Vegan Vanilla Cake with Buttercream Frosting

Why You’ll Love This Vegan Vanilla Cake Recipe

• A cake for all reasons and seasons. What can you make this cake for? The real question is what CAN’T you make this cake for? Its colorful sprinkles make it a great choice for a birthday celebration, but with some red and green decorations, it would be perfect for Christmas.
• Easy to make. This recipe is an absolute cinch to make, and to decorate too! Even if you’ve never made a layer cake before, you’ll have an easy time with this recipe.
• Everyday ingredients. Everything you need for this vegan vanilla cake recipe can be found at a regular grocery store—although it’s also likely you have most of the ingredients in your kitchen right now!

Notes on the Ingredients

Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.

For the Cake:

• Apple cider vinegar – You can use regular vinegar if you don’t have apple cider vinegar; both will make the soy milk curdle. 
• Soy milk – Other vegan milk will work too, but make sure whichever one you decide to use is at room temperature, so that the texture of the cake comes out correctly.
• Brown sugar – Cane sugar is also good, and will make the cake even sweeter than regular or brown sugar would.
• All-purpose flour – White whole wheat flour or gluten-free flour could also work; note that with gluten-free flour the cake may become a little denser and dryer.
• Baking soda – To help the cake layers rise.
• Sea salt – Regular salt is good too, just use a little bit less of it because the granules are smaller.
• Vegan butter – Melt it and then let it cool for the purpose of easy mixing.
• Vanilla extract – Provides the sweet flavor of the cake!

For the Buttercream:

• Powdered sugar – Always sift your powdered sugar!
• Vegan butter – Salted or unsalted works fine here
• Vanilla – To make it vanilla buttercream!
• Vegan milk – You won’t need a lot – this is to loosen up your frosting if it’s too thick.

How to Make Vegan Vanilla Cake

• Grease and line the pan. Grease and flour two round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
• Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 350°F/180°C. 
• Mix vinegar and soy milk. In a small bowl or jar, add the apple cider vinegar and the soy milk together and stir to combine. It will curdle. 
• Combine dry and wet Ingredients: Whisk together sugar, flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add milk mixture, melted butter and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for about 1 to 2 minutes until everything is just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir one more time to ensure everything is incorporated. Do not overmix. 
• Bake the cake. Divide the batter into the cake pans and place in the middle rack in the centre of that rack. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven (test with a toothpick in the centre to ensure they’re fully cooked) and allow to cool completely in the pans.

• Make the frosting. Beat the butter and vanilla for about 2-3 minutes with a stand mixer or a handheld mixer, until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and vegan milk a little at a time until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.
• Spread frosting on the first cake. Place 1 of the fully cooled cakes on a platter (or any plate wide enough) and dollop half of the frosting on top. Cover the top and the sides, distributing it equally. 
• Layer the second cake on top of the first. Place the remaining cake upside down on top of the frosted cake and spread the remaining frosting on the top and sides, blending the upper and lower portions of the sides as you go. You may have to shave off any doming on the cake so they lay flush.
• Decorate and serve. The frosting sets at room temperature perfectly. Now, once you’ve frosted the cake, you can decide what to put on it. I kept it fun and simple with some colorful sprinkles, but you can put fruit, chopped nuts, chocolate shavings, white chocolate shavings, or whatever else you like on it!

Tips for Success

• Don’t over-mix the batter. This will make the cake turn out too dense because of how the gluten forms. Just mix until the ingredients are combined, and the cake will turn out light and fluffy!
• Use room temperature ingredients. It’s important that you use room temperature ingredients only. Cold milk will affect the texture of the other ingredients and can affect the final cake.
• For a triple layer cake. If you want to make three 8-inch layers, make this recipe, then cut it in half to make the last layer. You may also want to double up on the frosting.
• Let cake cool before frosting. Frosting the cake too quickly usually results in a crumbly mess. It still tastes fantastic, but it won’t look as pretty.
• Weigh and scoop the flour. Weighing the flour will ensure that you have the exact amount you need, so that the cake doesn’t become too heavy. Scooping the flour into the measuring cup with a spoon will also prevent the cake from becoming too dense, because you won’t have packed in any extra flour.

How to Store Homemade Vegan Vanilla Cake

• Room temperature/refrigerator: If you’re going to eat the cake within a few days, you can keep it covered at room temperature on the counter. If you need longer though, you can keep it in an airtight container for about a week in the fridge.
• Freezer: If the cake has already been frosted, it’s not a good idea to freeze it. If you want to freeze the unfrosted cake layers though, that’s totally fine. Wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, or store them in an airtight container for 2-3 months.

More Vegan Cake Recipes

• Vegan Red Velvet Cake
• Vegan Chocolate Cake
• Pumpkin Dump Cake
• Vegan Chocolate Sheet Cake
• Vegan Carrot Cake