Gluten Free Strawberry Vanilla Cake

Leila requested two things for her birthday yesterday.  Fish tacos and pink strawberry cake.  Fish tacos were the easy part.  I have made them countless times and always use this recipe for marinating the fish.  The trickier part was the strawberry cake.  As you know, I’m not much of a baker.  Thankfully, I was able to use the coconut cake recipe that I made for Jeff’s birthday and tweak it a bit to come up with a strawberry vanilla cake for Leila.  The result was a subtly sweet cake with fresh strawberries on top.  Everyone liked it including the birthday girl who kept stealing tastes of the frosting.

fish tacos

fish taco toppings

making vanilla strawberry frosting

gluten free strawberry vanilla cake

Gluten Free Strawberry Vanilla Cake

5 from 1 vote

Ingredients
  

  • For the cake:
  • 1 package Bob's Red Mill GF Vanilla Cake Mix
  • 3 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup water at room temperature
  • 4 strawberries mashed
  • For the frosting:
  • 3 large egg whites
  • 1 cup organic sugar
  • 3 Tbsp. cold water
  • 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 8 strawberries divided

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease two 9-inch cake pans. Line bottom with parchment paper, then grease again.
  • Prepare cake as directed. Add mashed strawberries after mixing and before pouring into pans.
  • Divide batter evenly between two pans, smooth the top with a spatula.
  • Place pans 3 inches apart on middle rack of oven. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 15 minutes. Run sharp knife around edges to loosen cakes, then invert onto separate plates to cool completely before frosting.
  • For frosting:
  • In a double boiler over simmering water, beat egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and cold water with a portable mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 7 minutes. Stir in 5 mashed strawberries.
  • Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate, topside down, and spread with 1 cup of the frosting. Top with the other cake layer, topside up. Spread the sides and then the top of the cake with the frosting.
  • Arrange remaining strawberries, cut in half, on top.
  • Serve within an hour or refrigerate.

 

  • Claire @ Live and Love to Eat April 3, 2012 at 5:11 am

    Beautiful photos of your family – happy belated to Leila!

    • inspiredrd April 11, 2012 at 4:23 pm

      Thank you Claire!!

  • Leah @ Kids Kitchen April 3, 2012 at 11:15 am

    5 stars
    Beautiful photos – love the plate of veggies. We usually serve green cabbage with our fish tacos, but love that purple! Yummy birthday requests…gotta love those kids of dietitians!

    • inspiredrd April 11, 2012 at 4:24 pm

      Thanks Leah. I thought Leila would like the purple cabbage since it’s one of her favorite colors 🙂

  • Amy@HealthyGrits April 3, 2012 at 9:06 pm

    So glad I found your site! Your kids are beautiful, and the food looks incredibly healthy and yummy! As someone studying to be a registered dietitian you (and your children) are true inspirations!

    • inspiredrd April 11, 2012 at 4:24 pm

      Amy that is so sweet, thank you! Where are you studying?

  • Tiffany April 3, 2012 at 10:43 pm

    Your fish tacos look soyummy. Cake looks great, too. I haven’t tried it with a Bob’s mix, but I love The Cake Doctor Bakes Gluten Free. You can make pretty much any cake you can dream up with her book and a white gf cake mix.

    • inspiredrd April 11, 2012 at 4:25 pm

      Great suggestion Tiffany! I used to have the original cake mix doctor book. I didn’t know there was a gluten-free one!

  • Arugula Bean Dip April 3, 2014 at 10:41 am

    […] and I may have had another piece for breakfast this morning. You can find the recipe for the cake here, and I’ll be posting the fish taco recipe next […]