The Best Sourdough Discard Strawberry Cake

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This Sourdough Strawberry Cake Recipe combines fresh diced strawberries with a lemony cake batter for a deliciously refreshing afternoon treat. Using sourdough in this recipe gives the cake a lovely tender crumb, plus it means the cake can be fermented to improve digestibility. This cake is a great recipe to pull out of the bag when your strawberries are looking a bit tired and not ideal for eating as is. Their flavour will be harnessed in this beautiful, crowd-pleasing cake.

Why you need to make Sourdough Discard Strawberry Cake:

• Easy to make – This cake mixture is a one-bowl affair: simply mix the dry ingredients, then the liquid, pour it in the tin, and bake! No creaming of butter and sugar, no separating of eggs. And it is a really delicious, fluffy cake despite that.
• It can be fermented for easy digestion – the cake batter can be prepared the night before you intend to make it, so that the sourdough can ferment the flour and break down the anti-nutrients. Simply add the baking soda and powder in the morning, and bake.
• Great way to use up tired strawberries – strawberries are such a treat, it’s a shame to have to throw them out when they get tired and wrinkly. But, they’re not altogether pleasant to eat at that stage, either! This cake is the perfect solution: all that strawberry goodness, without the questionable texture.
• It’s a large cake that will feed a crowd – this cake makes 8 extremely large or 12 large slices. Its a great one for birthdays or pot luck dinners, as it will feed a lot of people.

Ingredients

This is a vegan cake, with no eggs or dairy. It uses low cost ingredients, all of which you probably alreadyh have on hand if you love baking.

Dry Ingredients

• All-purpose Flour – AP flour is the best flour to use for cakes. However, I only ever buy bread flour, and this works just fine. If that is all you have, do not stress out!
• Sugar – you can use regular white sugar or Truvia if you are wanting the cake to be sugar free. I have tried it with both. Regular sugar gives a slightly better texture, whereas the Truvia Strawberry cake was a little, tiny bit denser. But the flavour was still delicious, and who doesn’t love a guilt-free cake?
• Baking powder and Baking Soda give the cake a beautiful rise and fluffy texture. This is a large cake and needs a decent amount of each (3 tsp baking powder and 2 tsp baking soda) to lighten the batter as it cooks.
• Salt – prevents the cake from tasting bland. Only 1 teaspoon is needed for this large cake mixture.

Wet Ingredients

• Fresh strawberries – you could use frozen strawberries if that is all you have access to, but I like to use fresh strawberries because they have a deeper flavour. Don’t waste your freshly picked berries on this cake – they’re best eaten as is! Rather, use the ones that didn’t quite manage to be devoured as strawberries do tend to get a bit tired after 24 hours.
• Lemon Juice – using lemon juice makes this Sourdough Strawberry Cake an absolute flavour sensation. It brightens and enhances the strawberries, and makes the cake super juicy.
• Sourdough Discard – This is a great recipe for using up sourdough discard because it uses 2/3s of a cup! The sourdough discard gives the cake a lovely texture and does not affect the flavour at all. It also means that the cake batter can be fermented, which is a massive win if you struggle to digest processed white flour (let’s face it, we all probably do).
• A dash of Vinegar reacts with the baking powder and soda for a beautiful rise.
• Vanilla Essence – Vanilla essence just makes everything yum! I slosh it in because it goes really well with the lemon and strawberry flavours.
• Oil – I prefer oil-based cakes, not only because oil is easier to work with than butter, but because it gives a juicier, moister cake. Oil based cakes do not dry out as quickly as their butter counterparts.

Equipment

• One large Mixing Bowl – As with all my Sourdough Cakes, this is an easy cake to make, requiring only one large mixing bowl. All the ingredients go in there, no separate mixing required. The only required is to make sure the bowl is big enough, as this is a large mixture.
• Measuring Cups – this recipe does not need scales. Measuring cups and spoons will do the trick.
• Sieve – cakes are infinitely better when the dry ingredients are sifted. They turn out noticeably lighter and fluffier. A sieve is well worth having on hand if you are starting to get into serious baking.
• Wooden Spoon – a good long wooden spoon is needed to mix it all together. Nope, you do not even need an electric cake mixture!
• Cake pan/s – this cake will make one large 23cm diameter cake or can be divided into two 21cm cake tins for easy layering.
• Parchment paper – the tin definitely needs to be greased and lined. If you have no parchment paper on hand, greasing with butter or margarine, then dusted with flour. That’s a vintage trick for you!
• Oven – surprise surprise! Being a baked cake, an oven is highly essential 😉

Step-by-Step Instructions

As I said before, this is a really simply recipe to execute, but there is a way to approach it to make it mix easier.

• Prepare the cake tin and preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
• Mix the Dry Ingredients First If you are not fermenting the batter, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into the mixing bowl (if you are fermenting the mixture, add the baking powder and soda just before baking). Stir in the sugar.
• Next, Incorporate the Liquid Ingredients – Make a well in the dry ingredients. One by one, add the sourdough discard, lemon juice, oil and vanilla, mixing only when all the ingredients are in the bowl. Mix gently until a smooth batter is formed
• Then Add the Chopped Fresh Strawberries – Wash and chop the strawberries and gently fold strawberries into the batter, making sure not to over-mix.
• Bake – pour the cake into the cake tin and pop into the preheated oven to bake for 1 hour or until golden.
• Testing Doneness – to ensure the cake is fully cooked (it’s a large mixture so it’s prudent to keep an eye on it), insert a toothpick to check if it comes out clean. The cake cooks in a medium oven for a longer period of time to ensure it cooks all the way through without burning on the outside.
• Cooling and Serving – Allow the cake to cool in the cake tin for about ten minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

Icing On the Cake

I love this Sourdough Strawberry Cake topped with a luscious and creamy Vanilla Frosting. This could be your favourite buttercream or cream cheese icing. Or, if you would prefer to keep the cake fully vegan, you could make a delicious vegan “buttercream” out of coconut butter, sweetener and a little dairy-free milk (which softens the coconut butter to frosting consistency).

Top it with freshly sliced strawberries, which add a brilliant pop of red, a striking effect to the final cake.

Tips for the Best Sourdough Strawberry Cake

• Use fresh/day old strawberries for the sweetest, fullest flavour
• Sift the dry ingredients for a lighter, airier cake
• Make the batter the night before if you want to break down the anti-nutrients in the flour. It takes about 7 hours for these phytates to fully break down. If you are doing this, be sure to add the baking powder and soda just before baking.
• Store this cake in an airtight container in the fridge or pantry for about 4 days. It also keeps in the freezer for at least a month.

Conclusion

This delicious Sourdough Strawberry harnesses the power of sourdough discard to make a delightfully textured, flavoured and nutritious cake. If you make this recipe, let me know in the comments how you enjoyed it! Is there any other sourdough cake recipe you would like to see on here?