This simple vegan fried egg cake is the perfect recipe for Easter and super easy to make! It’s a delicious sheet cake with a fluffy moist sponge cake base, creamy custard layer and apricots which look like fried eggs – A popular German Easter dessert!
The Best German Fried Egg Cake
Not only in taste, but also in appearance, the classic fried egg cake with custard and apricots is a popular German cake at Easter time! I bake the sheet cake with custard according to grandma’s original Spiegeleierkuchen recipe, but without eggs, dairy milk and butter. And although my fried egg cake recipe is completely vegan, it tastes like the famous classic version from grandma!
Grandma’s Fried Egg Cake Recipe Made Vegan
The fluffy, moist base of sponge cake with smooth cream vanilla pudding and vegan sour cream not only tastes incredibly good, but also always looks great with the pretty apricots on top! The fried egg cake is always a hit by all guests and must not be missed at Easter. But you can also bake it for a birthday or just for coffee and tea time in the afternoon – your kids will love it too!
Simple Easter Cake
With the help of my detailed step-by-step instructions, even beginners can make the fried egg cake. It’s easier made than you think and it only requires a few inexpensive ingredients. This amazing vegan cake is the perfect Easter dessert for the whole family!
With the orange apricots on the light cream, the cake reminds you of real fried eggs! But you can also bake the cake with other fruit. How about tangerines, peaches, cherries, strawberries, raspberries or nectarines? Feel free to get creative with this versatile fruit cake recipe!
Ingredients for the Recipe
Sponge cake
- Flour: all-purpose, spelt or gluten-free flour
- Baking powder: or half the amount of baking soda
- Sugar: variety to taste
- Salt: only a pinch
- Plant milk: any dairy-free milk will do!
- Oil: e.g. canola, sunflower or butter-flavored Alba oil
- Apple cider vinegar: or white vinegar or lemon juice
- Vanilla extract: or ground bourbon vanilla or the pulp of a vanilla bean
Custard cream
- Cornstarch
- Vanilla extract
- Turmeric: optional for a yellow color
- Sugar: variety as desired
- Plant milk: e.g. coconut, almond, cashew or soy milk
- Vegan sour cream: alternatively, you can use dairy-free cream cheese or coconut cream (the top solid part of chilled canned coconut milk).
Fruit topping
- Apricot halves: canned or fresh.
- Vegan cake glaze: or cornstarch
- Sugar: to taste
- Chopped pistachios: optional for decorating.
How to make German Fried Egg Cake
As always, I recommend checking out these step-by-step instructions and the recipe video first. Then you’ll find the full recipe with the exact measurements in the recipe card below!
Step 1: Bake the sponge cake
Start by greasing a sheet pan. Then make the batter: first, sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Then add salt and sugar and whisk together. In another container, combine all the wet ingredients, then pour in the dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Pour the batter onto a baking sheet, smooth it out and bake at 356 °F (180 °C) for about 25 minutes.
Step 2: Cook vegan custard
Start by cooking a vegan custard (German Pudding) as usual (see recipe card for detailed instructions). Then let the pudding cool down a bit while stirring. Mix the vegan sour cream into the still warm pudding and spread the cream on the cake base.
Step 3: Top with fruit
Drain the apricot halves well and place them on the cake. Then prepare the cake glaze according to package directions and drizzle over the apricots and custard. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve. Then cut into squares, garnish with pistachios as desired and enjoy!
Tips for Making Fried Egg Cake
- Baking dish: The ingredient amounts are calculated for a large 15“x18“ (38×45 cm) baking sheet and yield 20 pieces. In the recipe video and photos, I used a small 9“x12.5“ (23×32 cm) sheet pan and calculated the ingredient amounts down to 12 pieces. For other baking pan sizes, you can use my baking pan converter.
- Plant milk: Oat milk and saliva contain enzymes that break down starch, so the pudding then does not become solid. Therefore, do not use oat milk and always use a new spoon when tasting the pudding.
- Don’t overmix! Please stir the batter only until all the ingredients have just combined. If you overmix the batter, the cake will not rise well and will be less fluffy!
- Baking time may vary depending on the oven and baking pan. Therefore, please always do a stick test. Once a toothpick comes out clean, the cake is baked through.
- Allow the sheet cake to cool completely after baking before adding the custard on top.
- Baking frame: When adding the pudding cream, you can place a baking frame around the cake if needed.
- Make ahead: You can also bake the fried egg cake 1-2 days ahead. By the way, leftover cake and remaining custard cream can also be used for making pretty cake pops.
Recipe Variations
- Cake base: You can also bake a classic sponge cake, lemon cake or funfetti cake instead.
- Sugar: The amount of sugar in the pudding can be adjusted depending on whether you use sweetened or unsweetened plant milk.
- Fruit: You can use other fruit instead of apricots. Always drain canned fruit well to prevent watering down the custard.
- Cake glaze: I used store-bought vegan clear cake glaze. Optionally, you can substitute cornstarch as described in the notes below the recipe.
How to store cake with custard and fruits
The vegan fried egg cake can be stored covered in the refrigerator or in a cool room or balcony for up to 5 days.
Can I freeze the cake?
