The Best Vegan Vanilla Cake – Keeps Moist for 5 Days!
This is THE vegan vanilla cake that will put all vanilla cake recipes to shame. It’s incredibly soft, moist with a beautifully tight crumb and decadently sweet- yet, you’d never know it’s made entirely without eggs and dairy free. Slathered in a vanilla bean dairy free cream cheese frosting, absolutely everyone loves this vanilla cake recipe, vegan or not. It’s guaranteed to turn even the chocolate cake lovers into vanilla ones.
Reader’s Review:
The key to the best vanilla cake, vegan or not:
As someone who worked for several years in a bakery before going vegan, I’ve spent over 8 years perfecting this vegan vanilla cake to truly stand up as the best vanilla cake. And I can confidently tell you that you can now say goodbye to cake mixes, eggs, and dairy butter, because you’ll never go back to store-bought OR conventional vanilla cake again with a recipe this good and this easy.
Trust me, this cake is so good, you’ll be left thinking about it for a full day afterwards.
The breakthrough for finally figuring out the key to such a ridiculously good cake came while testing another entirely different cake in my new cookbook coming out in 2027.
I had been working on testing out the reverse creaming method with a pound cake, and I just fell to the floor with the texture it created. Soft, tender, beautifully tight crumb that was springy and bouncy and yet melted in your mouth of a punch of buttery vanilla flavor. So I thought, let’s try it on a layer cake.
Turns out, the reverse creaming method, along with very specific, key ingredients and the right ratios will yield a phenomenally gorgeous vanilla cake. And you will not believe it’s made without eggs and dairy. Like, it’s so moist and beautifully flavorful that even the chocolate cake obsessed will be begging for the recipe.
It’s so good, I’ve even used it for my friend’s wedding cake I made her!
What is the reverse creaming method?
Traditionally, we whisk wet ingredients together separately from the dry, most commonly starting with butter and sugar being creamed together. With the reverse creaming method, we’re really doing the opposite. You’ll whisk the dry together, including the sugar. Then add in the room temperature butter into the flour and sugar mixture.
What you need to make this vegan vanilla cake:
As I’ve mentioned earlier, this recipe took years to develop, so I’ve tried just about every combination of ingredients. Here’s where I landed to produce the best result for your vegan vanilla cake every single time.
For the cake:
- Cake flour: For a light, bouncy texture, this is key. I used to waffle back and forth about it because some say that cornstarch produces a dry cake. However, with the right ratio of wet ingredients (like with this cake recipe), you won’t have that problem. You can use all-purpose flour with this recipe, but you’ll need to add in cornstarch as well. The measurements are 450 grams all-purpose flour and 50 grams cornstarch.
- Sugar: A high amount of sugar is used here to really lock in moisture. So please don’t cut down the sugar quantity! It will drastically affect the level of moisture in your cake.
- Vegan Butter & Avocado Oil: With cupcakes, like my vegan vanilla cupcakes, I prefer to use just oil. The smaller volume dramatically affects the level of moisture remaining in the cupcake. But when it comes to cakes, the best combination is both butter and oil. Oil locks in more moisture than butter, and I speculate that it’s due to its liquid state of matter at room temperature. Then butter provides extra flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Unsweetened dairy free yogurt: this basically acts as the “egg” that you’d typically find in other vanilla cakes. It’s the best out of all vegan egg replacements. I’ve tested this recipe with applesauce and flaxseed as well. They yielded okay results, but dairy-free yogurt really won by a landslide. I personally use a Greek-style, as there will be more protein, which helps give the cake a stronger structure.
- LOTS of Vanilla Extract: you’re going to need a lot of vanilla in here, including vanilla bean paste, but trust me, it’ll be worth it. This is the best vanilla cake recipe from scratch because of the vanilla. It’s amazing!
Overview: step-by-step how make a perfect vegan vanilla cake
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
The method I most prefer to make this cake with is the reverse creaming method in a stand mixer (or a hand mixer), which is what I describe below and as the main instructions for the recipe card.
That being said, I really want this recipe to be accessible to all levels of bakers. So I’ve also provided a method by hand (and that does NOT use the reverse creaming method). I have used this method as well, and the results are damn good, so don’t think you’re not getting a good cake here.
The difference really is between a wow cake and a “OMG you need to sell this in a bakery” cake.
