Raw Strawberry Layer Cake with Lemon Cream and Rose Petals

A no-bake 6-inch layer cake: a chewy vanilla nut-date crust, then layers of vanilla cream, bright lemon cream, and pink strawberry cream, finished with a glossy strawberry jelly, fresh sliced strawberries, and rose petals. It's as beautiful as it is delicious, perfect for birthdays, Mother's Day, or a spring celebration.

Yield: One 6-inch cake, 8–10 slices · Active: 1 hour · Total: 6 hours, mostly setting (or make it the day before) · Best in late spring and early summer, when strawberries peak in most of North America (winter into spring in Florida and Southern California); frozen strawberries work for the cream and jelly the rest of the year · Best eaten: midday or early afternoon

Ingredients

Vanilla nut-date crust

• 1 cup almonds

• ½ cup macadamia nuts or cashews

• 7–8 Medjool dates, pitted

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (or the seeds of ½ vanilla bean)

• Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt

Vanilla cashew cream (the base for all three cream layers)

• 2½ cups cashews, soaked at least 4 hours (or 1 hour in hot water), then drained

• ¾ cup full-fat coconut cream, with no guar gum

• ½ cup raw honey or maple syrup

• ½ cup melted cacao butter (or coconut oil)

• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract (or the seeds of 1 vanilla bean)

• Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt

Lemon layer additions

• Zest of 1 lemon, plus 2 tbsp fresh juice

• Optional: a tiny pinch of turmeric, for a sunny yellow color

Strawberry layer additions

• 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled

• 2 tbsp freeze-dried strawberry powder (or freeze-dried strawberries, ground in a blender)

• 1 tbsp melted cacao butter (or coconut oil), to help it set

Strawberry jelly

• 1½ cups fresh strawberries, hulled

• 2 tsp grass-fed gelatin

• 2 tbsp cold water

• 1 tbsp raw honey or maple syrup

• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

• Optional: 1 tbsp chia seeds, for a jammier texture with little seeds

To decorate

• 1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced (or halved)

• A handful of organic edible rose petals

• Optional: a few fresh mint leaves

Method

1. Make the crust. Line the bottom of a 6-inch springform pan with parchment. Pulse the almonds and macadamias to a fine crumb, then add the dates, vanilla, and salt and process until the mixture sticks together when pressed. (If your dates are dry, soak them in warm water for 10 minutes and drain well first.) Press it firmly into the bottom of the pan and freeze 15 minutes.

2. Make the vanilla cashew cream. Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature. Blend the cashews, coconut cream, honey, vanilla, and salt in a high-speed blender until completely silky, 1–2 minutes. With the blender running on low, stream in the melted cacao butter until combined. Adding it last, to room-temperature ingredients, keeps it from firming into little flecks. You'll have about 4 cups.

3. Pour the vanilla layer. Pour about a third of the cream (about 1⅓ cups) over the crust, smooth the top, and freeze 45 minutes, until firm. Leave the rest of the cream in the blender at room temperature.

4. Make the lemon layer. Pour half of the remaining cream into a bowl and whisk in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and turmeric (if using). Pour it over the set vanilla layer, smooth the top, and freeze 45 minutes, until firm.

5. Make the strawberry layer. Add the strawberries, freeze-dried strawberry powder, and melted cacao butter to the cream still in the blender, and blend until smooth and pink. Pour it over the set lemon layer, smooth the top, and freeze 1 hour, until firm.

6. Make the strawberry jelly. Blend or mash the strawberries until mostly smooth. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a small saucepan and let it sit 5 minutes to bloom, then warm it gently over low heat until fully dissolved, about 1 minute (don't let it boil). Whisk the warm gelatin into the strawberry purée, then stir in the honey, lemon juice, and chia (if using). Adding the honey once the gelatin is mixed into the cool purée keeps it raw. Let it sit 5–10 minutes, until it's just starting to thicken but still pourable.

7. Add the jelly. Pour the jelly in an even layer over the set strawberry cream and chill in the fridge 1–2 hours, until set and glossy. (Chilling it in the fridge, rather than the freezer, gives the gelatin its best, clearest set.)

8. Decorate and serve. Release the springform. Just before serving, arrange sliced strawberries over the top, scatter with rose petals and mint, and slice with a sharp knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry between cuts. If the cake has been frozen, let the slices sit 15–20 minutes, until creamy but still holding their shape.

Make ahead: The layered cake (without the jelly and decorations) keeps up to 1 month in the freezer. Thaw it in the fridge for a few hours, then add the jelly and decorate the day you serve.

Storage: Refrigerated up to 3 days. Fresh strawberries release their juice over time, so decorate just before serving.

A note on "raw": Every cashew sold has been heat-treated to remove the caustic oil in its shell, and U.S. almonds are pasteurized by law (even when labeled "raw"), so "raw" here means no-bake. The raw honey stays truly raw, since nothing it touches is heated. Raw honey shouldn't be given to babies under 12 months; use maple syrup if little ones will be eating it. With the gelatin, this cake isn't vegan; use the chia version of the jam (1½ tbsp chia seeds, no gelatin) for a plant-based cake.

Nourishment Notes

Strawberries — vitamin C (a single cup provides about a full day's worth), folate, manganese, ellagic acid, and anthocyanins, the pigments behind their red color.

Lemon — vitamin C, plus d-limonene concentrated in the zest.

Grass-fed gelatin — glycine and proline, the same building blocks found in bone broth, which give the jelly its glossy, sliceable set.

Chia seeds (if using) — ALA omega-3s, fiber, and calcium.

Cashews — magnesium, copper, and zinc.

Almonds and macadamias — vitamin E, magnesium, and monounsaturated fats, including palmitoleic acid (an omega-7 fat) from the macadamias.

Medjool dates — potassium, magnesium, and fiber, with natural caramel sweetness.

Coconut cream — lauric acid, a medium-chain fat, plus a rich, creamy body.

Cacao butter — stearic acid, a saturated fat that research shows has a neutral effect on cholesterol, and it helps the layers set.

Rose petals — polyphenols and a delicate floral fragrance that pairs beautifully with strawberries.

Raw honey — enzymes and trace minerals, kept intact in this no-bake cake.

As a circadian treat, this cake lands best at midday or in the early afternoon, when your body handles sweets most gracefully in daylight.

Sourcing

• Strawberries — organic, fresh from a farmers' market in season or frozen for the cream and jelly (conventional strawberries carry some of the highest pesticide residues of any fruit)

• Freeze-dried strawberries or strawberry powder — organic and unsweetened, with nothing added

• Cashews — organic (every cashew sold has been heat-treated, even "raw" ones)

• Almonds — organic and unpasteurized, like Terrasoul's organic Spanish almonds

• Macadamias — organic, from Hawaii or Australia, kept in the fridge

• Medjool dates — organic, soft, and plump

• Coconut cream — organic and full-fat, made with just coconut and water, with no guar gum or other thickeners (Native Forest Simple comes in BPA-free cans)

• Grass-fed gelatin — from grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle, with nothing added (Great Lakes Wellness is one example)

• Cacao butter — organic and raw, in wafers or chunks (or organic, virgin coconut oil)

• Raw honey and maple syrup — organic, local, and unfiltered raw honey; organic Grade A dark maple syrup

• Chia seeds (optional) — organic

• Lemons — organic (you're using the zest)

• Rose petals — organic, food-grade, and pesticide-free (never from florists)

• Turmeric (optional) — organic and non-irradiated

• Vanilla — organic vanilla beans or pure vanilla extract with no added sugar

• Baja Gold sea salt

— Anna aka Food Marshall