Rinse and cut the strawberries in small dice. Put them in a bowl, then add sugar andwater, mix gently with a spoon, and set aside. Keep 5 - 6 whole strawberries aside to use as decoration on top of the cake.Note: you can add lemon juice instead of water if you like. We tested both ways and the difference in taste is minimal.
MAKE THE SPONGE CAKE
Preheat the oven to 360F or 180C. Line your baking tray with parchment paper.
In bowl add sugar, oil, and almond-milk. Give it a quick stir, then add flour, cacaopowder, cornstarch and bakingpowder. Mix with an electric hand mixer for about 1 minute, until till you have a smooth batter. Note: you should either sift the dry ingredients, or mix them together in a bowl first, before adding them to the liquids. This helps spread the cacao and the baking powder evenly.
Transfer the cake batter onto the baking tray, spread it evenly with a spoon, then bake for 15 minutes at 360F or 180C. While it cools down follow the next steps.
STRAWBERRY JUICE
With a strainer, separate the strawberries from their liquid. Taste the liquid, if too sour for your taste, add more sugar.
VEGAN WHIPPED CREAM
With an electric beater, whip up the vegan whipping cream until stiff. If you can't find vegan whipping cream you can make a homemade whipped cream with full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream.To do this, refrigerate the canned coconut milk for about 10 hours. Then scoop out the solid part from the can and add it to a cold bowl. Add powdered sugar - about 2 to 3 tbsp - and whip with a hand mixer till smooth. Set aside in the refrigerator. To make the coconut whipped cream more stable you can add ½ tsp of xanthan gum, then keep whipping at full speed till it thickens up.
VEGAN CONDENSED MILK
In a pot, add almond milk, cornstarch and sugar. Whisk until the lumps are gone, then put on medium heat and stir until it thickens. Take off the heat and stir until cool. To speed things up, fill up your sink with cold water, and dip ¾ of the sauce pan with the vegan condensed milk in it while stirring. This will accelerate cooling.
VEGAN CREAM FILLING
Add the cooled condensed milk, one spoon at a time, to the whipped cream, and keep whipping with an electric mixer until they are fully combined. You should get a smooth, lump-free cream filling.
BUILD THE CAKE
Take the sponge cake out of the baking tray, remove the parchment paper, and cut the sponge in half. Put the two pieces of sponge on top of each other and trim the edges to make them of the same size.At this point you should have in front of you: 1) vegan cream filling 2) diced strawberries 3) strawberry juice 4) two pieces of chocolate sponge.
Place the first sponge piece on a serving platter. Make sure to put the sponge upside down. Then with a spoon, wet it with about ½ of the strawberry juice. This is a common step in Italian cake making. It adds flavour and moisture to the cake. If you don't like the cake too moist, add less strawberry juice.
Add about ½ of the cream filling on top of the sponge, spread it with a spoon, then cover with all the diced strawberries.
Add the second layer of sponge on top, upside down. Press it down gently with your hands to put it in place. Add the remaining strawberry juice on top.
Cover with the remaining vegan cream filling, and top with some sliced strawberries (and optional mint leaves).Set aside in the refrigerator to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving.