Author: This Vegan Vanilla Cake is soft, fluffy, and packed with rich vanilla flavor. Made with simple pantry ingredients, it bakes into a beautiful two-layer cake that's perfect for birthdays, celebrations, and special occasions. The texture is light yet tender, the frosting is creamy and classic, and no one will guess it's dairy-free and egg-free!
FEATURED COMMENT:
I have tried many vanilla cake recipes but this is by far the best one. I keep coming back to it. My non-vegan family absolutely love this cake. Thanks for sharing! - Mo ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If you're making a vegan birthday cake for the first time, you've come to the right place. This recipe is soft, fluffy, moist, packed with rich vanilla flavor, and honestly tastes exactly like the classic vanilla birthday cakes many of us grew up with. No fancy ingredients, no expensive egg replacers, and no complicated techniques: just a simple, reliable cake that turns out beautifully every time.
It's the vegan vanilla cake I recommend most often because it just works. Whether you're baking for a birthday, a celebration, making a wedding cake (this recipe has been used many times!) or simply because you're craving fluffy vanilla cake, this recipe has you covered.
Why This Vegan Vanilla Cake Never Lets Me Down
- Fluffy, soft, and tender: I've tested and retested this recipe until the texture was just right.
- Simple pantry ingredients: You probably have almost everything you need already.
- Completely foolproof: This is a great recipe for beginners, but experienced vegan bakers will love it too for its reliable results.
- Everyone can enjoy it: This cake tastes just like a classic vanilla cake, so there's no need to bake separate desserts.
Ingredients for Vegan Vanilla Cake
Dry Ingredients
- All-purpose flour: Gives the cake its soft, tender crumb. Use a 1:1 gluten-free blend with xanthan gum for a gluten-free option.
- White sugar: Sweetens the cake and creates a moist crumb.
- Baking soda: Helps the cake rise. Look at the date on the box to make sure it hasn't expired, or you won't get the lift you want!
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances the vanilla flavor.
Wet Ingredients
- Plant-based milk: Soy milk is my favorite for baking because it is the most reliable, but oat, almond, and cashew milk work too.
- Neutral oil: Canola or vegetable oil keeps the cake super moist.
- Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar: You won't taste it! It reacts with the baking soda to help the cake rise.
- Vanilla extract: The star flavor of the cake, so use a good-quality vanilla if you can.
Vanilla Frosting
- Firm vegan butter: Stick-style vegan butter works best for a frosting that pipes and swirls beautifully.
- Powdered sugar: Sweetens and thickens the frosting.
- Vanilla extract: Adds classic vanilla flavor.
- Plant-based milk: Just enough to make the frosting fluffy and spreadable.
Optional decorations: Vegan sprinkles, chopped nuts, shaved chocolate, vegan candies, or birthday candles. Have fun with it!
How to Make Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Mix the Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix the Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the plant-based milk, oil, lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar), and vanilla extract.
- Combine: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Bake: Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake for 22 to 28 minutes, or until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool: Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the Frosting: Beat the vegan butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, then continue mixing until smooth. Add plant-based milk, one tablespoon at a time. Spread frosting between the cake layers and over the top and sides.
Tips and Variations
- Don't over-mix the batter: Stir only until the flour disappears (it's a good thing if there are some small lumps). Over-mixing over-develops the gluten and makes the cake less tender.
- Use a good-quality vanilla if you can: it really gets a chance to shine here.
- Don't peek: Keep the oven closed while the cake is baking and only check on it after 22 minutes. Opening the oven early can cause the cake to deflate.
- Use stick-style vegan butter: Soft butter in tubs will give you a frosting that's melty and doesn't hold its shape well. If all you have on hand is butter in a tub, you can swap ½ cup of it for ½ cup of vegetable shortening for a thicker texture.
- Let the cake cool completely: Even if the cake is just a touch warm, it will cause the frosting to melt.
Storage
- Room Temperature: Store your vegan vanilla cake covered for up to 2 days.
- Refrigerator: Refrigerate for up to 5 days. Let the cake come to room temperature before serving for the best texture.
- Freezer: Freeze unfrosted cake layers, the fully assembled cake, or individual slices for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
More Vegan Cake Recipes
- Easy Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
- The Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Easy Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake
- Chocolate Mug Cake (Quick & Easy + Vegan)
- Vanilla Mug Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Vegan Confetti Cake
If you try this vegan vanilla cake recipe, let us know by leaving a comment and rating it. I'd love to hear what you think! Share your creation in the It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken Community (this is where we're all hanging out now!) or tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram.
Bon appetegan!
Sam Turnbull.
(click stars to vote)
Vegan Vanilla Cake (Fluffy, Moist, & Foolproof!)
This Vegan Vanilla Cake is soft, fluffy, and packed with rich vanilla flavor. Made with simple pantry ingredients, it bakes into a beautiful two-layer cake that's perfect for birthdays, celebrations, and special occasions. The texture is light yet tender, the frosting is creamy and classic, and no one will guess it's dairy-free and egg-free!Looking for cupcakes instead? Try my Easy Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes recipe here.
