Vegan Vanilla Cake
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The Best Vegan Vanilla Cake – Fluffy and moist, this is a must have cake for all kinds of occasions! The only vanilla cake recipe you’ll ever need, and it’s vegan.
This Vegan Vanilla Cake has been a long time coming. Ever since I posted my Vegan Chocolate Cake, I’ve been wanting to create the most perfect vanilla cake, too. After a couple of tries, and a few tweaks here and there, I’ve done it! Moist and fluffy, golden vanilla cake layers paired with my Vanilla Vegan Frosting. Vanilla lovers will swoon over this cake! You could also frost it with Chocolate Frosting, if you prefer.
P.S. If anyone wants a slice, I’ve drowning in cake over here so come on over! 😉
What is Aquafaba and what purpose does it serve in baking?
Aquafaba is simply the liquid, or juice from a can of chickpeas. That’s it. Really.
It makes a great binder, similar to egg whites, and when you whip it, you can do amazing things, such as make meringues, fluffy mousses and more! I use it here in this Grain Free Granola, and in this Lemon Cake.
For this recipe, drain the liquid from a can of chickpeas, and pour it into a bowl. Whisk it for a minute or two, until it’s a bit foamy on top. It doesn’t have to have stiff peaks for this recipe, like it does for meringues. When it’s time to add it to the cake batter, measure out 1/2 cup.
I really enjoy using it for cake and cupcake recipes, because it makes them bake up so fluffy and moist, and there are no little brown bits from flaxseed eggs.
Tips on how to make the best Vegan Vanilla Cake:
- Cake flour works the absolute best in the recipe if you can find it. The cake will have a fine crumb and be very light and fluffy, but all purpose flour does work, too.
- To prepare your pans, please use a small circle of parchment paper and place it in the bottom. Then spray or grease the pans all over, including the sides. Trust me, I’ve had many cakes ruined by not properly preparing my pans!
- Use both the vegan butter AND canola oil. This makes the cake super moist and fluffy, while giving it the best possible buttery flavor.
- Make sure to cool the cakes COMPLETELY before frosting. If it’s warm at all, you will have a big melty mess on your hands. Trust me, I’ve been there… If I’m in a rush, I’ll put the cakes in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.
- It’s best to store the cake in an airtight container, like a cake carrier. You can also lightly wrap it with plastic wrap, but it may ruin your designs.
Tools that are helpful for making and decorating Vegan Vanilla Cake:
Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer – My mom had actually bought one of these years ago, in hopes she would do more baking. Well, that didn’t really happen so I’m borrowing it. Oh wow, you guys, it’s amazing! You can also use a hand mixer.
Icing Smoother – I recently got this little smoothing tool and I really like it.
Sprinkles, of course! If you want some really special, pretty sprinkles (that are safely vegan), check out Sweetapolita. They have such pretty ones!
Want more Vegan Cake and Cupcake recipes?
Vegan Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup aquafaba
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup canola oil, or melted coconut oil
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups cake flour OR all purpose flour*
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 Recipe Vanilla Vegan Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare 2 round 8-inch cake pans by lining the bottom with parchment paper and spraying well with oil.
- Make the Vegan Buttermilk: Combine the non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar. Stir a little, then set aside.
- Make the Aquafaba: Pour the liquid from a can of chickpeas into a small-medium bowl. Whisk well for a minute, until foamy and light. This acts similar to eggs. You can't taste it at all in the cake, don't worry! You will use 1/2 cup of this, and the liquid from 1 can is just perfect.
- Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the softened vegan butter, canola oil and sugar until creamy and well combined.
- Measure out 1/2 cup of the aquafaba, and add it to the bowl, along with the vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Using the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and vegan buttermilk, mixing until just combined after each time. The batter should be fairly smooth (a few lumps are okay), but avoid over-mixing.
- Pour the cake batter evenly into the prepared pans, and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the edges are golden brown, the surface looks and feels set, and a toothpick comes out mostly clean, with no wet batter.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then carefully invert them onto a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely before frosting. You can place them in the refrigerator to speed the cooling process along if you need to.
