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Vegan Vanilla Cake – Connoisseurus Veg

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This vegan vanilla cake is moist, delicious, and perfectly sweet! The perfect dessert for all occasions, from holidays to birthdays to any time you’re craving something indulgent!

Vegan Vanilla Cake slice on a plate with a second cake slice in the background.

When it comes to desserts, sometimes simple is best. Like good old vanilla cake. You really can’t go wrong with it! You can dress it up with frosting, serve it plain with powdered sugar, decorated it with sprinkles, or pair it up with your favorite ice cream.

With all that in mind, I decided it was time to create a simple vegan vanilla cake recipe for this site. That, and I needed something that would work well as a vegan birthday cake (it did!).

This cake turned out fantastic, and it was so simple to make. Delicious, moist, and fluffy! The recipe requires only nine ingredients and one bowl! Definitely hang on to this one for the next occasion when you need a crowd-pleasing vegan dessert!

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Ingredients You’ll Need

  • Flour. We’re using plain old all-purpose wheat flour. I can’t guarantee results with anything else.
  • Granulated sugar. Make sure your sugar is organic in order to keep the recipe vegan.
  • Baking powder.
  • Baking soda.
  • Salt.
  • Non-dairy milk. Just about any variety of milk that’s unsweetened and unflavored will work. Try almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, or cashew milk.
  • Apple cider vinegar. Try one of these substitutes if you don’t have this on hand.
  • Canola oil. Feel free to substitute your favorite baking oil, such as vegetable oil or melted coconut oil.
  • Vanilla extract. I recommend using high quality vanilla extract to give your cake the best flavor. I like Rodelle Gourmet Pure Vanilla Extract. Definitely don’t use imitation vanilla.

How It’s Made

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!

  • Start by whisking your dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Hand whisking dry cake ingredients together in a bowl.
  • Mix your liquid ingredients together in a small container or liquid measuring cup: milk, vinegar, oil and vanilla.

Tip: Unless otherwise specified, always start with room temperature ingredients when baking. For this recipe you may need to warm up your non-dairy milk a bit if it’s been in the fridge.

Liquid measuring cup filled with liquid ingredients for vegan vanilla cake batter.
  • Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and beat everything together using an electric mixer. A hand mixer or stand mixer can be used here — it’s entirely up to you!

Tip: Don’t overmix your batter! Doing so can cause your leavening agents (baking soda and powder) to fizz out, and your cake will be overly dense and lacking in texture.

Electric mixer beating Vegan Vanilla Cake batter in a mixing bowl.
  • Divide your cake batter among two oiled and parchment paper-lined cake pans, then bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of each comes out clean.
  • Place the cake pans on a cooling rack and let the layers cool completely before filling, frosting, and slicing.
Slice of Vegan Vanilla Cake being lifted with a cake server.

Tip: Be careful when slicing! Vegan cakes, including this one, tend to be more delicate than non-vegan cakes, due to the lack of eggs in the batter.

Leftovers & Storage

Seal your leftover cake up and it will keep for about 3 days at room temperature, about 5 days in the refrigerator, or about 3 months in the freezer.

Variation: Vegan Vanilla Sheet Cake

If you prefer a sheet cake, just oil and line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper, and pour all of your batter it. Bake the cake for slightly longer than you’d bake a layer cake — about 25 to 27 minutes!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can this cake be made gluten-free?

I haven’t tried making a gluten-free version, but based on experiences with similar cake recipes I think an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend would work.

Can I make this recipe into cupcakes?

I’m sure you can, but you’re probably better off just following my recipe for vegan vanilla cupcakes.

White wooden surface set with dishes, napkin, and two slices of Vegan Vanilla Cake on plates.

More Vegan Cake Recipes

Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!

Slice of Vegan Vanilla Cake with frosting and sprinkles on a plate.

Vegan Vanilla Cake

This vegan vanilla cake is moist, delicious, and perfectly sweet! The perfect dessert for all occasions, from holidays to birthdays to any time you’re craving something indulgent!

Ingredients

  • 2 ½
    cups
    all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¼
    cup
    organic granulated sugar
  • 2
    teaspoons
    baking powder
  • ½
    teaspoon
    baking soda
  • ¾
    teaspoon
    salt
  • 1 ¼
    cups
    unsweetened non-dairy milk
  • 1
    teaspoon
    apple cider vinegar
  • ¾
    cup
    canola oil
  • 1
    tablespoon
    vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

  2. Lightly oil and line the bottoms of two 9-inch round baking pans with parchment paper. (See note.)

  3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

  4. .In a small container or liquid measuring cup, stir together the milk, vinegar, oil, and vanilla.

  5. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and beat the ingredients together using an electric mixer at high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.

  6. Divide the batter evenly among the two prepared cake pans.

  7. Bake the layers for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each comes out clean.

  8. Transfer the layers to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.

  9. Once the layers are cool, remove them from the pans, remove the parchment paper, they layer, fill and frost the cake.

Recipe Notes

Alternatively, prepare a single 9 x 13 inch baking pan in the same manner. Increase the bake time to 25 to 27 minutes.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Vanilla Cake

Amount Per Serving (1 slice (1/12 of recipe))

Calories 301
Calories from Fat 128

% Daily Value*

Fat 14.2g22%

Saturated Fat 1g5%

Sodium 217mg9%

Potassium 117mg3%

Carbohydrates 41.3g14%

Fiber 0.8g3%

Sugar 21g23%

Protein 2.8g6%

Calcium 87mg9%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.



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