed away when The Hubby and I were on vacation in Tuscany. I kind of knew it would happen while we were gone, but I believe in my heart that she truly wanted me to go on that trip. It was a bittersweet trip, but I felt like she and I had our closure on my last visit with her before we got on that airplane. I miss her terribly, though.
She had a tendency to nag me about the fact that her lady friends all had great-grandchildren. I had to remind her that she had my mom, her first child, when she was 23 – a bit older for her generation. Then my mom had me, her oldest, when she was 26 – actually a bit older for her generation too. So really, it wasn’t entirely my fault! But I really wish she could have met my boys. I think she and The Bug would have been best buds, and she would have gotten such a kick out of the Little Dude.
It’s strange, but her birthday and the anniversary of her passing often go by without me having any particularly strong thoughts of her, but on random days I’ll be overwhelmed with thoughts of her. A couple of weeks ago I really didn’t want to go for my long run of the week, but I did, and took a different path than I had taken before. It was a tough run, but at 4.9 miles, I was overcome by the aroma of a lilac bush, and was able to push through to the bitter end of that run.
As I walked the last half mile home to cool down, I was choking back tears, overcome with memories of my grandma. In her backyard was a line of lilac bushes, and the scent of the flowers permeated the air every spring and summer. And that moment and those lilacs just made me feel her presence more than I have in a long while. I knew she was with me and smiling down on me.
Making a Gluten Free Cake with Whipped Cream and Strawberries…
Strawberries and Cream Cake was my grandma’s favorite cake, so if you want to classic recipes and some of my best tips for making it, go check out that recipe. Even though her birthday was in January, clearly not strawberry season in New Jersey, this was what she wanted. And really, is there anything better than moist, tender white cake layered with fresh berries and homemade lightly sweetened whipped cream? It’s a classic, just like my grandma.
This is a wheat free version made with a gluten free white cake recipe.
This recipe uses a a gluten free all purpose blend instead of a custom blend of gluten free flours and starches. Sometimes when you have to give up gluten, you want to be able to take a memory and recreate it without a lot of fuss. That’s exactly what I did here. A basic cake recipe, a simple substitution, and my usual strawberry and whipped cream combo, and what you have is absolute perfection! I thought of my grandma with every bite, though I do have to wonder what she would think if I tried to sneak a gluten free cake by her 🙂
- This cake starts with the Homemade White Cake from Bob’s Red Mill and simply substitutes the all-purpose flour with a gluten free blend.
- has been tested with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. This is not a paid endorsement, just what I’ve found to work the best when you want a simply substitute in a recipe without a lot of fuss adjusting ratios.
- It is recommended to make and assemble the cake a bit in advance, and let the cake absorb a bit of the flavor and moisture from the berries and cream.
- Keep the cake refrigerated, otherwise the fresh whipped cream will turn rancid.
- However, you don’t want to store the leftover cake for more than a day or so because that lovely moisture will ultimately get soggy.
This is truly a recipe that is the epitome of spring and summer, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Looking for some more gluten free cake recipes?
My Gluten Free Golden Fudge Cake is the classic combination of yellow cake and fudgy chocolate frosting. Prefer something cold and creamy? No-Churn Funfetti Ice Cream Cake will delight kids of all ages. And chocolate peanut butter lovers will adore Peanut Butter Cup Flourless Chocolate Cake Roll. Impressive but deceptively easy!
My friends also have some great gluten free birthday cakes. The Best Gluten Free White Cake from Barefeet in the Kitchen is the basic recipe you need to customize with your favorite fillings and frostings. Gluten Free Coconut Angel Food Cake from A Dash of Sanity is totally light and fluffy. Or try a chocolaty Texas Sheet Cake from My Gluten Free Kitchen.
And there’s even a great collection on the Huffington Post of Gluten Free Birthday Cake Recipes!
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Here’s the recipe for the gluten free strawberries and cream cake:
The traditional combo of moist cake with sweet, juicy berries, and homemade whipped cream.
- 2 cups Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend (recommended: Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 4 egg white at room temperature
- 1 teaspoons vanilla
- 2/3 cup milk
- 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
- 2 teaspoons sugar (or more, depending on how sweet your strawberries are)
- 1 pint heavy cream, well chilled
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line three 9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl and set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, in a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed.
- Add egg whites and vanilla and beat for about 30 seconds.
- Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture, milk, and yogurt. Beat until combined.
- Beat on high for an additional 30 seconds.
- Divide the batter evenly between the pans.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until lightly golden and toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool pans on racks for about ten minutes, then remove cakes from pans and cool completely.
- Combine the strawberries and sugar in a small bowl, and set aside to allow the juices to release.
- Place the bowl and whisk attachment for your stand mixer or a metal or glass bowl and beaters for your hand mixer in the fridge or freezer until they are cold.
- Add the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla to the chilled bowl, and beat on medium-high to high speed until soft peaks form. Do not overbeat.
- Place one layer of the cake on a plate, and spread with about a half cup of the whipped cream. Layer on about half of the sliced strawberries.
- Spread about another half cup of whipped cream on top of the strawberries.
- Top with the second cake layer. Again top this cake layer with about a half cup of the whipped cream, the remaining berries and another half cup of whipped cream.
- Top with the final cake layer, and spread the remaining whipped cream over the top and sides of the cake to cover completely.
- Garnish with the whole and/or sliced strawberries, as desired.
Cake recipe adapted from Bob's Red Mill.