Strawberry Cake with Maple Whipped Cream (Almond Flour)

almondflourstrawberrycake This Almond Flour Strawberry Cake is a light and summery treat you won't want to pass up this strawberry season. Topped off with maple whipped cream and fresh strawberries, looking at it, it's hard to believe that you only need 9 ingredients to make it. Gluten-free and paleo friendly, this almond cake is perfectly fluffy and can be served as a single or double layer (birthday) cake or even as a cupcake, which makes it perfect for any occasion. An easy to make recipe for strawberry almond flour cake. Made with almond flour and sweetened with maple syrup, this strawberry shortcake is gluten free, refined sugar free, and paleo friendly. No special equipment needed, all you need is two bowls and a whisk.

Almond Cake:
2 cups almond flour, such as; Bob's Red Mill (8.4 oz)
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. kosher salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
⅔ cup pure maple syrup or honey
¼ cup avocado oil
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ cup fresh strawberries, sliced

Maple Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream, cold
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
⅛ tsp. kosher salt

Garnish:
1 cup fresh strawberries, cut into quarters
4-5 leaves fresh mint

Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C/140°C fan, Gas Mark 3). Grease an 8 or 9" can pan generously with oil. Line with parchment paper and set aside.

To Prepare the dry ingredients: Mix together the almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt in a large bowl.

To the wet ingredients: Whisk together eggs, maple syrup, oil and vanilla extract in a bowl until emulsified.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in ½ cup of the strawberries. Stir just until fully combined.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Using a spatula (or back of a spoon), spread evenly.

Bake for 40-45 minutes making sure to rotate the pan halfway through the baking for even baking. In the end, the cake should turn golden brown with its center firm to the touch.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then take it out and cool on a wire rack. Make sure that it is fully cooled down to room temperature before assembling the cake.

To make the Whipped Cream: Attach the whisk attachment to a standing mixer or a hand mixer. Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl.Whisk in medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1-2 minutes.

Assembly:
Place cake on a serving plate. Spread it with the whipped cream using a spatula. Garnish with the rest of the sliced strawberries and fresh mint leaves, if using.

Serve with a few dollops of whipped cream on the side.

Cook's Notes:

For the paleo version, in place of 1 tsp. of baking powder, you can mix together ¼ tsp. of baking soda with ½ tsp. of cream of tartar.

Instructions to make it as a 6-inch two layer cake: If you'd rather make a two layer cake, you do not need to double the recipe. You can use the same exact recipe but use two cake pans instead of one. Simply:

Pour equal amounts of the batter into two greased and parchment-lined 6'' cake tins. Place them on a large baking sheet.

Bake the two cakes for 40-45 minutes, until both are golden brown and their centers are firm to the touch. To ensure that the cakes come out evenly baked, rotate the tins halfway through the baking process.

Cool the cakes in their tins for 5 minutes. Then, gently remove the cakes from their tins and transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

To assemble, slice 6-8 strawberries to use in the middle layer of the cake. Place the first 6" cake on a cake dish and cover it with half of the maple whipped cream frosting. Spread the whipped cream in an even layer before decorating it with half of the strawberry slices. Then, place the second 6'' cake on top of the first—directly on top of the whipped cream layer. Spread the remaining whipped cream on top. Finish by decorating the cake with the remaining sliced strawberries and fresh mint leaves.

You can make cupcakes using this recipe: To do so, simply divide the batter in a 12-cup muffin pan and bake for 25-27 minutes. Frost each muffin with whipped cream and garnish with strawberries and mint.

Make Ahead: You can make this cake up to one day in advance. Just bring the cake to room temperature after baking, wrap it up, and store it in the fridge until it's time to eat. Let the cake return to room temperature before frosting it (this will take about 15 minutes). Then, it's ready to serve.

Storage: This frosted cake can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Freezing: Almond flour baked goods freeze well. In fact, this almond flour white cake can be frozen for up to a month. Just bring the cake to room temperature, wrap it tightly, and store it in the freezer. To unfreeze, take the cake out of the freezer and wait about fifteen minutes for it to return to room temperature.