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. You can also make this cake as a three layer 6-inch cake, or a single layer 9-inch cake.
To adapt this cake to different size cake pans, see our notes on how to do that below.
Vegan Vanilla Cake Q&A
You can try simply swapping the regular all purpose flour for a gluten free all purpose flour blend.
Yes, this recipe makes a perfect three layer 6-inch cake cake. Bake for 20 minutes.
Yes, but the layers are just a little thinner. You can also take a look at our vegan Victoria sponge cake recipe which is this recipe, adapted for 8-inch cake pans. 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.
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.
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!).
Yes you can! We have already done it, check out our recipe for vegan vanilla cupcakes, which is adapted from this recipe.
Storing and Freezing
Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay perfectly fresh for a 2-3 days or keep it covered in the fridge to stay good for up to a week.
The cake is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. You can freeze it either frosted or unfrosted (but definitely don’t add strawberries if you plan to freeze it).
More Vegan Cakes
- Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake
- Vegan Banana Cake
- Vegan Strawberry Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Cake:
- 1 ¾ cups All Purpose Flour (220g)
- 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Soy Milk (240ml) or Other non-dairy milk
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ⅓ cup Canola Oil (80ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
For The Vanilla Frosting:
- 3 ¾ cups Powdered Sugar (450g)
- 3 Tbsp Vegan Butter (45g)
- 4 Tbsp Soy Milk or Other non-dairy milk*
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
For Decoration:
- Fresh Strawberries Optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray two 7-inch round cake pans (*see notes) with non-stick spray and cut parchment paper into circles to fit the bottoms.
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Add the soy milk, vanilla, oil and vinegar and give it a quick whisk with a hand whisk until just combined.
- Divide the batter evenly between your two prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire 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.
Video
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. This cake recipe as is will also make a three layer 6-inch round cake (bake for 20 minutes) or a single layer 9-inch round cake (bake for 30 minutes). It can also be made as a 9×9 square sheet cake (bake for 20-25 minutes). 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 the cake recipe for our vegan Victoria sponge. If you want to adapt this recipe to fit two 9-inch round cake pans see our full instructions below.
- If you want to double this recipe for a 9-inch round two layer cake, then the ingredients list will be as follows: 3 and ½ 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, ⅔ cup (160ml) Canola Oil, 2 Tbsp White Vinegar. Everything else including baking times (30 minutes), 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.
Hazel Shard says
Sorry if anyones asked this already but all my ingredients are out and im ready to bake but I just realised i only have one three inch deep tin. Could I possibly cover it woth foil and just bake it for longer, and then when its cooled can i cut it across the middle in to two, or will that not work? Any advice would be so much appreciated!
Haze x
Alison Andrews says
Hey Hazel, did you try it like that? I think it can definitely work to do a single layer, but you know how cakes can be unpredictable, sometimes you make a single change…. If you tried it though I hope it worked out great! Let us know! 🙂
stacy says
This cake gets stuck in the pan every time. I think it should be greased with something else (shortening?) and floured (not just greased). We love the color and the flavor though.
Alison Andrews says
Oh – we showed it in the video but I realized from your comment that I hadn’t specified it in the recipe card so I just updated that now, it’s ideal if you line the bottom of the pans with circles of parchment paper as well, that takes care of that perfectly. Thanks for pointing that out! 🙂
Shanta Jackson says
Hi I used cane sugar, almond milk and apple cider. I used an 8” pan and all poured all the batter in one pan. The btter taste great, but my cake formed a mountain on top. I also slammed the batter down in the pan to get our air bubbles.
Can you tell why the cakes formed a mountain which didn’t cook all the way through?
Amanda says
This is a fantastic vegan vanilla cake – I followed the recipe exactly, and I can’t stop eating it!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thanks Amanda! 🙂
Jason says
Glad I found this recipe. My almost wife is vegan (I am not) and I would be the first to bake her a vegan cake for her birthday she will turn 30 tomorrow. It was super easy to make and from what I see of it since I took it from the oven it looks pretty tatsy. It’s quite dense for such thin layers. It will be frosted tonight and eaten tomorrow evening and I am quite excited myself to see how it textures and tastes.
Alison Andrews says
Glad you found it easy Jason and hope it tastes good! All the best!
Kendra says
I tried to bake this using gluten free flour — Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-To-1 Baking Flour — and as advised, weighed the flour. I also used two 8″ pans, but instead of doubling the recipe, made it twice over because the amount of batter for one cake barely filled a single 8″. Well, I don’t really think it’s the fault of the recipe, but they came out horrible. 🙁 They looked golden brown from the outside and a toothpick through the center came out clean, but cutting into them revealed the center was mushy as could be. Severely undercooked and tasted sickeningly sweet, to boot!
A note that the color will be majorly different for gluten free flour may have helped (~35 minutes did not seem to be enough), but I’m more inclined to think that since the outside ring of the cake was cooked fine that my very old, finicky oven may have been the cause for disaster.
Alison Andrews says
The flour weight for gluten-free is not the same as all purpose flour. And such an adjustment is quite a big one and ‘at own risk’ so to speak. I have made this recipe into gluten-free cupcakes and perhaps you could take a look there to see the adjustments made.