Sure! You can easily freeze leftover fried egg cake for 3 months. It’s best to wrap the individual cake pieces in plastic wrap first, then place them in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. To thaw the cake pieces, you can simply leave them on the counter for 1-2 hours or place them in the refrigerator overnight.
Can I make the cake gluten-free?
Yes, sure! The sponge cake will be wonderfully soft and fluffy even with a gluten-free flour blend! If you’re concerned, feel free to add an egg substitute for good measure.
This Vegan Fried Egg Cake is:
- Eggless
- Without butter
- Fool-proof
- Easy to make
- Can also be made gluten-free
- Dairy free (lactose free)
- Versatile & adaptable
- Soft and fluffy
- Moist and creamy
- Totally delicious!
- The perfect Easter cake!
More easy Vegan recipes for the Easter holidays to try:
- Carrot Cake
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- Blueberry Babka
- Braided Easter Bread
- Carrot Cake Bliss Balls
- German Bee Sting Cake
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Mandarin Cheesecake with Streusel
- Yeast Roll Cake with poppy seeds
- Vegan Madeleines
- Blood Orange Bundt Cake
Recipe Video
If you try this easy German Fried Egg Cake recipe, feel free to leave me a comment and a star rating! And if you take a photo of your sheet cake with custard and apricots and share it on Instagram or Facebook, please tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka because I love seeing your remakes! Happy baking! 🙂
Easter Cake with Custard and Apricots (German Fried Egg Cake)
Author:Ingredients
Sponge cake
- 3 cups (360 g) flour all-purpose, spelt or gluten-free flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar type of choice
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 ½ cups (360 ml) plant milk type of choice
- ½ cup (120 ml) oil e.g. canola, sunflower or butter-flavored Alba oil
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or white vinegar or 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Custard cream
- 3 ⅓ cup (800 ml) plant milk e.g. coconut, almond, cashew, or soy milk
- ⅔ cup (75 g) cornstarch
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch of turmeric optional for a more yellow color
- ½ cup (100 g) sugar type of choice
- 14 oz (400 g) dairy-free sour cream or cream cheese or coconut cream
Fruit topping
- 20 (480 g) apricot halves 480 g drained weight
- 2 sachets vegan cake glaze *see notes
- 2 cups water
- 4 tbsp sugar or to taste
- chopped pistachios optional for garnish
Instructions
*Note: Check out the recipe video + step-by-step photos above!
- Sponge cake
- Preheat the oven to 356 °F (180 °C) and grease a large 15“x18“ (38x45 cm) sheet pan (*see notes for different size).
- Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add salt and sugar and mix everything together.
- In another bowl, whisk together plant milk, oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract. Then add to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Pour the batter onto the prepared baking sheet and smooth it out. Bake on the middle rack for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Then let cool completely.
Custard cream
- Add 6-7 tablespoons of the plant milk to a cup and dissolve the cornstarch, vanilla extract, turmeric and sugar in it. Pour the remaining plant milk into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then stir in the cornstarch slurry and bring to a boil again, stirring constantly.
- Remove the thickened custard from the heat and let it cool down a bit while stirring. Then mix the vegan sour cream into the still warm custard using an electric hand mixer.
- Spread the custard cream on the cake base and smooth it out (if needed, you can put a baking frame around the cake).
Fruit topping
- Drain the apricot halves well in a sieve and place them on the cake.
- Stir the cake glaze powder according to the package instructions in 2 cups of water with sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then let cool slightly and pour slowly over the apricots and custard cream.
- Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve (at least 1 hour). Then cut into pieces and garnish with pistachios if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Baking sheet: The ingredient amounts are calculated for a large 15“x18“ (38x45 cm) baking sheet and yield 20 pieces. In the recipe video and photos, I used a small 9“x12.5“ (23x32 cm) baking sheet and calculated the ingredient amounts down to 12 pieces. For other baking pan sizes, you can use my cake pan converter.
- Cake base: You can also bake a classic sponge cake, lemon cake or funfetti cake for making this recipe.
- Sugar: You can adjust the amount of sugar in the custard depending on whether you use sweetened or unsweetened plant milk.
- Plant milk: Oat milk and saliva contain enzymes that break down starch, so that the custard does not become solid. Therefore, do not use oat milk and always use a new spoon when tasting the custard.
- Sour cream: you can also use cream cheese or pure coconut cream (the top solid part of chilled coconut milk from a can) instead.
- Fruit: Instead of apricots, you can use other fruit. Always drain canned fruit well to prevent watering down the pudding cream.
- Cake glaze: I used this vegan cake glaze. Optionally, you can stir 4 tbsp of cornstarch into 2 cups (500 ml) of water + sugar and bring to a boil.
- Storing notes as well as helpful tips and more information on the recipe are mentioned in the blog post above!
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Naja, grundsätzlich ein leckeres Rezept aber es fehlt das gewisse Etwas.
Du kannst das Kuchenrezept gerne abwandeln und zum Beispiel noch Amaretto oder Rum in den Kuchenteig geben! 😉
Such a delicious cake! Everyone was thrilled! Thanks for the recipe ♥️
Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you 🙂