- Frost with my Vanilla Vegan Frosting or use the Chocolate Frosting from my Chocolate Cake Recipe. Add some sprinkles for fun, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Cake flour will make the cake much lighter with a fine crumb, but all purpose works fine if you can't find cake flour.
- May use any kind of unsweetened non-dairy milk, such as soy, almond, cashew, coconut or rice milk.
- Earth balance brand of vegan butter is preferred. You can use another brand, but make sure you like the flavor of it, as it may come through in the cake.
- Aquafaba is simply the liquid from a can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans. It sounds weird, but when it's whipped up a bit it has many great uses! It works like eggs, eggwhites and can even be used to make vegan meringue! You can not taste it AT ALL.
- You could make cupcakes with this recipe, if desired. They will need less baking time, 20-25 minutes.
- Calorie estimate is with 1/12th of the cake with Vanilla Vegan frosting.
Nutrition
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492 Comments on “Vegan Vanilla Cake”
if I use wheat all purpose flour of just plain wheat flour will it make a difference?
Hi Lily. Using whole wheat flour will cause the cake to taste like a whole wheat cake (denser, with a different flavor). Cake flour is ideal for cakes because it is very fine and sifted. I would not make any other changes. I hope this helps!
Seriously a delicious cake! I love your recipes, but this one takes the cake 😁. I’m an avid baker, but after going vegan 4 years ago, I haven’t been able to find the right recipe until now. I will make this again and again!
Hi Melanie. Yay! I’m glad you found a cake recipe you love! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review! Happy cooking!
Hi, do you have measurements for the vegan butter in grams?
Hi! 113 grams.
I’m confused about how to measure the aquafaba and my google search hasn’t helped….do I measure 1/2 c. of the foam?? or just the liquid? Or should I mix it until all the liquid is foam?
Hi there! As per the instructions, you will whip the aquafaba until light and foamy, then use 1/2 cup of it. Use the foamy light part, but it should all be quite foamy once whipped. Hope that helps!
Is it possible to use this recipe for a 4 layer 6 inch cake?
Hi Kiera. You could double it to make a 4 layer cake, as long as you are using 8 or 9 inch cake pans. I think it will be fine stacked so tall, but I haven’t tried it myself. Hope this helps!
Hi Nora!
Thanks for the great recipe.
Do you think I could split this into 3 6” cake pans?
Thank you!
Hi Ana. Yes, you can make a triple layer 6 inch cake with this recipe! Happy cooking!
The recipe is just right. Thank you so much that was my allergic son’s first cake. We really enjoyed it with banana vegan frosting
I’m so glad your son could have this cake! I’m glad it was just right for you. Thank you for sharing!
Is it possible to use an alternative sugar like honey or Monk fruit?
I really can’t say if either of those would work or not, as I have only tried it with sugar. Monk fruit might work, but I’m not positive how it will affect the texture. I don’t think honey will work.
Is it possible to make this with a different flour instead of all-purpose? Like oat, spelt, almond, hemp, or whole wheat? Thank you!
Hi Anna. You could substitute a gluten free flour mix. Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 works pretty well, as do other brands. Using whole wheat flour will cause the cake to taste like a whole wheat cake (denser, with a different flavor). Cake flour is ideal for cakes because it is very fine and sifted. I would not make any other changes. I hope this helps!
This cake is the best! I have baked it many times and people ask for the recipe every single time. I bake it with all purpose flour and I find that I have to add 1 tea spoon of baking soda and 2 table spoon of lemon juice for a good rise. Nobody seems to have this problem in the comments to my surprise!
I often make your lemon curd to layer it with and it’s delicious! Thank you!
Hi Sara! I’m so glad you like the cake! My cake always rises just fine as written, but I’m glad you figured out what works for you! Thank you so much! I love adding lemon curd as the middle layer, yum.
Hi so excited to make this! just seeing if anyone has substituted the Aquafaba successfully ? and also if I make this ahead how do I store just the cake bases ? 🙂
Thanks !!!!
I haven’t subbed the aquafaba successfully here, but to store the cakes I would wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and either refrigerate for a few days max, or freeze them until ready to frost. Hope that helps!
