With a moist and fluffy crumb and decadent vanilla flavors, you’ll fall head over heels for this Vegan Vanilla Cake recipe. It’s perfect for all kinds of occasions and no one will guess it’s vegan!
You won’t ever have to search for a vegan cake recipe again with my vanilla cake, Vegan Chocolate Cake, and Vegan Yellow Cake recipes in your back pocket.
Introducing the only vegan vanilla cake recipe you’ll ever need!
My Vegan Vanilla Cake is an extraordinary dessert that will ‘wow’ the vanilla lovers in your life. It’s moist and fluffy, has elegant vanilla flavors, and is paired with my Vanilla Vegan Frosting for just the right amount of sweetness.
With over 200 5-star reviews, this recipe is a proven favorite! Here’s what readers are saying:
“Love this cake recipe!! The best I’ve ever had!! The whole family loves it too.” – Melissa
“Absolutely amazing! Impressed all my non-vegan friends!!” – Brittany
“I have tried many cake recipes and this one is the best by far! It was perfect and the whole family loved it. I’m keeping this one. Thank you so much!” – Lauren
My favorite way to serve this moist vegan vanilla cake is with sprinkles on top, but you can use fresh fruit, vegan whipped cream, edible flowers, or any fun decorations you love. Bring it with you to the birthday party, bridal shower, or holiday party, and watch as everyone rushes to get a slice!
Why this is the best vegan vanilla cake
- It’s the type of cake you dream about – This bakery-style vanilla cake has a wonderfully moist and fluffy crumb and an elegant vanilla flavor. The best part is that it’s made without eggs or dairy but you’d never know it!
- Two secret ingredients – Aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas) and cake flour are solely responsible for this cake’s delicate, fluffy texture.
- Perfect for any occasion – Decorate the cake with vegan buttercream frosting and sprinkles so it’s ready for birthday parties, baby showers, weddings, holidays, or any special occasion. You will also love my super easy Vegan Funfetti Cake for birthday parties!
How to make vegan vanilla cake
This is simply an overview with photos. For the complete, printable recipe, scroll down to the recipe card.
First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease 2 8-inch round cake pans. Place a round of parchment paper on the bottom for easy removal of the cakes later.
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium-large bowl and set aside.
Make the vegan buttermilk by combining the milk and apple cider vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Stir a little, then set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk the aquafaba and cream of tartar vigorously until foamy, about 2 minutes. You don’t need this in stiff peaks, just get it a bit fluffy and foamy. OR, you can vegan yogurt, which works just as well!
Cream the softened vegan butter, canola oil, and sugar together in a large bowl until creamy. Next, add the aquafaba to the bowl along with the vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.
With your mixer on low speed, alternate between adding portions of the flour mixture and vegan buttermilk to the batter, mixing until just combined after each time.
Do not overmix the batter! The batter should be fairly smooth after everything has been incorporated. A few lumps left behind are okay.
Pour the batter into your prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
Set the cakes aside to cool while you make the Vegan Buttercream Frosting, Chocolate Frosting, Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting or Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
Or consider making this incredible Vegan Whipped Cream (that tastes like dairy whipped cream!) and serve with berries.
Frost the vanilla cake when the layers are completely cooled. Add some sprinkles on top for fun, then slice and serve!
Frequently asked questions
Cake flour works the absolute best in this recipe but all purpose flour is fine, too. You can also make homemade cake flour by mixing all purpose flour and cornstarch together. Check out this Cake Flour Substitute Guide from Sally’s Baking Addiction to learn how it’s done.
A quality gluten free flour mix, like Better Batter, will work as a substitute but just know that the cake will have a slightly different texture and it probably won’t be as fluffy and light.
Aquafaba is simply the liquid, or juice, from a can of chickpeas. That’s it!
Like egg whites, it does amazing things when it’s whipped up, such as making vegan-friendly meringues, mousses, whipped cream, brownies, and more. It’s also a rockstar egg replacer in vegan baking, including this recipe. It gives the cake a fluffy and moist texture and a crisp white color (no brown bits from flaxseed eggs!).
To learn more about the magic of aquafaba, check out my guide, Aquafaba 101.
I recently did some testing and discovered that the best substitute for aquafaba in this recipe is vegan yogurt! Use a higher protein/fat version that is unsweetened and unflavored for best results. You can also use 2 flax eggs, possibly JUST Egg or another egg replacer.
