I have a birthday, so I crave vegan cake more than usual! This vegan vanilla cake is the perfect birthday present. It is also an elegant layered cake that can be part of any celebration or special event.

In addition to the decoration you like, this cake’s decoration is gorgeous. It consists of three layers of simple vanilla sponge cake and a sweet, rich vegan cream frosting. That’s it.

I love the aroma and taste of vanilla and have never thought vanilla desserts were inferior to chocolate or other flavored desserts. True to its name, this vegan vanilla cake smells and tastes rich with vanilla.

What’s in a vegan vanilla cake?

A vegan vanilla cake is a vanilla cake without eggs, milk, or butter.

I use non-dairy milk instead of cow’s milk in recipes—soy, oats, almonds, and cashews are my favorite baked milk. My vanilla sponge cake does not contain butter; instead, I use avocado oil, which can be replaced with another neutral-flavored vegetable oil.

There’s plenty of vegan butter in the frosting – it’s the central ingredient! You can use any form of vegan butter. I usually use Earth Balance, which is inexpensive and works well in recipes.

What about eggs instead?

I often find it unnecessary to replace eggs in vegetarian baking. Flax eggs and soy milk work wonders in some recipes, but only in some. This is especially true for instant breads, muffins, and some cakes—including this one.

How to make a vegan vanilla cake

This vegan vanilla cake recipe is a tried-and-true one. I use it to make strawberry shortcake, a summer favorite. I’ve done this so many times that I almost know the proportions by heart.

To make the cake, stir the dry ingredients together, mix and add the wet ingredients, mix, and bake. The batter is loose and gives off a wonderful vanilla flavor before entering the oven.

This is a three-layer cake. You can bake it in 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans. I use these, and I always line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.

If you like, you can bake the cake on a 9 x 13-inch rectangular baking sheet, making it thin instead of layered.

Once the vanilla cake is baked and cooled, it’s ready to decorate.

I like to trim and level my cake whenever I make a cake layer. This gives the cake a more even shape and helps the breadcrumbs’ icing coating stick to it.

The “breadcrumb coat” is the first thin layer of icing on the cake. You coat it and refrigerate the cake for about 30 minutes. Once the outer layer is cold, it’s easier to frost and decorate the rest of the cake.

You can make your cake decoration as straightforward or complex as possible. I often frost the cake and leave it as it is. Using piping bags to make stars, flowers, swirls, or anything else you like is also fun.

Perfect flour for vegan vanilla cakes

For the best, fluffiest, lightest results, I recommend using cake mix or a homemade alternative – unbleached all-purpose flour mixed with cornstarch – to make a vegan vanilla cake.

Cake mix contains less protein than all-purpose flour, producing less gluten during baking. It produces soft, fluffy, moist breadcrumbs that are perfect for cakes.

While my vanilla cake works well with all-purpose flours, I must admit that the cake mix produces a more delicate crumb! I’ve noticed a difference when I’ve used it – though I’ve always needed help justifying making room in my limited pantry for another baking flour.

If you want to achieve the cake mix effect without buying cake mix, you can use plain flour + cornstarch.

The rule of thumb is subtracting two tablespoons of AP flour from each cup of flour called for in the recipe and replacing it with two tablespoons of cornstarch. I recommend three cups plus two tablespoons of all-purpose flour and six tablespoons of cornstarch for this recipe.

If this all sounds too worrying, don’t worry 😉 plain flour will do.

Can a vegan vanilla cake be gluten-free?

This cake can be made gluten-free. I recommend using a gluten-free, all-purpose flour mix rather than a single type of gluten-free flour (like almond or oat flour).

My favorite gluten-free baking flour is King Arthur’s, portion by portion. I use it when making a cake for my girlfriend, and it works well.

How to make vegan cream frosting

Of course, the trick to decorating a vegan vanilla cake is to have good frosting. The frosting for this recipe is simple cream made from vegan butter, powdered sugar, and non-dairy milk. I made this with a stand mixer, but you can also use a handheld mixer to beat the frosting to a light, perfect state.

