This Best Vegan Vanilla Cake recipe is easy to make and so delicious! It’s a soft and moist vanilla layer cake with homemade buttercream frosting. Perfect for birthday parties, weddings, and for any occasion!
Best Vegan Vanilla Cake
You can never go wrong with a classic vanilla cake, can you? Or is it possible that there are people who don’t like vanilla flavor?! Well, I think not! Since my friend asked me if I could make a wedding cake for their wedding, one that doesn’t just look pretty, but is also delicious for everyone, I thought vanilla would be just perfect! So I wanted to practice my layer cake skills and I came up with the idea of taking pictures of it to share my favorite basic vegan vanilla cake recipe with you!
Versatile Vanilla Cake Recipe
I have always loved vanilla cake and honestly, it’s like an obsession. You can make so many things out of the basic recipe, for example creating a classic layer cake, or one with fruity filling, or even just making a simple loaf, pound cake or sponge cake. Another great idea is to make a bundt cake or easy cupcakes or muffins which are ready super quick! Because of all these possibilities, I wanted to have a classic vegan vanilla cake recipe here on my blog which you can make anytime!
One of the first Vegan Vanilla Cake recipes I posted here on my blog was my Cranberry Vanilla Cake. It’s a super soft cake, has a nice fluffy texture and is layered with fruits and whipped cream frosting. But since then, I have changed a couple of things, figured out that it gets even fluffier when adding Aquafaba!
What is Aquafaba?
Actually, Aquafaba is just the leftover liquid from cooked chickpeas. It can be whipped up into stiff peaks similar to real egg whites which you can use to make vegan chocolate mousse for example. But it can be also added to recipes un-whipped as an egg binder, such as in this vegan chocolate cake roll. And when you whip it up just until foamy, it’s a great egg white substitute that makes your cakes fluffier in texture such as today’s Vegan Vanilla Cake. And don’t worry, you won’t taste it. Even if the chickpea brine is a little salty, that is totally ok. Anyway, you can also just add more non-dairy milk if you don’t want to use Aquafaba.
Easy Vegan Vanilla Cake Recipe
What I also love about this vanilla cake is not only the delicious flavor and texture but also the simplicity. The batter is made with only a few basic ingredients and comes together super quick in one bowl. You don’t need special kitchen utensils – Just a bowl, hand mixer, spatula and a cake pan (or three pans for a layer cake). Simply mix everything together, fill it into your pan and bake! Sounds very easy, right?
Vegan Buttercream Frosting
When you decide to make a layer cake with frosting as I did, there are some options for making the buttercream. I prefer to lighten the buttercream with vegan cream cheese. So I use two parts of vegan butter and one part of vegan cream cheese. Anyway, you can also make the frosting by using only vegan butter. Alternatively, you could also frost your layer cake with whipped cream. But take note that the cake will then probably not keep its shape very well since whipped non-dairy cream is super light and often melts quickly.
Vegan Vanilla Naked Cake – How to assemble a Layer Cake
Please don’t stress trying to create a layer cake that looks perfect. Just have fun assembling and decorating it and don’t worry too much about how it looks. It may take a little time if this is the first time you’re building a layer cake, however, it is really not complicated since we have just two layers – the vanilla cake layers and the buttercream frosting. All you have to do is to spread the buttercream over your cake layers and stack them. Finally, spread the remaining frosting all over the cake, including the top and sides, creating a naked cake. I am very sure, in the end, your layer cake will be beautiful and very delicious too! So please don’t be afraid, and give it a try!
Cake Decoration Suggestions
To decorate your naked cake, you can just pick up some fresh flowers from the garden as they’re so beautiful and organic too. Or use fresh fruits, such as berries, if you have any. Since cherries are currently in season here in Germany, I wanted to use these for today’s recipe. And if you want to bring this cake to a party, you could also create a fancy birthday cake style decor using colorful sprinkles, or making pipes or crazy marble effects by adding food colors or powders into the frosting. Just be creative!
Why you will love this Recipe!
As I mentioned before, this Vegan Vanilla Cake is actually fairly easy to make, very versatile and you can create it pretty too. There are no special ingredients required, nothing extraordinary. You just need simple ingredients you may already have in your pantry, and – don’t forget – vanilla bean or vanilla extract for the flavor!