Thank you ! cake was amazing everyone loved it, if I wanted to do this as a 4 layer cake would I just double it ? prepping for the next birthday hahah
I’m so glad, thank you! Sure, you could double it for a 4 layer cake, I’m pretty sure it would be fine that tall, but I haven’t tried it myself.
It is amazing ! love this cake, I am just wanting to make it 4 layer can I just double the recipe ? Also for the cake flour, is it ‘plain flour’ or the ‘self raising flour’ theres two options I used the plain flour one and the cake wasnt as fluffy as your pic it was more dense not sure if thats the flour or maybe I just mixed a little too long ! 🙂
Thanks ! 🙂
You could double it to make a 4 layer cake, as long as you are using 8 or 9 inch cake pans. I think it will be fine stacked so tall, but I haven’t tried it myself. Cake flour is a bit lighter than regular flour. I don’t believe it’s called plain flour or self raising flour. Cake flour is ideal for cakes because it is very fine and sifted. Hope that helps!
At what degree do you bake the cake at 180o??
350 degrees F or 180 C. Hope that helps!
I am a cake lover and this is beyond the best birthday cake I’ve had in my 28 years – vegan or non! I will definitely be making this on special occasions and look forward to trying different variations as well! So decadent and soft and fluffy with the perfect ratio of sweetness!
I’m so glad you loved the vanilla cake! Definitely a lot of ways to customize it. Thank you!
Love it! The texture is very nice, dense enough, and the taste is great. It doesn’t smell like a traditionnal vannilla cake though. Could it be because I put less sugar, so I smell the aquafaba a little more than I should? I’m also pregnant, so maybe it’s just me! Anyway, thank you for the great recipe, I will definitely do it again 🙂
Hi there! It should taste very much like any other regular vanilla cake, but if you did cut the sugar a lot, that could make a difference I suppose. Or it could be the vanilla you used, I like to use pure vanilla extract. Could be pregnancy nose as well, I know my nose was crazy when I was pregnant, it was so weird! 🙂
Hi nora, thank you for sharing your recipes, came across your site while searching for vegan strawberry cake ,
I have seen your strawberry cake but
I really want to try this as this has Aquafaba , will receipe be okay to add strawberry puree to make it a strawberry cake.
I need to make this week, will appreciate your reply, thank you
I actually have a vegan strawberry cake, so I would recommend making that recipe instead. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing this. I wonder if it would be ok to add some vegan food colouring to the batter? I’m thinking of turning it into a pink case for my daughter’s birthday. Alternatively, would it be ok to colour the Vanilla frosting? If so, when should I add the colour?
Yes, that’s totally fine to do. I’d add in food coloring at the very end of making both the cake batter and the frosting. Sounds pretty! 🙂
Nora, this cake is amazing, I make it all the time even though I’m not vegan. Makes great lamingtons for Australia Day too!
Hi Shanon. I”m glad you love the cake! How fun! Thank you!
Hi Nora
My vegan cakes always sink in the middle, what do I do wrong?
Kind regards
Joanna
Hi Joanna. I’m not sure why your cakes are sinking, but here are a few things to think about. Are you making any substitutions? Are you measuring your flour accurately (as well as all other ingredients)? Too little flour will cause cakes to fall. Are you baking them long enough, or taking them out too soon? This particular cake comes out pretty much flat most of the time, but shouldn’t be sunk in the middle.
What a delicious vanilla cake! I have been looking for the perfect vegan cake for years and have found it! I used ap flour and added 3 tablespoons of cornflour (remove 3 tablespoons of flour) to make cake flour. It turned out beautifully moist and a light crumb. Thank you Nora!
I’m so glad it turned out for you and that it is your new favorite! Thank you, Hallie, for sharing!
So yummy!! I made this cake topped with your Vanilla Frosting for my husband’s birthday last year (made the chocolate one this year) and both were absolutely delicious!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe 🙂
Hi Nadia. I’m so glad the cakes turned out great! Very important for a birthday! Thank you for sharing!