Sure. This recipe makes enough cake batter for a 9×13, 10, or 12-inch cake pan or a sheet pan. Remember to add an extra 10 to 15 minutes to the baking time when using a larger pan. Two 9-inch round pans work as well, but the cakes will be thinner.
Wrap the baked and cooled cake layers in plastic wrap, then store them in the fridge for 4 to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I recommend keeping the frosted cake in an airtight container, like a cake carrier, in the fridge or counter (it will get rather dry quickly in the fridge). You can also lightly wrap it with plastic wrap, but it may ruin your designs. At room temperature, it will last about 5 days.
Want more incredible vegan cakes?
I love making vegan cake recipes that taste just as good, if not better than the usual dairy and egg filled versions! Make any of the following recipes and become a vegan cake connoisseur:
And you can find even MORE cakes here! Vegan Cake Recipes. Happy baking!
Vegan Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Vegan buttermilk
- 1 1/4 cups unsweetened soy milk
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Aquafaba (or sub 1/2 cup vegan yogurt)
- 1/2 cup aquafaba
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
The rest
- 1/2 cup vegan butter softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Frosting and sprinkles
- 1 Recipe Vegan Buttercream Frosting
- vegan friendly sprinkles optional
Instructions
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F place the rack in the middle of the oven.
- Grease 2 8-inch round cake pans with oil or vegan butter. Place a round of parchment paper on the bottom for easy removal later.
Combine dry ingredients
- In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Prepare vegan buttermilk
- Combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a glass measuring cup or small bowl. Stir briefly, then set aside to curdle. This is your buttermilk.
Whip the aquafaba (or use yogurt instead)
- In a small bowl, whisk together the aquafaba and cream of tartar vigorously until foamy, about 2 minutes. You don't have to whip it into stiff peaks, just get it a bit fluffy and foamy. Set aside.
Finish the cake batter
- Cream fats and sugars: In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer (or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment), cream together the softened vegan butter, canola oil and sugar until creamy and well combined, about 3 minutes, scraping the sides as needed.
- Add aquafaba and vanilla: Add the aquafaba mixture to the bowl with the creamed butter/oil/sugar, along with the vanilla extract. Mix until well combined, about 1 minute.
- Add flour and buttermilk: Alternate adding the flour mixture and vegan buttermilk in 3 parts, mixing until just combined each time. The batter should be fairly smooth (a few lumps are okay), but do not over mix.
Bake, cool and frost
- Pour the cake batter evenly into the prepared pans, and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the edges are golden brown, the surface looks and feels set, and a toothpick comes out mostly clean, with no wet batter. These cakes come out pretty flat, so there is no need to slice off the top like some other recipes.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then carefully invert them onto a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely before frosting.
- Frost with my Vegan Buttercream Frosting, Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting, Chocolate Frosting or even vegan whipped cream and berries. Add some sprinkles for fun, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Cake flour will make the cake much lighter with a fine crumb, but all purpose works fine if you can’t find cake flour. Or make your own cake flour.
- Gluten free? Try substituting a quality gluten free all purpose mix. I like Better Batter brand.
- Soy milk works best because of the protein and fat content, but you can use another milk if needed. Hemp, oat, cashew or almond all work quite well.
- If you can find it, unsweetened high fat or protein yogurt works well in place of the aquafaba.
- For cupcakes, bake for 20-25 minutes until done and fill liners half full.
- For a 9×13 inch cake, bake for 40-50 minutes, until done. Two 9 inch round pans will work, but the cakes will be thinner.
This cake was delicious! Just made it for my son’s birthday. I used the aquafaba from a can of organic great northern beans and followed everything else and it was light, fluffy and moist. I’m going to leave out the salt next time because the earth balance vegan butter is already salty. Will definitely make again. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so glad the cake turned out delicious for you! You are very welcome for the recipe! Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful review and comments! Happy cooking!
Hi Nora! I bake make this recipe every week and take it to church. Many don’t believe it is vegan. I have made a few changes with the sweetness and also have added different fillings which makes it more scrumptious. I’ve used strawberries, pineapple or blueberries. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
Hi Tamarr. You are very welcome. Thank you so much for sharing your comments. I’m so glad you are enjoying the vanilla cake. Thank you for sharing it with others!
Nora, this cake was lovely. My baby is allergic to dairy & eggs so I find vegan baking easier than modifying other recipes. I baked it in 3 – 6 inch pans. The cakes came out lovely. I decorated them as a semi naked cake. Fortunately the baby didn’t destroy the whole thing at his smash cake session so big brothers and I each had a slice. Easily one of the best cakes I’ve ever had. My boys kept saying how good it was too.