Looking for more Vegan Cake Recipes? Then you may also like my
- Strawberry Lemon Cake
- Chocolate Raspberry Cake
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Snickers Cake
- Blueberry Lemon Cake
- Vegan Black Forest Cake
- Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Strawberry Cream Cake
- Cranberry Vanilla Cake
- Poppy Seed Lemon Cake
- Vegan Zebra Marble Cake
If you try this Best Vegan Vanilla Cake Recipe or maybe another of my Recipes, please leave me a comment below sharing how it turned out for you! And if you take a picture of your recreation and share it on Instagram, please do not forget to tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka to make sure I will not miss your post! Happy baking! 😊
Vegan Vanilla Cake
You do not have a fitting cake pan at hand right now? Try my new Cake Pan Conversion Calculator!
Ingredients
Vegan Vanilla cake
- 2 cups non-dairy milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup aquafaba liquid from 1 x 14 oz can chickpeas, or sub more non-dairy milk
- ¾ cup vegan butter softened
- ¾ cup oil
- 2 ¼ cups sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon zest optional
Vegan Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup vegan butter softened
- 4 oz vegan cream cheese softened, or sub more vegan butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Combine the non-dairy milk and the vinegar and set aside until to curdle into vegan buttermilk.
- Preheat oven to 356°F (180°C). Grease three 8-inch (20cm) cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Pour the liquid from a can of chickpeas into a mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer for a minute just until foamy. (It is similar to real eggwhites and makes the cake fluffier but you can skip it and just add more non-dairy milk instead).
- In another bowl, beat the softened vegan butter, oil and sugar until creamy and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, add the whipped aquafaba and the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Now alternate adding the flour mixture and vegan buttermilk in 4 batches, mixing until just combined after each batch. (Please do not overmix or your cakes will get dense).
- Divide the batter evenly between your prepared cake pans and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean. (Please do not skip the test as the baking time may vary, depending on your oven.)
- Let cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then carefully invert them onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting. (If making the cakes ahead, you can wrap each cake in foil and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days).
Buttercream Frosting
- Beat the soft vegan butter with a hand mixer until creamy and fluffy. Then add the softened cream cheese and mix until combined. Gradually, add the powdered sugar, and a squeeze of lemon juice and mix until creamy and well combined. (If the frosting is too firm and not spreadable, add a little more lemon juice. Or if it is too soft, add more powdered sugar).*
Assembling the Cake:
- Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread ¼ of the buttercream over. Top with the next layer, and repeat this process for the second and third layers. Finally, spread the remaining buttercream frosting all over your cake and sides creating a naked cake style.
- Chill 3-4 hours in the fridge before decorating and serving.
- Enjoy! 😊
Notes
- To make this cake gluten-free, I recommend using a gluten-free flour blend 1:1.
- Make sure that the vegan butter is softened, but please do not melt in the pot or microwave! Simply remove from the fridge approx. 1/2 hour before you start, cut into small cubes and set aside until soft.
- You can store the buttercream frosting in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. It will firm up when it cools, and it softens at room temperature.
- If you want to make a fruit layer, you can check out my recipes for strawberry lemon cake, blueberry lemon cake, raspberry chocolate cake or strawberry cream cake.
- Please read the text for further information about this recipe.
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1/2 cup vegan yogurt works as a sub for this?
You can try it! 😉
I made this at the weekend and it was a complete hit I didn’t have any 20cm cake tins and so ended up doing a 4 layer case in 18cm cake tins. What plant based milk will give the best results and should it be unsweetened or sweetened? Also would I be able to make this as a rainbow cake using four 9inch cake tins? And finally can you please let me know in metric measurements how much 1/2 a cup of acqfaba would be. Many thanks xx
So glad your vanilla cake turned out amazing!
You can use my baking pan conversion calculator to adjust the recipe for 9-Inch cakes.
I figured out that soy-milk is best for vegan baking!
1/2 cup of aquafaba equals to 120 ml.
Best, Bianca 😊
Thank you so much for getting back to me . If I was to use self raising flour then would I need to omit the baking powder completely ? Xx
I would not omit it completely but you can use half amount of baking powder and half amount of baking soda.
HI Bianca I made this cake at the weekend. Its the third time that I have made it now. On the last two occasions is was great however this time around it went very soggy the very next day. Once it was taken out of the oven it was fine. I allowed it to cool and put it in a airtight container over night and left it in the kitchen. I just don’t know what went wrong for it go soggy overnight. I did use 125g soya yoghurt in replace of the aqufaba. Thanks x
How did you store it in the refrigerator? Maybe it’s better to cover it just loosely with a clean kitchen towel but not wrapped in foil or airtight.
