This Vegan Santa Hat Cake is perfect for the Holidays! A moist red velvet cake with a vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam filling is decorated with fresh strawberry Santa hats and coconut. Vegan, easy, delicious and is the perfect showstopper for any Christmas table this holiday season!
This cake has been made in collaboration with St Dalfour. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. (For more information along with affiliated links, check out my disclosure policy.)
Vegan Strawberry Santa Hat Cake
This vegan Santa hat cake is a show-stopping holiday dessert, combining rich, moist layers with a festive flair. Filled with sweet strawberry jam and frosted with silky dairy-free coconut buttercream, it’s a deliciously indulgent treat. The cake is topped with fresh strawberries dressed up as Santa hats, complete with swirls of vanilla buttercream to mimic the trim and pom-poms. Vibrantly red (just like Santa’s hat), and bursting with flavour, this cake is not only eye-catching but also entirely plant-based, making it a perfect centrepiece for your holiday celebrations!
Looking for more festive recipes? Check out my:
Vegan Coconut Polar Bear Cookies
Jam Filled Vegan Snowman Doughnuts
Why you’ll love this Santa hat cake:
- TASTE: This vegan strawberry Santa hat cake is moist, fluffy, perfectly flavoured with sweet strawberry and crunchy bits of desiccated coconut.
- DIFFICULTY: The cake is really simple to prepare as all the ingredients are mixed in one bowl (with only the buttermilk in a jug). We’re also using a super easy whipped American style buttercream, with the addition of some coconut for added flavour.
- STORAGE: The frosted cake keeps very well in the fridge and maintains it’s moist texture which means you can prepare the cake a few days in advance if needed. Just make sure it’s kept in an air tight / sealed container for optimum moistness!
- SHOW-STOPPER: This is the perfect cake for making and sharing at christmas parties, family gatherings or simply just to enjoy baking. It’s not only super fun but it’s simple yet effective design is sure to turn heads!
- DECORATION: The easiest but most effective design has to be the Santa Hats. They are so easy to make and apply on the sides of the cake, along with some added buttercream, they look amazing! You can add on as little or many as you’d like, just make sure to apply the strawberries just before serving as excess moisture could effect the buttercream.
Ingredients you’ll need:
This recipe is super easy, using ingredients you may already have in your kitchen cupboards / pantry. If not, don’t worry… I’ve listed them below for you to jot down on your shopping list for your next shopping trip. You can find the quantities including the full method and ingredients list in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Dairy-free milk : This is for making a vegan buttermilk. Soya milk works best, but you can use any dairy-free milk including almond, oat and cashew.
- Apple cider vinegar : Mixed with the milk to create a vegan buttermilk.
- Self Raising Flour.
- Caster sugar : Use a fine, white sugar.
- Red food gel : Make sure the gel you use is vegan friendly (free from carmine). I use this one.
- Raising agents : Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
- Sunflower oil : Make sure to use a neutral flavoured oil.
- Dairy-free butter : Use a dairy-free block butter for best results (Flora Plant Butter is my go-to)
- Icing sugar : Sieve before use to remove any clumps.
- Strawberries : Use fresh strawberries to create the Santa hats on the sides of the cake.
- Strawberry jam : I use my go-to strawberry jam from St Dalfour. It’s fresh, fruity, vegan friendly and best of all, absolutely delicious!
- Vanilla : Use a good quality vanilla bean paste for optional flavour. Alternatively, you can use a high quality vanilla extract.
- Desiccated coconut : This is optional but adds a slight crunch and yummy flavour to the overall cake.
Tips for stacking and decorating the santa hat cake
- When the cake layers are cool to the touch, they’re ready to stack, fill and decorate. The cakes should bake even / flat, but if they have a bit of a domed top, use a sharp serrated knife to trim off the domes. The leftovers make for a great snack – haha!
- If you want the cakes to be even and each slice to have the perfect layers, pipe the buttercream then use an off-set spatula to spread it flat. This will ensure a even base for the next layer of cake.
- I decorated my cake in a super fun, festive style with white buttercream and juicy strawberries. The light buttercream background contrasts against the red tones making them stand out beautifully.
- Ensure the strawberries are dry them applied to the sides of the cake. You can even dip the wet / cut part of the strawberry in some desiccated coconut. I found this really helps them stick and not ooze any juice.
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram , TikTok and Facebook! And if you want to pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!
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Vegan Strawberry Santa Hat Cake
- Total Time: Overnight
- Yield: 10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Ingredients for the cake
- 480ml of dairy-free milk (soya milk works best)
- 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
- 420g of self raising flour
- 300g of caster sugar (fine white sugar)
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 120ml of sunflower oil
- Red food gel
Ingredients for the buttercream
- 530g of dairy-free butter (I used Flora block butter)
- 500g of powdered / icing sugar
- Dairy-free milk (if needed)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
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- Fresh strawberries
- 30g of desiccated coconut
- 1 jar St Dalfour Strawberry Jam
Instructions
Method (Cake)
- Preheat your oven to 180°C fan and line three, 8 inch loose base / push up cake tins with greaseproof paper. If you don’t have 3 cake tins you will have to bake the cakes separately. Just cover the unused batter with a damp tea towel until you’re ready to use it.
- In a bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well to combine.
- Add the oil and drop of red food gel into the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.
- Pour equal amounts of batter into the lined cake tins. Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Pop the cakes into the centre of the preheated oven and bake for around 25-30 minutes. You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in to the centre of the cake and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.
- Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool slightly before removing them from the tins. Leave the cakes to cool fully on the cooling rack. Once cool, pop them into a sealed container to keep them fresh before frosting.
Method (buttercream)
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter, whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
- Sift in the icing sugar and add in the vanilla. Whip on high speed for around 5 minutes to incorporate it. Add a splash of dairy-free milk if needed. If the frosting is too thick, add some more chunks of butter. If it’s too soft, add more icing sugar. You want it smooth, creamy and airy.
- Transfer 3 heaped tablespoons into a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip nozzle.
- Place one of the cakes on a serving plate or cake stand. Dollop or pipe some of the white buttercream on top and spread out until even using an off-set spatula or pallet knife.
- Make a little well in the middle of the buttercream with a spoon and spoon in some strawberry jam. Not too much or it may ooze out the sides of the cake (refer to video for example).
- Place the second cake layer on top. Press it down gently so it sticks, repeat for the third cake. Coat the whole cake with a thin layer of buttercream. This creates a crumb coat.
- Place the cake into the fridge to set for 15-20 minutes. You want the buttercream to be firm, this will make the final coat and applying the decorations easier.
- Remove the cake from the fridge and apply a second/final coat, this time making it thicker, then using a cake scraper to make the edges of cake smooth.
- Pipe a swirl / shell around the top edge of the cake using the buttercream in the piping bag. In the middle / top of the cake, add on some strawberry jam and spread out.
- Cut the green off the fresh strawberries and slice the strawberries in half. Any moisture from the strawberries will prevent them sticking to the cake so use some kitchen paper to dry them off as much as possible.
- Press the strawberry halves all around the sides of the cake (as seen in the photos), piping some buttercream to replicate the Santa hat.
- Cut the green off 8 strawberries, dry them off the place the strawberries around the top edge of the cake, adding on a little bulb of buttercream to the top of each strawberry for the Santa hat.
- Sprinkle some desiccated coconut over the top of the cake, and press onto the buttercream hats to give them texture.
- Dust the entire cake with icing sugar.
- Slice, serve and enjoy.
Notes
To store: Store this cake in a sealed container in the fridge. Best eaten within 3 days of making.
Remove from the fridge and leave at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
Un-iced cakes can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for 2 days.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