Servings: slices (two 9-inch layers)
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Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 ⅓ cup plant-based milk, (soy or oat work well)
- ⅔ cup light oil, (such as canola or vegetable)
- ¼ cup lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, (for rise, you can't taste it)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Vanilla Frosting:
- 1 cup firm vegan butter, (or ½ cup vegan butter + ½ cup vegetable shortening, see notes)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 - 4 tablespoons plant-based milk
- Vegan food coloring, optional
- Optional decorations: vegan sprinkles, chopped nuts, shaved chocolate, vegan candies, birthday candles
Instructions
- Prep the pans: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease two 9 inch round cake pans (or 8 inch for thicker layers) and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients: In a medium bowl whisk together the plant milk, oil, lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar), and vanilla extract.
- Combine: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Some small lumps are fine. Avoid overmixing as this can make the cake dense.
- Bake: Divide evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 22 to 28 minutes, until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool: Let the cakes cool completely in the pans before frosting to keep them moist and easy to handle.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the vegan butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and continue mixing until smooth. Add plant-based milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is light, fluffy, and spreadable.
- Frost and decorate: Spread frosting between the layers and over the top and sides. Decorate as desired.
Notes
Firm Vegan Butter: Use a stick style vegan butter made for baking. Softer tub style spreads can make the frosting loose or melty. If the vegan butter you're using is softer, you can swap ½ cup of the butter for ½ cup vegetable shortening to give the frosting more structure for piping and spreading.
Gluten-Free Option: Use a 1:1 gluten free flour blend that contains xanthan gum (such as Bob’s Red Mill 1:1). If your blend does not contain xanthan gum, add ¼ teaspoon. The cake will be slightly more delicate but still soft and delicious.
Lemon Juice / Apple Cider Vinegar: The lemon juice or vinegar reacts with the baking soda and acts as the egg replacer, helping the cake rise and become fluffy. The flavor disappears once baked.
Storage:
- Room Temperature: Store covered for up to 2 days.
- Fridge: Store up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before serving for best texture.
- Freeze: Freeze unfrosted layers, assembled cake, or individual slices for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice with frosting (recipe makes 16 slices) | Calories: 419kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 2g | Sodium: 380mg | Potassium: 57mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 81IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1mg
Yulca says
On the "apple sauce instead of oil" question, I can report that I tried that earlier this week, replacing 3/4 of the original quantity of oil with unsweetened apple sauce (and not adding any oil).
Result: The taste was good (a bit apple-y), but the texture was not as nice and light and fluffy as in the original version, but a bit more on the dense & moist side. So if someone can't have oil or fat (like the friend I made the muffins for), it's ok, but otherwise I'm going to stick to oil in the future.
Perla says
I've only baked and cooked a few times in my life (and I've always managed to ruin them all) so I knew I wouldn't be able to perfect this, but the taste came out so well and I loved it.
Sam Turnbull says
That's awesome! Thrilled you enjoyed them, Perla 🙂
Nicki says
This is seriously the best cake I've ever made. Soooooo good! Many thanks for the recipe!
Sam Turnbull says
You're most welcome, Niki! Thrilled you enjoyed it!
C P says
Hi!! This recipe is perfect! Turned out sooo amazing! Not sure if this was asked already , should the cupcakes be stored in the fridge? There is no icing on them (because I didn’t have any vegtable shortening ) thank you!
Sam Turnbull says
Baked goods are always best stored at room temperature to keep them nice and fluffy. A fridge can dry them out. Enjoy!
Angelica says
Does this recipe make 24 mini cupcakes or 24 regular size cupcakes?
Sam Turnbull says
regular
petri says
I can't use vegan butter and vegetable shortening, could I switch them for something? I'm looking for a good frosting overall, the base sounds great.
Sam Turnbull says
Hi petri, that would be a completely different recipe as those are the ingredients that hold the frosting together. I don't know what ingredients would be suitable for you so I suggest having a google around for a recipe that suits your needs.
Becky says
I just found your website and I am soooo excited to try the tiramisu recipe. Can I sub applesauce for the oil in the cake recipe ?
Sam Turnbull says
Welcome, Becky! I've never tried that so I am not sure how it would work out. Good luck!
KS says
Using your cake recipe as a base for cupcakes for my little ones birthday I opted for chocolate frosting. They were a huge hit. Having tried several other vegan cake recipes for a vanilla cake, yours "takes the cake" and doesn't hold a candle to the others that come out dry, flavorless, or mediocre. This cake is moist and delicious and will be my go to vault for the many years to come. Thank you!!
Sam Turnbull says
Aww so thrilled you enjoyed it so much, thank you so much for the wonderful comment!! Honoured that you found your new go-to recipe 🙂
Charlie says
Just tried this recipe today and it was beyond amazing!!! I myself am just learning to cook and am super proud of how it turned out. Of course I did have nightmares as what happens whenever i cook something, this time the shortening was hard as a rock when i added to the frosting i tried to whisk it in it didnt work at all just too hard and lumpy. So i put it in the microwave to melt the shortening but then of course it all turned to frosting water. But all was good once i mixed it in and popped it in the fridge!
