So here it is: this is my recipe for the most perfect, bestest in the westest, (and eastest) vegan vanilla cake. Strike that, this is my recipe for the most perfect vanilla cake. Period. Vegan or not, this is a damn good cake. Sweet, buttery, vanilla-infused, fluffy and moist all at the same time.
When I served this vegan vanilla cake recipe as cupcakes to a group of strangers, one girl declared that it was the best cupcake she had ever eaten… and then I told her it was vegan. Winning!
I originally posted this recipe way back in 2014, so I decided it needed a little face-lift. Not the recipe, the recipe for the vegan vanilla cake is perfect, just the photos.
You can see below ↓ my original photo for the best vegan vanilla cupcakes, but when I shared a picture of the cake above ↑ on my Instagram, everyone was asking for this vegan vanilla cake recipe. Some people didn’t realize that most cake and cupcake recipes are exactly the same, the only difference is the pan you use and the baking time. So I wanted to make it clear that this vegan vanilla cake recipe works wonderfully both ways.
I designed this recipe after hosting a “vegan vanilla cupcake-off” party. A cooking competition style party where I compared 3 top vegan vanilla cupcake recipes to determine which one was the winner. My friends voted, and the result was that there was no clear winner. So I had to do the only logical thing I could think of: make my own winner.
It took a lot of experimenting, but oooeee was all that effort worth it as 4 years later, this is still the best vegan vanilla cake recipe I’ve ever made.
Whether you make these into adorable cupcakes or you opt for a full-sized two layer cake, everyone will love it. Perfect for birthday parties, holidays, celebrations, or anytime you need a glorious sweet fluffy cake.
To make The Best Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes: In a big bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. In a medium bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix lightly. Whisk until the batter just comes together, don’t over mix it.
Evenly divide batter among the cupcake pan or the cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
To make the frosting: mix all the ingredients together with a hand mixer or stand mixer. Make sure the cakes are cooled completely before frosting, so the frosting won’t melt. Frost your cakes as desired.
Sweet, buttery, vanilla-infused, fluffy and moist all at the same time. Easy to make and even easier to eat. No one will even notice it's vegan! Perfect for birthday parties, celebrations, or holidays.
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cup non-dairy milk (such as soy or almond)
- 2/3 cup light oil (such as canola or vegetable)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 - 4 tablespoons non-dairy milk (such as soy or almond)
- Sprinkles for decoration (optional)
Preheat your oven to 350F (180C). For cupcakes: lightly grease or line a cupcake pan with 24 paper liners. For a cake: lightly grease two 9-inch round cake pans.
In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.
In a medium bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until the batter just comes together, don’t over mix. Evenly divide batter among the cupcake or cake pans. For cupcakes: Bake 18-20 minutes until the tops are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. For 9-inch cake: bake for 22 - 28 minutes until the tops are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
To make the frosting: mix together the vegan butter, vegetable shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Add 1 - 4 tablespoons of non-dairy milk as needed to reach desired frosting consistency. Let cakes cool completely before frosting.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken.
Bon appetgan
Sam.
I’ve made this recipe 10 times and We adore it. Do we need to refrigerate the leftover cake?
I’ve been using this recipe for YEARS even before I was “full time” vegan and give the recipe to everyone! Nothing has topped it! Sometimes I grate a lemon’s worth of zest in and make a lemon frosting… so so good!
It doesn’t taste like chicken, but it sure does taste like egg! I believe it’s because of the baking soda and vinegar combination. It left a strong smell in my kitchen and a weird egg aftertaste. Sorry, this recipe didn’t work for me.
Beware! I used apple cider vinegar and it was inedible. Lemon Juice might work but apple cider vinegar is extremely overpowering. It was very disappointing, I made this for my mom on Mothers Day as a surprise and was so excited to give it to her but when I tried it it was horrible.
Sam, I made this recipe as a birthday cake (for myself!) and made your lemon curd recipe for the middle. It was simply delicious, and the family loved it. Thanks for another recipe I can rely on to turn out well.
Aww wonderful, happy birthday!
I used this recipe to create a lemon version of this cake. It was the most delicious lemon cake I have ever eaten. I also used your lemon curd recipe to fill in between the layers, which made it even more moist and lemony. I added lemon to the frosting as well. Its citrus season here in Arizona so I am making good use of all the plentiful citrus!
Amazing!!
Absolutely delicious and this will now be my go-to cake. My mum who is an amazing cook really loved it and was so surprised it was vegan. Thanks Sam and again your recipies are the first I look at when I want to try something new.
Can I substitute coconut oil instead of vegetable shortening for the frosting?
Followed this recipe exactly and I have since made these recipes MANY TIMES since! It is PERFECT and delicious and easy to customize and play around with as well. Thanks so much for sharing this brilliant recipe.
Amazing!! SO happy you love it, Fiorela 🙂
Can I use more butter instead of vegetable shortening?
I just made this cake and it came out really nicely! I taste-tested a small piece but the rest is going into the vegan tiramisu.
I have a question about the batter. This is the second time I’ve made a cake that the batter came out much too dry and I had to add water to make it pourable. It came out more like a pie crust almost at first. This means upping the baking time by another 15-20 minutes. The cake always comes out all right but this bothers me. Is there something I could do differently? I am trying to measure the ingredients carefully each time but I am not weighing. I usually spoon/pour dry ingredients into measuring cups.
Hi Marji, it’s difficult to say without being in the kitchen with you but it sounds like a measurement is off somewhere. You can watch the video of me making the cake to see what each step should look like. ENjoY!
my mom is not a big fan of frosting so can I replace it with fruit??
I want to give this a try.there is no need to add baking powder in this recipe?
The recipe is correct as written. ENjoy!
I am sure it is correct as written 🙂 but was surprised when to add baking powder and when not.. or if we dont add baking powder why not?
anyway I made this last night for 6 cupcakes and oh my its the best I ever had!!! .. but since I had to make adjustment to the measurement for only 6 cupcakes the cupcakes fell apart a bit because they tured out super soft .. but nevertheless it was loved by family .. next time I am going to make the cake and more cupcakes .. thanks a bunch!
Hey Sam, I’m a huge fan of all your recipes! I made this vanilla cupcake recipe and it was delicious! One of my friends wanted peach and vanilla vegan cupcakes (12 of them), so I adapted this recipe by putting 3tbs of peach schnapps in a 2/3 measuring cup then filling the rest of it up with almond milk. Then I used 3 tbsp of of peach schnapps in the icing instead of thinning with non-dairy milk. Everyone who’s tried them has absolutely loved them! I thought you might like to try that twist too!
Sounds fantastic!
I love this recipe!! In the past I’ve made other vegan vanilla cake/ cupcakes but they always taste bland. I decided to try this recipe and it’s great! One thing I did do is half the white sugar and substituted in brown it helps give way more flavour you could probably even sub in coconut sugar. I also like to let them sit for a day as I find they have more flavour the next day!
So happy you enjoyed, Emma!
Can I freeze the cupcakes for at least a week and frost later?
We made these cupcakes twice now and they’re a huge hit! We added mixed berry jam to 1/2 a recipe (cupcake and frosting) and it came out great as well. Highly recommend this recipe! By far the best cupcakes we’ve tried.
Aww that’s wonderful! SO happy you love them 🙂
Hello 🙂
Can I substitute shortening with solid coconut oil ?
Thanks.
Yes, but it will be a bit meltier, so be careful to keep it cool
I have made this recipe a number of times, both as a cake and as cupcakes and it has been incredible every time. Our whole family loves it (even the non-vegans) and I highly recommend.
Yay!! THanks Kristen!
I had just tried a vegan cake mix hack and it did not turn out well at all. Fed it to our backyard possum. THIS recipe however gave me hope for my love for vegan baking- this cake came out beyond perfect and tastes 1000x better than any other cakes I used to make. Thank you!
Haha! Wonderful! Thrilled you loved it so much, Ariana 🙂
Could I make this with almond flour to make it gluten free?
Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s delicious, and it has a good basic structure to work well with flavor alterations. I replaced vanilla with strawberry extract and then blended some fresh and freeze dried strawberries with the milk and it was sooooo delicious!