Also, I haven’t tried this recipe with yogurt instead of aquafaba so maybe that was also the cause.
DELICIOUS CAKE! I have been baking vegan for 19 years due to my son’s egg and dairy allergies. He is allergic to all types of nuts which limits what we can use as well. This is the BEST vanilla vegan cake I have ever made. Chocolate cakes are so much easier to make taste like a normal cake. Everyone loved it, including our non-vegan family/friends. For this recipe we used oat milk and whipped the aquafaba to soft peaks. This recipe made four 6-inch rounds. The rise was to the top of the pan (2 inch high!). I’ve never gotten a vegan vanilla cake to rise like that. One of the layers was under baked and sank in the middle, but this might be a problem with my oven. The other 3 layers were perfect and high enough to make a really tall layer cake. I’ve tried many vegan vanilla cake recipes and this was hands down the best.
So glad you love this recipe! Thank you so much for your amazing feedback! ❤️
Hi, I usually don’t leave comments, but this is such a great vegan recipe!
So Soft and fluffy. ( I used aquafaba)
Thank you for posting!
My family loved it.
So glad your family love this recipe! Thank you so much! ❤️
Hi Bianca
Can you help?
I made this recipe today and followed the instructions to the letter, including the baking instructions, using an oven thermometer. My oven was fully pre-heated before even starting to weigh out. I used Naturli Vegan butter, Almond Milk and Golden Caster Sugar. My baking soda and powder were in date.
I make egg-based cakes as part of my job, so I now how important accuracy is. I used a gram scales (the scales have been calibrated). I used a Kitchen Aid mixer and a Unox fan oven.
The cake rose massively in the first 12 minutes of the bake to the limit of the tin – I thought this was going to be amazing. The cake then collapsed completely, leading to a huge sink in the middle.
I ran the baking to the end of your recommended time just to see how it tasted (even if it didn’t look great) but it was totally gummy inside, green-coloured, like it hadn’t cooked at all. I couldn’t eat it. It had the smell a bit like a baked pancake.
Was there anything in the method that I might have got wrong as I double checked the weights and I weighed them spot on.
Thanks, Natalie!
Hi Natalie,
I‘m sorry to hear that. When it comes to vegan baking, it is very important to not overmix the batter. So please make sure to stir the ingredients until just combined with a whisk or spatula. Please do not use a mixer.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Bianca
I’m trying to make this cake now for Sunday afternoon. Will it last in the fridge? (As in cake fully frosted?)
Thank you!
Hi Amy,
Yes! You can assemble the cake the day before! 🙂
Thank you!
This was my first time making a cake, and, although the finished product tasted great (and was a huge success), the cakes themselves turned out rather crumbly and were very difficult to frost/handle/keep from falling apart. Do you have any advice for how to make them more solid for future attempts?
First of all, please make sure to not overmix the batter. Secondly, please make sure to not overbake the cake. Hope this helps! 😊
I love this recipe underrated and it’s perfect for my pan:)
Thank you so much! So glad you love it! 😊
Hey!
So I’m making this cake tomorrow for my Mum’s birthday, you say to have the oven at 175oc, is that with the fan setting?
Want to get it perfect! Thank you 😊
-Meg x
My oven is pretty hot so I usually bake it on regular setting. However, you can also bake it at fan! Simply to a cake test to check if it’s done baking! Hope your mom will be happy!
I wish I can post a picture on here but my word the cake was OUTSTANDING 😍 all of my family (non-vegans) said it was the best cake I’ve made! It is currently on my Instagram story @megeastonx 🥰
Best recipes ever💛
Thank you so much for your feedback! You can send me your photo via Instagram! 😊
Hey! If I am subbing the Aquafaba for more non dairy milk would it be the same amount? Sub 1/2 cup aquafaba for 1/2 cup non dairy milk?
Thanks!
Yes! However, I recommend using vegan yogurt if you have it on hand! 🙂
It was my first time baking a vegan cake using Bianca’s recipe. It was super easy to make and delicious! I’ve used the coconut whipped cream for decoration.
Thank you so much! So glad you love my vegan vanilla cake! 🙂
Hi! I’ve just followed the recipe, and used it for cupcakes. The tops look like and taste like sugar cookies, any idea what I did wrong? They’re very tasty, but they did not turn out as a fluffy cake.
Hi Kim, maybe you didn’t mix the batter until combined?