When making this cake, I did something different than usual: I sifted the sugar before using it. This is a step I’ve skipped in the past, but it makes a big difference! I always have little clumps in my frosting because I can’t be bothered to sift the sugar beforehand. Now I know how much it was worth.

If you have the patience, I recommend following the recipe’s instructions. You can use a sieve if you have one (I have this), or you can just use a sieve.

Can I change the buttercream frosting?

I love this cream frosting and my vegan cream cheese frosting. I use them to decorate the cakes and cupcakes I make for birthdays and other special events. Some people find this traditional icing too sweet, which I can understand.

You can try doubling my creamy cashew frosting if you want to substitute cream in this vegan vanilla cake. You can also make a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting using my double chocolate avocado. The chocolate pumpkin frosting I use is also great with these raw vegan brownies.

Store plain vanilla cake

If your home is excellent, the buttercream icing will moisten the vanilla cake at room temperature for two days. If not, I recommend keeping the cake in the fridge, as the frosting melts quickly.

I covered the cake with a thin layer of plastic wrap. The packaging should not be too tight to damage the decoration; all you need is a soft layer of protection.

In my house, I’m alone, and there’s always a lot of cake. I freeze the rest of the slices so they stay fresh longer. A vegan vanilla cake will have a softer texture if you freeze it after a few days instead of leaving it in the fridge for more than 3-4 days.

I usually freeze leftover cake only one piece at a time, so I don’t have to defrost excess cake.

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Ingredients

3 1/2 cups cake flour or 3 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour mixed with 6 tablespoons cornstarch* (450g cake flour or 375 g all-purpose flour + 50g cornstarch)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups vegan buttermilk (1 3/4 cup non-dairy milk + 2 scant tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice or apple cider or white distilled vinegar, allowed to sit for at least 5 minutes before using; 415ml total)

1 3/4 cups cane sugar (350 g)

1/2 cup avocado oil (120mL)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Vanilla buttercream frosting

3 sticks of vegan butter at room temperature (336 grams)

5 cups sifted confectioners sugar (600 g)

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt (or 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons oat, soy, almond, or cashew milk

1 teaspoon white vinegar

Instructions

1. To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter or spray three 8 – or 9-inch round cake pans. Line a pan with baking paper. Prepare vegan buttermilk.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and mix well.
3. Whisk together buttermilk, sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract in a separate mixing bowl. Stir the wet ingredients together until they are combined.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to stack everything together. Avoid streaks of flour, but small clumps in the batter are okay. Pour the batter into the three cake pans as evenly as possible. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges of the cake are golden brown, then place in the middle.
5. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack. After 30 minutes, remove the cake from the pan (I like to use a pan with a detachable bottom to make it easier). Leave the cakes on a cooling rack until they are completely cool, which should take at least a few hours.
6. To make the frosting, put the butter in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes or until the butter is light and fluffy. Stop the blender and add the sugar. Cover the blender with a tea towel. Blend on low speed for 2 minutes. Remove the tea towel and add the salt, vanilla, and non-dairy milk. Beat on medium speed for another 3-4 minutes or until the frosting is fluffy again. Add the white vinegar and stop the blender.
7. Trim the top and sides of the cake so that they are evenly frosted if you wish. (If you do, save the leftovers for fruit, vegan yogurt, ice cream, or snack on them.) Place a cake layer on a cake stand and cover with icing (about 1 cup). Put another layer of frost on top. Finish with a layer of cake and frosting. Continue to apply the frost to the side, keeping a thin layer of frost; this is your breadcrumb coat. After breading, refrigerate the cake for 20-30 minutes.
8. Cover the whole cake with the rest of the icing, making some pretty swirls as you go. Make any decorations you like. Slice and enjoy your cake!

In 2020, when the quarantine was fully implemented, I sent one of my carrot cakes to my mom’s apartment. I handed it to her in the lobby of her building, wearing nitrile gloves. Later that night, we ate cake together on Zoom.

It’s a joy to share cake, my all-time favorite dessert, with someone I love again. This vegan vanilla cake is made to be cut and shared on a particular day. But as I walk through the leftovers after my birthday, I can also tell you it’s a beautiful treat to have and enjoy it alone.

Whatever you do, I hope you like it.