Oh sounds fantastic! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
OMG!!! These vanilla cupcakes are sooo moist and delicious!!! I see why you couldn’t help but to eat the whole slice in your video! You’re awesome!! I’ve been looking for a really good vanilla cake recipe and this is definitely it! I plan on making your chocolate cake recipe tonight! Have you come up with a red velvet cupcake recipe? One of my students will graduate next month and I’d love to make her some vegan red velvet cupcakes that are as good as your other recipes! Oh and I absolutely love your personality! So cheerful and positive and fun!! Thank you for sharing your gift of baking absolutely yummy goodness!! 🙂
Haha! Awesome!! So thrilled you love it so much, Grace. I haven’t done red velvet yet, but I will add it to my list!!
I didn’t need 24 cupcakes or a large cake so I took a risk and cut everything exactly in half and baked in a square dish. Delish! Thank you so much for this easy and very good cake.
You’re most welcome, Karen! Thrilled you loved it 🙂
Is there a substitute for buttermilk? I am thinking of making orange-cranberry scones but one of the ingredients is buttermilk.
1 cup of non-dairy milk + 1 teaspoon of lemon juice = 1 cup of buttermilk. Enjoy!
Thanks for the info above, now I need to know what to use for 1/2 cup of vegetable shortening for the vegan vanilla cake. I am going to make this today (1/3/20200, so looking forward to your reply! By the way, I bought two of your cookbooks and gave one to my granddaughter as a present. She is loving it and we are sharing the food we make with the recipes.
You can sub all vegan butter but the frosting will be a bit softer so you may need less non-dairy milk and keep the cake and frosting in a cool place. Glad you’re enjoying my book!
I have done this recipe as an ingredient for the vegan tiramisu, and I have to say that it is simply great! I am not an experienced baker, so I was afraid that I would screw it all, but resulted nicely and tasty. I used baking powder though, because I didn’t have any baking soda… I just put double amount and it raised well (I needed to add also some soy drink because the mix was too thick, I am actually amazed that it turned out well!). Tomorrow I will see how is the final tiramisu!
So happy you enjoyed, Pau!
Hi. I made the cupcakes but they didn’t rise very well and I am wondering if the dry ingredient Baking Soda is Baking Soda (Bi-carbonate of Soda) or Baking Powder. Two totally different ingredients here in Australia as I notice that it is an American recipe. Might make all the difference. And would 1/4 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar taste the same as adding 1/4 cup of Lemon Juice please. It is certainly a very easy recipe otherwise.
Hi Maraika, it’s actually a Canadian recipe, as I’m Canadian 😉 Baking soda and baking powder are two completely different things here too. It’s difficult to know what went wrong without being in the kitchen with you but if you baking soda is very old it might not have as much rising power. Also, over mixing is also a common problem. The vinegar should be pretty tasteless and the lemon might have a slight lemon taste. ENjoy!
What type of canola oil do you use? I used virgin, cold pressed colza oil thinking it was the same thing, but it tastes horrible. Please clarify! 🙁
Hi Clémentine, canola oil should be flavourless. If yours has a strong taste I recommend using another flavourless oil instead such as vegetable oil. Enjoy!
Thanks for your reply. Turns out canola and colza are two different varieties of the same plant (rapeseed), and canola is harder to find in Europe. Hence the confusion…
I have to say though, that the texture of this cake is really nice and fluffy. I will probably make it again some day.
Wonderful! And good to know the difference! Next time be sure to use a flavourless oil and you will have no problems. ENjoy!
Hi Sam!
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe over the holiday season and wanted to ask:
1- When you say white sugar is the granulated or caster sugar?
2- would sunflower oil work just as well Instead of vegetable oil?
3- would cashew milk work just as well instead of soy or almond?
Thank you.
Granulated, yes, and yes 🙂
Can this recipe be used to make a sheet cake?
Absolutely! Heres a guide on how to adapt to make it a sheet cake. Enjoy!
Like some other people, I had the pan sticking issue too. I increased the recipe by 1.5 to make 3 layers. I greased and floured each pan. I’ve never had an issue with this before. I was able to get each layer out without injuring the cake, it just took some time.
The cake itself was great; so light and fluffy. I’d totally make it again, but as cupcakes. I agree it’s the best vegan cake! So good that I couldn’t let myself deduct any stars for the sticking issue.
So happy you enjoyed it so much!
Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out beautifully. For those who’s cakes turned out poorly, they were likely doing something wrong. People need to be mindful that even the way you measure out ingredients in baking can be the difference between a flop and a great finished product. I learned that you have to measure flour correctly after many failed loaves of bread.
So happy you loved the recipe and that it turned out for you perfectly, Laura! And yes, you’re correct, measuring is KEY when baking 🙂
Hi is the temperature for a fan oven or do I have to loser it please
The temperature is for an oven without the fan turned on. Enjoy!
Is there anyway to use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free flour with this recipe? We have a wheat and dairy allergy.
You can definitely try! I haven’t tried it myself.
I made this today for my son’s birthday. From the bits I’ve tasted it is a moist delicious cake. I greased my pans liberally but my cake is sticking to the bottom. I reread the recipe several times. Did I miss an instruction to flour the pans or use parchment. One has come out salvageable but broken. I was hoping to do a naked cake. I am considering freezing this for something else and trying again. Suggestions? TIA
Update: All three stuck to pan. Will use parchment paper but wary or using this recipe now.
Hi Eva! Did you allow the cakes to cool completely before trying to remove them, and did you make sure to grease the pans? I’ve never had a problem with them releasing before. If you want to try again cutting a parchment paper circle will definitely help. Hope that helps!
Most cake recipes call for only allowing cake to cool 10 minutes in pan before flipping them onto rack to cool completely. I’m about to attempt this cake and was reading comments to find any extra info- glad I saw this abt allowing to cool in pan completely before flipping. Might want to add that to original recipe. Thanks, excited to try this!
Question, it says 1/4 C lemon juice or apple cider. I’ve never seen a recipe that uses 1/4 C apple cider. Is that correct? Or would it be only a few tsp? I’m confused. I want the cupcakes to taste vanilla n not lemony.
Hi Michelle, yep the recipe is correct as written. You won’t be able to taste the lemon, the flavour will cook out. It’s an important ingredient as it helps the cake rise. Enjoy!
I just baked this as a 2 layer cake as well as 24 cupcakes yesterday for my 2 little boy’s birthday party. I am not vegan, but I found this recipe while searching youtube for “healthy cake recipes”. I am the kind of person that thinks the more simple the ingredients the better and after looking at “cake boxes” at the supermarket and their yuck ingredients I decided to try and bake my own.
I only made the cake part of this recipe and it was truly wonderful. NOTHING I mean NOTHING that I bake looks PRO. It is always flat or tastes ok. This tasted clean and yummy. Not too sweet and super fluffy. It rose SO well. I made sure I did not over stir. The cake part was SO easy and fast to make! I just wanted to leave a comment to say thank you for your time and recipe. People were surprised when I told them it was Vegan! Great option for everyone! THANK YOU! <3
Aww that’s so wonderful, Jessica! Thrilled you loved the recipe so much and had such great results 🙂
Ive been eyeing this recipe for awhile so I decided to try it out today. Im SO sad because it didn’t turn out as delicious as yours and most of the people in the comments. I made the batter into cupcakes and they don’t take much like vanilla but have a weird scent which Im guessing is the baking soda. The only thing I did differently was reduce the oil to 1/2 cup but I wouldn’t think that would change the flavor so much?
And just to be clear, it is 2.5 cups of flour not 2 half cups of flour equally 1 cup right? It seemed like my batter was too thick because of the amount of dry ingredients.
I’ll definitely try it again one day!
Hi Ella, baking is a science and so I’m afraid when you change any measurement such as reducing the oil, it will greatly affect the outcome of the recipe. This is why your batter would have been too thick for sure. Yes, 2.5 cups of flour. When it comes to baking you should always follow the recipe exactly as written, with cooking you can play around a bit more. Hope that helps!
I made these as per instructions and they came out with a strong smell and taste of baking soda, very bitter even with frosting. Not really edible. Wasted time and ingredients. These were supposed to be birthday cupcakes. Sad.
Hi Nancy, sorry to hear that. It’s difficult to know what went wrong without being in the kitchen with you but it sounds like something was off as this recipe has hundreds of rave reviews. Better luck next time!