My two tricks for the silkiest frosting:
If you want that gorgeously glossy finish while also having a structurally in-tact cake that doesn’t have cake layers slipping and sliding around, then you need these tricks.
First tip: For years, I used the whisk attachment to make frosting, when I actually should have been using the cake beater attachment (the paddle). The frosting is so much smoother and glossier even just for the crumb coat.
Now for the second tip, and my favorite: You’ll start with my vegan vanilla bean cream cheese frosting as the base and assemble the cake through the crumb coating. Then place the cake in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. The crumb coating layer will lock in moisture so no need to fret about cake layers drying out.
You’ll also still have a decent amount of frosting leftover for the final layer which is where things get different. I add in 1/4 cup (60 mL) vegan heavy cream to the remaining frosting, and mix on high-speed. This will get the heavy cream to whip up and thicken while creating a glossy finish to your frosting.
Then simply spread onto your crumb coated cake, slice and serve!
Final reminders when baking this cake:
- Make sure to line your cake pans and preheat the oven before beginning: Once the buttermilk combines with the baking soda and baking powder, the chemical reaction occurs that gives the vanilla cake its lift. There’s a short window of time that you have to capitalize that by getting your cakes in the oven. That’s why it’s so important that you make sure your cakes are lined and the oven is preheated before even beginning to measure out ingredients. To line the cake pans, I lightly grease them and cut a round piece of parchment paper to be placed at the base of the pan.
- Weighing the ingredients will give you a more accurate bake than using cups: With cup measurements, some people scoop the flour rather than spoon and level. This will lead to weigh more flour than you actually need. Even spooning and leveling the flour isn’t as precise! The best bet to ensure that this vegan vanilla cake turns out just like my results each time is to use the weighted measurements given in the recipe card below!
- Make sure your baking powder and baking soda aren’t expired: Baking powder only lasts about 6 months. Simply add a 1/2 tsp of either to a small jar or glass and drop of vinegar. If it foams, it’s still good but if it doesn’t, then it’s time to change!
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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
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BEST Ever Moist Vegan Vanilla Cake Recipe
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 18 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This is THE vegan vanilla cake that will put all vanilla cake recipes to shame. It’s incredibly soft, moist with a beautifully tight crumb and decadently sweet- yet, you’d never know it’s made entirely without eggs and dairy free. Slathered in a vanilla bean dairy free cream cheese frosting, absolutely everyone loves this vanilla cake recipe, vegan or not. It’s guaranteed to turn even the chocolate cake lovers into vanilla ones.
Ingredients
Vegan Vanilla Cake:
- 1 1/4 cup (300 mL) vegan buttermilk
- 4 cups (500 g) cake flour (see notes for all-purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour)
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 1/4 cups (450 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (220 g) salted vegan butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) neutral oil, such as avocado oil, olive oil, or sunflower oil
- 1 cup (240 g) dairy free yogurt, room temperature*
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract (yes, 2 tablespoons!!)
- Optional (but recommended): 1/4 tsp vanilla powder or vanilla bean paste
Frosting:
- 1 batch of either vegan vanilla cream cheese frosting (recommended) or vanilla buttercream frosting
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) cold vegan heavy cream
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease three 8″ cake pans with cooking oil, and line them with parchment paper. Set aside. For beginner bakers who want to simply whisking the ingredients together, see below for instructions.
- Prepare the vegan buttermilk: Combine the dairy free milk with the apple cider vinegar, and set aside to sit for 3-4 minutes. You can weigh and measure the remaining ingredients during this time.
- Whisk: In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the vegan buttermilk, dairy-free yogurt, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean paste. Set aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients: In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt.
- Mix in the butter: In a stand mixer with paddle attachment or a large bowl with hand mixer, add in the room temperature vegan butter and oil. Begin mixing on low speed, and as the butter incorporates into the flour, turn it up to medium speed. It will create a sandy texture in the flour mixture. There should be no clumps of butter left, just a wet sandy texture.
- Finish the batter: Then pour in the buttermilk/yogurt mixture. Carefully turn the stand mixer onto low speed again to slowly start to integrate the wet ingredients into the batter. Then mix on medium speed until you get a consistent and smooth batter, scraping down the sides and at the bottom of the bowl as needed. Be careful here NOT to over mix- just when you achieve the smooth or near smooth batter, stop. You want to make sure the flour is FULLY incorporated into the wet or the cake won’t bake right- the ingredients will look slightly split, which means you need to keep gently mixing until you get a consistent batter.