Hi! I made this cake a couple of weeks ago for my dad’s 60th and next I’m making it for my partner’s 30th. It was delicious but just a tad too sweet for my taste. How will the cake act if I reduce the amount of sugar a bit?
Thanks for the recipe!
Feel free to use less sugar! This will not change the texture! 🙂
Hey Bianca, so after searching long and hard for the perfect vegan vanilla cake recipe I finally found it! Thank you so much for sharing this. Everyone loved the taste, some people didn’t even know it was vegan lol. Very moist and delicious taste thank you again x
Hi Krishna, so glad to read you enjoyed this vegan vanilla cake so much! Thank you for your amazing feedback! 🙂
Hi Bianca
You are such a blessing. Your recipes are awesome!
I’d like to know if I can make a 3 or 4 tier cake with this recipe? Seeing that the cake is quite fluffy (yummy) I’m afraid it might collapse.
Thank you ☺️
Hi Sam, so glad you love my recipes! Thank you so much for your amazing feedback! 🙂
I think this recipe is best to make a three layer cake as you can see in my photos! Hope you’ll enjoy it! <3
Hi there! I’m going to be making this tomorrow for my mom’s birthday and wanted to know how much more butter i should use for the frosting since I don’t have vegan cream cheese. Thank you!
Hi Mary, you can sub the same amount of vegan butter! Hope you’re mom will love it! 🙂
Hey, I have a soy allergy. All the vegan butter I can buy has soy in it, so do you think I can substitute the vegan butter with coconut oil? Thanks!
Yes, you can use coconut oil, too! 🙂
Hello! I am so excited to try this recipe. It sounds amazing! I was just wondering but is there a reason you mix in the aquafaba instead of fold it in? From what I know about meringues you don’t want to lose the air you you whip in.
Hi Emma, I mix it in on low speed but you can also fold it in using a whisk or spatula if this works better for you! Hope you’ll enjoy it! 🙂
This cake looks amazing! 🙂 I’d like to try it soon, but I wonder if I can make it in “cocoa” version? Can I simply add cocoa to the batter?
Hi Monika, so glad you love this cake! If you’d like making a chocolate cake, you can check out this best vegan chocolate cake recipe or this peanut butter chocolate cake recipe or this raspberry chocolate cake recipe! I hope you’ll try one of these! 🙂
Oops meant five star
Thank you so much, Jenny! 🙂 <3
Veganized Tessa Huffs pink peppercorn cherry cake Utilizing your base recipe for cake and frosting. Came out fabulous and looks gorgeous. Thank you for the beautiful recipe. Not crazy about earth balance aftertaste will try miyokos next time for cake and frosting ,do you think that would work?
Hi Jenny, so glad you love this recipe! I’m based in Germany so I use German brands. However, feel free to try another one! Hope you’ll like it more! 🙂
Hello Bianca I just came across your vegan cake recipes and love the look of them! Before I make the cake I wanted to ask can I add aquafaba and sparkling water? As this recipe calls for aquafaba and the vegan strawberry one has sparkling water. I’m looking to make a very airy fluffy vanilla cake with strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream frosting layered cake. X
Hi Krishna, I suggest making this recipe exactly as instructed since I really love the result. I hope you’ll love it, too! 🙂
O M G !!!
I was asked to make a vegan GF vanilla cake for an 18th, I was nervous and stressed out and looked high and low for that perfect recipe with rave reviews and one that had worked for most people.
What can I say – the cake was a hit, delicious and scrumptious and no one could tell it was vegan and gf. I added a thin layer of vegan lemon buttercream to both layers for some zing and they loved it !
Thankyou so much for a versatile and delicious recipe 🙂
Hi Ash, so glad you love this vegan vanilla cake so much! Thank you for your amazing feedback! Lots of love, Bianca <3
Hello! I struggled with making the GF vegan cake and was wondering what GF flour mix you used or if can possibly you made your own mix?
I have seen all the raving reviews and I don’t think it’s your recipe at fault and most likely my own even though I have followed all ingredients to the T and your cross section of the cake struture looks by far, the best!
Hi Gianna, you can try this gluten-free flour blend! 🙂
This looks amazing!!! Can’t wait to try the aquafaba. If I want to do a 2 layer but only have 9 inch pans, is that possible? Thanks!
Hi Lisa, yes sure! You can find a baking pan conversion calculator in this post (click here). So you can enter your desired pan etc. Hope you’ll enjoy it! 🙂
Oh my gosh!!! This is the best cake! I’ve tried 5 other vegan white cake recipes and none of them came even close to this!!! So fluffy and moist! I took the cake I made to work and everyone loved it!!!! Thank you!!!