Hi Sam, based on your nutrition information, how many servings do you figure for the cake? Today is my son’s birthday and your cake is a BIG hit with vegans and non-vegans alike. Love it, thank you so much!
Hi Tonya, there are about 24 servings in the recipe. So the nutrition information is based on 1 cupcake or 1 small slice of cake. Enjoy!
I love this recipe – happy to finally find a nice vegan vanilla cake recipe. However I really suggest using half the oil recommended. I made this recipe a bunch of times and always found my cupcake liners to be really greasy when they were done baking. So I tried using only 1/3 cup oil, and it’s much better! It’s still nice and moist but not as dense and oily.
Happy you enjoyed, Megan 🙂
Hi! My sons first birthday is coming up and he’s allergic to what seems like everything, so I am looking at making this cake for him.. He has an allergy to cow’s milk and almonds. His allergist said soy can flare up his eczema even though he’s not allergic to it. Will rice milk work as a good replacement in this recipe? If not, what about coconut milk?
Coconut milk will work fine
Hi Courtney, yes rice milk or coconut milk should work just fine. If using coconut milk make sure to use the kind in a carton which is thinner and not the kind in a can which is extra rich and would be too heavy for this cake. Enjoy!
Made this cake for a friends birthday with your vegan chocolate icing and it was SO good!! They couldn’t believe it was vegan! I was thinking about making it again using maple syrup or agave instead of sugar.. have you done this/do you think it would work well with this recipe?
Hi Isabel, so happy you enjoyed it! Using liquid sugar in replace of granulated sugar will change the outcome of the recipe. I recommend checking out this guide.
Hi, I just made this recipe as base for your tiramisu recipe. It came out just perfect!
That’s wonderful, Maria! Thrilled you enjoyed 🙂
This turned out really, really bad!! Sticky, oily, and had a strong baking soda aftertaste. Bitter, inedible, and went straight in the garbage. I was suspicious of that 2 tsp baking soda, should’ve listened to my gut. Was planning to bring this dessert to a dinner party, what a shame and waste.
Hi, Amy. It definitely sounds like something went wrong with your batch. It’s difficult to know what went wrong without being in the kitchen with you but this cake should come out light, fluffy, sweet, and has no baking soda taste. Sorry, you didn’t enjoy, Amy.
That happened to me too. Don’t know what went wrong.
Hi, I was wondering if you think this recipe would turn out using Ripple for the milk?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t be sure. From what I know Ripple tends to be a very rich non-dairy milk so it might make the cake a little heavier than normal but other than that I am sure it will work fine. Enjoy!
Can I make cake in a loaf pan?
Hi Sam,
I have made these vegan vanilla cupcakes three times now, and I love them. The only problem is, when they come out of the oven, they are stuck to the paper cupcake liners. This has happened each time. I’m following your recipe exactly. Do you have any idea what could be causing this?
Hi Teri, usually that’s due to not very good cupcake liners. You can spray the liners with spray oil before filling, but I actually recommend getting better liners such as these parchment paper liners. Enjoy!
I would try to use the silicone liners
This is our family’s go-to birthday cake for the past year or so. Love it!!
Yay!! So thrilled to hear that, Amy 🙂
Made this for my 9 year old’s b-day celebration at school – I was so glad the amount made not only 12 but exactly 24 perfect little cupcakes! I always use raw cane sugar and it turned out wonderfully! However, I did only use white flour, which I normally don’t. Since it went so fast last night, I am making some more so the rest of our big family has some, too, today and I can send some along to the church youth dance tonight. I’m curious if they’ll turn out just as light and fluffy if I do half white and half whole wheat!
Thanks for sharing, Sam!
So thrilled you enjoyed them so much, Tara! Whole wheat flour tends to make things denser and dryer, I recommend checking out this guide for making the substitution.
Hi Sam, let me tell you, I am not a vegan but a client asked me to make them a vanilla cake…, so I tried your cake recipe out, it was a little strange the first few bites but then I couldn’t stop eating it! I love love it! My question is, the first time I made it it didn’t release from the pan, bottom totally stuck, I used a homemade pan release… do you have a vegan pan release you suggest? Thank you so so much!
Glad you enjoyed, Patra! I use a non-stick pan and a bit of spray oil, or I sometimes will line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper to ensure it does not stick. Enjoy!
Absolutely brilliant recipe! I scooped out some of the cooked cake and filled it with raspberry conserve for a raspberries and cream cupcake. They were faultless which is so great because I was starting to think all vegan cakes were a disaster. Thank you Sam xxx
Ooooh that sounds divine! Thrilled you loved it so much, Holly!
Hi Sam! Sorry if there’s an easy answer to this – I’m new to baking. If I wanted to turn this into a lemon cake, what changes would you suggest? Maybe just turn the frosting into a lemon frosting with lemon juice? Or should I change the cake, too? Scrap the whole lemon idea and just make a delicious vanilla cake?! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
You could definitely replace the non-dairy milk with lemon juice in the frosting and/or add in lemon zest. I wouldn’t mess with the cake recipe however, as baking is a science and adding extra acid such as lemon juice will mess with the chemistry and the cake might not turn out. Enjoy!
You could make a lemon simple syrup and brush the cake with it after baking and before filling?? Add lemon flavor without messing with the recipe!
Great idea!
I made this recipe as cupcakes, and they turned out well but I did make a few tweaks. I only added 1/2 cup sugar as I find that with the buttercream frosting it’s just too sweet (personal preference). I also only added 1/3 vegetable oil, but still found them to be a little greasy tasting. What disappointed me was the slight taste of baking soda, which is why I took off 1 star. My cupcakes rose like crazy (almost double the size), so next time I think I’ll also put less baking soda/vinegar.
Hi Kara, baking is chemistry and so when you change a recipe (reducing the sugar and oil) the end results will greatly change as well which is likely why they didn’t taste quite right and rose more than expected. Hope that helps!
I’ve been testing vegan vanilla cakes all week for a bridal shower. (I want a two tiered cake). when I used a box mix with different egg substitutes they all turned out too soft and just crumbled away when you try to frost them. Another homemade recipe I tried just turned out bad. Finally, I tried this recipe. It doesn’t crumble away when you frost it. It’s moist, and it’s very good. Finally, a layer cake that holds up and tastes good. Thank you!
Wonderful! Thrilled you enjoy the recipe so much, Sharon 🙂
Can I use self-rising flour instead of all purpose flour? I’m baking this tomorrow and I just realised I bought the wrong flour!
That should work fine for this recipe. Here is a guide to help you with the correct amounts. Enjoy!
Help please..
For years prior to going vegan, I would make3 D cakes for my daughters birthdays. I would take box mix and modify with pudding and sour cream. This made a cake similar to more of a pound cake, and held up well to fondant and stacking. Since making cakes non vegan recently, they are delicious bit light and a bit crumbly (even though moist, they fall apart easily when removing slices) I am not sure I will be able to find a cake that will hold up to decorating let alone carving. Do you think this will hold up well to stacking, decorate or even carving?
Thank you!
Hi Tina, this works well for a two-layer cake that can be frosted, but I don’t think this would work well for carving as it is quite light and fluffy. I have added vegan pound cake to my recipe creation to do list though, so hopefully I will have something for you soon 🙂
So good!!! Made our first batch of cupcakes to practice for our vegan’s upcoming hs graduation. Wow! These are gonna be great. No one would know they were vegan at all. I used white-wheat so they were a little more gritty (not the right word, but also not exactly dense.) I’ll use white flour or even white cake flour to see if they can be more like conventional. We didn’t make the icing yet, just the cupcakes. I filled a few too full and they didn’t get all the way done, so I’ll watch to fill only about 1/2 way in regular sized cupcake pan with silicone liner. Can’t wait to do more test tries! Thanks!
Wonderful! So happy you enjoyed them, Laurel 🙂
A few years ago I posted the story of my youngest who could never have cupcakes, cakes, etc. because of severe food allergies to eggs and milk. I shared the story of him getting his first taste of this batter and his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. Well he turns 16 years old in three days and guess what he has requested for his birthday? Yup, you guessed it – THIS recipe….
