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.
Jeewon says
Sorry, i am inexperienced but Is it really 3 tablespoons of butter for the frosting?
Alison Andrews says
It is! It’s a simple frosting and not a ‘buttercream’ as such. I have a recipe for vegan buttercream coming shortly that you can use instead if you prefer, or take a look at the frosting for our vegan white cake. 🙂
Natalie says
Great recipe, thank you xx
Alison Andrews says
You’re welcome! So happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
Cristina says
Can I use baking powder instead of baking soda?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Cristina, no baking powder is much less powerful than baking soda and won’t cause the same rise at this quantity. If you did use baking powder you would have to use a fair bit more and I have not tested this recipe that way to know exactly how much would be ideal.
Ninneru H says
LOOOL ever since i tried your sugar cookie recipe i trust your recipes! trying this tonight!
Brigitte says
Dear Alison,
I am looking forward to making this cake :-). It looks delish. One questions: can I substitute the vegetable oil with the same amount of liquid margarine?
Thanks! Kind regards, Brigitte
Alison Andrews says
Hi Brigitte, it might be totally fine! But I haven’t tried it that way. Margarine is made up of oils and water so it’s not 100% oil like oil is, it might still work fine though, but like I say I haven’t tried it in this recipe. Let us know how it goes! 🙂
Brigitte says
Dear Alison, thank you for your reply.
I made the cake, substituting the oil with the same amount of liquid margarine and it worked out fine.
(Reason for substitution: I just like the taste of margarine better than oil ;-).
Thanks for this great recipe! I’ll definitely come back to try more. Warm regards
Alison Andrews says
So glad to hear it worked out well with margarine! Thanks for updating us and the great review! 🙂
Charlotte says
Delicious! I made it in a 9 inch cake pan and i found that the cake was too small… I would have doubled the recipe to make a 2 layer 9 inch cake! Other than that, it took 10 minutes of extra baking before the knife came out clean. The result was a delicious smooth vanilla cake! So happy that it’s so easy to bake vegan, even my skeptical meat-eating brothers loved it! The icing is a little too sweet for my taste, but with the strawberries it was delicious!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Charlotte, yes if you want a 2-layer cake then definitely double the recipe next time. But so glad to hear you enjoyed the cake and thanks for sharing about the extra baking time! 🙂
Purple_uk says
Hi 🙂
Would your vegan cakes be ok for covering in Fondant or are they too soft? And do you have a vegan ganache recipe? Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Hi there! I’ve never used fondant but I just went through the other comments and another reader did report using fondant and said it went well! So I think the answer is yes, though I don’t have personal experience. Let us know how it works out! 🙂 I do have a vegan ganache frosting recipe and vegan chocolate truffles that have a chocolate ganache center and a vegan chocolate ganache pie! Hope that helps. 🙂
Purple_uk says
Thank you so much! I will try it out. And I will definitely check out your ganache recipes ? Thank you! Xx
Golly B says
I used a 9″ springform pan. The only thing I changed was swapped the soy milk for almond milk as I didn’t have soy. I didn’t mind how it came out…I enjoyed it, but it was a bit dense. That being said, I will definitely try it again. The bottom of the cake was a little on the soft side. It might just be this oven, so I’ll make a note of this and leave it in for 5 mins more. Thank you. Will be trying your other recipes too.
Jamila says
Can I substitute olive oil with coconut oil?
Alison Andrews says
Sure, just make sure it’s melted first.
PastryChefLiz says
If you use coconut oil in place of olive oil, you should melt it, but also make sure your other liquid ingredients are room temperature, like your soy milk, or whatever milk replacement you use. If not it will cause the coconut oil to solidify in small chunks during the mixing process!
joe says
I did this today and it turned out perfect but with a bit of alteration. I used 150g sugar cos that would be too sweet for my taste. Another thing can I use baking powder instead of the soda because in my opinion it ruins the taste. It has a sort of metallic taste.
Thanks and God bless.
Tanya says
Do not skip the parchment paper.
Tanya says
The cake wasn’t finished cooking after 30 min at 350, needed an extra 10 minutes other than that great recipe.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Tanya! 🙂
Claire says
Hi, my boyfriends mom made this cake and it’s one of the best I have ever had! I’m looking to make it myself but need to know if I can do I can bake it square as i dont have any cake pans??? Please let me know asap as I want to surprise my visiting uncle and family I have not seen in some time. Thank you so much!!!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Claire, what size cake pan do you have? If you only have a sheet pan, you can make our vegan vanilla sheet cake as it is this recipe adapted for a sheet cake. All the best!
Tina says
I made mini cupcakes with this recipe. The flavor is really spot-on. They have a dryer mouthfeel than I was expecting based on the consistency of the batter, and they are really difficult to pull away from the paper lining, even on day 2. However I’m willing to bet that’s because of the markedly increased surface area to volume ratio you get with mini cupcakes versus a cake — vastly more opportunity for water loss. I bet as a full-sized cake this is really delicious. Thank you for the recipe, and an extra thank you for measuring out the ingredients in grams.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Tina, I’m sure you’re correct about the difference with mini cupcakes. I have made regular sized cupcakes with this recipe, but not mini ones. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Sarah Hemmings says
Hi, I am making this cake for my husband’s 40th birthday this week and made a couple of little ones today as a tester. The cake tastes amazing (and the frosting is divine) but I can’t get my cake to rise properly. I tried using baking powder, no rise. then I made another one with bicarbanote of soda, no rise. The batter looks exactly like yours, I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I used a plain hand whisk and just combined it all together, little whisks before putting in the oven. Should I whisk more?
Also I used a vanilla flavoured soya milk, which was awesome in the frosting, but maybe thats impacting the sponge?
Thanks!!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Sarah, it definitely needs to be baking soda, baking powder is not strong enough in this quantity, if I was using baking powder I would have used much more. The vinegar is crucial to react with the baking soda for the cake to rise. If you are using both baking soda and vinegar like the recipe calls for then I’m not sure what is going wrong. The vanilla soy milk would be completely fine to use. Other reasons cakes sometimes don’t rise, is if your baking soda isn’t fresh (maybe it sat too long on the shelf at the store) or the batter sits too long before baking, or it’s over-mixed. I’m not sure if any of those things would apply. Hope you come right with it! 🙂