Light fluffy and delicious vegan vanilla cake! Two layers of vanilla sponge, topped with a velvety vegan vanilla frosting and fresh strawberries.
This vegan vanilla cake is light fluffy and dreamy! But what you’re going to like most about it is how EASY it is.
I’m going to admit, I had to play around with this recipe for quite a bit before I got it right.
The first time it was delicious, but I used a flax egg and while a flax egg is GREAT for most cakes, in the case of a vanilla cake when you want it to have the glorious light color, well….it didn’t work out so well.
I ended up with a delicious cake that looked like a seed cake and nothing at all like a vanilla cake.
The next time I tried it, it ended up way too dry, so I knew I needed to adjust the flour ratio.
I’m happy to report that the recipe you see below delivers the ideal level of moistness and as you can see, the color is totally gorgeous!
The vanilla flavor comes through perfectly, and by pairing it with vanilla frosting, you get yourself a whole lot of vanilla heaven going on!
Strawberries on top add a dash of gorgeous color and offset the vanilla flavor just right. However, feel free to use whatever cake decorations you please.
The strawberry dilemma…
I love the fresh fruit, but of course it doesn’t keep. You also have the small problem of the strawberries running and making the cake soggy.
So it really only works if you’re going to serve it within minutes of placing those strawberries on top.
So if you’re going to keep the cake around for a few days, then choose a different decoration OR just add some sliced strawberries to the individual slices as you serve them.
Even kids can do it…
I made this with my niece when she came for a sleepover at her aunt and uncle’s house. Since vanilla is her favorite flavor for everything, she loved this cake.
So seriously – this cake is easy enough that a kid can do it (with supervision, of course).
It’s really quite petite.
Just a little note that this cake is quite a small petite cake!
I used cake pans which are 7 inches round. The layers on this cake are not very tall, but I think it’s a perfect size and you get 10 nice sized slices out of it.
If you want to adapt this cake to larger cake pan sizes, see our notes on how to do that below.
Vegan Vanilla Cake Q&A
Can I make this gluten-free? There are a few changes that are needed to make this cake really work great for gluten-free. We made the adaptations for gluten-free with our vegan gluten-free vanilla cupcakes and they came out beautifully. You can adapt that recipe from cupcakes to a layer cake (two 7″ layers) just like this one if you like.
Can I make this in 8″ cake pans? Yes, but because the maths can get a little tricky sometimes when you increase a recipe, I recommend you take a look at our vegan vanilla sheet cake recipe, that recipe adapts perfectly to two 8″ cake layers. Just bake it for 30 minutes instead of the shorter baking time recommended for a sheet cake.
You can also take a look at our vegan white cake which is made for 8″ cake pans. That recipe was adapted from this one and is basically a perfect vanilla cake, just adapted to be a little more ‘white’ in color (to fit the ‘white cake’ description) and to be 8-inches.
Can I make this in 9″ cake pans? This exact recipe will make a single layer 9″ cake. So if you want to make a single layer cake, you can make this vegan vanilla cake recipe exactly as is, but just have a single layer instead of a 2-layer cake. We did this for our vegan pineapple upside down cake. Alternatively, you can double this recipe for a 9″ cake with two layers. I have included the exact measures for doubling this recipe in the notes section of the recipe card below.
Can I make this into a bundt cake? Some have done it, if you read the comments below, it has been done. I don’t have a bundt cake pan so I haven’t got personal experience with that (yet!).
Can I make cupcakes from this recipe? Yes you can! We have already done it, check out our recipe for vegan vanilla cupcakes, which is adapted from this recipe.
I’m pretty sure you’re going to love this vegan vanilla cake! It is:
- Light and fluffy
- Perfectly moist
- Spongey!
- Frosted with velvety vanilla frosting!
Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay perfectly fresh for a few days or keep it covered in the fridge to stay good for up to a week.
Love vegan cakes?
Oh my word, you are SO in the right place! We are crazy about vegan cakes and have made a bunch of them. Here’s just a few:
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Cake – also a 7-inch layer cake
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake – a 9-inch layer cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake – a divine 8-inch beauty
- Vegan Carrot Cake – our super popular 7-inch layer cake
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake – also 7-inches
- Vegan Banana Cake – a 9×13 sheet cake or an 8-inch two-layer cake, it’s up to you!
