A deliciously moist vegan vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. Free of dairy and eggs, with a gluten free alternative.
Birthdays are a big deal in our house. Each person’s life is special and deserves celebrating! The general rule is that the birthday person gets to choose what they want to do, and eat, on their day. Luckily, no one has asked to fly to NYC for lunch or anything yet. Shhh, we don’t want to give them any ideas! 😂
This week was my hubby, Rafael’s, birthday. He’s a lot like me and likes to keep things low-key. A family day playing video games with the kids and watching movies together was all he wanted. The only thing he mentioned specifically wanting were Apple AirPods. He’s been talking about them for months. I, only half-joking, told him he’d have to buy them for himself because I just couldn’t bring myself to spend almost two hundred dollars on something so frivolous. I mean, there’s definitely no shortage of earphones lying around the house from the many iphones we’ve had over the years!
There’s also something in me that just has to keep an element of surprise when giving gifts. I try to be very thoughtful when picking out a gift for someone and it’s nice to see the excitement on their face when they open up their gift to find something they’ve really been wanting.
It’s kind of hard to surprise someone when they only want one thing!
That just means I had to work harder to convince him I wasn’t getting him what he wanted! He hinted around to wanting them for Father’s day, and was almost sure he’d got them. But, no, he got something else he’d been wanting instead. I reminded him we had three white apple earphones in the drawer…they even look the same, they just had wires on them! 🙂
Then his birthday rolled around and again, “I don’t really want anything special…just some AirPods!” Well, it was present time and again, no AirPods. Am I mean or what?! 😜
I had gotten them earlier in the week and was hiding them in the closet, waiting for the perfect opportunity to really surprise him.
At the end of the day, we started cleaning up all the opened packages from his presents and I nonchalantly handed him a plastic bag to put all of the boxes in. He grabbed it and as he opened the bag to put stuff inside, he did a double take as he saw a little white box resting at the bottom.
I finally surprised him and the joy and excitement that lit up his face was well worth the wait!
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Vegan Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Frosting
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 10–12 servings 1x
Description
A delicious and moist vanilla cake layered with a rich and fudgy frosting. Free of dairy and eggs, with a gluten free alternative.
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake: (gluten-free version below)
- 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
- sustainable palm shortening
or coconut oil, for greasing pans
- parchment paper
- Two-Ingredient Chocolate Frosting
- naturally dyed sprinkles
, melted 
, or other neutral tasting cooking oil
or coconut oil, for greasing pans
Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake:
- 2 cups almond milk (or other milk of choice)
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice
- 2 1/3 cups gf all-purpose flour (I used Bobs Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
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- 1/2 cup coconut flour
(This helps the texture significantly so I don’t recommend subbing for more gf all-purpose flour)
- 1 1/2 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
- parchment paper
- Two-Ingredient Chocolate Frosting
- naturally dyed sprinkles
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(This helps the texture significantly so I don’t recommend subbing for more gf all-purpose flour)Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Combine 2 cups milk with vinegar and set aside to sour.
- Grease three 8-inch pans or four 6-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 frost when they are wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen overnight.
- To decorate, place on cake layer upside down on a decorative stand or plate. To keep the plate clean, you can tuck strips of parchment paper under the cake to catch the frosting. Place a dollop of chocolate frosting on the first layer and spread across evenly using an offset spatula
. Repeat with remaining layers and frost the top and sides of the cake
- I piped a reverse shell border with the remaining frosting using a piping bag and a Wilton 1M tip, but a border isn’t necessary if you don’t have the materials.
- Sprinkle the top of the cake with colorful sprinkles
.
. Repeat with remaining layers and frost the top and sides of the cake- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Dessert, Vegan
You may also enjoy these similar recipes:
Vegan Chocolate Cake with Whipped Ganache
Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream
Gluten-Free Birthday Cake Doughnuts
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Just wanted to let you know this cake was lovely! My fiancé is allergic to eggs and nuts and uncomfortable getting our wedding cutter cake from a shop, since so often they can’t guarantee separation of ingredients. Last minute, I’ve finally decided I’ll just bake our cutter cake so we know exactly what’s in it! I am not a baker by any means but I try my best lol. We absolutely love your cinnamon rolls! Just to die for, with the lightened up buttercream – out of this world! He asks for them often, one of our top cravings!