- Bake: Divide the batter between the three cake pans evenly, and bake for 28-30 minutes in 8″ cake pans, or until the toothpick comes out nearly clean with a few crumbs on.
- Cool: Remove from the oven and allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cooled completely (there is absolutely no warmth to the touch!), then you can prepare your buttercream.
- Make the frosting. When ready to frost the cakes, follow the instructions for making the frosting of your choice.
- Crumb coat: Apply about 1/2 cup of frosting between each layer, and a thin layer of frosting on the outside of the entire cake, sealing in the crumbs. Place the cake into the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes.
- Make the finishing frosting: While the cake is chilling, mix the vegan heavy cream on high-speed into the remaining frosting, whipping it until it’s thick, fluffy, and glossy.
- Finish the frosting: Remove the cake from the fridge, and apply the glossy frosting on top, piping as desired. Then chill before serving or slice and serve immediately!
Notes
PLEASE NOTE: This recipe does NOT work with self-raising flour (either gluten-free or plain). Please do NOT swap in self-raising flour in this recipe!
Flour alternatives: You can use all-purpose flour or gluten-free baking flour. For gluten-free, I recommend King Arthur Measure-for-Measure gluten free flour. Whatever GF mix you use, it must contain xanthan gum. For the measurements, you will use 450g (3 2/3 cup) flour with 50 g (5 tbsp) cornstarch or arrowroot starch.
Simply whisked method: Instead of creaming together the butter, we’ll melt the butter until liquid, and whisk together with the sugar, dairy free yogurt, and vanilla extract and paste. Then add in the dry ingredients, and pour in the vegan buttermilk as you gently whisk JUST until the dry ingredients are incorporated (it doesn’t have to be a super smooth batter- DONT over mix). Then proceed onto the baking step!
Make sure that you add in a tablespoon of arrowroot powder or cornstarch if using gluten free flour. This will give the flour more like a cake flour texture when baked- very tender and moist!
If you use coconut sugar, your cake will be slightly tanner in color- but still delicious!!
Applesauce substitute: If you’re having a hard time finding applesauce in stores, you can also swap in your favorite dairy free unsweetened yogurt instead. You’ll use an equal amount. Please make sure that the yogurt has come to room temperature.
Storage: Any leftovers you have can be sliced and then stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Additionally, you can freeze the cake, and let it thaw in the fridge for 4 hours when you’re ready to enjoy again! You can also leave this cake at room temperature for up to a day if covered and stored in an airtight container.
Be sure to read the full post for all of my tips and suggestions!
For a vegan vanilla cake made with just oat flour, check out my vegan gluten free vanilla cake recipe.
Absolutely the best tasting egg-free vanilla cake I’ve ever made! But… it wouldn’t cook evenly. Do you know what could have happened? We used 6” pans and to get the middles actually cooked the outside was far too done and crispy/hard. We are egg-free for allergies, but used dairy products (dairy butter, dairy yogurt instead of applesauce, and buttermilk). We’d like to try again, but hoping to figure out what went wrong.
Hi Danielle! Aw I’m happy to hear you liked it!! But so sorry for the over-cooking- that might have been due to using the regular dairy products vs dairy free. Some people have success swapping in dairy products while others don’t- I can’t even speak to the results because I’m truly vegan so I can’t test it haha! I would try it with the dairy free products next time because I’ve compared my ratios to those of conventional baking, and they definitely are slightly different, so that would mean that the dairy might act slightly different! I hope that helps!
I made this cake for my son’s birthday…OUTSTANDING! It was moist (I used 3 – 9 inch cake pans), baked for 30 minutes, and used unsweetened applesauce. I would not change a thing! If you follow all of the steps and tips, this cake will turn out beautifully! I have tried other vegan cake recipes, but yours (I have now made 3 of your cakes) are THE BEST! Thank you for convincing this “southern” heavy cream and butter cook that there IS another way to bake! Blessings to you!
This is so wonderful!! Thank you so much for this review 🙂 Makes my heart sing!! Enjoy!! And thanks for being here!