If you make this cake (and I hope you do!) then please let us know how it goes by rating the recipe and leaving a comment. It’s so helpful and we love to hear how it worked out for you. Thanks so much.
And sign up to our email list for a gorgeous (and free) recipe ebook containing 10 delicious vegan dinner recipes and you’ll also stay updated with all our latest recipes.
Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 10
Description
Light fluffy and delicious vegan vanilla cake! Two layers of vanilla sponge, topped with a velvety vegan vanilla frosting and fresh strawberries. Ideal for special occasions.
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Cake:
- 1 and 3/4 cups (220g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup (200g) White Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 cup (240ml) Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/3 cup (80ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or sub canola oil or other vegetable oil)
- 1 Tbsp White Vinegar (or sub Apple Cider Vinegar)
For The Vanilla Frosting:
- 3 and 3/4 cups (450g) Powdered Sugar
- 3 Tbsp (45g) Vegan Butter
- 4 Tbsp Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)*
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
For Decoration:
- Fresh Strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C)
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl.
- Add the sugar, baking soda and salt and mix together.
- Add the soy milk, vanilla, oil and vinegar and give it a quick whisk with a hand whisk until just combined.
- Grease two 7 inch round cake tins with coconut oil (or spray with non-stick spray) and cut parchment paper into circles to fit the bottoms.
- Divide the batter evenly between them.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and using a toothpick, insert into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean then your cake is done.
- Move to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Prepare your frosting.
- Add the powdered sugar, vegan butter, vanilla and half of the soy milk.
- Beginning on low speed, mix with an electric mixer, slowly increasing speed. Add the rest of the soy milk, only as much as needed until it is smooth and creamy. If your vegan butter has a higher water content, you may not need to use all of the soy milk.
- If your frosting is still a little thin, add more powdered sugar, if it’s a little thick, add more soy milk (a drop at a time). The consistency must be thick enough that it doesn’t slide off the cake, but thin enough to be spreadable.
- When your cake is completely cool, add frosting to the top of one of the layers.
- Add the second layer on top and frost it completely, using a knife to carefully frost the sides of the cake.
- Decorate with fresh strawberries and serve right away.
- If you’re not serving right away, then omit the strawberries or serve them on a plate alongside the cake, so it doesn’t get soggy.
Notes
*I highly recommend you weigh the flour for the best results. Flour measures can be tricky, so weighing it on a food scale is the best way to ensure accuracy.
*The cake tins used in this recipe are 7 inches round. If you want to make this cake for 8-inch cake pans, see our vegan white cake recipe which is an 8-inch cake or our vegan vanilla sheet cake which adapts perfectly to two 8-inch cake layers. If you want to adapt it to 9-inch cake pans see our full instructions below.
*If you want to double this recipe for a 9-inch layer cake, then the ingredients list will be as follows: 3 and 1/2 cups (438g) All Purpose Flour, 2 cups (400g) White Sugar, 2 tsp Baking Soda, 1 tsp Salt, 2 cups (480ml) Soy Milk, 4 tsp Vanilla Extract, 2/3 cup (160ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Canola Oil, 2 Tbsp White Vinegar. Everything else including baking times, remains the same. The frosting as listed in the recipe above will be enough to spread generously onto the top and middle of a 9-inch layer cake but not enough to frost the sides as well. Take a look at our vegan buttercream frosting recipe which is enough to frost this whole cake when made as a two layer 9-inch cake.
*Only add fresh strawberries to this cake if you’re going to be eating it right away. The strawberries are a fabulous addition to the flavor of this cake, BUT they run and can cause sogginess. So if you are keeping this cake for a few days, then either don’t use strawberries at all or just add some strawberry slices directly to the individual cake slices when served.
*Nutrition information is based on 1 serve of 10 with a very generous amount of vanilla frosting.
*Vanilla Frosting is from this recipe.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serve (of 10)
- Calories: 441
- Sugar: 65g
- Sodium: 290mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 1.6g
- Carbohydrates: 83g
- Fiber: 0.8g
- Protein: 3g
Keywords: vegan vanilla cake
My whole family loves this cake!
