Vegan Strawberry Shortcake
Delicious, unfussy stacks of Vegan Strawberry Shortcake make a great spring-into-summer dessert!
Delicious, unfussy stacks of Vegan Strawberry Shortcake make a great spring-into-summer dessert!
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups sliced strawberries
- 2 tbsp to 1/4 cup granulated sugar (depending on ripenes
- 1 can of high quality coconut cream chilled in fridge overnight
- 1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp vanilla soy milk
- Carbohydrate 11.5373512894534 g
- Cholesterol 6.42291666508692 mg
- Fat 12.0650608750996 g
- Fiber 3.86300109810781 g
- Protein 1.9980389846484 g
- Saturated Fat 9.37014251879677 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (130g)
- Sodium 34.2147373656278 mg
- Sugar 7.6743501913456 g
- Trans Fat 1.04699592149818 g
- Calories 152 calories
Step-by-step
- Measure out coconut oil and chill in freezer.
- Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine sliced strawberries with sugar and mix well. Set aside while you make the coconut whip and shortcake.
- Flip chilled can of coconut cream and open with a can opener. Pour off liquid. Scoop out the thick, solid coconut cream.
- In a high-speed mixer whisk together the solid coconut cream, sugar, and vanilla, until light and thick. Chill.
- Combine all dry ingredients.
- Use your hands (or a pastry blender) to cut the coconut oil into the dry ingredients. Work the coconut oil into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. (If using your hands, it can be helpful to chill them by rinsing under very cold water for a minute or so. This will help you break up the coconut oil without melting it.)
- Add the soy milk and vanilla extract. Use a fork to stir the ingredients. Do NOT over-mix. Once the dough begins to form, transfer the dough to a well floured surface. Roll the dough out to a thickness of 1 1/2â€. Use a glass or round cookie-cutter to cut out 2" rounds. Re-form and roll out the dough as necessary.
- Transfer rounds to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until cakes are golden brown.
- Stir up the prepared strawberries. Blend 1/3 to 1/2 of the strawberries.
- Optional: Add a couple of spoonfuls of the sweet blended strawberries to the coco whip. Gently fold the mixture together.
- Slice cakes in half. Start with a layer of shortcake, top with a spoonful of strawberries, top with a dollop of coconut whip, and repeat. Finish with a final layer of shortcake (preferably a top, not a bottom) a dollop of whip and a slice of strawberry.
Operating without dairy fats requires deliberate management of fat melting points. Chilling the coconut oil before cutting it into the unbleached flour prevents premature liquefaction, ensuring pockets of solid fat remain trapped within the dry ingredients. High oven heat at 400 degrees Fahrenheit vaporizes moisture trapped in those solid fat pockets, generating steam that forces the dough layers upward into a flaky crumb.
Fats, Sugars, and Crumb Structure
Incorporating solid fat by hand or with a pastry blender requires keeping hand temperature low; rinsing fingers in cold water stops body heat from melting the coconut oil prematurely. Mixing the soy milk and vanilla extract into the flour mixture demands restraint. Over-working gluten networks produces tough biscuits instead of tender cakes, so stopping the moment dough forms is critical. Macerating the sliced strawberries with granulated sugar draws out cellular water through osmosis, concentrating fruit flavor while yielding a natural syrup that softens the crumb upon assembly.
Whipping Plant-Based Creams
Chilling a can of coconut cream overnight separates the solid emulsion from the watery liquid below. Discarding the liquid leaves dense fats that whip into a stable, voluminous topping when beaten with sugar and vanilla extract in a high-speed mixer. Folding a portion of the blended strawberries directly into this whipped cream distributes fruit acids evenly throughout the fat matrix. Doubling or halving ingredient proportions scales the batch successfully without altering baking dynamics, provided the oven temperature remains constant.