Hi Cozy! It sounds like you let the frosting sit too much at room temperature (did you melt the butter instead of letting it just sit at room temperature?) Or there might have been something wrong when you mixed the frosting because it definitely shouldn’t have done that, it’s a simple buttercream recipe! I’d love to help you!
Is it ok to chill the cake after the crumb coat before I decorate it.?
Absolutely!
What is a good substitute for vegan buttermilk. Cannot find it here in Sydney. Thank you. Can I use oat milk? Same measurements? Thanks.
Hi Penny! So the vegan buttermilk is always homemade- I actually don’t think it’s ever sold in stores! I use almond or soy milk combined with ACV- it’s linked there as the recipe! You can use oat milk with 1 tbsp acv, but it’s best to use almond milk or soy milk!
Hello! Can I make this in two 8 inch round pans instead of three 6 inch? I wasn’t sure if it would bake the same way.
Hi Maddie! Yes, you can! The cake might need longer to bake- check it after 30 minutes to see how it’s doing!
I loved it and especially the Buttercream Frosting! Trying your chocolate cake this weekend!
That is so wonderful! I’m so glad to hear it, thank you so much for the review 🙂 Enjoy, and can’t wait to hear what you think of the chocolate cake!
If I only have sweetened applesauce at home, will that change any of the recipe or can it stay the same and give the same results?
It will still give similar results, it will just be a bit sweeter!
2 cups salted vegan butter, room temperature
4 cups organic powdered sugar
How many grams are these? Trying to be precise.
Thanks!
452 g butter
600 g powdered sugar 🙂
Hi! My best friend is vegan and I’m making this cake for her gender reveal!
Can I make just the sponges the day before? And then I was going to frost/assemble on the day she’s picking up the cake. How would you recommend storing? Every time I leave cake in the fridge it dries out. Is it okay to leave the cooked sponges out overnight on the counter? Should I wrap them in siren wrap once they cool?
And once I’m done frosting .. how long can it sit out for? Should it be stored in the fridge? Thank you! Excited to try this recipe. I’ll be adding a blueberry compote in between layers as well!
Hi Erin! Oh that’s wonderful!! You absolutely can- I do that all the time, and just wrap them tightly with plastic wrap and store at room temp on the counter until I frost it the net day! After it’s frosted, and as long as you aren’t doing a naked-style cake where there’s very little frosting, you can store it in the fridge in a box and it will keep! The buttercream should act as an insulation 🙂 Otherwise, it will keep at room temp (70-72F) for a few hours, depending on how soft your vegan buttercream is! With a filling, I recommend chilling it though first just to ensure 🙂 The blueberry compote will be delicious!! Enjoy!!
If I did your recipe in a bundt cake pan would the time be around 50 min? Or less?
Hi TJ! I believe so, but I haven’t personally tried this! I would check with the oven light how it’s doing around the 45 minute mark, and then go from there~
Making this for my allergy kid to bring to a cake decorating party. Can I make this in 4 inch cake pans instead so she matches the other kids?
Hi Alisha! How sweet is that! You would need to reduce the recipe to about 1/3 if you want to make three 4″ layers, because there’s quite a lot of batter. Alternatively, I have a small vegan vanilla cake recipe based on this for situations like this! Here’s the link. This one would probably be more ideal because you don’t have to reduce anything (I’ve already done it for you! 😉 ). Enjoy!
This was by far the best vegan cake recipe I have ever tried. I did add a bit less sugar, as I used the cake as a base for a tres leches kinda cake, but it still turned out amazing! It’s now officially my go-to recipe. Thank you 🤍
This is so wonderful!! So happy to hear this, thank you so much for the review 🙂 Enjoy!!
I want to say a BIG thank you. My son suffers from life threatening allergies (9 of them). He can’t have dairy, gluten, nuts and so on.
I made this cake for him on his 2nd birthday. He loved it.
I then cooked a few other recipes from your blog. They are so good. It gives him the chance to enjoy some delicious baked goods. Really appreciate the gluten free recipes.
I purchased your book ❤️ Can’t wait to use them to cook for my family and make them my children’s childhood memories. Thanks so much!