Hi Nikki! Thanks for sharing your fun story about your cake! I’m so glad that it turned out lovely, and was a hit with your boys! I’m thrilled that you loved it also! I appreciate you taking your time to share your wonderful review!
I made this for a friend’s birthday using regular flour and people loved it, including myself. Everyone really enjoyed the flavour of course, but also the texture of the cake, which I think is because I used all purpose flour. I do want to try this with the cake flour next time, just to compare (as it is also suggested in the recipe). The only change I made was that I added less sugar. The vanilla frosting was also so fluffy and tasty. Thanks Nora!
Hi Erin! You are welcome! I’m so glad that the cake was a hit! Thank you so much for sharing your great review and comments!
I love this recipe but for some reason whenever i make it in 2 8-inch pans it hardly rises at all and the middle always seems to be a bit underdone and very crumbly. it also cracks. i’ve increased the time in the oven but it dries out the edges too much. I’ve had much more success in smaller pans.
No sure what i am doing wrong.
Hi Angelica. Let’s see if I can help. Are you making any substitutions at all? Double check that you aren’t forgetting any ingredients or adding too little or too much of anything. Are you using cake flour? I recommend cake flour if possible, it makes the best cakes. You also might want to check the actual temperature of your oven. It sounds like it’s baking too hot, causing the outside to cook too fast and the inside not to cook enough. Ovens can be quite off, so if you can, get an internal thermometer to check the true temperature.
Thank you for your response Nora!
I have tried this recipe with different flours–cake, pastry, and all purpose. and i’ve had the same result multiple times in larger pans.
I will check the temperature of my oven. That’s something i’ve never done before and i do find myself constantly having to adjust oven time.
Thank you so much!
You are welcome! Good luck and let me know how it goes!
Do you know whether anyone has made this recipe with gluten-free flour?
People have reported using a gluten free flour mix with good results. It will not be as light and fluffy, but it does work.
I am looking for a good vegan cake recipe where it will be structurally sound enough for me to carve it into a shape. Would you recommend this recipe for carving, or would I need something more dense such as a sponge cake?
I haven’t tried this, but it might be sturdy enough to work.
Hi Nora. I can’t find Vegan butter. can I use Normal butter in this cake.
You can, it just won’t be vegan then.
Hi if i want to use eggs instead of aquafaba, how many eggs should i use for the same recipe? Tq
I haven’t tested it since I don’t bake with eggs, but in looking at other non-vegan recipes, I would say probably 4 eggs.
Wow wow wow! The best recipe by far, thank you sooo much for sharing it!
You are welcome! So glad you love it! Thank you for sharing!
You have done it! This is truly the best homemade vanilla cake I have ever had. I have been baking vegan cakes from online recipes and most vegan cakes turned out heavy and with bits of flax that made it feel like a breakfast food. This cake is exactly what I have been looking for and the only vanilla cake recipe I will ever need to use. Usually I would skip recipes requiring Aquafaba because I didn’t have chickpeas on hand, but this time I did. It is so light and the crumb is fantastic and it does not taste of baking soda. You have done a great job with this recipe! Thank you!
I am thrilled that the cake turned out great for you, that you love it, and that it is now your go to vanilla cake recipe! Thank you so much for taking time to share your wonderful review and comments! Happy cooking!
Wow! Wow! Wow! My daughter has a few allergies (dairy, soy, egg) and I made this cake for her birthday. It was the best vanilla cake I’ve ever had! I was very impressed and will definitely be making it again.
Thanks for sharing your fun comments! I’m thrilled that you loved the cake, and will be making it again!
Made this for my birthday. My first attempt at vegan baking. I was skeptical but it was amazing. One of the best vanilla cakes I’ve made! I did use vanilla bean instead of extract. Made your icing as well. Even the carnivore loved it. I just found the squads a instructions confusing. I used 1/2 cup after whisking it. Wish I could post picture.
Happy birthday, Barb! I’m glad you loved the cake! Thank you for taking time to share your great review!
Hi Nora an you please half the recipe for me as I don’t know how to sorry.If we half it will it make 2 6-inch cakes?
Hi Sally. I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure. I have made a triple layer 6 inch cake with this recipe, so you could do that, and perhaps just freeze one of the cakes for another time. I’m afraid if you cut the recipe in half you won’t have quite enough batter. I hope this helps!
