First prepare the cake recipe by greasing a 9" x 13" cake pan & line it with parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Now combine the plant milk with the vinegar and vanilla extract

Sift all the dry ingredients (the flour, salt, baking soda & sugar) together in a large mixing bowl

Pour the milk, oil, applesauce into the dry ingredients and whisk smooth

Whisk vigorously for about 50 strokes to develop the batter

Pour into the prepared pan and bake immediately in the preheated 350°F oven for 25 minutes or when you gently press the center it is springy to the touch. Or do the toothpick test for moist crumbs.

Cool in the pan until you can safely touch without burning yourself then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.

Now prepare the strawberry compote with the strawberries and optional cranberries and optional sugar by combining everything together in a small sauce pot and bring to a boil, stirring often until the berries break down to a chunky compote.

Cool completely & it will thicken as it cools

Now once the cake is completely cooled you can trim off the top *optional ~and then spread the cooled strawberry compote over the entire cake

Refrigerate the cake while you prepare the whipped cream according to the recipe or BRAND you are using.

If you are using my stabilized recipe for the Country Crock brand like me, you can combine the agar with the water in a small sauce pot and bring to a rolling boiling whisking constantly

Begin whipping the cream to medium peaks then add the optional confectioners sugar and then the melted hot agar while whipping on high speed.

Ice the cake with the stabilized whipped cream then top with chopped strawberries and the trimmed off cake crumbles