Vegan Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake (GAHIGF)

Mr. Bean and I celebrated Easter Dinner at his parent’s house and my mother-in-law asked me to bring a dessert as it’s really difficult and not fair for other people to make desserts that I can eat that are not just fruit. I hummed and hawed over what I should make, but I knew what I wanted after seeing all these strawberry shortcake recipes popping up everywhere:

Cook It Allergy Free’s “The Most Unbelievable Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Strawberry Shortcake
Pumpkin Pantry’s Strawberry Shortcake with Vegan Frozen Yogurt
Sweet Caroline’s Strawberry Shortcake with Fluffy Whipped Cream

Don’t those make you want to make strawberry shortcake immediately? Yeah, me too!

I learned from my Joy of Cooking that strawberry shortcake can be made in two ways: using biscuits/scones or sponge cake. Since I’m not eating eggs, the decision to make the former was incredibly easy. The shortcake recipe is based on a variation of the “fluffy rolled biscuits” from the Joy of Cooking. Of course, I just made them vegan, gluten and refined sugar-free. 🙂

This dessert is fantastic if you’re trying avoid sugar – there is less than a tablespoon of sweetener in the entire thing. You can add more if you like, but using ripe strawberries and coconut cream, which is quite sweet on its own, made it plenty sweet enough by my standards. These are perfect to share with a group of people as each can assemble their shortcake to their taste. They are also not very heavy, so they would be perfect to serve at a brunch or even as an afternoon snack with tea.

Vegan, Gluten and Refined Sugar Free Strawberry Shortcakes

8 shortcakes (recipe below)
1 pint of strawberries, sliced (plus smaller whole ones for the top if desired)
2 cans coconut milk, left in the refrigerator overnight
Sweetener (if desired) – I added 1 tsp. agave nectar

1. Carefully open cans of coconut milk and skim off the white coconut cream. Set the coconut milk aside to use in the biscuits and for whatever else.
2. In a mixer equipped with a whisk, whip the coconut cream and sweetener until it holds peaks and is fluffy. Place in fridge until ready to use.
3. After the shortcakes are cooled, cut in half.
4. On the bottom half, spread a dollop of coconut cream on the lower half. Pile on some strawberries and another dollop on coconut cream. Place the top half on the cream to create a sandwich. Add another dollop of cream and a whole strawberry to garnish if desired.
5. To make them easier to eat, make two open-faced shortcakes piled with coconut cream and strawberries.
6. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Vegan, Gluten and Refined Sugar Free Shortcakes

1 c. Brown Rice Flour
1/2 c. Tapioca Starch
1/4 c. Potato Starch
1 tsp. xathan gum
1 tbsp + 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 – 5 tbsp. coconut oil
3/4 c. + 2 tbsp. coconut milk with coconut cream removed
1 tsp. agave nectar
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients. Make sure that you spoon the flours into the measuring cups or else it might be too dense. If you don’t feel like doing that, just add more coconut milk when you add the wet ingredients.
3. Using fingers, work coconut oil through the dry ingredients until there are no chunks of coconut oil left.
4. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and stir until mixed using a fork.
5. Roll (or pat) out the dough on a floured board until about 1″ thick.
6. Cut out into ~3″ circles – I just used a glass. It should make 8 shortcakes.
7. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack.

This is my submission for April’s Brunch themed Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free Challenge, hosted by Maggie at She Let Them Eat Cake.

What is your favourite Brunch Item?

This recipe has been submitted to: Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Hearth and Soul Hop Volume 45 and Gluten Free Wednesdays!