Hello,Sally. You can multiply ingredients by 0.56 to get the same hight of sponges as it’s in the original recipe.
I just made my first vegan cake using this recipe! It’s delicious! I used applesauce instead of aquafaba and I used oatmilk for the non-dairy milk. I also used your Vanilla Vegan Frosting recipe! Amazing! Thanks so much!
Hi Amy! I’m thrilled that you loved the cake and that it turned out great for you! Thanks so much for sharing your great review and comments!
I just made this cake and received RAVE reviews. I had people telling me they couldn’t believe it was vegan and they thought I was some avid baker. People had no idea how I did it. I do like to bake, but the real hero here is Nora.
I got a little ring of crust on the top edge of the cake, but I just cut it off. I recommend using Nora’s vanilla cupcake recipe for cupcakes rather than this one, as the crust was significant when I tried to turn this into cupcakes (I didn’t realize there was a cupcake recipe).
Hello again! I’m so glad the cake was a hit! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review and comments!
Hi Nora,
Can you please half the recipe as need it for a 6 inch cake pan how many layers will it make? And can I use Swiss meringue butter cream (made with aquafaba) will it work with this cake?Thanks
The Swiss Meringue Buttercream will work on this cake, yes. Are you wanting to make a double 6-inch layer cake? I honestly haven’t tried it. It will work for a triple 6 inch layer cake, as written.
Hi Nora,
Since this cake can make 3 6 inch cakes.how tall will it be and I want to make 1 or 2 chocolate layers so how much coco and how much cake
batter.-Emma
It will be pretty tall as triple layer cake. I don’t think it will work to just add cocoa to this recipe, but it might. I’ve never tried it so it’s hard for me to say.
Hi Nora thanks so much for replying to estimate how tall will it be? And if I try your chocolate cake recipe and take the coco out of that will it give me a vanilla cake?
No, the chocolate cake doesn’t work well if you take out the chocolate, sorry. I have tried that, and it wasn’t good.
Hey Nora, I tried this recipe and it turned out great!
But I was wondering how far ahead could you bake layers and how long do they keep if you freeze any cake layers???
Hi Sierra. I’m glad the recipe turned out well or you! The cakes do freeze well. Make sure they are completely cooled, then wrap them tightly in plastic wrap. You could also wrap in aluminum foil for extra protection. Freeze them until ready to frost. It is recommended that cakes be frozen no more than 3 months for optimal flavor. Hope that helps!
Made this cake for my sons 16th birthday and it was a big hit. I added crushed Oreos and full Oreos to it and it turned out great! Too bad I can’t share a picture in here.
Hi, I’m a professional baker and the recipe is great – texture & flavour!! Mine did flatten and slightly sink in the middle. Any idea why it sunk a little bit? Definitely was cooked correctly. Look coward to your response ?
Hi there! I’m not sure why it flattened and sunk, perhaps you didn’t bake it quite long enough? Did you use cake flour?
Hello.,Courtney.
The possible reason – the high temperature in your oven.Try to bake it with 10 degrees less and it may help.
I tried this recipe but I didn’t use the chick peas juice I used apple sauce, and it came out amazing! Thanks for sharing you recipe!
When you substituted the aquafaba for applesauce, did you use the same amounts?
This cake is amazing. I followed all instructions as they were written and it turned out great. Made it three times already for various birthdays.
Thanks for sharing your review, Nancy! I’m glad you are enjoying the cake! I love vanilla cake!
Hi! So I’m in a country where vegan butter isn’t available. Is there a good substitute for that?
I’m not sure, possible just more oil and you could use vegetable shortening for the frosting.
Please can someone tell me if I can use white vinegar, and vegan “I can’t believe it’s not butter”
Thanks!
Hi there!
Would this recipe work in 3 6-inch pans or would I have to make more batter?
Thank you!
Yes, Alina. You could divide it into three 6 inch cake pans.
Thank you this fit perfectly in 3 pans! Smells so delicious too!
Although it did not brown at all on the sides so it’s very pale all around. I did make sure a toothpick came out clean from the middle and even the sides began to pull away a bit. So I’m pretty sure it’s not under baked.
Could this be because I used bleached cake flour?
Thanks so much for always taking time to respond! I always learn so much from trying your delicious recipes!
It could have been, or did you use a vegan butter that wasn’t very yellow? That could have affected it as well. But it is a pretty white cake. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!