I remember the comment, Pamela!! It totally made my day. Thrilled you and your son are still enjoying this recipe 🙂
Horrible. What a waste. Had to throw them out. Wow unreal. They didn’t even cook properly. I could not get them out of the baking sheets only the top was there there’s no bottom to them hardly at all I could not even pop them out of my trays. I tried to cook them more but that didn’t work either. Horrible horrible recipe waste of time and ingredients
It sounds like something might have gone wrong with your cupcakes, but either way, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe.
I tried this cake it sunk slightly and had a baking soda taste. What do you think went wrong?
It’s difficult to know without being in the kitchen with you, but it sounds like you could have accidentally added too much baking soda which would have made it rise too quickly and then sink.
Great video, thanks for posting! I’m just wondering if I can make this ahead of time and freeze it for a few days? Thanks.
Yes, absolutely. Freeze the cake and frosting separately, then thaw and frost when ready to serve. Enjoy!
Hi, I was wondering can I use coconut milk instead of soy/almond?
As long as it is the drinking kind of coconut milk. The canned kind might be too thick and rich. Enjoy!
Hey Sam! I’ve been a follower for a while and tried several of your recipes. I made these for my own birthday event (I’m vegan – nobody else is, so I wanted cupcakes I could eat! haha) and they are actually the most amazing, fluffy, delightful cupcakes I’ve ever had! Thank you so much for such a great, easy, yummy recipe that even non-vegans love and rave over! I made several of your recipes for Thanksgiving yesterday and your cake cookies a few weeks ago and I honestly can’t believe that the first time I tried them – they all turned out perfect! Your hard work testing is so appreciated! <3
Awww shucks, that’s awesome, Lindsay!!! So very happy you are enjoying so many of my recipes so much 🙂
Hi.
Do you have a recipe for icing that does not use the vegan butter or shortening?
I’m from the UK and a recent vegan! I’m a good non- vegan baker and had a few fails at vegan cakes! Essentially this has been the best recipe. Very tasty! However, I think the conversion site I used was way off! The cake was quite heavy and dough like. I am using it in your Tiramisu so hopefully once it is soaked it will be ok. Any advice or a guide for converting would be gratefully received.
Hi Cat! Yes it sounds like the conversions were off as this cake is super light. What kind of conversion are you doing? Cups to ml? Cups to a weight? If converting to weight, volume and weight measurements are completely different ways of measuring so it would be tricky to convert. In which case I would recommend picking up a set of US Cups and Spoons. Hope that helps!
Hi,
I have made this cake so many times since finding it. It turns out perfect every time and everyone loves it and is always shocked its vegan. 🙂
Awww I love that! Thrilled you enjoy it so much, Chelsea 🙂
Hi Sam! Quick question: I have two round cake pans but they are 8″, not 9, Would the same amount of cake batter work and just make a taller cake? Or would you recommend pouring slightly less intro each pan? Cheers.
Yes it should work fine, but I would put a tray or foil underneath the pans, just in case there are any leaks. Enjoy!
Hi! Quick question. I’m about to shop for my ingredients. Should I buy sweetened or unsweetened almond milk for these cupcakes?
Either will work just fine, so whatever you prefer to have leftover. I normally opt for the “original” flavour.
Made this cake over the weekend for my mom in law’s birthday. It was a hit! She asked to take some of the leftovers home.
Wonderful!! Thrilled she enjoyed it so much. 🙂
Can I straight up double the recipe to make a four layer cake or is there some tweaking necessary? And would you recommend doing 1.5x for the icing? Thank you!
Wow! That would be one huge cake! Yes, you could straight up double it and I would recommend doubling the frosting or even more. Just divide among 4 cake pans. to bake. Enjoy!
Thanks for your reply! Turned out my cake pans were 7” so I ended up making a 5 layer rainbow cake using a quarter of the recipe per layer and it was perfect, not too big! The amount of icing in a single batch was even enough for between the layers and to cover the whole thing! And of course, there were sprinkles It was a HUGE hit – soooo delicious!!
Wonderful!! So happy it turned out well for you, it sounds beautiful!
Hi, this cake is now my go to vegan cake as it always works out! Have you ever turned it into a sheet came?
So thrilled you love it so much Laura. I haven’t yet, but that’s a good idea 🙂
So I’m looking for a recipe to substitute for the box of yellow or white cake in a pineapple upside down cake recipe. The original recipe calls for making the box cake mix to directions but subbing in pineapple juice for part of the water. Do you think I could sub it in for part of the milk? The only other liquid is the vinegar or lemon juice which from the comments sounds necessary. Or would you suggest one of your other cupcake recipes? Also, it will be baked in a 13×9 pan, any thoughts on the cooking time?
I think it should work fine, although I have never tried it myself. Enjoy!
Sam I don’t know how you do it! I made these for my Omni mother in laws birtbday today and they turned out so well! These are AMAZING! This will now be my go to recipe for cakes! I’ve only tried to make a cake once since going vegan and it didn’t turn out right at all, it was dense and gooey and as a new vegan I was worried I would never have a good cake again, I’m so glad that you proved me wrong with this amazing recipe! the texture of these turned out PERFECT! I Absolutely loved them, and so did my Omni mother in law
Aww that’s wonderful!!! I’m so thrilled and flattered you loved the cakes so much, Rebecca 😀
I see that the recipe says you can either use lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Will the lemon juice give it more of a lemon flavor? I know that the Apple cider vinegar will bake out but I’m not so sure about the flavor of the lemon. This will be my first time baking vegan. My sister-in-law’s vegan and I want her to be able to enjoy cupcakes at my sons birthday Coming up.
There might be a slight lemon flavour but with either choice, I don’t think you will taste it much. I hope you love the cupcakes!
Hi Sam,
Just wanted to say I love your vanilla and chocolate cake and I just used your recipes to make a three tier wedding cake that was a huge hit! I would love to send you a picture but not to sure how,
Thanks, for the amazing vegan recipes.
Amazing!!! You can tag me in a picture on Instagram @itdoesnttastelikechicken or you can share publicly or send a message privately on my Facebook page. 🙂
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.
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.
That’s awesome! Thrilled you enjoyed them, Perla 🙂
This is seriously the best cake I’ve ever made. Soooooo good! Many thanks for the recipe!
You’re most welcome, Niki! Thrilled you enjoyed it!
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!
Baked goods are always best stored at room temperature to keep them nice and fluffy. A fridge can dry them out. Enjoy!
Does this recipe make 24 mini cupcakes or 24 regular size cupcakes?
regular
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.
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.
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 ?
Welcome, Becky! I’ve never tried that so I am not sure how it would work out. Good luck!
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!!
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 🙂
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!!
That sounds delicious, Charlie!! Thrilled you enjoyed it so much, I love the addition of marmalade 😀
Can I use coconut sugar for this instead of white?
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!
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.
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 🙂
Hi Sam, making these for the tiramisu:) is there a way to make these gluten free?
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. 🙂
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. .
Great tip!
Hi! I woukd like to know if almond flower or oat flower would work?
Sorry meant to write flour not flower my autocorrect changed it
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!
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 🙂
Woohoo!! That’s so awesome, thrilled it’s the best one, Sara! Thank you for the comment 🙂
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?
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!
Would applesauce work in place of vegan butter? I don’t keep any of that in my house 🙁 Thanks!
For the frosting? I can’t see that working very well, unfortunately.
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.
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!
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.
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. 🙂
Made these today for my birthday and frosted them with your chocolate frosting. Oh my goodness! So delicious! Thank you 🙂
So happy you enjoyed them!! Happy Birthday!
Is it okay to use butter flavored shortening instead?
I’ve never even heard of that before, but as long as it’s vegan, I am sure it will work fine 🙂
I made this today. It tastes good but my frosting started to separate and I’m not sure why.
Oh no! It sounds like your ingredients might have gotten too warm, or perhaps the brand of vegan butter wasn’t great.
I’m so in love with this recipe! I’m featuring it in my video~ <3
Awesome 🙂
Cakes were never my strong suit in my pre-vegan days, so I was pretty nervous about how it would turn out, but I made this last night for mum’s birthday and it was delicious! Everyone loved it! Really fluffy and moist, not oily at all, with a lovely vanilla flavour. The cake wasn’t sticky and I could easily remove the baking paper.
