Light and fluffy vanilla sheet cake with a velvety frosting and lots of sprinkles! This is the perfect cake to feed a crowd.
So…I decided on making a vegan vanilla sheet cake because I wanted to make a vegan tiramisu, and after trying various methods for making the cake layer parts for the tiramisu a sheet cake seemed like the smartest way to go about it.
And then the sheet cake came out so well that I was like: well I have to do the sheet cake recipe for the blog!
And the tiramisu? Well, that also came out great!
The frosting
I made maybe an odd choice for the frosting. I did a little insta-story of frosting one of the test versions of the cake, with a simple white vanilla frosting, and when I viewed the little video, it just looked a bit…. boring.
So on the day of the photo shoot for this, I suddenly decided on a change, not a flavor change, just a color change! But the only colors I had were green and pink. Maybe pink would’ve been better? All I know is that green was calling to me on the day so green it was!
The green frosting with some sprinkles is pretty cute I think, and has the kids birthday party vibes. Well, it’s more those vibes than adult office party vibes anyway.
But decorate however you like, and color the frosting (or don’t) however you like. The main attraction is the cake itself.
And one of the great things about a sheet cake is that it feeds a crowd. Cutting quite generous slices, this cake gets at least 15 slices. So that’s definitely more than the average layer cake.
I used a half sheet pan and my half sheet is 10×15, yours might be 11×15, that’s fine! You can even use a 9×13 quarter sheet pan, you will just have to bake it about 5 minutes longer.
You will love this gorgeous vegan vanilla sheet cake, it is:
- Moist
- Light
- Fluffy
- Spongey
- Shareable
- Delicious!
Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay fresh for a couple of days or covered in the fridge where it will stay good for up to a week, but fresh is best!
So what do you think of this vegan vanilla sheet cake? Going to give it a try? Let us know in the comments! And please rate the recipe as this really helps us! Thank you!
For more sheet cake goodness, check out our chocolate sheet cake and our vegan banana sheet cake. The vegan vanilla layer cake that this recipe is based on is definitely also a winner, and if you love all things vanilla, then you’ll love our vegan vanilla cupcakes too.
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Vanilla Sheet Cake
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Sheet Cake:
- 2 and ⅔ cups All Purpose Flour (330g)
- 1 and ½ cups White Granulated Sugar (300g)
- 1 and ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 1 and ½ cups Soy Milk (360ml) or other non-dairy milk
- 3 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar
For the Frosting:
- 4 and ½ cups Powdered Sugar (540g)
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 3 and ½ Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Few drops Green Food Coloring optional
For Decoration:
- Vegan Sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Spray a 10x15 sheet pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt.
- Then add the soy milk, vanilla, oil and vinegar.
- Use a hand whisk to mix in. Be careful not to overmix the batter, just mix until all the large lumps are gone, tiny lumps are fine.
- Pour the batter out into your prepared half sheet baking pan.
- Spread the batter with the back of a spoon so that it reaches the corners of the baking sheet and is evenly distributed across it.
- Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Place onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vegan butter, soy milk (see notes), vanilla, and food coloring (if using) into the bowl of an electric mixer. Start at slow speed and gradually increase speed until your frosting is thick and smooth. If your frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar, if it's too thick, add more soy milk a drop at a time until it reaches the right consistency.
- Frost the cooled cake and decorate with sprinkles.
- Cut into squares and serve.
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly either by using the spoon and level method - spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife, don't scoop it and don't pack it into the cup - or weigh it on a food scale for total accuracy.
- You might not need all the soy milk in the frosting. This is how much I used but different brands of vegan butter have different water contents, if your brand has a higher water content than the one I used, you may not need to use as much soy milk. It's a good idea to add it in slowly and only as much as needed.
- This recipe can adapt to an 8-inch round layer cake. Just spray two 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bases with circles of parchment paper. Divide the batter between them and bake for 30 minutes.
Nutrition
I have 2 x 8inch square pan would this recipe work in these pans or would I need to convert it?
I think it would work!
Would it be possible to make this gluten free?
Sure, you could try replacing the regular flour with a gluten free all purpose blend.
I’ve made this cake several times. It’s delicious!
Thanks Bree!
I haven’t made this yet (why no rating yet!) but want to with a twist. I’d like to make a vegan marble sheet cake. My pan is 18 x 12 and 3″ deep. Could I double this recipe and add dark cocoa powder to half of the vanilla batter? And if so how much cocoa powder or any other adjustments would you recommend? Have you tried this? I’d have to figure out the best way to add the batter to the pan for marbling as well. I am making this for a neighborhood celebration of about 25 people and thought a sheet cake would be perfect. But I haven’t found a marble sheet cake recipe yet. Thank you so much for your help!
Hi Tammy, it might be a better idea to do half of this recipe with half our chocolate sheet cake. I haven’t tried anything like this out, so I don’t have more tips to share, but it sounds like it will be awesome!
Hi Alison. Thank you for the tip! I’m just not sure a half of each recipe will be enough for the size I have. That’s why I’m thinking of a full recipe of each. I’ll let you know how it turns out 🙂
Love this recipe! Think its my second time making it. I am based in UK and read a comment about this recipe using American tablespoon measurements which are different to UK tablespoons? Is this right? If so what are rlthe differences in the measurements. Many thanks ????
Hi Lisa, the American tablespoons are the same as the UK. It’s the Australian ones that are bigger (20ml for an Australian tablespoon vs 15ml for US/UK).
Would it be ok to use a 9×9 inches tray? Thank you
Hi Ruth, for a 9×9 it would be better to use our recipe for vegan vanilla cake, it’s a slightly smaller size recipe and adapts perfectly for 9×9. Bake time would be around 25 minutes.
We absolutely LOVE this recipe. We wanted to make cupcakes, what baking time would you suggest? Thank you!
Hi Kylie, our vegan vanilla cupcakes recipe is very similar but makes a perfect 12 cupcakes. Otherwise this recipe will adapt to around 18-24 cupcakes depending on how high you fill the liners. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Thanks for sharing your recipe. Perfect for my granddaughter’s second birthday. Three of my family members are vegan. Compliments galore!
Awesome! Thanks Jaya!
This was an easy cake to make and it came out great! Love it!
Awesome! Thanks Jennifer!
Hi Alison, I made this cake for my husband’s birthday. His birthday is actually today and I couldn’t wait to post my comment. I made the cakes yesterday and I assembled them today. The cake was delicious, perfect texture and flavor, and the best part is that it was so easy to make!! it was unbelievable I made the frosting and I used cream cheese instead of using all butter or vegetable shortening. The cake was absolutely amazing. Honestly, I’m really not a baker I love to cook, but I always bumped into problems when I tried to bake cakes or any dessert. However, if I find them easy to make and delicious they go into a “keepers recipe book” to make them again and this cake is one of those recipes. I used two 8 inch cake pans as you recommended in your vanilla cake, the one you decorated with strawberries, I did that as well. I wish I can upload a picture my husband loved his B-day cake. He ate 3 pieces ????
So happy to hear it was a success! Thanks so much for sharing!
Can I use an 11×7 inch baking sheet?
If it’s fairly deep then it should work okay, but the baking time will be longer. I’m not sure exactly how long it would be, I would check it from around 25 minutes onwards and get a feel from there for how much longer it needs.
I made this cake for my mom and ever since then it’s the only cake she’ll eat. I subbed the olive oil for peanut oil and it came out great. Being a vegan it’s hard to find great deserts and this is definitely my favorite.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Aubree!