Hi Lisa, so glad your cake turned out perfectly! Thank you so much for your amazing feedback! Lots of love, Bianca 🙂 <3
Can you freeze the cake? I want to make a wedding cake but it needs to be made in advance
Yes, you can freeze the cake layers. Just make sure to wrap tightly in foil, then place in a freezer bag to avoid freezer burn. To thaw, unwrap the cake and place in the fridge overnight 🙂
Hi, I’m so amazed by this recipe. I’ve used it twice and it’s so yummy, my vegan family loved it. They asked me to make cupcakes for them. How many cupcakes (standard size) does this recipe make?
Thank you for this amazing recipe
Hi Sameerah, so glad you enjoyed this vegan vanilla cake! Thank you! 🙂 I haven’t tried to make cupcakes with this recipe but I guess it’ll make a lot since it’s much batter. I suggest using only half of the ingredients to make about 12 cupcakes. Let me know if you tried it! Lots of love, Bianca <3
hi bianca ,
could u pls guide me for 2 layers cake for 8inch cake ..i highly appriciate ur effort..
thanka a lot
Hi Pria, this recipe makes one 8-inch layer cake with 3 cake layers. If you’d like to make 2 8-inch layer cakes, simply double the recipe! 🙂
Eine richtig leckere Torte. Ich habe sie bereits 2x gebacken und alle Gäste waren begeistert. Ich habe das glutenfreie Mehl “Kuchen und Kekse” von Schär genommen und es mit einem Fünftel Buchweizenmehl gemischt. Bei der Creme hab ich die Margarine durch den festen Teil der Kokosmilch ersetzt.
Liebe Katharina, es freut mich wirklich sehr zu hören, dass dir die Torte so gut geschmeckt hat! 🙂 Danke für dein Feedback und dass du deine Version geteilt hast! Liebe Grüße, Bianca <3
Das Rezept hält was es verspricht. Der Kuchen ist richtig fluffig und locker. Kann ich nur weiterempfehlen! Dein neues Kochbuch ist schon bestellt 😊👌
Liebe Theresa, es freut mich riesig zu hören, dass dir die Torte gut geschmeckt hat! Viel Spaß mit meinem Kochbuch und Danke für dein Feedback! 🙂
Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe! I made an MBA graduation cake for my vegan sister (which my gluten free mother would also be eating) and I followed this recipe for the cake. I used the icing and filling from the Lemon Strawberry cake. It was such a hit! The kids (who, let’s face it, are the REAL test!) ate it right up! Even the 3 year old! While this was my first fully vegan cake, it was NOT my first gluten free cake and that Aquafaba tip made a WORLD of difference! Thank you so much for having so many tips and tricks and making the recipe so easy to follow.
So glad that your family liked this vanilla cake too! 🙂 Thank you so much for your comment and your feedback! Hope you had a great celebration <3
Hi Bianca, in the instructions point 3. and point 5. you mention sugar yet there is only one measurement of sugar. Are you meant to mix sugar with flour etc mix or beat sugar into the oil and butter?
You have to add the sugar in step 5. Thanks for letting me know. It was a mistake but I’ve corrected it 🙂
I tried this recipe and made cupcakes for my nephews birthday party all the children couldn’t wait to eat them! Amazing cake recipe, really simple to follow with amazing results thankyou❤️Xx
Thank you so much! So happy about that 🙂
Hi Bianca, I’m going to test out this recipe for my friend’s wedding! I was hoping to do a 2-layer cake, with a 6-inch top layer. Do you have any recommendations for making a 6-inch cake with this recipe? Thank you 🙂
Hi Madelaine. I think you can make 2 6-inch cakes with half of the recipe 🙂 Let me know how it turned out.
It looks incredible! I want a big slice please. 🙂
Thank you, Ela! 🙂
dreamy cake! I love all of your recipes!
which vegan cream cheese do you recommend?
Thank you so much! I use almond cream cheese but it’s only available here in Germany. Where do you live?
This cake looks stunning Bianca! You’ve made it look sooo pretty! All I want is just a big slice with my cuupa right now!
You’re so sweet, Anna 🙂 Would love to send you a big slice! <3
Looks amazing! 🙂 How much more milk would you estimate adding to sub for aquafaba? 1/4 c?
Thank you, Katy! I think 1/2 cup is fine 🙂 Let me know how it turned out.