I’m in Australia, so I followed the measurements as per previous comments to make one cake:
– 200g plain flour
– 160g sugar (cut back from 180g, I wanted it slightly less sweet)
– 150ml soy milk
– 85ml canola oil
– 35ml lemon juice
For the frosting:
– 165g icing sugar
– 50g Crisco veg shortening
– 1 1/2 tablespoons (forgot to weigh!) BioButtery spread
– 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
I didn’t need to add any milk to the frosting,
I used an 18cm/7″ cake pan as that was all I had. I baked the cake for 22 minutes.
Thanks for the recipe, would definitely make again!
So happy you enjoyed it, Millicent!
I plan to use this recipe for the lady fingers in your tiramisu recipe for my daughter’s birthday this weekend. The tiramisu recipe calls for two batches of this recipe and provides the link. Yet, this recipe appears to be doubled already for 24 cup cakes. Do I need 1 or 2 batches of this recipe for the tiramisu? Thanks! I’m excited to make this as your recipes always turn out so great!
Oh yes that is confusing, sorry about that Donna!! I had updated this recipe and didn’t think to update the tiramisu recipe info as well. I just updated the tiramisu recipe so the information is now correct. It will be one batch, which will be enough to make a two layer cake or 24 cupcakes. Enjoy!
I just made this and am so blown away that I have declared that this is the best vegan vanilla cake ever. Normally with the recipes that I’ve made the texture would always have a gumminess to it, but this really delivered on the light and fluffy aspect that non-vegan versions always have. I made sure not to over mix it and I think that helped a lot.
FYI I made 2 6-inch cakes and 5 cupcakes. I have yet to make the frosting.
Thanks for the recipe!
I frosted it with your chocolate frosting. Every bite is a piece of heave!
Wow thank you so much, lillian!! Thrilled you loved it so much 😀
hi ive always made this as my go to vanilla cake and cupcake recipe but now that its changed to a double layer cake recipe, have the measurements changed? i changed the cupcake size to 12 but im not familiar with 0.13 cups of apple cider vinegar. what was it prior to the change – was it 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar? thanks
Hi amy! I tried to make the recipe easier for people who want to make it a cake version. Did I end up just making it more confusing you think?? I want to do what’s best for everyone 🙂 Yes, 1/4 cup is 4 tablespoons, so half would be 2 tablespoons. Hope that helps!
That is great thank you I’ll remember it from now on. The way it is now is good however as u may know, I was super set w what it was before and I just spaced out at the converter while doing the muffins for school and panicked lol. Every time I make this muffin recipe into a vanilla cake, I do a layer of the vegan chocolate cake recipe and make my double layer cake that way so I get the best of both worlds! It’s always been a hit and everyone is always amazed it’s vegan. Thank u!
Oooh that sounds amazing! You’re most welcome, Amy 🙂
I just finished baking this as a cake. It tastes amazing and has a fantastic texture. this is my new go to vanilla cake!
Wonderful!! So happy you love it so much, Emma 🙂
Hey there, I just came across your recipe and I’m eager to try. I have a couple of concerns though, I make my own almond milk so it has no thickening agents, and I use organic unbleached sugar(larger crystals). Do you think this will be a problem? If so any advice? Thanks!
Hi Aly, I don’t think it should be a problem. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Woow! These were a hit for Easter with my family. I made mini cupcakes, 48, and they were all gone by the end of the night. I definitely enjoyed telling everyone after that they were vegan. Thanks for a great recipe! Also, and tips on how to make these in a strawberry flavor naturally, without flavoring liduid? Thanks!
So happy they were enjoyed, Aly! I would have to toy around with the recipe to know exactly how to make them strawberry, but generally you would need to reduce the liquid a bit when adding strawberry pulp. Hope that helps!
Hi Sam! Any tips to get my frosting thicker/stiffer? I tried to add more sugar and even a bit of flour, but it stayed pretty thin and didn’t fluff up.
Also- I’m a huge fan of this site and your cookbook. You’ve helped make my first months of being vegan such a fun adventure.
Thanks, Katie! SO happy you love the book. I’m guessing that your vegan butter or vegetable shortening (or both), have a high water content that the kinds I was using. So I would start by adding all of the powdered sugar and cocoa to the bowl, along with maybe half of the vegan butter and half the shortening. Blend to combine. If it is too stiff, start adding more bit by bit as needed. You probably won’t need the extra non-dairy milk. Hope that helps!
So i just tried making these after using your chocolate cake recipe to make chocolate cupcakes (they turned out amazing). Sadly, they did not turn out at all! My dough was almost lumpy, which I thought was strange but I went with it anyways. After baking them, they still remained lumpy looking, not mention that some of them just sort of baked up and poured up over the cups and all over the pan. Ive never had quite the baking fail. I haven’t tried them yet but the raw batter tasted okay? Any ideas? I doubled the recipe, could that have anything to do with it? Ive looked over the ingredients several times and I’m sure that there were no measurement errors. My baking soda might be a little old, do you think that could be the culprit? Any insight would be great – I’m making these for a baby shower and would love to have them be my go to vegan cupcake, since the chocolate ones were so great!
Hi Monica, that’s odd. It’s difficult to know what when wrong without being in the kitchen with you… I’m not sure I can be much help! It does sound like somehow some liquid measurement was off. Sorry I can’t be more help!
Can these cupcakes be frozen for later use? Tastes good still?
For sure. Freeze the cupcakes and frosting separately. THen just thaw and frost when ready. Enjoy!
Thank you for the amazing recipe. I am making 100 of them for a fundraiser. The cake does taste quite strongly of baking soda. Is there anyway to mask it?
Wow amazing! I didn’t find the cupcakes to taste at all of the baking soda. Perhaps there was a clump of baking soda when you tasted one? Make sure to whisk well. Hope that helps!
These are so good! I found them spongey in a great way. I used vegan becel in the frosting and it worked well.
Awesome! So happy to hear you loved them, Alanna 🙂
LOVE these. Did anyone take them as cake? if so, what modifications did you make? Any advice?
*make them into cake
I only made the cupcakes, not the frosting. I made my own frosting.
Hi Evie! The recipe for 12 cupcakes would make enough for a one 9″ round cake. You can bake at the same temperature and for longer, 22-28 mins probably. You will know it’s done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy!
I made this today (without the frosting) and I am happy with the result. Thank you for this recipe! They are pretty light and fluffy. Mine were still very dense and heavy after 20min so I had to bake them for additional 10min! They were not oily at all as one person commented. The problem is that the cupcake, although fluffy, becomes heavy and sticky as soon as I put it in my mouth. This happens with most of the vegan cupcake recipes that I’ve tried. Is there any way to fix that or is is just a result of baking without eggs?
Also, although I filled my cupcake liners only half-way, I was only able to make 8 cupcakes! Should I have filled them less than half-way?
Hi Vesna,
So happy you enjoyed the recipe. It sounds like somehow an ingredient or measurement was off here? Or perhaps you had an extra large cupcake pan? You should have had way more batter than that, and that baking time is too long for cupcakes! My guess is that there was an error somewhere that caused your problems. Glad you enjoyed them anyway!
I would like to know if Almond Oil or regular vegetable oil can be substituted for the Canola oil? Also, can I leave the shortening out of the frosting recipe and just use the sticks of vegan butter? I’ve been told that there is too much trans fat in shortening (?)
Also–I recently made your chocolate cake recipe and the results were tremendous. Everyone loved the cake!
Vegetable oil would work perfectly! You can use all vegan butter but the frosting will be softer and meltier so make sure to keep the cake in a cool place, and you may need to reduce the non-dairy milk. You can buy trans fat free shortening sticks as well, Earth Balance makes them and they are usually what I use. Enjoy!
I mis-judged and ended up with 11 cupcakes instead of 12. Oops! I was not in the mood to bake, but it’s my best friend’s birthday tomorrow so I have to. (at 11:14 p.m., and I just put them in the oven…) I was thinking about getting a box mix, but I didn’t want the chemicals, not to mention I had all the ingredients. I was so pleased at how quickly they came together! I am starting to smell them now. Thank you for posting such an easy and vegan treat!
