This Gluten-Free Vegan Vanilla Cake is moist and fluffy, covered in a silky buttercream and is simple yet delicious! It comes together in one bowl, is easily customisable and is refined sugar free too. A versatile dessert that suits almost any occasion: think birthdays, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, baby showers and bridal showers!
How to make the cake
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a glass mixing bowl.
Tip: Use a measuring jug to measure out the plant-based milk.
- Transfer into two 18 cm / 7 inch sandwich baking tins.
Tip: Line the tins with greased baking paper to make the sponges easier to remove afterwards.
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Transfer onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely before applying the frosting.
How to make the Vegan Buttercream Frosting
- Place soaked cashew nuts, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla in a food processor.
Tip: Make sure the cashew nuts are soaked to make them easier to blend. Soak them overnight in cold water or in boiling water for at least 15 minutes.
- Whizz until completely smooth.
Tip: You will have to mix it around a few times to make it easier to blend up.
- Taste and adjust flavour if necessary, adding more maple syrup for sweetness.
How to frost the cake
- Place one of the sponges on a cake stand or a plate and apply just less than half of the frosting onto it using a palette knife for frosting.
- Place the other sponge on top and apply the frosting on the top and sides of the cake.
- Decorate as desired.
How long does this Vanilla Cake keep for?
This Vanilla Cake tastes best fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Substitutions you can make
- You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground sunflower seeds.
- You can use plain flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.
More gluten-free vegan cake recipes
- Tropical Carrot Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Cherry Bakewell Cake
- Matcha Strawberry Cake
- Chocolate Cake
- Orange Cake
- Strawberry Cake
- Black Forest Cake
- Red Velvet Cake
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
- Lemon Pound Cake
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make this recipe
Gluten-Free Vegan Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 200 ml (⅘ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
For the buttercream:
- 100 g (⅔ cup) cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (or sub water or any other plant-based milk)
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil).
- Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the lemon juice, vanilla, maple syrup and ground almonds.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
- Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry.
- Transfer mixture between two greased baking tins lined with baking paper (I used two 7inch/18cm springform baking tins).
- Bake in oven for around 15 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Once done, turn the cakes out onto wire racks and leave to cool completely before frosting.
For the buttercream:
- Drain soaked cashews and add to a food processor or blender with all the other ingredients.
- Whizz until completely smooth, adding more milk or water if necessary.
To frost and decorate the cake:
- Place one half of the cake onto a plate or cake stand, and spread just less than half of the frosting onto it.
- Place the other half of the cake on top of that and use rest of the frosting to spread on top and around the sides of the cake.
- Tastes best when fresh but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
lena
hi!another great recipe! if i wanted a more pronounced maple taste, what would i do? also, can this be made in a loaf pan?
thanks!!
Rhian Williams
Yes you can make it in a loaf pan, just adjust baking time accordingly - you'd have to bake for around 45 minutes I think! For a more pronounced maple taste, you could add some extra maple syrup or some maple flavouring.
Cathy
This is my first time making gluten free vegan cake. I followed the recipe but the mixture was more like a dough, not cake mix. Is the the way it’s suppose to be? I did splash more almond milk but didn’t help much. Not sure what went wrong as it didn’t rise either.
Rhian Williams
Sorry to hear that. What type of gluten-free flour did you use? Did you add enough baking powder?
Lisa
Hey Rhian, hoping to try this as one cake in a 9 inch springform pan for a birthday. Don’t suppose you have tried making ahead and freezing? Thanks!
Rhian Williams
Yes it should be ok to freeze - just make the frosting fresh and frost it on the day after the sponge has bee defrosted!
Frannie
Second time I’ve made this cake. It really doesn’t rise much, if at all. I used two heaping tsps of fresh baking powder this time, same thing. However, the cake is delicious and not overly sweet.
Rhian Williams
Sorry to hear that. What type of gluten-free flour do you use?
Frannie
Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend is the gluten-free blend I’m using.
Rhian Williams
Ah I think the issue is that it contains xanthan gum! I'd recommend one that doesn't, as it causes sponges to be gummy rather than fluffy!
Frannie
Awesome! I’ll try a blend that doesn’t have xanthan in it. Thanks!
Frannie
Most of the gf flour blend have xanthan gum as an ingredient, including the one linked to in your recipe. Do you have a recommendation on what kind to try?
Rhian Williams
I use Dove's Farm gluten-free flour! You can alternatively use white rice flour + 2 tablespoons tapioca flour.
Frannie
Thank you!
Georgia
This is my absolute go to vanilla cake and it has been for the last 2 years. We normally have all the ingredients on hand which makes it super easy and quick to throw together! I just wanted to tell you how much we love it. We don’t have a huge sweet tooth and find the sweetness in this cake just perfect. It’s also great un-iced. I’ve never made the icing but will continue to make the cake for the rest of my life. Thanks for an excellent recipe!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!!