This moist vanilla layer cake is topped with loads of fresh berries and creamy whipped frosting. Perfect for summer get togethers! It’s also vegan friendly with a gluten free variation included.
It’s my birthday, y’all! 🎉 I’m not one of those people who particularly love turning a year older, but my family doesn’t let me lift a finger and I get to eat lots of cake…I’d say, all in all, it’s a pretty good day! I wanted to add a patriotic dessert to the blog and it just so happens that my favorite birthday cake is vanilla with fresh berries, so it works that my birthday is right before the Fourth of July! Talk about knocking out two birds with one stone!
Speaking of which, isn’t that such a gory phrase? Who comes up with this stuff?!
This cake is very patriotic and would be perfect for Memorial day or 4th of July, if you use the right combo of berries. I used strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, but if you’re not going for the red, white, and blue look, just add a few sprigs of mint or switch up the fruit and it looks like a completely different cake!
The cake is my new favorite vanilla cake I added to the blog earlier this year. It’s so fluffy and delicious, and you’d never know by taste that it’s vegan friendly either! There’s even a gluten-free option, but it does use cane sugar. I know many of my recipes are refined sugar free since we try to limit our intake of sugar. We do, however, eat it in on occasion. If you’re looking for a gluten and refined sugar free version, feel free to use the cake part of this recipe.
Fluffy vanilla cake layered with whipped coconut cream and fresh berries?! Yep, it doesn’t get much better than that for a birthday cake, in my opinion! Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to enjoy another slice (or two) of this cake! Enjoy!
Vanilla Layer Cake with Fresh Berries
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 3-layer cake 1x
Description
This vanilla layer cake is moist and delicious. Topped with loads of fresh berries, it’s the perfect summer dessert! Vegan friendly with a gluten free variation included.
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake (Gluten-free version below. Refined sugar free version here.)
- 2 cups almond milk or other non-dairy milk (can also use regular milk if not vegan)
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cup natural sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup avocado oil
, melted refined coconut oil
, or other neutral tasting cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- whipped cream cheese frosting
- 4–5 cups mixed berries of choice (I used strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, but any fruit will do)
- powdered sugar for dusting, optional
, melted 
, or other neutral tasting cooking oil
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 16 oz. regular or dairy-free cream cheese or mascarpone
- 2 (14 oz) cans coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk refrigerated overnight (about 1¾ cup firm coconut cream only, liquid discarded. Can also use 1 cup regular whipping cream if not dairy-free)
- 3–5 tablespoons honey or maple syrup (OR 1/4–1/2 cup powdered sugar, use more or less to taste)
Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake: (Recipe updated March 2018)
- 2 cups almond milk (or other milk of choice)
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice
- 2 cups gf all-purpose flour – I used Bobs Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
- 1 cup super fine almond flour
(This helps the texture significantly so I don’t recommend subbing for more gf all-purpose flour)
- 1 1/3 cup natural sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- seeds from 1 vanilla bean, optional
- sustainable palm shortening
or coconut oil, for pans
- parchment paper
(This helps the texture significantly so I don’t recommend subbing for more gf all-purpose flour)
or coconut oil, for pansInstructions
Vanilla Layer Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Combine 2 cups milk with vinegar and set aside to sour.
- Grease three 8-inch pans and line the bottom with a parchment paper circle, cut to fit the pan, and then grease the parchment paper circle. I don’t recommend skipping this step or your cakes could stick to the bottom of the pan. Set pans aside. Alternatively, you can line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients—flour(s), sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt until well combined.
- Mix in oil, vanilla, and sour milk with a whisk or mixer and beat just until blended and smooth. Don’t over-beat.
- Evenly distribute the cake batter into the three pans and place onto the middle rack in the preheated oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until center is set and a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cake/cupcakes will be pretty light in color. More or less time may be needed depending on your oven.
- Let cakes cool for several minutes in the pan before inverting onto a cooling rack to cool thoroughly. Cakes are the easiest to handle and decorate when they are wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen overnight. If you don’t have the opportunity to chill overnight, please make sure they are thoroughly cooled before topping with the cream. The whipped cream will melt and slide off of a warm cake.
Whipped Cream:
- In a large mixing bowl, begin to beat the cream cheese until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add sweetener and continue to beat until fluffy. Add cold, hardened coconut cream and beat on high until light and fluffy, a few more minutes. Taste and adjust sweetener if needed. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
- If using regular whipping cream, beat whipping cream separately until fluffy and stiff peaks form (about 3-4 minutes) and then fold it into the cream cheese mixture.
Putting it together:
- Place one of the fully cooled cakes onto your cake plate. Top with 1/3 of the whipped cream and about 1 cup of sliced berries.
- Top with another cake layer and repeat the process.
- At the end, top cake with remaining whipped cream and a pile of whole and halved berries. Top with a light dusting of powdered sugar (optional).
- Keep in a cool room and serve shortly after assembling, for best results. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Dessert, Gluten Free, Vegan
how do ya come up with this stuff
Hi! I am having trouble with this cake being a little chewy/oily. The flavor is good but its almost like the top of each layer is more airy and fluffy but the bottom is soggy. I have made the gluten free version twice and am experiencing the same results. Any recommendations?