Yay! So happy you like them, Zuzu and love that they were easy enough for you to throw together last minute 🙂
My friend, the birthday girl LOVED them. I used chocolate frosting per her request. I didn’t have canola so I used avocado oil. Totally fine. I am back on this site because another friend’s baby is turning 1, and I am going to make these again. I’m going to experiment, half applesauce, half oil. Thank you so much again for posting this recipe! It is a hit, and definitely a go-to and repeat for me.
Yay! Thrilled you loved it so much that you came back for round 2! 🙂
Hi, thanks for the recipe, but going by a lot of reviews saying these turn out greasy/oily (same for my experience making them too) it might be good to adjust the recipe or put at note in the recipe about this. I measure ingredients to the exact gram and followed the instructions to a T, so I don’t think it was an error with anything going on there. They have a spongey texture,, but they are still quite greasy throughout. A cupcake should be fluffy and light, with rich decadent frosting. If it’s an oily cupcake with buttery icing on top, it will be overwhelmingly heavy and not pleasant. I’m no health nut and love greasy and oily vegan treats often, so the fact that even I found it oily was very unusual for me. Sorry for a downer comment, I just think with some slight adjustments this could be great, and it would be good to warn people before they use a bunch of ingredients on it.
Hi Claire, sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe. The problem may be that you converted the recipe to grams (which is weight), and my recipe is written in cups and spoons (which is volume), so it’s two completely different ways of measuring. One does not equal the other. These cupcakes always come out perfectly moist and fluffy for me, and they do for many other people who bake them all the time, so my guess is that is the problem.
The thing is that volume can be converted into accurate weight using conversion websites (such as Traditional Oven). You can even select the country of the tools, so I used north american so it would be same as yours (e.g. how many grams of all-purpose flour fit into 1 North American cup). It doesn’t change the amount, it just makes it more accurate for me, because my country’s tools have different volume to northern america. This is one of the biggest problems w/ recipes online. Measuring tools of different countries actually have different volumes. 1 US cup is different volume from 1 AU cup. If I used mine, it would turn out even worse and less accurate. I think the issue might be the type of flour, I would suggest recommending a different gluten flour in the recipe, as it can effect oil absorption, such as cake flour. I don’t mean to be a downer on it, I just think it has so much potential to work great for everyone if they’re aware of these things, as it seems many others had the problem with oiliness too. Anyway thanks for your reply though!
So sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe, Claire. The recipe works out perfectly for me every time and isn’t oily. I can’t really fix a recipe that always works for me! Maybe there is another recipe that will suit your tastes better. Sorry I can’t be more help.
Don’t feel the need to apologise at all! As I said I don’t mean to be a downer, but since so many other people said it turned out oily for them too there must be a consistent error that comes from the recipe, I just thought it would be helpful for others to be wary of how they make it so they don’t end up wasting a bunch of ingredients. The texture of them was great so it definitely has potential 🙂 thanks for your reply!
do you think I could use whole wheat flour instead?
Whole wheat flour is heavier and makes baking denser. You can use this guide to help you substitute some of the flour, but I have never tested it myself, so I can guarantee results. Enjoy!
These look so cute and scrumptious!! I’m in love with the Earl Grey cupcake recipe, I can’t wait to try this one!
I am also looking to make my first vegan cake, but I’m having no luck finding a white cake recipe. I am assuming that kind of cake would be good topped with berries… Do you know of a yummy recipe for one?
Have a wonderful Monday. 🙂
Hi Christie, you could make these cupcakes into a cake. 12 cupcakes would equal one 9″ layer cake. Just pour into a lightly greased cake pan, and bake. You could doulbe the recipe for 2 layer cake. It will just take a little longer to bake, but you will know when it is done when it is lightly golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy!
I made this cake and it was delicious so moist! Thank you I will be making this for my daughter birthday.. I was wondering could u use whole wheat flour?
Glad you enjoyed it! Whole wheat flour is much denser and requires more moisture. It will definitely change the texture of the cake, so I recommend sticking to the all-purpose. You could try a whole-wheat pastry flour which may get you a better result, but I haven’t tried it myself.
I don’t think these are the best cupcakes I just followed and made the cupcakes to exact ingredients and they are blah. They taste like horrible they need more flavour
Aww too bad you didn’t love them, Faith!
I have never left a review of a recipe I found on the internet until now. So that’s something. I have been vegan for a while, and because I have a HUGE sweet tooth, I have made many, many cupcakes. I have tried dozens of recipes but this one takes the (cup)cake. This is by far the best recipe I have tried, thus living up to its name of “The Best Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes”.
I followed the recipe almost exactly. My only substitutions were baker’s sugar (very fine sugar as opposed to regular granulated sugar), and real vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract in the frosting. I also took the extra steps of sifting all of my dry ingredients, grinding the sea salt into a fine dust with a mortar and pestle, and letting the almond milk and ACV marinate for a while (~5 min) before adding them to the mix.
I ate the entire batch in 3 days. And I thought THAT was exercising self-restraint! Lol! Ever since then I have been craving them almost daily. I am planning on making these again the same way for my friend’s birthday party, and using food coloring to dye the frosting rainbow colors! Thanks for the recipe.
Wow! I am so flattered that this recipe inspired you to leave your first comment! Thrilled you loved them so much, Avery! I hope you enjoy many more of my recipes 🙂
I absolutely love this recipe! I omitted the vinegar and added lemon juice instead and also grated the lemon rind into the batter. Instead of almond milk in the frosting I added a lavender infused blueberry puree. Absolute heaven. These are the lightest, fluffiest cupcakes ever! Thank you for sharing your recipes, I’m never disappointed!
Woah! Lavender infused blueberry puree!! Sounds like heaven! So happy you enjoy my recipes so much, Theresa 🙂
Wow you did an amazing job with this recipe. I find them a little salty could I leave out some of the salt with out afecting texture?
Yay! Thank you so much! Absolutely. Salt to taste. 😀
Also have you made them chocolate? I am making the Vanilla ones today for easter but will
Like to make chocolate also. Thanks
Sure, you can make The Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Cake into cupcakes. Enjoy!
Loved the cupcakes and super simple recipe as well….came out a little dense for my liking, will try adding a 1/4 tbsp baking powder next time. Quick question, i mixed the vinegar and the milk first, and it curdled, is that OK or not?
Thank you
So happy you liked them! They are very light fluffy cakes, so it is possible that you might have overmixed them which would make them denser. The milk curdling is fine, you’re basically just making a buttermilk, but for best results, make sure to mix all the wet ingredients together in one bowl, no need to mix them separately. Enjoy!
OMG! Im an 11 vegan baker and these cupcakes work PERFECTLY! Thnx so much! Also I used the recipe to make a cake and it was great that works too right?
Woohoo! So happy you enjoyed them, and yep! Cake works too 🙂
Oh these sound delicious & id really like to give them a try!
I’m in the UK & the cup measurements are seriously confusing to me! How do I convert to grams and millilitres?
Many thanks
Haha, no problem. Grams won’t really work since cups are all volume (not weight), but here is a chart that should help you convert everything to millimeters. Hope that helps! 🙂
Thank you for the reply.
At the risk of sounding really stupid, do you guys literally use any cup that you have or is there a specific type?
It’s something I have never quite understood haha
Haha, I think that it’s probably where the measurements originated from, but no, they are specific measurements that look like this. I know some other UK fans have bought a set of US cups and spoons measurements to make cooking from blogs a little easier. I think you can order them online if that interests you.
They would make things a whole lot easier! I will definitely order some online
Thanks for your help!
Anytime 🙂
This is actually the easiest and best cupcake recipe I’ve come across, and its vegan! Thank you so much!
Haha yes it is!! So happy you loved it 🙂
Thank you for the wonderful recipe! Made today 3 batches for daughter’s birthday. For the first one I followed the recipe bit the end result wasn’t perfect. I used sunflower oil and it didn’t taste well and baking soda could be felt in the cupcakes. Then I switched the oil for coconut oil and added lemon juice instead of ACV and the final result was awesome. Had this wonderful vanilla coconut flavour and aroma! They were light and soft! Will try this as a cake on Saturday. Hope all goes well!
So I would say it does matter a lot what kinda ingredients you use, results will vary greatly from it. Especially in vegan baking.
So glad they worked out for you! 🙂
Did you measure the coconut oil before or after melting it?
WOWzers, these are THE best!! YUM YUM.