Also I used some homemade marmalade made from homegrown oranges and lemons inbetween the two cakes and that gave it an extra fruity lil flavour and it was phenomenal!
Thanks so much Sam I <3 u!!
Sam Turnbull says
That sounds delicious, Charlie!! Thrilled you enjoyed it so much, I love the addition of marmalade 😀
crystal herndon says
Can I use coconut sugar for this instead of white?
Sam Turnbull says
From my research it looks like it should work ok, but I haven't tried it myself so I can't know for sure. Enjoy!
yulca says
Hi Sam, I received your cookbook from Amazon just yesterday. I ordered it because I had seen a few of your videos on YouTube, and your recipes seemed pretty straightforward, but somehow, so far, I never spent much time on your website. That is going to change!!!
I opened the cookbook and made these vanilla cake muffins right away, and bc they were so easy and super fluffy, I made the chocolate ones right afterwards, too (lots of happy colleagues today !). I looooooove the spongy texture, I never ever achieved this in vegan muffins before (and I tried a lot of them!!). It's amazing how it works without any chia/flax/aquqfaba/banana egg replacement, I had my doubts when I read the recipe, but girl, was I wrong!!! This is genius, thank you! Can't wait for fall to make the pumpkin pie spice version. And I'll become a regular on your site now, that's for sure.
Sam Turnbull says
That's so awesome, yulca!!! Thrilled you loved my recipes so much already. I do a lot of recipe testing, so you can trust that my recipes will turn out (as you found out for yourself). Haha. I hope you enjoy many more recipes to come 🙂
crystal herndon says
Hi Sam, making these for the tiramisu:) is there a way to make these gluten free?
Sam Turnbull says
Oh yay! I haven't tried it myself yet but I have heard wonderful things about Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten-free flour. 🙂
KS says
King Arthur has an awesome Gluten Free flour for baking as well. My hubs was gluten free for a bit and I found for cakes that King Arthur was my personal preference over Bob's. Sometimes Bob's would get gritty on me. I also found that if I sifted my dry ingredients they were fluffier when doing gluten free. We are no longer gluten free so I have not tried gluten free flour in this recipe, but good luck. .
Sam Turnbull says
Great tip!
Arabelis says
Hi! I woukd like to know if almond flower or oat flower would work?
Arabelis says
Sorry meant to write flour not flower my autocorrect changed it
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Arabelis, I'm not an expert in gluten-free baking and have not tested this recipe with either of those flours so I'm afraid I don't know. Here is a guide on how to substitute flours. Hope that helps!
Sara says
I have tried countless vanilla vegan cake recipes, and this one is definitely THE BEST!!!! I did everything as described, and it turned out amazing!!!!! Thank you thank you! This will be an all-time favourite now 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Woohoo!! That's so awesome, thrilled it's the best one, Sara! Thank you for the comment 🙂
Courtney says
I made your chocolate vegan cake and it was amazing! I'm excited to try the vanilla! Do you use regular white sugar and powdered sugar or do you use organic? I am not vegan myself; I just bake for a couple of my friends that are, so I wasn't even aware that sugar wasn't vegan until recently. Any thoughts on this?
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Courtney, glad you enjoyed it. I use regular white sugar and powder. Some brands of sugar use bone char to whiten sugar. That isn't super common anywhere other than the US I believe. Here in Canada, a very common brand is Redpath which clearly states on their site that it is safe for vegans. You could check the brands you use where you are to see if they are vegan, or as you mentioned, organic is always a good way to go as well as it is always vegan. Enjoy!
Angelina says
Would applesauce work in place of vegan butter? I don't keep any of that in my house 🙁 Thanks!
Sam Turnbull says
For the frosting? I can't see that working very well, unfortunately.
Sinead O'Neil says
Hi, I made this cake for my vegan best friend and th ecake has come out of the oven about 30 minutes ago. I trimmed to top to level it and when I tried it it wasn't very sweet at all, I am wondering if the icing evens it out so it tastes or if you think I made a mistake.
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Sinead. It's definitely a sweet cake so it sounds like a measurement may have been off somewhere. It's difficult to know exactly went wrong without being in the kitchen with you. Hope that helps!
Rosi says
Just wondering 1/4 cup of lemon or apple cider vinegar, not 1/4 tsp? Just never seen this much acid in a cake recipe before.
Sam Turnbull says
Yep it's correct, 1/4 cup. It's my hack to replace eggs. The acid reacts with the baking soda and makes the cake rise and get fluffy and delicious. 🙂
Jenn says
Made these today for my birthday and frosted them with your chocolate frosting. Oh my goodness! So delicious! Thank you 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed them!! Happy Birthday!
Loretta Young says
Is it okay to use butter flavored shortening instead?
Sam Turnbull says
I've never even heard of that before, but as long as it's vegan, I am sure it will work fine 🙂
Tina says
I made this today. It tastes good but my frosting started to separate and I'm not sure why.
Sam Turnbull says
Oh no! It sounds like your ingredients might have gotten too warm, or perhaps the brand of vegan butter wasn't great.
Koo says
I'm so in love with this recipe! I'm featuring it in my video~ <3
Sam Turnbull says
Awesome 🙂