Omgsh I’m so happy you all loved it!! This is so wonderful that he can enjoy these goodies ❤️🥹I’m so grateful that these recipes can help make things a bit easier (and yummier!!). Please let me know if there’s anything you’d love to see on the blog, and thank you for all of your support!! Happy 2nd birthday to your son as well!!
Xx
Britt
Do you say how much apple cider vinegar to use? Thanks!
Yes, in the buttermilk recipe linked in the recipe card! 1 tbsp 🙂
Hi!
This looks amazing, I’m planning on baking this for a co workers birthday this week. Would self raising flour work for this recipe instead of plain flour for fluffier sponges? Thank you!
I’m so sorry I’m just responding! I actually haven’t used self raising flour before because it’s not available here in the States, so I’m not sure what the results would be (since the recipe already calls for baking powder and baking soda)- I’m so sorry!
This recipe seems delicious, so I would really like to give it a try! Sadly, I only have a small oven that only fits one pan. Do you think I can bake the three layers separately and thus leave the rest of the batter waiting for like an hour?
And if I need to bake the cake a day before eating it, would it be better to store the cake with or without the buttercream? Thank you so much!
Hi Amber! I totally understand working with a small oven (was me once!!). I wouldn’t leave the batter waiting for an hour- if you can, I would try to divide the recipe in two, and you can bake it in 2 batches then for a 2 layer cake. And you can make the cake and frost it the next day! It might be easier!
Hi
, I’m planning to try your vegan vanilla cake for my mother’s birthday this weekend. It will be my first time baking a vegan cake. May I ask a couple of questions about sugar? I have only caster and soft brown sugar in my pantry. Will either of these be all right to use instead of the granulated sugar stipulated in your recipe? Caster is usually the sugar of choice for light cakes so I’m wondering if there’s a specific reason for stipulating granulated iin your recipe. With thanks, Chris
Hi Chris! Oh that’s so wonderful! So yes, you can use caster sugar in place of granulated sugar- make sure you’re using a kitchen scale! The reason I use granulated sugar is just because it’s more widely available, but they’re really 1:1! can’t wait to hear how it goes, enjoy!!
Many thanks Britt for your prompt reply, it’s much appreciated! Chris
I just made this cake (Friday). I will be serving it on Monday for my daughters 30th birthday. Should I freeze it and dethaw Monday morning or will it be OK in the fridge.
Hi Cindy! I’m SO sorry I’m just responding! As long as it’s well frosted and encased in the buttercream (and wrapped tightly after the buttercream has set in the fridge!), it will last beautifully in the fridge. Otherwise, you can always freeze it!
Hello , I made this cake using regular buttermilk and almond flour , it didn’t cook at all and ended up with a purée , why did this Happen ? Is it because of the buttermilk?
Hi Ana! It’s because you used almond flour- it’s not a 1:1 substitute for all purpose flour so that’s why!
Ahhh okay ! I will have to try this again ! I thought it could maybe have been cause I melted the butter too but we’ll see how it turns out next time! Thank you !!
Absolutely! Let me know how it goes next time! You can also check out this guide here for vegan room temp butter!
Made this cake for my son and his girlfriend’s combined birthday celebration. It was fabulous – moist and flavorful! I used peach preserves between one layer and frosting for the other. I added cardamom to the frosting for a little extra flavor.
Oh my goodness, this is wonderful! That sounds DELICIOUS! Thank you so much for sharing, and so grateful for your review 🙂 Enjoy!!
Absolutely loved this cake. Just made it on MLK day, for my daughter’s birthday. Beautiful texture, good looking, fabulous frosting. Loved everything about it and so simple to make. We put a border of frosting around the middle layers and filled with raspberry jam.
Oh this is so wonderful!! Happy birthday to your daughter too 🙂 Thanks so much for the review, and sounds LOVELY to fill it with raspberry jam 🙂
If I use refined coconut oil to replace the vegan butter, should I cream it together with the sugar? Or should I melt it into a liquid and just mix it with the other liquid ingredients? Thanks!
I would melt! 🙂
I’ve tried many vegan recipes for vanilla cake. This is the first one the whole family have compared favourably to an egg based cake. I added a little dissolved decaf coffee to the butter icing and it worked really well with the vanilla cake. Thank you!
Oh I’m so happy to hear this!! And that frosting sounds YUM! Thank you so much for trying and reviewing 🙂 Enjoy!!