Description
THE vegan vanilla cake that will put all vanilla cake recipes to shame- it’s incredibly tender, moist, and decadently sweet- yet, you’d never know it’s made entirely without eggs and dairy free. Absolutely everyone loves this vanilla cake recipe, vegan or not, and it’s guaranteed to turn even the chocolate cake lovers into vanilla ones.. Just 9 ingredients too!
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 (I recommend Miyoko’s or Flora Plant butter), room temperature
- 2 tbsp 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
- 2 cups salted vegan butter, room temperature
- 4 cups organic powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2–4 tbsp unsweetened dairy free milk
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease three 8″ cake pans with cooking oil, and line them with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Prepare the vegan buttermilk: Combine the dairy free milk with the apple cider vinegar, and set aside to sit for 5-6 minutes. You can weigh and measure the remaining ingredients during this time.
- Whisk the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
- Make the batter: For beginner bakers who want to simply whisking the ingredients together, see below for instructions. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment or a large bowl with hand mixer, cream together the vegan butter, oil, and sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides as needed. Then add in the dairy free yogurt and vanilla extract. Mix again on medium speed until combined, scraping down the sides and at the bottom of the bowl as needed. Add in about half of the dry mixture, along with half of the vegan buttermilk, and mix on medium speed until just combined. Add in the remaining dry mixture and vegan buttermilk, and mix on medium speed until there are just no more dry streaks. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl as well as the sides. 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 30 minutes in 8″ cake pans, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
- 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.
- When ready to frost the cakes, add vegan butter to a large bowl or stand mixer and cream for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, continuing the beat the mixture until it’s a thick buttercream.
- Add in vanilla and 2-4 tablespoons of coconut/almond milk and continue to beat until desired texture.
- Frost cake and enjoy!
Notes
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.
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.