If I double the recipe, how long do I bake for? Twice the amount of time? (new “baker”)
Yay! So happy you love them! If you double the recipe and make twice the amount of cupcakes, you bake them for the same amount of time. Enjoy!
I loves them! Very sweet and perfectly salty, I will probably use less oil next time because they turned out a bit greasy
So happy you enjoy them!
These did not work out for me but I did change the milk to water so maybe that’s the issue. They turned out greasy and wouldn’t rise and the inside stayed raw looking/feeling. I was careful only to mix until lumps were gone, and both dry/wet ingredients were thoroughly mixed prior to being added together.
They tasted very strongly of vinegar so perhaps raw apple cider vinegar is not a good thing to use? It said apple cider or white vinegar, so I assumed that meant apple cider vinegar or white vinegar and not actual apple cider.
Had to toss the entire bunch of greasy vinegar vanilla bites.
Could using water instead of milk have made that big of a difference or was it the raw apple cider vinegar? I assumed it wouldn’t since most of what’s in almond milk actually is just water.
Oh no! It sound like something went horribly awry here. The water may have been the issue, it also sounds like they were undercooked or possibly measured an ingredient wrong… difficult to tell if I am not in the kitchen with you! These cupcakes always work out perfectly every time I have made them (which is many times). So if you ever try them again, I hope they work out better for you next time!
Hello. I’d like to try to make these for vegan friends of mine, but I have a nut allergy and I’d like to be anllergylmond baking to eat them too 😉 Will soya milk work instead of almond milk? Thanks!
Sorry, autoincorrect did something weird to my comment! That was meant to say that I’d like to be able to try them too 😉
Absolutely! I bake with soy milk all the time 🙂
Great, thank you 🙂
Is it possible to make this into a cake?
Yep! Just bake it for longer, 35 to 40 minutes I would say. 🙂
Hi! I just tried this recipe and the flavor and texture is amazing. I did run into a small problem though… the cake was very crumbly. Once you removed the wrapper to eat it the cake fell apart making it difficult to eat. I live in a very humid environment and am wondering if reducing the amount of oil help with this? I’m not sure how to fix this, and really want to use this recipe to make my friends daughters birthday cupcakes. Any advise/ help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much!
Hi Danie,
So happy you loved the cake so much 🙂
I think your best option would be to buy parchment cupcake liners. These won’t stick to the cake so when you remove the wrapper it should hold together just fine. Hope that helps!
Shoot. That won’t work for me as I don’t live in the US and Amazon only ships specific items here. Any other thoughts?
My grocery store carries the parchment liners, but if yours doesn’t a kitchen supply store might. You could also try cutting squares of parchment and just shoving them in the cupcake pan.
**Update** I Just pulled these out of the refrigerator this morning, let them get to room temp, and then peeled off the wrapper… Perfections! No crumbles!
Oh yay!! Who knew? Great tip!
This recipe doubled beautifully ❤
Yay! Happy to hear 🙂
Oh my goodness, these cakes are AWESOME!!
I made them for my friends sons birthday. They were on holiday here and I wanted to do a little something for him but was worried as he is a vegan. I trolled through the Internet looking for a good recipe that had great reviews and found this one. It lived up to and even exceeded the rave reviews. The non vegans enjoyed it as much as her son. Pure awesome-ness! What a hit!
Yay!!! So happy you found this recipe and it was a hit, not only with the vegan, but for everyone. Maybe you will be inspired try more vegan recipes now 🙂
I made these for a baby shower and they turned out perfectly! The icing split but that was my fault. There were lumps of vegetable shortening in the icing so I popped the bowl in the warm oven to try and melt it. Think that’s why it split! But still tasted fine! Just wondering how long they last for iced in a airtight container? Thanks!
So happy you enjoyed them Lauren, and too bad the icing split. Yeah, an oven for the icing it a no go. Next time if it’s lumpy use a mixer to blend. If you don’t have a mixer an immersion blender works well too. To keep the cupcakes, I would keep them covered at room temperature. They should last a few days, but will be the softest and fluffiest on day one. Alternatively, cupcakes and frosting can be frozen separately. Thaw and then frost. Hope that helps!
Oh I did use a beater to try and get the lumps out! Nothing worked. I was in a hurry so that’s why I popped it in the cooling oven. Next time I’ll beat the shortening and vegan spread first before adding the other ingredients! Had the last cupcake last night (4 days later) and it was still tasty! Thanks for replying xx
No problem! So happy you enjoyed them 🙂
These turned out amazing. Very yummy and super easy to make. I added fresh blueberries also. I didn’t make the frosting for them as I didn’t have any of the ingredients on hand.
Yay! So happy you loved them Sabra. Mmmmmm blueberries 🙂
Well I am sad to say that this recipe did not work out for me at all. First, I have to say that I am not vegan, so I guess I didn’t really know what to expect. Second, I live at about 8000 feet elevation, so that may have had some effect on the outcome of the finished product.
I made this recipe twice, back to back. The first time I followed the directions exactly. They sunk in the middle and were considerably greasy, but they tasted pretty good The second time I added a little more flour, hoping to compensate for altitude, and made sure not to over mix. They still sunk, not as bad, but they didn’t taste as good- they had a bitter, baking soda flavor, and they were still quite greasy.
As this was my first attempt at vegan baking I am going to chalk up my failed cupcakes to inexperience, but I don’t think I’ll attempt this recipe again.
Oh no! That’s too bad. I know nothing about cooking at higher elevations so I’m not sure if that is the problem, but these cupcakes work for me every time. Not sure what to recommend! Sorry they didn’t work out for you Emily!
When it says 1/2 cup plus what does that mean
You add 1/2 cup sugar and you add 1/3 cup of sugar. When writing the recipe I just found 3/4 cups of sugar was to little and 1 cup was too much, so that is the in-between measurement. Hope that helps!
Hi! These tasted delicious although they sank in the middle. I used earth balance vegan buttery sticks for the frosting and it was a little runny, so I’ll try putting them in the fridge prior to frosting.
Both toddler and husband declared them yummy. I’ll be making some for her birthday in a few weeks.
I was wondering if this would work for mini cupcakes, too. I plan on making 24 big ones and a batch of minis.
So happy they were declared yummy! The sinking in the middle is likely due to over-beating the batter. If you make them again make sure to mix them until just combined. They will definitely work for mini cupcakes, the cooking time will be much shorter so just keep a close eye on them. Enjoy!
yes yes yes! I agree with every positive comment about these cupcakes. Heaven in the ease of making them, heaven in the eating of them. 🙂 Just happiness.
I made a batch with fresh cut up strawberries in them, and honestly they were extremely delicious. I’ve made these twice in 2 days, and had no problems with sinking in the middle. These are the fluffiest vegan cupcakes I’ve ever made. Thanks.
Yay!!!! Thanks for the lovely comment, I’m so happy you loved them so much PniB! 🙂
I’m excited to try this recipe but I was wondering if you could use gluten free flour? My sister is vegan and she also has a gluten allergy and it would be awesome to make them and surprise her for her birthday. Will it work?
Hi Gabrielle,
Gluten free baking is very different than regular baking. I know there are some gluten free all-purpose flour mixes, but I have never tried them in this recipe so I am not sure how well they work. If you give it a try, I would recommend doing a test batch first. Hope that helps!
Well these are just perfect. I made a test batch last night for my daughter’s birthday on Saturday (she has a milk, egg. & almond allergy) and had only planned on making enough for the kids because I didn’t expect them to be so delicious! So I threw them in the freezer & will definitely make another batch before the party. I wanted to say thanks for such a great recipe, so happy my little one doesn’t have to miss out because of her allergies!
Aww yay!! So happy you loved them so much, and happy birthday to your daughter! I hope she loves them too 🙂
These cupcakes turned out great!! I did mini cupcakes. I just floured my pan and shortened the cooking time to 10-13 mins.
Just not sure about the frosting. I followed the recipe exactly, however mine was very thin. Tasted great, just not thick enough. Any suggestions?
So happy the cupcakes turned out! For the frosting, was it a very hot day? If the vegan butter and shortening start melting it will be very thin for sure. The solution on a hot day is to chill all of the tools you are using, then keep the frosting in the fridge until ready to use. Hope that helps!
Can I convert the flour to grams. Is there a standard for that.
