Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray three 6-inch cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper. Set aside.

Step 2

Prepare your strawberry purée by adding fresh strawberries (washed, stems cut off) to your food processor and puréeing until smooth. In order to get enough purée for both the cake recipe and the frosting use 10.5 ounces (300g) fresh whole strawberries.

Step 3

Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.

Step 4

Add strawberry purée, oil, vinegar, strawberry extract and red gel food coloring to the mixing bowl and mix into a batter. Don't overmix.

Step 5

Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared 6-inch cake pans and smooth down.

Step 6

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.

Step 7

Let the cakes cool for a few minutes before removing them from the cake pans and placing them on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Step 8

Add the powdered sugar, vegan butter, 2 tablespoons of strawberry purée and strawberry extract to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until your frosting is thick and smooth. If it's too thick, add more strawberry purée.

Step 9

When the cakes are cooled, frost with the strawberry buttercream frosting.

Step 10

When the cake is frosted, it's ideal to let the frosted cake set in the fridge for one hour before serving.