Also, I’d love to make this into a smash cake for my daughter who is turning 1 next week. Do you have any advice on how to adapt this recipe to a smaller size?
Hi Jamie, what brand of gluten-free flour did you use? I find every gf flour blend to be different and results vary. Also, did you incorporate the almond flour? Make any changes to the recipe? Sorry for all of the questions, but this will help me to troubleshoot why you might be experiencing this problem.
As for adapting the recipe to make a smaller cake you can make 1/2 or 1/3 the recipe. Here is 1/3, which would make a small 6-inch cake and maybe a few cupcakes. 🙂
2/3 cups almond milk (or other milk of choice)
1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice
2/3 cups gf all-purpose flour (I used Bobs Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour)
1/3 cup super fine almond flour (This helps the texture significantly so I don’t recommend subbing for more gf all-purpose flour)
scant 1/2 cup natural sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
rounded 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup avocado oil, melted refined coconut oil, or other neutral tasting cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Can I use this cake recipe and add lemon zest (from 2 to 3 lemons) to it without the vanilla and lemon clashing too much?
Hi Jessica, I think that’d be fine, but you could always cut back on the vanilla by a teaspoon or so to let the lemon flavor shine. I love the idea of adding lemon zest to this cake! Let me know how it turns out!
My batter was thick… Not like normal cake batter. Is this normal?
Hi Jerica, the batter isn’t supposed to be too thick. It’s like normal cake batter. Which version did you make, the regular or gluten-free? Do you pack the measuring cups when measuring out the flour? And did you add a full 2 cups of milk and 3/4 cup oil? If you haven’t baked it yet, you can add more milk until it’s the consistency of regular cake batter.
I added some more milk before I baked. I did gluten free and nut free so i used coconut sugar,flour and milk.. I did the third one you provided with the berries. My guess is the cold milk solidified the coconut oil slightly which made it thick. The cupcakes seem ok… They’re soft but I’m curious how they’ll be when they cool.
Oh yeah it’s definitely the coconut flour. It’s doesn’t work as a one to one replacement flour because it’s very absorbent and often times needs eggs to hold it together. I’ve used it in this recipe, but only a small amount to replace the almond flour, still using a gluten free 1-to-1 flour blend for the majority of the batter.
Also, with coconut oil, I found blending it in either before or after mixing in the milk usually helps the oil not to seize and solidify upon contact with a cold liquid.
I hope your cupcakes still turned out okay though! I know it can be disappointing when you bake something and it doesn’t turn out. Next time try the coconut flour along with a gf flour blend (like in this recipe: http://www.wifemamafoodie.com/white-chocolate-summer-berry-cake-2/) and it should turn out fine 🙂
Oh my gosh, this looks delicious!! I need to try it!
Thank you!
So good! Such a great summertime dessert. Perhaps this can be my morning challenge 🙂 I love fresh berries and whipped cream, and of course cake 🙂 Happy Birthday!
This cake is such a gorgeous looking cake! Happy Happy Birthday Joscelyn! and I do not blame your family for not letting you lift a finger! You deserve the very best! Hope you had a wonderful birthday 🙂 I will have to make this vanilla cake one of these days 🙂
This is so perfect for the holiday! So yummy!
I am so in love with these photos Joscelyn! And of course, this cake 🙂 Happy 4th of July!
Just in time for fresh summertime berries! This cake looks incredibly delicious, as well as pretty and festive. I bet the vanilla cake and whipped cream would also be fabulous made with fresh, sweet peaches too! I’m definitely looking forward to trying this recipe.
Thank you Cait! Have a wonderful weekend!
This cake looks delicious. The cake looks great for 4th of July. Thanks for sharing.
XOXO //SINCERELY OPHELIA | NYC Petite Fashion Blogger
Thank you!
the pictures are so good and same with the cake
Happy birthday to you! What a fabulous (and beautiful) cake! It’s perfect for the July Fourth festivities 🙂 Lovely.
Thank you for the encouragement and birthday wishes Patricia!
This cake is absolutely stunning, Joscelyn! So pretty and perfect for 4th of July. Have a great weekend! 🙂
Thank you Laura!
Oh my goodness…this looks scrumtous! I cannot wait to try to make this!
Thanks Jenn! Have a lovely evening!
Oh, I love to cook and have been cooking more lately. Thanks for this yummy recipe!
Thank you Sonyo!
So glad to find a fellow vanilla cake lover! Love that you added all the berries — looks delicious!
Thanks Nicole!
Yesss finally a good vegan layer cake recipe! This looks so good, your photos are gorgeous!
Thank you Jivi! I appreciate the encouragement!
Wow, now that is a cake worthy of a birthday treat!
Thank you Mishelle!
Happy Birthday! You nearly had a birthday twin. My Isla’s birthday was this week! Cake didn’t look as good as yours, though. Going to try this just because it looks so good.
That’s cool Lorna! Birthday wishes to Isla as well
This cake looks so delicious my goodness. This is worth trying out. And happy birthday hope you continue to enjoy during the holidays as well.
Thank you