Gorgeously light and fluffy vegan vanilla cupcakes topped with creamy strawberry vanilla frosting. Perfect little packages of yum!
Ever since making our vegan chocolate cupcakes I’ve had cupcakes on my mind!
Big time!
I couldn’t wait to make more. So I decided to make these gorgeous vegan vanilla cupcakes with strawberry vanilla frosting.
And they came out so well.
I was especially thrilled with the frosting. I wasn’t sure how it would work out to use strawberry flavoring, but it did the job incredibly well and provided the most beautiful pale pink color, and the flavor was awesome. It reminded Jaye of a strawberry milkshake.
You’ll love these cupcakes for their beautiful color, light and fluffy texture and lovely blend of flavors.
Cupcakes are so easy they’re my new favorite thing. So much easier than full cakes (though I love making cakes!), because they bake in less time and you don’t have to cut out parchment paper for the cake pans.
The only tricky part for me was in transferring the batter to the cupcake liners, my first batch of cupcakes was very messy, until I figured out that the best method was to transfer the batter to a jug with a pouring nozzle and pour it neatly into each cupcake liner.
Messiness problem solved.
The great thing about these cupcakes is that the flavors are so mild and blend so beautifully together. You’ve got the light flavors of vanilla blending with the sweet scented flavors of strawberries.
The texture of these vanilla cupcakes is also perfectly light and spongey.
Decorating
Decorate them with some fresh chopped strawberries if you’re serving them right away. If you want to keep them (they keep very well in a covered cake container in the fridge for up to a week), then don’t use fresh fruit for decoration as the strawberries will run and the cakes will become soggy.
Alternatively decorate with vegan sprinkles or dried coconut.
Make Them Gluten-Free
For a gluten-free version of these cupcakes, check out our vegan gluten-free vanilla cupcakes.
Make A Layer Cake
This recipe can adapt to a three layer 6-inch cake. Bake time is 20 minutes.
Storing and Freezing
These cupcakes keep very well in a covered container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
They can also be frozen (frosted or unfrosted, but don’t add any fresh strawberry decoration if you’re freezing them) for up to 3 months.
More Delicious Vegan Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
- Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes
- Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes:
- 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
- ⅓ cup Canola Oil (80ml) or Vegetable Oil*
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar
Strawberry Vanilla Frosting
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 3 cups Powdered Sugar (360g)
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 tsp Strawberry Extract
Decoration:
- Fresh Sliced Strawberries optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake liners.
- Sift the flour into a bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt.
- Then add the soy milk, vanilla extract, oil and white vinegar.
- Mix until just mixed, using a hand whisk to get rid of any big lumps. Don’t overmix, tiny lumps are fine.
- Pour the batter into a jug that allows for easy pouring and pour evenly into the 12 cupcake liners, ensuring that all the batter is used up.
- Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Check the cupcakes at 20 minutes and if a toothpick inserted into the center doesn’t come out clean, then put them back in for a further 5 minutes.
- Move to a cooling rack and allow to cool thoroughly before frosting.
- Prepare the frosting by adding the vegan butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and strawberry flavoring to an electric mixer bowl. Begin mixing on low speed, gradually increasing speed until you have perfectly smooth frosting.
- Decorate with fresh strawberry slices before serving (optional).
Video
Notes
- We have also made these with a light olive oil (as in the video) and they worked great! But for more consistent results across brands canola oil or vegetable oil is a better option.
- These cupcakes keep very well in a covered container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
- They can also be frozen (frosted or unfrosted, but don’t add any fresh strawberry decoration if you’re freezing them) for up to 3 months.
Abi says
Hi I don’t have white vinegar do u have an alternative I can use?
Alison Andrews says
Apple cider vinegar will also work fine.
Helen says
Hi Alison
These look scrumpy and I think I’ve found the perfect recipe after trawling through many to please everyone in the household. I’d like to make these for my daughter’s 21st but the cake I’m making requires two cakes to be sandwiched together to form a ball which will then be covered. Do you think the consistency of the cakes would allow that? I need something squashy that’s not to crumb too much when handled. Also, could they be made with granulated sweetener instead of sugar?
