This vegan white cake is light, fluffy and perfect! Topped with a simple white buttercream frosting it’s a super pretty cake that’s perfect for a special occasion.
You might be wondering, what’s the difference between a white cake and a vanilla cake? Well…. not a whole lot really. In fact this recipe is based on our super popular vegan vanilla cake recipe.
The main difference between a vegan white cake and a vegan vanilla cake is just trying to make the color as light as possible.
To make this white cake as white as possible, I used a clear vanilla extract, almond milk, which is very white in color, and baking powder instead of baking soda. Baking powder tends to result in a lighter color for baked goods so worked great here.
How To Make Vegan White Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add white sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Mix together.
- Add almond milk, oil and clear vanilla extract and mix into a batter. Mix until just mixed, don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter between two 8-inch cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with circles of parchment paper on the bottom.
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick insterted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pans and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
White Frosting
The frosting is a mix of powdered sugar, vegan butter, almond milk and clear vanilla extract. The frosting goes a little off-white as a result of the vegan butter, but once it’s on the cake you don’t notice that much anymore.
Simply add all the ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting off at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is fluffy and smooth.
Ingredient Notes
Almond Milk. We liked almond milk best for this cake as it’s very white in color so works well in that respect. Of course you can use a different non-dairy milk such as soy milk if you prefer.
Canola Oil. We used canola oil in this cake and either canola oil or vegetable oil work great. Melted coconut oil also works.
Clear Vanilla Extract. It’s ideal to use a clear vanilla so that it doesn’t darken the cake. Some white cakes also use a few drops of almond extract. We opted not to in this recipe but if you do want to, then just make sure it’s a very small amount as when it comes to almond extract a little goes a long way.
Recipe FAQ
This recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes. Baking time would be around 20 minutes.
If you’d like this cake to be gluten-free then be sure to use a gluten-free all purpose baking blend in the same quantity as the regular flour.
Storing and Freezing
Keep the cake covered at room temperature where it will stay good for a few (3-4) days. Alternatively store it covered in the fridge for up to a week. It’s ideal to let it come to room temperature before serving.
It’s also freezer friendly up to 3 months if you want to freeze it.
More Vegan Cakes
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vegan Victoria Sponge
- The Most Amazing Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Banana Cake
- Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan White Cake
Ingredients
Vegan White Cake:
- 2 ⅔ cups All Purpose Flour (330g)
- 1 ½ cups White Granulated Sugar (300g)
- 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
- ¾ teaspoon Salt
- 1 ½ cups Almond Milk (360ml)
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 2 teaspoons Clear Vanilla Extract
White Buttercream Frosting:
- 4 ½ cups Powdered Sugar (540g)
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 3 ½ Tablespoons Almond Milk
- 2 teaspoons Clear Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and spray two 8-inch cake pins with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper. Set aside.
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the white sugar, baking powder and salt and mix together.
- Add the almond milk, oil and clear vanilla extract and whisk in with a hand whisk until just combined. Don’t overmix.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans and place into the oven to bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack and let them cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vegan butter, almond milk and clear vanilla extract to the bowl of your electric mixer and start off at slow speed, gradually increasing speed until your frosting is thick and smooth.
Notes
- Measure your flour correctly. Either use the spoon and level method: spoon it into a 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 the most accurate results.
- Almond Milk. We liked almond milk best for this cake as it’s very white in color so works well in that respect. Of course you can use a different non-dairy milk such as soy milk if you prefer.
- Canola Oil. We used canola oil in this cake and either canola oil or vegetable oil work great. Melted coconut oil also works.
- Clear Vanilla Extract. It’s ideal to use a clear vanilla so that it doesn’t darken the cake. Some white cakes also use a few drops of almond extract. We opted not to in this recipe but if you do want to, then just make sure it’s a very small amount as when it comes to almond extract a little goes a long way.
- Cupcakes: This recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes. Baking time will be around 20 minutes.
- Gluten-Free: If you’d like this cake to be gluten-free then be sure to use a gluten-free all purpose baking blend in the same quantity as the regular flour.
- Storing: Keep the cake covered at room temperature where it will stay good for a few (3-4) days. Alternatively store it covered in the fridge for up to a week. It’s ideal to let it come to room temperature before serving. It’s also freezer friendly up to 3 months if you want to freeze it.
- This recipe was first published in July 2018. We have updated it with new photos and a few small changes to the recipe. The original recipe used baking soda (1 ½ tsp baking soda + 1 Tbsp white vinegar) and melted coconut oil. We re-tested the recipe and found baking powder to work best for the color and preferred canola oil for the texture, though melted coconut oil does work just fine if you prefer to use that.
Can you use butter instead of oil in this recipe? I found that when I cream the butter and sugar together it makes a softer crumb.
Hi Tahira, I don’t recommend it, oil is much better in this cake for a moist cake. Just don’t overmix and you will get a very soft crumb.