Anyways, tried this this weekend as a tester for the real thing with what I had on hand – used buttermilk instead of milk and vinegar, and the last 1/3 cup of sugar had to be coconut sugar since I ran out of regular sugar . Turned out delicious. The coconut sugar lightened up the sweetness a bit and we feel like we could just keep eating it all day long. It’s just as fluffy and delicious if not more than many regular cake recipes with eggs. Hats off! This one is a winner. Not the first time your page has been a winner in this household. I’m keen to find more recipes that are egg free that both him and I enjoy just as much as the real thing, and your page with forever be our first stop for homemade baked treats! Thank you
Can i substitute the cane sugar with coconut sugar? Thankyou
Hi Mels! That should work, although it will change the color and the flavor of the cake. I also find that coconut sugar isn’t as sweet as cane sugar so maybe taste the batter to see if it’s sweet enough for your liking. Please let me know if you give it a try with those changes!
Made the gluten free version today for a friend who hasnt had cake since going vegan a few months ago. Tried 3 other recipes which failed by being too dense or was too dry. This recipe was beautiful. Cake came out fluffy and moist like regular cake..even after cooling on rack for an hour! I only made 2 layers and had enough batter leftover to make a sample cake for my family who are not vegan. They didnt even realize it was vegan and gluten free!! Thank u soo much for sharing this recipe and giving me hope that vegan baking is just as delicious as regular stuff!!
Lyssa, this makes me very happy to hear! I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake! It’s definitely one of our faves and we usually make a variation of it for any and every occasion. There are a few versions here on the blog that have the same cake recipe with different frostings if you’re ever interested (here: http://www.wifemamafoodie.com/vegan-vanilla-cake-with-strawberry-buttercream/ and here: http://www.wifemamafoodie.com/vanilla-layer-cake-with-fresh-berries/) Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback! Have a wonderful day!!
I’m completely smitten over this gorgeous cake, Joscelyn. It’s perfect for birthdays or any celebration and the presentation is just stunning! I hope your hubs had a fabulous birthday… and what a sweet gift to give.. a homemade birthday cake! xo
Thank you, Traci! Homemade cakes are just the best, aren’t they?! He had a wonderful day and we loved getting the chance to spoil him! Hope you’re having a great week, sweet friend! Thanks for stopping by! ❤️
This recipe sounds great! Chocolate icing and vanilla cake is perfect for birthdays too. I need to try this vegan version now! 🙂
Cheers, Sarah Camille // SCsScoop.com
Thank you Sarah!
YUM – my favorite kind of cake! I’ll have to give this one a try sometime!
Thank you Taylor!
This looks amazing! You did such a good job. Saving for later!
Thank you Helen!
What a fun birthday surprise — sounds like the giving was as fun as the receiving! Love this beautiful cake – your photos are amazing!
Thank you Patricia. It was so much fun! I hope you have a lovely weekend!
Your cake looks divine. I love how you surprised your husband and kept the element of surprise until the end of his special day!
Hi Lisa! Haha, yes he loved being surprised. I really got him Thanks for the kind words! Have a lovely weekend!
That looks absolutely amazing! My best friend is vegan, so I’m bookmarking this to surprise her with it on her birthday!
Hi Lisa Marie! Thank you for the encouragement and for bookmarking the recipe. I hope you all enjoy! Please let me know if you have any questions as you get ready to bake this. Have a wonderful weekend!
This cake looks incredible!! And the sponge looky so fluffy and soft! I will be giving this recipe a try 😀
Thank you Nicole. Happy Friday!
OMG Amazing!! Its looks yummy. Thanks for sharing every tips and all the ingredients with us. Can’t wait to try. My children would loved it.
Thank you Suanlian!
I can’t believe this is vegan! This looks so delicious.
Thank you Marissa!
Omg that cake looks absolutely delicious! I love vanilla cake with chocolate frosting 🙂
Thanks Esperanza. Happy Friday!
This is the perfect birthday cake! Your layers are gorgeous and I love that fudgy frosting!
Thank you Laura!
That cake looked amazing, I bookmarked your blog for all the vegan baking goodness on here!
Aw thank you Kate! I appreciate your kind words!