Thanks for your help, Helen
Alison Andrews says
Hi Helen, I think the consistency would be good for that purpose, though I’m wondering if our vegan vanilla cake would work better since it seems you are looking for a cake recipe? Regarding sweetener, I have only tested this with granulated sugar, I’m not sure what you mean by granulated sweetener, but I’m assuming you mean sugar-free? This recipe has never been tested that way so I don’t know. All the best!
Anne Bourne says
Really delicious. Tried them out on my non-vegan sceptical family and they loved them.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks Anne!
Clark says
Hi! How do I make sure that the frosting last longer ? Will it work if I add vegetable shortening?
I live in Thailand. Quite hot here all year round. ????
Alison Andrews says
Hi Clark, I haven’t ever used shortening so I’m not sure, but of course you are welcome to experiment. If it’s super hot though it might be best to store them in the fridge.
Elle says
Mine keep overflowing in the oven. Anyone know why this is happening?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Elle, the only reason I can think of for that happening is if the liners are over-filled.
Katie says
Hi I substituted All purpose flour for Gluten Free flour hoping they taste good
Regina says
This was a great recipe! There is no way you would know these are vegan, or would be able to tell the difference with a regular cupcake. The cake crumb was very nice – not too dense and was very fluffy. I believe the baking soda and vinegar reacting is what allowed the cake to be light and fluffy. I was worried there would be a vinegar-y taste, but there was not at all. I subbed in about a 1/4 C of wheat flour in there to give it a bit more body, as most of the time cupcakes are so light you end up eating more than one. So the end result was more of a muffin than a cupcake, but it was so delicious. My kids really liked them. We made our own oreo cookie icing to go on top and I had to stop myself after eating two. Highly recommend and will be using this recipe for a birthday cake this week for my mom!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thanks so much Regina!
Alleybela says
Hi,
Can I made the icing a day ahead and keep it in the fridge before decorating?
Alison Andrews says
Yes! 🙂
Steph says
Hi is it castor sugar that is used in the batter or granulated?
Alison Andrews says
Granulated.
Sarah Renshaw says
Can I freeze this recipe?
Alison Andrews says
Yes, definitely. 🙂
Paige says
Hi, what brand of vegan butter do you use for the buttercream? I’ve used stork baking block and it doesn’t taste very nice?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Paige, if you’re in the UK, Waitrose has some good dairy-free butter options that I’ve used before and worked really well.
Sierra Bowman says
Delicious ???? however I have a question.
I use organic pure cane sugar instead of white sugar and while very good I noticed seems to almost make them too sweet and caramelizes the tops.
So how many grams would you suggest I knock off the sugar without altering too much? I was thinking 50g but I don’t want it to mess with the rise or fluff. Thanks ????
Alison Andrews says
Hi Sierra, so glad you enjoyed them! I think taking off 50g would work out perfectly!
Fernanda says
Hi Alison, can I flavour the frosting with strawberry coulis? Or does it need to be artificial flavouring? Thank you, Fernanda
Alison Andrews says
Hi Fernanda, you can definitely flavor it as you like. Just go easy with it so that the frosting stays nice and thick.
Fiona says
Hi Alison,
For step 4, should I ensure all the lumps are gone and that is is a completely smooth batter or would that cause it to be overmixed?
Thanks,
Fiona
Alison Andrews says
Hi Fiona, in most cases getting it to be entirely smooth would result in an over-mixed batter. Tiny lumps are fine!
Fiona says
Thanks Alison, I made the cupcakes but I reduced the sugar by 50g and whacked in some blueberries. Easy to make and is delicious! 🙂
Sonia says
Can I substitute the white vinegar for apple cider vinegar?
Alison Andrews says
Sure. 🙂
Suhani says
Hi I tried this recipe and for some reason my batter was runny. Can you please help and suggest what might have gone wrong?
Alison Andrews says
I’m not sure if anything went wrong, the batter is supposed to be quite runny, see the photos or the video for comparison.