My vegan friends love this really easy cake to make & even said it was the nicest vegan cake they’d had. Could it be made chocolate by replacing some of the flour with cocoa ?
So glad you and your friends enjoyed it Charlie! We have some really great chocolate cake recipes on this blog, I would highly recommend trying one of those instead of adapting this one. The most similar (in method) would be our easy vegan chocolate cake.
My absolute go-to as a base for any non-chocolate cake. It comes out perfectly every time and it’s a solid fave.
Thank you!
Wonderful! Thanks so much Agata!
I made this almost exactly as directed for my hubby’s birthday. I didn’t have white vanilla so substituted lemon extract to taste, but it baked over the sides and sank slightly in the middle. Tasted good but the shape was off. I thought the frosting was very sweet! We don’t eat much for sweets so a little sugar goes a long way. Thankfully I had already planned to use a homemade blueberry jam filling instead of frosting. I would have omitted the frosting altogether but had to frost it to attempt to cover the shape. My vegan and non-vegan family liked it after scraping off the frosting!
Hi, can I replace the plant based milk for full milk? Thanks
Yes you can.
Thank you! This is such a delicious vegan vanilla cake that it is now a confirmed favourite amongst my friends and family which include non-vegans and very fussy children! I follow this recipe rather than your vegan vanilla cake recipe (as I think you direct) as the measurements here are for 8” tins. I also use oat milk and vegetable oil as that’s what we have in the house and not being fussed about producing a white cake, I just use normal vanilla essence. The resulting cake is heavenly. And it’s such an easy cake to rustle up when you haven’t much time or advance notice for entertaining! I just love it!
So happy to hear that Mims! Thanks a million for the amazing review.
Hi I am interested in using this recipe for my little brother’s birthday cake. It looks pretty good, but he is allergies to a ton of things including wheat (all purpose flour). We have a gluten free flour that we use, but I wanted to know if I make the recipe exactly as is, and simply substitute the All-Purpose Flour for his Gluten-free Flour, will the cake still rise the same, or will I need another ingredient to help it rise (baking soda + apple cider vinegar)?
P.S I did see your recipe for Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes but it looks as if the turned brown in color as they were baked (which would be a problem normally but I am looking to color the layer yellow and blue).
Looking forward to using your recipe. Thank you in advance!
Hi Kay, it should work fine to just replace the flour with your gluten-free option. All the best! 🙂
I made your vanilla cake recipe and frosting and it is delicious. I was wondering if it could be made into a banana cake with the additions of a banana or two?
Hi Joyce, we do have a recipe for vegan banana cake. 🙂
I am making this cake for my daughter’s birthday tomorrow. I was wondering if the almond milk should be at room temperature? Thank you for sharing your very user friendly recipes that don’t call for unknown ingredients, I’m not vegan, however I make vegan dishes for my daughter weekly.
Hi Renee! Thanks so much, I’m so glad you’re finding the recipes user-friendly. I usually just use the almond milk straight from the fridge, and there’s not been an issue, so cold is fine! 🙂
Hi Alison, can I make this in a 6″ cake pan for 3 layers? What would the baking time be?
Hi Kejal, I think it would actually make 4 layers if they’re 6-inch. Baking time probably around 20 minutes.
Hello,
If I want to use a 9 by 13 sheet pan, how much time should it bake?
I’m not entirely sure, I would guess about 25 minutes, but keep a check on it.
I made this cake today but found it to be too sweet for my liking. Could I use just 200g of sugar next time? Its a beautiful light cake that tastes of vanilla and I really want to make it again.
Hi Lulu, yes I think it would be fine to reduce the sugar. All the best!
Hello Alison,
Would olive oil be ok, or would it darken the colour?
????
It should be fine! I’m not sure if it would darken the color, it might do, depending on which olive oil you use. Generally speaking a mildly flavored olive oil would be best. 🙂
Hello Alison, I made the cake today, using coconut oil, and vanilla sugar. For some reason, some parts of the cake were still gooey, and still wouldn’t cook after 1 hour! Could it be the vanilla sugar?
I actually used more, bc apparantly the ratio of vanilla sugar to essence is more.
Hi Bron, honestly I don’t know as I’ve never used that sugar. But taking a very long time to cook is usually a sign of the oven not heating properly. An oven thermometer helps a lot with this. 🙂
Hi, this may be a silly question but I’d rather check ???? The recipe calls for granulated sugar. Is caster sugar ok? And do you know if this cake would this cake hold fondant ok? Many thanks, Izzy
Hi Izzy, caster sugar should work fine. I haven’t used fondant but based on feedback from other readers it seems fondant holds just fine on our cake recipes. 🙂
Absolutely amazing recipe and such an amazing website too! I have so much trust for this website, every single thing I’ve tried from here has turned out beautifully! This really has become my go-to for everything vegan!!
Thank you so much Amani! 🙂