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:
- 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.
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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 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!
Recipe Notes
- 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.
Liz M
Hi Nora! Long time recipe lover and follower. I am wondering your advice. I am making a ‘cotton candy’ flavored cake next week (using blue raspberry kool-aid mix for flavor (not following a recipe just a hunch lol)), and am deciding between using this recipe, or your funfetti cupcake recipe. I was planning a layer cake, but I notice the ingredients between your funfetti cupcakes and this vanilla cake differ slightly. Which recipe would you recommend I adapt? Tough question, so don’t feel bad if you don’t have an answer. Thank you!
Nora
Ooooh this sounds really fun! Either would be fine, but I would probably recommend using the vanilla cake recipe, since it’s already written for a layer cake. I haven’t made the funfetti cupcakes into a layer cake, and while it would probably work, I can’t say for sure. Hope it turns out well and you enjoy!
Kim
This is the 2nd one of your cake recipes I’ve tried. Again, I am more than impressed!! I made the recipe as is except I had been requested to bake a lavender cake so I purchased bulk culinary lavender flowers and mixed them into the sugar the night before. I used 1 1/2 TBS of the flowers in the 1 1/2 cups of sugar. I bought extra flowers for decorating later. (The lavender cost me $0.30. I eyeballed what I thought I needed while at the store. It weighed 0.015lbs at $19.99 per pound,) Because I wanted to make sure not to overpower the lavender, I only used 1/2 TBS of vanilla extract and I added 1/2 TBS of lemon juice to brighten the lavender flavor.
This was my first time to use aquafaba and had no real clue what I was doing. I whipped the juice from one can using the whisk attachment on my immersion blender for about a minute. I tried to pour it into a measuring cup, but since it was still part liquid/part foam it was difficult to measure. And honestly I wasn’t sure which part I was supposed to be measuring. I ended up pouring the entire amount from the one can of chick peas (liquid & foam) into the creamed sugar & butter. It came out perfect!
I did make cupcakes – 24 evenly sized at 25 min.
Nora
The lavender cupcakes sound so pretty and delicious! I’m so glad they came out perfect. For the aquafaba, I try to use mostly the foamy part when I measure 1/2 cup, you can use a spoon to scoop it out. But some liquid is fine, too, it’s quite forgiving in this recipe. If you were to make meringue with aquafaba, you would need to whip it for longer until it’s all completely foamy and stiff. Hope that helps, and thanks for the feedback!
Denise Fuoco
This is the best vanilla began cake I ever made. It is so moist and airy and taste amazing!
Alex
Wondering how many eggs you are replacing with the Aquafaba? I only have the vegan egg replacer right now. Thanks!
Nora
I would say 2 eggs. Hope that helps! It should work fine with another egg replacer.
Jackie
Did you try it with the egg replacer? That’s all I have now too and I’m wondering how it came out!
MARIA EUGENIA URREIZTIETA
I loved this cake! its airy and fluffy and delicious!!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!!!
Nora
Thank you, so glad you enjoyed the vanilla cake!
Kate
Amazing cake and frosting. Everyone loved it and said it was the best cake ever. So easy and made the house smell amazing. I have loved every recipe of yours and you are my go to referral for people looking into plant based options.
ShaNa
I did it exactly as recipe called for. However the center didn’t rise actual it didn’t rise really at all. Why would that be. I used coconut oil instead of canola but everything else I used. I also whipped the aquafaba before measuring the 1/3 cup out. So why would it not rise?
Nora
If it didn’t rise at all, something definitely went wrong here. You could have a bad batch of baking powder, that has happened to me before. Coconut oil sometimes results in a denser cake, but not so much so that it wouldn’t rise at all. The only other thing I can think of is you just didn’t bake it long enough. I’m not sure what size pans you were using, or if your oven runs low in temperature, but those things could mean you needed to bake it longer if it was only not rising in the middle.
April
The recipe said to use 1/2 cup of aquafaba. You said you measured out 1/3 cup. Could that be the reason?
Krista
I doubled this recipe to make a special cake for a big party at my local animal sanctuary where I volunteer. I’ve been vegan for over 20 years and I bake a LOT, and this is, hands down, the best white cake I have ever made. It was light and moist and the crumb was perfect, but it still held up to some significant icing. It was a huge hit and I had to come home and make another batch for cupcakes so my family could have some, too. Thank you!
Mary Dodds
I made this recipe two times. First time I used whisk to mix aquafaba and cake mix. It turned out delicious. Second time I used hand mixer for aquafaba and cake mix. I mixed aquafaba to sift peaks and instead of adding one-half cup, I added full cup. I made into cupcakes and ended up having 18 of best vegan cupcakes I ever tasted!!! My family agreed!!! Thank you Nora!!!
Erika
Could I make this cake 3 days in advance and refrigerate it?
Nora
Yes, that should be fine. Enjoy!
Jean
Hi Nora thanks for your recipe can I use a gluten free flour instead like almonf flour? Thanks
Nora
Sorry, almond flour won’t work here, but a gluten free all purpose flour likely would.
Lauren
How many cupcakes would this recipe make?
Nora
It will make about 24 cupcakes, maybe a few more!