Here is a good chart that should help you. 🙂
Last minute Birthday Cupcakes-
Didn’t expect to make these last Sunday BUT i remembered this recipe and made them! OMG they were amazing… I’m vegan but my grown sons are not- as we sat around eating these wonderful light airy cupcakes, my son said ” your not suppose to be eating these” haha yes I can cause they are vegan!!! They could not believe they were vegan! This recipe is one of the best cupcake recipes out there vegan or non vegan. Thanks for sharing
Haha! “you’re not supposed to be eating these”!! Love love love it! So happy you made last minute cupcakes 😀
My.cupcakes collapsed directly in center on all 12 why?
It sounds like your oven temperature could be too high. If the oven is too hot, the cupcakes would raise too quickly and then collapse into themselves. If you think that may be the problem, you could pick up an oven thermometer to help get the temp right. Hope that helps!!
Hi Samantha,
This recipe looks great. I’m just starting to feel my way through dairy free for my son. He’s only 16months old but is already jealous his older sister can have cupcakes. I was wondering if I can freeze these cakes? I don’t think a toddler would get through 12 cupcakes quickly enough. Thanks
Yes, if you freeze them without the frosting they should be fine. You could freeze the frosting separately, thaw, and then apply. Alternatively, you could half the recipe to make just 6 cupcakes 🙂
Can you use almond flour, or white whole wheat flour? I ran out of APF. Thanks!
Hi Amanda, from my research it looks as though white whole wheat flour should work out fine, but almond flour will not work at all. Hope that helps!
Oh, yes! Almond Flour was an epic fail! I don’t even know what came out of the oven, but it exploded onto the bottom, and crystallized on the sides I’ll try whole wheat flour next time! It was a super easy recipe.
One more question, the sugar. Do you really need 1/2 and 1/3 cup sugar, or should they be split somehow?
Haha, oh no!!
For the sugar, yes, both. When I wrote the recipe I just didn’t think that 3/4 cup was enough, but 1 cup was too much. I’m picky I know! Haha.
Love this recipe. I made the best cupcakes ever! 😀
Before turning vegan , the cupcakes I used to make had this strong egg smell.Now, It is light, fluffy and fragrant full vanilla cupcakes. Thanks a lot for this recipe.
Aww that’s so awesome! So happy you like it so much Angela! 🙂
Great recipe! I dyed my batter, and it turned out great. My advice for some of those whose didn’t turn out: let the wet ingredients sit for about 5 mins before you mix with the dry (the cinegar helps “sour/thicken” the milk). also, do NOT over-mix, and check your oven. I cooked mine at 25 degrees hotter because my oven temp is off.
So happy you love it Carolyn, and I totally agree with you, over-mixing the batter is a total killer! Better to have lumps than to mix it too much. 🙂
Great recipe. These truly are the best vanilla cupcakes i have tasted. I shared a link to your recipe with my danish vegan community on Facebook. I hope that was ok 🙂
Aww so happy you loved them so much 🙂 Absolutely, share on Facebook as much as you like 🙂
Hi, Samantha! I made these cupcakes a couple weeks ago for a trial run and they didn’t disappoint!! I was wondering what the conversion would be to bake the batter in a 5″-6″ cake pan? I want to make a 3-4 layer cake for my daughters 1st birthday. What would be your recommendations? Double batter? Thank you:)
Hi Kelly,
So happy you loved them! I would say this recipe would make a one layer 9″ cake, so yes, I think doubling it would get you 3 layers, maybe 4. Sounds like it’s going to be gorgeous! Tag me on instagram or post a photo on my Facebook page 🙂
Will do! 🙂
Hi
I have searched and searched for a decent recipe for vegan vanilla cupcakes! Yours is definitely the best I’ve tried.
Just one thing, I found the sponge to be a little oily!! I used pure vegetable oil. the texture was super moist, but did compact when touched. Would it alter the texture too much if I added a little less oil?
Please let me have you thoughts, the recipe is definitely worth it.
PS How do I add a photo?
Love Jean x
Oh yay! So happy you love the cupcakes so much! Too be honest I am not sure how much the recipe would change with a reduction of oil. I know some people replace some oil with apple sauce in baking, but I have never tried it in this recipe. If you give it a try, I would love to hear how it works for you!
You can’t up load a photo on my site, but I would love to see one on my Facebook page, or if you tag me on Instagram. 😀
wow….I was a little concerned because these fell a little in the middle after I took them out of the oven….but omg the taste is to die for. I didn’t frost them, they absolutely don’t need it and I don’t need the extra calories. I am so happy I found this recipe.
Yay!! So happy you loved them Diane 🙂
The recipe works ! i did make a few changes: sunflower oil, soya milk and self raising flour. The cupcakes were light and fluffy. I made 10 cupcakes.
I didn’t use cup measurements :
200g flour
280g sugar
150ml soya milk
85ml oil
I would advise to use a deep cupcake tray and 2 cupcake cases for support.
I’m sure i mixed the batter in less than a minute. I stopped when it appeared smooth because i did not want to overmix. I didn’t use an electric whisk.
Unfortunately I forgot to add vanilla essence so it is a bit bland.
I made my own buttercream with vitalite dairy free butter and icing sugar.
live in England and my daughter recently became allergic to egg and milk. I’ve struggled to find recipes that worked, they’re usually too dense. But this has to be the best by far! Thank you so much for posting
So happy the recipe turned out for you Natasha 🙂
Oops I meant 180g of sugar
I used rapseed oil so im not sure if this is why they didnt turn out great they did rise they were fluffy but the smell made me think of fried eggs and the top of the cupcakes didnt look so great. i dont no what conala oil is so o just bought what i found in the shop. Can i substitute the oil for a vegan butter? Thank you
Hmm I don’t think rapeseed oil was the problem here, that should work fine. Vegan butter would be to heavy for this recipe. I really don’t know where the fried egg smell came from! If you wanted to try another oil, any oil that is very light in flavour would work such as vegetable oil. Hope that helps!
Thank you for the reply im trying it now with Vitalite butter melted the butter to see what happens … Lol wish me luck .. Maybe its my sences in quite sensitive to smells but other than that recipe was great
Good luck!
Maybe the oil was rancid. It is an awful smell and will make whatever you are making taste bad.
Oh yes, something was off for sure, the batter should taste and smell like regular vanilla cake batter. I eat it from the spoon 😀
The texture turned out amazing! I didn’t like the aftertaste that the vinegar left so for the second batch I used 2T lemon juice and they turned out much much better tastewise with no compromise to the texture.
Sneaky, this doesn’t allow me to rate it anything other than 5 stars. I got 9 cupcakes with the measurements provided.
Really? There must be a glitch in the recipe software. I just tested it from my end and all appears to be working, can you tell me if you are on mobile or desktop? You should be able to pick however many stars you like!
Hmm, I guess so. Was using my phone. Anyway, would have given it a 4 star rating =)
Thank you 🙂
I have contacted my mobile site team about this, they told me that a few of the other sites they are managing are also experiencing this problem, so they are working on fixing it. I will let you know when the star system is running again 🙂
Just to update you, the issue was fixed, and everything should be working fine now 🙂
So happy you love the texture so much and were able to make them your own 🙂
Can I use water instead of almond milk? Thanks
I haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t know for sure, but I think it might be ok. If you give it a try, let us know how it turns out. 🙂
Hi! Do you know how I would adapt this to make 2 nine inch rounds?
Hi Mina,
Yes, one batch of this recipe would make enough for one 9″ round, so I would double the recipe. It will probably take longer to bake, so I would keep an eye on it and you will be able to tel when it is cooked when a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Enjoy!
2nd time around and not a flop! yay!
1st time around I used brown sugar, and it wasn’t as sweet. 2nd time around I am using white sugar, seems to have fixed the issue even though the 1st round wasn’t bad.
1st time around I used cup measurements and only got 9 cc; 2nd time around got 12 and I used the g and ml measurements provided in the comments.
I didn’t make the frosting, because in South Africa, vegan margarine is not available. If it is, not readily so. And shortening I have never even heard of.
I am not a champion baker, so I hesitate to alternate recipes, but I would love to try out some healthy alternatives to some of the ingredients. Maybe. One day.
Thanks for the recipe.