This strawberry crumb cake is based on my popular blueberry crumb cake and offers a fresh, summery twist on a classic vegan coffee cake. Bursting with sweet strawberries and a buttery crumble topping, it’s the perfect treat for strawberry season.
🧾 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Here's everything you need to make vegan strawberry crumb cake. Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Fresh Strawberries: Hold their shape best, giving you juicy strawberries in every slice. Avoid using frozen strawberries, as they can become soggy due to their high moisture content and affect the texture of the cake.
- Vegan Strawberry Greek-Style Yogurt: If you can’t find vegan strawberry yogurt, you can also use vegan plain Greek yogurt, coconut yogurt, or vegan sour cream.
- Non-Dairy Milk: I use soy milk, as it creates an ideal vegan buttermilk substitute when combined with apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Oat milk and almond milk can also be used, though they may not curdle as well.
- Neutral Oil: A touch of oil gives the cake a softer crumb. You can use canola oil, sunflower oil, or a light olive oil.
- Vegan Unsalted Butter: Use block-style vegan butter rather than spreadable margarine from a tub. Block-style butter has a lower water content and higher fat content, which helps create a richer flavor and a tender, more structured buttery crumb in the cake.
- Strawberry Preserves: A more refined version of strawberry jam that keeps the fruit pieces whole and delivers a bold, concentrated strawberry flavor. You can also use strawberry jam as a substitute if preserves aren’t available.
- Cornstarch: Thickens the strawberry mixture during baking to keep the fruit suspended and prevent it from sinking into the cake batter.
Get Your Free E-Book!
Sign up to the Addicted to Dates newsletter for your FREE Guide To Vegan Cheesecakes!
🔪 Instructions
Here's a visual overview showing how to make this vegan strawberry coffee cake. Please refer to the detailed recipe card at the end of this page for full measurements and written instructions. You can also hit the jump to recipe button at the very top of this page to skip to the printable recipe card.
Rub all the crumble ingredients together to form moist crumbs.
Macerate strawberries with sugar, corn starch, and preserves.
Cream the softened butter and sugar, then mix in the other wet ingredients, apart from the vegan buttermilk.
Alternate mixing the dry ingredients and buttermilk in 2 parts to form a smooth batter.
Transfer the cake mix to a prepared pan and spoon the strawberries and some of the liquid on top of the batter.
Sprinkle the crumb topping over the berries and bake in a preheated oven until golden brown.
Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack before transferring it to a serving plate or board.
Mix the icing ingredients and drizzle over the completely cooled cake.
💭 Expert tips
Don't use ALL the liquid from the macerated strawberries: Hold back around ¼ cup so that there isn't too much liquid sitting on top of the cake batter.
Oven settings: Place the cake in the center of the oven and use the fan (convection) setting if available. Baking times can vary depending on your oven, so you might need to adjust the time by about 5 minutes more or less.
Line both the base and sides of a springform pan with parchment paper. This prevents the cake from sticking and ensures clean, easy removal without damaging the edges or bottom.
Use a serrated knife to slice the cake. Crumb cakes can collapse under the pressure of a knife; instead, saw through the topping with a serrated knife for the cleanest cuts.
💬 Customizing this recipe
It’s best to use fresh strawberries, as frozen ones tend to release excess moisture during baking, which can make the cake soggy and affect the texture.
Definitely! If you don’t have a round cake pan on hand, an 8x8-inch square pan lined with parchment paper works perfectly for making this strawberry crumble cake.
🍰 More Coffee Cakes
📖 Recipe
Vegan Strawberry Crumb Cake
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 90 g (¾ cup) all-purpose flour
- 45 g (3 tablespoons) vegan butter room temperature
Strawberry Topping
- 420 g (3 cups) fresh strawberries washed
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch *note 1
- 60 g (¼ cup) strawberry preserves/jam
Cake
- 250 g (2 cups + 4 teaspoons) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 160 ml (⅔ cup) soy milk *note 2
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 90 g (⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon) vegan butter room temperature
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil or olive oil *note 3
- 160 g (⅔ cup) vegan Greek-style strawberry yogurt *note 4
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Strawberry Glaze (optional)
- 1 teaspoon strawberry preserves/jam
- 1 tablespoon soy milk *note 2
- 90 g (¾ cup) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Crumb topping: Add the crumble ingredients to a bowl and rub between your fingers until it resembles a crumb consistency. Set aside.
- Macerate the berries: Cut the strawberries into quarters or 6-8 pieces if they are large. In a bowl, toss the strawberry pieces in the sugar, cornstarch, and strawberry preserves. Set aside.
- Cake - Dry ingredients: Sift the flour, baking powder, and sea salt into a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
- Make vegan buttermilk: Mix the soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a jug and set aside.
- Wet ingredients: Add the sugar and butter to a large bowl and whisk with a hand mixer for 1-2 minutes. Add the oil, strawberry yogurt, and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- Make the batter: Add half the dry ingredients and half the buttermilk mixture and whisk, then whisk in the other half until just combined.
- Assemble: Add the cake batter to the baking pan. Spread an even layer of macerated strawberries with some of their juices over the cake. If there’s a lot of juice, add only a small amount to prevent excess liquid. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top.
- Bake: Bake for 55-65 minutes. To check for doneness, insert a skewer or toothpick into the center, it should come out almost clean with a few crumbs. If there is still wet batter (not jam) on the skewer, continue to bake for another 5 minutes as needed.
- Cool: Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the glaze: Whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth. Once the cake is completely cool, dust it with some powdered sugar and drizzle the glaze over the top.
Notes
- Cornstarch: Swap for ground arrowroot.
- Soy Milk: Swap for almond milk or oat milk.
- Neutral Oil: Canola oil, sunflower oil, or light olive oil.
- Greek-Style Strawberry Yogurt: Sub with plain Greek-style, vegan sour cream, vegan skyr, or thick coconut yogurt.
© addictedtodates.com. All content and images are protected by copyright. If you want to share this recipe, please do so using the share buttons provided. Do not screenshot or republish the recipe or content in full. Instead, include a link to this post for the recipe. Thank you!
