Strawberry Crunch Cake

Instructions

First prepare the 4- 7″ cake pans with professional bakery pan grease and parchment paper liners.Preheat the oven to 350°FPrepare the cake batter (if you prefer to make scratch white cake & strawberry cake recipes follow the instructions on those recipe pages and meet me back when you’re done!)For the box cake hack: In a large mixing bowl empty the contents of one Duncan Hines White Cake box.Add the sugar, flour, baking powder and egg replacer.Sift together or using a hand whisk to evenly distribute the contents.Add the oil, plant milk, water and applesauce and whisk smooth, using about 50 vigorous strokesDivide the batter in half and reserve one half for the strawberry batter then divide the remaining white batter into 2-7″ prepared pansFor the strawberry batter grind the dehydrated strawberries in a food processor or spice grinder to a fine powder, add to the white batter and whisk well until there are no streaks.Divide the batter between the remaining 2-7″ cake pans then bake all the cake layers together in the preheated 350°F oven for approximately 22 minutes or when they are springy to the touch when you gently press the centers, or with the toothpick test, insert a toothpick and if it comes out clear it is done!Cool the cakes in the pans until you can safely touch then without burning yourself then flip them out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.Prepare the strawberry compote: in a medium heavy bottom sauce pot combine the chopped strawberries and cranberries together with the sugar and water *if needed.Cook over medium heat until the cranberries start to pop and the berries are breaking down. Stir often.Turn the heat to low and let it simmer and continue to cook down, the sauce will naturally thicken especially as it cools to cold.You can leave it chunky or blend to a puree it is your option *I like it chunky.Prepare the garnish for the cake by grinding the golden sandwich cookies in a food processor to medium crumbs, add the dehydrated strawberries and pulse until it is all the size you desire for garnish.When you are ready to build the cake prepare your vegan whipping cream- if you are using SILK Brand as I show in the video simply whip it to soft peaks at this time.Reserve 2 cups for the mousse and leave the rest in the refrigerator for the icing of the cake later.Prepare the white chocolate mousse by melting the vegan white chocolateCombine the warm plant milk with the agar powder and then bring to a rolling boil to activate the agar.Add this to the melted white chocolate and whisk as fast as possible to prevent setting!Next quickly fold in the whipped cream and whisk smooth.The mousse will set very fast due to the agar, so be sure to have your other ingredients ready to go since you will have to build the cake fairly quickly to make sure the mousse doesn’t set.Follow the video tutorial for how to build & ice the cake!