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This beautifully vibrant gluten-free Strawberry Basil Cake draws inspiration from a sweet pesto to infuse it with a delicious umami vibes. A showstopper of a cake which is made with a beautiful blend of gluten-free flours.

If you would like to switch up your regular Strawberry Cake then this unique variation always causes a bit of excitement whenever I serve it. It's basically a Strawberry 'Sweet Pesto' Cake. The sweet pesto is just that, a verdant basil pesto without the garlic but with honey instead. It still retains pine nuts which go wonderfully with strawberries, olive oil for its peppery notes and even a small grating of parmesan for savoury undertones.

The cake is filled with a fresh strawberry basil jam which is quickly set with chia seeds instead of sugar. A teaspoon of freeze-dried strawberries stirred in is optional but I had them to hand for the strawberry buttercream so in they went. Freeze-dried berries are a brilliant way of injecting a pure intense fruity flavour and here it really amps up the jam. They are also invaluable in buttercreams as they mean you won’t lose any of the structural integrity of the buttercream like you would with a fresh strawberry puree or add any further sweetness if you were to use a strawberry jam.

Why you'll love this recipe

A unique take on a summer Strawberry Cake.
Soft light and fluffy vanilla sponge - made with gluten-free flours but no xanthan gum.
Strawberry Honey Basil Jam to fill the centre of this cake. Such gorgeous herby fruity flavour.
Covered with a dreamy swiss meringue buttercream which is split into two flavours - basil and strawberry.

Gluten-free flours required

Sweet Rice Flour - It's used here for the best texture. Also called glutinous rice flour it has a unique sticky texture that binds the ingredients together and gives great structure and bounce to the cake (you cannot substitute regular rice flour here as they are totally different). Sweet rice flour is not super available in the UK but it's easy to buy off Amazon. READ MORE >>> Ultimate Guide to Sweet Rice Flour
Gluten-Free Oat Flour - A delicious flour that gives a toasty buttery flavour to enhance the vanilla. It has a lovely fluffy light texture. Oat flour can be picked up at most health food shops and if I run out that’s where I head to. However, like all alternative flours it can be expensive so I find the most economical way is to buy on Amazon. Or you can even make your own - there's all the info on how to do that in this Ultimate Guide to Oat Flour. If you are intolerant to oat flour you can substitute for sorghum flour.
Millet Flour - This wholegrain flour is chosen here as a balance to the rice flour. We don’t want to use just rice flour as it can be a little gritty. So we even it out with another neutral wholegrain flour. We don’t want to use just millet flour as millet can be a little bitter if used in excess. The balance between the rice flour and the millet flour is just right. You can substitute for another wholegrain flour like oat flour, sorghum flour or buckwheat flour.
Potato Starch - This starchy flour gives our sponge a real lightness with excellent lift. As soon as potato starch is mixed with liquid and hits the heat it expands quickly so we get lovely light sponge.
Tapioca Flour - a starchy flour which alleviates some of the density of the sweet rice flour and bakes up beautifully, giving the sponge a gorgeous golden colour. It’s not difficult to get hold of tapioca flour in the UK. You can often find 100g pots of Doves Farm Tapioca Flour in the supermarket but it’s quite costly and doesn’t give you very much. You can find more varied brands in health food shops in bags of about 500g or you can buy online. READ MORE >>> Ultimate Guide to Tapioca Flour

If you love creating your own flour blend rather than buying a branded blend then I highly recommend my Homemade Gluten-Free Flour Blend. You can actually substitute all the flours mentioned above for this homemade blend to make life much easier. (please do not substitute them for a branded blend though as they will not work in this cake).

A piece of cake sitting on top of a table

Full list of ingredients needed

Vanilla sponge

Caster sugar
Lemon
Butter
Eggs (medium sized, about 60g each)
Whole milk
Vanilla extract
Sweet rice flour (aka glutinous rice flour)
Oat flour
Millet flour
Potato starch
Tapioca flour
Baking powder
Salt

Strawberry Basil Honey Jam

bowl of strawberry sauce on a wooden table

Strawberries
Lemon juice
Honey
Fresh basil
Ground chia seeds
Freeze-dried strawberry powder (optional)

Sweet Pesto

Fresh basil
Honey
Olive oil
Pine nuts
Parmesan

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Egg whites (120g)
Caster sugar
Unsalted butter
Freeze-dried strawberry powder
Sweet pesto (as above)

Suggested Equipment

How do you make Swiss Meringue Buttercream?

Heat the egg whites and sugar in a bain marie or double boiler, whisking all the time.
When the sugar has completely melted and the temperature reached 71°C then remove from the heat and immediately pour into a stand mixer.
Whisk on a medium setting for about 10 minutes until a glossy meringue has formed and the temperature has lowered to about 32°C.
Change the whisk attachment to a paddle beater and beat on low adding the butter one cube at a time.
Once all the butter has been added and the buttercream looks beautifully smooth split the buttercream ¾ and ¼.
Mix the strawberry powder with the ¾ amount of buttercream and the sweet pesto with the ¼ amount.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Tips

The temperatures here are important. If you have made SMB a few times then you can intuit when the sugar has melted into the egg whites or when the meringue has cooled enough to add the butter. However for newbies a sugar thermometer is invaluable.
The butter must be at room temperature before you add it. Slightly soft to the touch but not melty.
If your butter is too cold then just keep on mixing the buttercream once it’s all added, the butter will soon warm and melt into the buttercream. If that doesn’t work then warm slightly over a bowl of boiling water. Once the edges of the buttercream start to soften then start whipping again off the heat.
If your butter is too warm place in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill then try re-whipping it.
As you are adding the butter your buttercream will look a bit curdled. This is absolutely normal. Keep on mixing the buttercream and don’t lose faith, it will always come together in the end.
If your buttercream does not come together and looks too soupy that means your butter was too warm – see above on how to fix.

How to store

The cake can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days once it is completely assembled.

How to freeze

I recommend chilling the whole finished cake first in the fridge so that the buttercream gets quite firm. Wrap well in cling film then tin foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Remove from the freezer and allow to defrost thoroughly before removing the tin foil and cling film.

A close up of a slice of cake on a table

Other gluten-free cakes you'll love

I urge you to give this Strawberry Basil Cake a try. If you do then please leave a comment below and give the recipe a rating which helps others find the recipe on Google. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own culinary creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.

Strawberry Basil Cake {Gluten-Free}

Why you'll love this recipe

Gluten-free flours required