Caroline
I made this for my son’s 2nd birthday and it was enjoyed by all! The only thing, both my layers broke into three pieces during the cooling process. I wonder if I didn’t whip the aquafaba enough, so it was too liquidy? I whipped it for a minute like the directions said but maybe it needed to have stiff peaks? Either way, I was able to piece it back together with icing and it tasted great! Thanks!
Nora
I have found that if the cakes are overcooked (any cake recipe) they will crack during cooling, so my guess is you just baked them a tiny bit too long. Your oven could run a little hotter than others. I don’t whip the aquafaba so much that it has stiff peaks, so I don’t think that was the problem. Glad it still tasted great!
Heather
Hello,
Could I use oatmilk in this recipe? The list doesn’t include this, so I wanted to ask.
Thank you,
Heather
Nora
Yes, oat milk should work just fine. Thanks!
Tiffany Johnson
Hi! I tried you’re chocolate cake and it was amazing. I want to make this recipe but I have applesauce and no chick peas. Can I use applesauce instead?
Nora
So glad you enjoyed the chocolate cake! That should work yes. I would just use 1/2 cup of applesauce to replace the aquafaba. Enjoy!
Charlotte
It sank! Don’t know what i did wrong but took it out after 40 minutes and toothpick cane out clean and it sank. What did I do? 😭
Nora
I’m sorry your cake sank! Did it sink a lot, or just a little in the middle? How did it taste? I wonder if you made any substitutions at all, and what kind of pan you used? It sounds like maybe there was too much liquid, so did you measure the whipped aquafaba and only add 1/2 cup of the whipped stuff? Did you measure the flour correctly ( I usually suggest to scoop it into measuring cups with a spoon, then level off with a knife)? Hopefully I can help you figure out what went wrong! Thanks Charlotte!
Monica
Oh no I’m making it now and I added the entire 1/2 cup of Aquafaba not just the whipped part. Is that same thing. I only poured out 1/2 of the juice fork the garbanzo beans. I pray it turns out
Nora
It should be okay, maybe a bit more moist than it would have been. But yes the most accurate way would be to whip the chickpea liquid, then measure 1/2 cup when you add it to the other ingredients.
Livena Axson
Hi Helen,
I know the time has come and gone…..just wondering how your cake turned out and did you have any pictures of it. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Thanks,
Livena
Sierra G
I have been vegan for many years but have always struggled to find a birthday cake recipe that worked. Either they tasted bad or looked like a nightmare. I made 4 layers of this cake and… Wow!!! It worked so well. It stood up to piping without cake dowels. It’s taste is perfect– sweet but not disgustingly so. I got so many complements and it was the star of my daughter’s birthday party. Thank you!
Helen
My daughter is asking for a rainbow cake. I’m thinking I’ll use this batter to make five layers, each in a different color, then stack and ice them, so when we cut the cake each piece will be a rainbow. If you could give me some guidance on what size baking pans I should use to avoid a towering cake, long I should bake each layer, and any tips on using food coloring in this recipe, I would be SO grateful. This will be a big first for me. 😬🙏🏼
Nora
How fun! I think I’ll try this sometime, too. So I obviously haven’t tried this myself, but if I was going to do it I would somewhat follow the directions from this recipe (or another like it, there are many), while using my cake and frosting recipe. So it looks like you wouldn’t need to double the cake recipe, but instead divide it into as many layers as you are going to (in bowls, so 5 bowls for 5 layers). Color each one as desired. I would use 8 or 9 inch round cake pans, the layers should be quite thin and will only need to cook for 15 minutes or less. Just keep baking the layers until you are done, let cool, and frost. I’m guessing you will need to double the vanilla frosting, because you will need a lot to frost in between all the layers. Hope that helps and it works out! As far as food coloring goes, it can be a little tricky to know what is vegan. I believe this set is vegan, I have used it and it makes great bright colors. Just use a little at a time until you achieve the color you want. Thanks!
Helen
You’re amazing, thank you. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Roo
I wonder how this came out! I got here by trying to find a recipe to do the exact same type of rainbow cake.
Ilene Borr
Hi Nora
Was wondering what adjustments would be necessary for a half sheet. Would doubling work? or would one need to decrease liquids a bit ?
Also if I add sprinkles should there be any modifications?
Grandkids love funfetti cake and one is highly allergic so this works well, but all their cakes need to be “Funfetti”….so need to perfect the batter.
Nora
Hi there! By half sheet, do you mean in like a 9×13 inch pan? If so, there is no need to double the recipe. If you are looking to make a larger sheet cake, you may need to double it. You can certainly add sprinkles to both the batter and of course sprinkled on the frosting. No need to modify anything. My kids love funfetti anything too! Thanks and enjoy!
Eve
Hello!
I was wondering if the aquafaba is 1/2 a cup of whipped aquafaba or 1/2 cup of the liquid that is then whipped? Thank you!
Nora
It is 1/2 of the whipped aquafaba. I found this the best way to get an accurate measurement of the amount needed! Hope that helps!
Daina
Can I make this the day before it is needed? Will it still be ok?
Nora
Yes, you can make it a day ahead of time. It will be okay at room temperature, or you can store it in the refrigerator overnight.