★★★★★
Thanks Jane!
Can I use the same recipe for vanilla cupcakes? Should the baking temp and time remain the same?
Hi Reenie, yes you can, the temp is the same but baking time should be between 20 and 25 minutes. You can also just check out our vegan vanilla cupcakes recipe. 🙂
Can I use this recipe to make Tres Leches cake. (Three Milk Cake)
★★★★★
Hi Maria, I haven’t tried a tres leches cake yet so I don’t know.
After months of trying out different vegan cakes I have finally hit the bull’s eye! The perfect vegan cake which is soft and fluffy. Glad I found this 🙂 thank you!
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks so much Sammy!
Hi, can I make it taller by adding one or two more vanilla cake layers? Will it fall down per transportation?
Hi there, yes it should be fine to make it taller. 3 layers would definitely be fine, and I think 4 would as well. Just level the cakes so that they stack better. I don’t think transporting would have an issue on this any more than any other cake, just take precautions as you usually would. All the best!
Hi,
Thanks for this recipe. I’d like to add fresh plums to the top Will the addition of fresh fruit make this cake too soggy? Do you have a vegan cake recipe which will be better suited to my needs?
Thank you very much.
Hi Rosalind, yes, it would be the same as with the strawberries, it’s a great addition, but can definitely get soggy unless it’s put on top right before serving. I think it would be the same with any cake and fresh fruit.
I love your cakes. When I do the vanilla cake I taste baking soda. Can I reduce the baking soda or add extra of something to get rid of the baking soda taste(I follow recipe exactly)?
The vinegar is supposed to neutralize the baking soda so that there isn’t any aftertaste. I have never had any aftertaste from this. You can try reducing it a little and see how it goes, but the ingredient mix as is shouldn’t have this result.
Made this cake yesterday, doubled the recipe and made 4X 6″ layers 😊
It was so easy, tasted fabulous with a lovely fluffy sponge whilst still holding shape and being easy to handle. 😊
★★★★★
Awesome Jess! Thanks for sharing!
Great recipe. I used it to make a rainbow cake, and am now making it again to make lamingtons. We aren’t vegan but my daughter is allergic to eggs and dairy.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Naomi!
do i need to make an adjustment if i add cacao powder to the frosting ? 🙂
★★★★★
Hi Isa, yes you might prefer our vegan chocolate frosting recipe.
Made this cake for the family and it was delicious, thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks for the great review Steve!
This recipe is so awesome! Thanks!I made it for my boyfriends birthday and he loved it,too.
I can recommend everybody to make it!!!!
★★★★★
Thanks Iva!
Hello Alison,
I am currently half way through making this cake, I am having to bake each half as a time.
The first half hasn’t risen at all, Perhaps this is because i used mainly coconut flour with some normal flour. I added the exact amounts of everything else you’ve mentioned.
I will try to find some all purpose flour and try again, however the mix before baking was not as liquid as the picture you have above and instead quite doughy. Is the measure for cups of flour correct as compared to sugar is very confusing.
1 and 3/4 cups (220g) All-Purpose Flour – surely 3/4 cup extra doesn’t equate to 20g as per the sugar.
1 cup (200g) White Sugar
Hi Matt, coconut flour never works well as a sub for all purpose flour. It’s pretty much a disaster unless the recipe is designed for coconut flour. The measures are correct because they are not measures of volume but of weight. A cup of stones weighs more than a cup of feathers for example.
We love this cake!! It had the consistency of a pound cake and tasted fabulous! We ate it with strawberries and whip cream.
★★★★★
Wonderful! Thanks Lindsey!
Hi Alison can I use a Bundt pan to make this cake? What temperature and time should I bake it for?
You should be able to, I can’t advise on the baking time, but it would likely be in the region of 50 minutes.
Can you give measurements for sheet cake pan? (rectangle)
Hi Lizzie, if you’re looking to make a sheet cake version of this recipe, then check out our vegan vanilla sheet cake recipe.
I made this cake for our doggie since she’s vegan. The recipe was really easy and the cake and frosting came out perfectly. I cut all the ingredients in half since I do not need to spoil her too much with this fluffy, delicious cake. Thank you for making it so easy.
★★★★★