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!
Video
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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640 Comments on “Vegan Vanilla Cake”
Hi Nora an you please half the recipe for me as I don’t know how to sorry.If we half it will it make 2 6-inch cakes?
Hi Sally. I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure. I have made a triple layer 6 inch cake with this recipe, so you could do that, and perhaps just freeze one of the cakes for another time. I’m afraid if you cut the recipe in half you won’t have quite enough batter. I hope this helps!
Hello,Sally. You can multiply ingredients by 0.56 to get the same hight of sponges as it’s in the original recipe.
I just made my first vegan cake using this recipe! It’s delicious! I used applesauce instead of aquafaba and I used oatmilk for the non-dairy milk. I also used your Vanilla Vegan Frosting recipe! Amazing! Thanks so much!
Hi Amy! I’m thrilled that you loved the cake and that it turned out great for you! Thanks so much for sharing your great review and comments!
I just made this cake and received RAVE reviews. I had people telling me they couldn’t believe it was vegan and they thought I was some avid baker. People had no idea how I did it. I do like to bake, but the real hero here is Nora.
I got a little ring of crust on the top edge of the cake, but I just cut it off. I recommend using Nora’s vanilla cupcake recipe for cupcakes rather than this one, as the crust was significant when I tried to turn this into cupcakes (I didn’t realize there was a cupcake recipe).
Hello again! I’m so glad the cake was a hit! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review and comments!
Hi Nora,
Can you please half the recipe as need it for a 6 inch cake pan how many layers will it make? And can I use Swiss meringue butter cream (made with aquafaba) will it work with this cake?Thanks
The Swiss Meringue Buttercream will work on this cake, yes. Are you wanting to make a double 6-inch layer cake? I honestly haven’t tried it. It will work for a triple 6 inch layer cake, as written.
Hi Nora,
Since this cake can make 3 6 inch cakes.how tall will it be and I want to make 1 or 2 chocolate layers so how much coco and how much cake
batter.-Emma
It will be pretty tall as triple layer cake. I don’t think it will work to just add cocoa to this recipe, but it might. I’ve never tried it so it’s hard for me to say.
Hi Nora thanks so much for replying to estimate how tall will it be? And if I try your chocolate cake recipe and take the coco out of that will it give me a vanilla cake?
No, the chocolate cake doesn’t work well if you take out the chocolate, sorry. I have tried that, and it wasn’t good.
Hey Nora, I tried this recipe and it turned out great!
But I was wondering how far ahead could you bake layers and how long do they keep if you freeze any cake layers???
Hi Sierra. I’m glad the recipe turned out well or you! The cakes do freeze well. Make sure they are completely cooled, then wrap them tightly in plastic wrap. You could also wrap in aluminum foil for extra protection. Freeze them until ready to frost. It is recommended that cakes be frozen no more than 3 months for optimal flavor. Hope that helps!
Made this cake for my sons 16th birthday and it was a big hit. I added crushed Oreos and full Oreos to it and it turned out great! Too bad I can’t share a picture in here.
Hi, I’m a professional baker and the recipe is great – texture & flavour!! Mine did flatten and slightly sink in the middle. Any idea why it sunk a little bit? Definitely was cooked correctly. Look coward to your response 😊
Hi there! I’m not sure why it flattened and sunk, perhaps you didn’t bake it quite long enough? Did you use cake flour?
Hello.,Courtney.
The possible reason – the high temperature in your oven.Try to bake it with 10 degrees less and it may help.
I tried this recipe but I didn’t use the chick peas juice I used apple sauce, and it came out amazing! Thanks for sharing you recipe!
This cake is amazing. I followed all instructions as they were written and it turned out great. Made it three times already for various birthdays.
Thanks for sharing your review, Nancy! I’m glad you are enjoying the cake! I love vanilla cake!
Hi! So I’m in a country where vegan butter isn’t available. Is there a good substitute for that?
I’m not sure, possible just more oil and you could use vegetable shortening for the frosting.
Please can someone tell me if I can use white vinegar, and vegan “I can’t believe it’s not butter”
Thanks!
Hi there!
Would this recipe work in 3 6-inch pans or would I have to make more batter?
Thank you!
Yes, Alina. You could divide it into three 6 inch cake pans.
Thank you this fit perfectly in 3 pans! Smells so delicious too!
Although it did not brown at all on the sides so it’s very pale all around. I did make sure a toothpick came out clean from the middle and even the sides began to pull away a bit. So I’m pretty sure it’s not under baked.
Could this be because I used bleached cake flour?
Thanks so much for always taking time to respond! I always learn so much from trying your delicious recipes!
It could have been, or did you use a vegan butter that wasn’t very yellow? That could have affected it as well. But it is a pretty white cake. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!