Cristina says
I loved loved LOVED this vegan cake recipe! I made it for my friend’s birthday and it was a total crowd pleaser. I will definitely make this dessert in the future. Next time, I’m thinking of adding blueberries and raspberries on top of the cake to give it more flare 😉 Thank you for posting this incredibly easy and delicious recipe! ❤️
Alison Andrews says
Awesome Cristina! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Heather says
I made this cake yesterday for New Year’s Eve and it turned out perfect! I ran out of nut milk, so I used some left over coconut milk eggnog and it still came out delicious. I also used half of the frosting since I’ve never been a huge frosting fan. Needless to say I loved it and my non-vegan boyfriend loved it as well. Looking forward to round 2 and thank you for the recipe! I didn’t see a place to upload a picture.
Alison Andrews says
Sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing! 🙂 If you’re on instagram that’s the perfect place to share a pic and tag us @lovingitvegan and #lovingitvegan 🙂
Rina Gorvokaj says
Omg confused teaspoon with tablespoon.
Let’s see what happens…
Alison Andrews says
Whoops! 🙂 Hope it’s okay!
crystal says
Thank you for this awesome recipe! cant wait to try this weekend 🙂 but if I substitute plain flour with whole wheat flour, will that change the results of the cake?
Alison Andrews says
It will change the results of the cake, it would likely be denser and coarser in texture, which is not saying it will be bad! I would read the other comments on the post and see if anyone else has done it and what results they had.
Elise van Dam says
Hey Alison, I baked your cake! But not everything went as expected. The first time I doubled the batch because it was going to go in two 10 inch pans. But then I tasted the batter and it was WAY to sweet (I’m also going to add fondant to make cake), so I threw it away and tried again, with less sugar (250 grams). But then I think I may have added too much flour to try and compensate for the lack of thickness of the batter. So I baked them and they taste okay but they almost didn’t rise and the cake seems quite heavy/concentrated. Could it be because of the fact that I added more flour or that I added less sugar in a doubled batch?
Anyway, so then I had two low cakes and I decided to make another single batch to make a higher, three-layered cake. I stuck to your recipe, only I added 150 grams of sugar instead of 200 grams. I put all the batter in one 10 inch pan and it poofed a little better than the doubled recipe. It had a little dome but yours still seems to poof better so I’m thinking it may be the lack sugar? Or maybe I had to whisk it longer? Do you have any advice?
Also, do you think a three-layered cake will still go okay with the frosting and flavor?
Oh and I haven’t added the frosting yet, I will do that today. Maybe that is what will make it a lot higher? But your cake still looks higher, even when I imagine it without the frosting hmm…
I hope you have some advice for me! Thanks in advance!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Elise, hmmm, well doubling a recipe can be tricky, that’s the first part, and I don’t know exactly what you would have needed to change there. But if the result came out okay and you get a 3-layer cake then good stuff! The single layer you baked sounds about right, if there is a nice dome then it likely rose, I don’t know if the reduced sugar may have impacted the result, but any change you make can have an impact. Sometimes even a small change has a big impact. It just depends. So it’s hard for me to say. I think you may need to make a small amount more frosting for a 3-layer cake, then was used on this one, also because your cakes are wider as well. All the best!
Elise van Dam says
Hey Alison, just wanted to let you know that the cake was a huge hit! As well as three layers and adding the fondant on top of the frosting (after I let it sit in the refrigerator overnight) was no problem. Everyone loved the taste.
The only thing was that the combination of the frosting with the fondant made the cake a bit too sweet. Also the cake was really…not fluffy? So next time I will follow your ingredient list exactly and use a smaller baking can and see if that will solve the problem.
Thanks for the recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Great! So glad it came out well, even if it could have been more fluffy! Thanks for updating! 🙂
Carla says
I made this cake recently and doubled it to fit my 9-in cake pans (I didn’t double the frosting recipe though). The cake turned out moist and VERY sweet (like you can only handle one piece at a time). My sister remarked how it was like a coffee cake in texture and sweetness. If I were to make this again, I would NOT double the sugar. I would do less. I may also do less almond milk? When I took the cakes out of the oven they sunk a little in the middle too where they were more moist so I don’t know if that means I should’ve used a little less baking soda or what? If anyone has any suggestions, I’d be pleased to know what you think. Just thought I’d report back on my experience.
Alison Andrews says
Doubling a recipe can be tricky, I think this is where things sometimes go wrong. Thanks for posting! 🙂
Marlyn says
This is my first vegan cake recipe and did it for the birthday of a friend. I got a lot of praises. Thank you!
I followed the recipe but used just 1 9″round pan. Baking time was 40 minutes then cool for 10 minutes.
Removed the cake from the pan and cook for 20 minutes. While the card is stillwarm, I divided it into two horizontally and spread homemade passion fruit jam. Placed the top layer and cool thoroughly. For topping, a thin spread of homemade strawberry jam and walnuts. It was a huge success thanks to you. I have pictures.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome Marlyn! Thanks for sharing that useful info! We love to see pictures, but sadly they can’t be posted into comments, if you’re on instagram, tag us #lovingitvegan there so we definitely see them. Thank you! 🙂
Ann says
I made this as a birthday cake so doubled the recipe and it was perfect, seriously wonderful recipe my family loved it and demolished it within a day!
Thanks very much for this recipe
Emily says
5* recipe! I used vanilla soy milk for it and it really adds to the vanilla taste. I didn’t separate it into two tins so I ended up overcooking the outside so it was cooked all the way through but it still tasted delicious!
I’m thinking of making it again but into cupcakes and having biscoff spread icing ?
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Emily! I have made this recipe into cupcakes, the only change was the baking time as I recall, you can check it out here: Vegan vanilla cupcakes.
Alison Andrews says
I just had to look up what Biscoff was as I haven’t heard of it, and wow it sounds delish! 🙂