This Gluten-Free Vegan Victoria Sponge Cake consists of moist and fluffy, perfectly rich sponges sandwiched together with melt-in-your-mouth vegan buttercream and sweet, tangy jam. It's refined sugar free, comes together in one bowl and makes a simple yet elegant dessert that's perfect for any occasion!
Victoria sponge Cake, also known as Victoria Sandwich Cake, was named after the 19th-century British monarch Queen Victoria. It consists of two butter sponge cakes sandwiched together with jam and buttercream or whipped cream.
Strawberry or raspberry jam are most commonly used, but you can use any type of jam or spread, or even vegan lemon curd.
For a completely refined sugar free cake, make sure to use a refined sugar free jam or spread.
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: Make sure to use a measuring jug to measure out the exact amount of plant-based milk!
- Transfer the mixture to two 18 cm / 7 inch sandwich baking tins.
Tip: Line them with greased baking paper to make the sponges come out easier.
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Leave the sponges to cool down on a cooling rack once they're out the oven.
How to make the buttercream
Victoria Sponge Cake is usually sandwiched together with buttercream, so I decided to make a cashew-based vegan buttercream. If you'd prefer, you can use a coconut milk-based vegan whipped cream instead.
- Place the ingredients for the buttercream in a food processor or blender.
- Whizz until completely smooth, adding more water or plant-based milk to thin out if necessary.
- Place one of the sponges on a cake stand or a plate and spread the buttercream over it - you can use a palette knife for frosting for this.
- Carefully spread over the jam.
- Place the other sponge on top and sandwich together.
- Dust with icing sugar (powdered sugar), if desired.
Tip: If you want the pretty icing sugar effect but want to keep the cake completely refined sugar free, you can dust it with cornflour (cornstarch) instead.
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) with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground walnuts with ground sunflower seeds or use 30g (¼ cup) coconut flour instead of 150g (1 ¼ cup) ground walnuts, use a nut-free plant-based milk and replace the buttercream with a coconut milk-based vegan whipped cream.
- You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you're not gluten-free.
- For a completely refined sugar free cake, make sure to use a refined sugar free jam or spread.
Flavour substitutions you can make
- You can replace the raspberry or strawberry jam with any other jam or spread or even vegan lemon curd.
- You can replace the buttercream with a coconut milk-based vegan whipped cream instead.
How long does this cake keep for?
This Victoria sponge Cake does taste best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
More vegan cake recipes
- Coconut Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Cherry Bakewell Cake
- Purple Carrot Cake
- Black Forest Cake
- German Chocolate Cake
- Brooklyn Blackout Chocolate Cake
- Jaffa Cake
- Almond Cake
- Olive Oil Cake
- Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake
- Yogurt Cake
- Ginger Cake
- Lemon Olive Oil 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 Victoria Sponge 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)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 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**:
- 75 g (½ cup) cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
- 2 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)
To assemble:
- 4 tablespoons raspberry jam (or strawberry jam - ensure refined sugar free if necessary) ***
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 vinegar, 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 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 (a hand-held blender works too).
- Whizz until completely smooth, adding more milk or water if necessary.
To assemble:
- Place one of the sponges onto a plate or cake stand and spread all of the buttercream evenly on top of it.
- Carefully spread the jam evenly across the buttercream.
- Place the other sponge on top and sandwich together.
- Dust with icing sugar (powdered sugar), if desired. If you want the pretty icing sugar effect but want to keep the cake completely refined sugar free, you can dust it with cornflour (cornstarch) instead.
- Tastes best when fresh but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
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Chris
Hi Rhian, could a nut-free version of this be made? We have nut allergies in the family.
Many thanks,
Chris
Rhian Williams
Hi Chris, yes you can replace the ground almonds with ground sunflower seeds, or a fifth of the amount coconut flour. I hope that helps! Thank you.
Megan Oliver
Love this recipe! Do you know how well it freezes?
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much! Yes it should be ok to freeze!
Deepa Patel
Umm was ok used gf flour and almond flour but rose ok but as suspected I should have used my instinct and NOT added two heaped tsp of baking powder sadly they have a salty after taste plus it would be ok I think with two level tsps or even slightly less as it asks for bicarbonate of soda as well
Rhian Williams
Hi thanks for your feedback. The taste of baking powder can really vary between brands. I use Dove's Farm baking powder which has a very neutral taste! Hope that helps.
Katy
Hi Rhian, we use Doves Farm g/f flour but not sure whether to use plain or self-raising? Many thanks. Love your recipes! x
Rhian Williams
The recipe is made for plain flour! Or if using self-raising, use half the amount of baking powder.
Vanessa
I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have found your blog. I suffered many traumatic brain injuries and can no longer have any sugar at all after having been a self-taught and proficient traditional baker for a very long time. Your blog is the only one I can source for recipes- I’ve searched endlessly, and all others just have far too much sugar. Many times I even halve the amount in your recipes just because of my own personal intolerance and yet they all come out perfect and so lovely. It’s Thanksgiving time here in the US and there was a gorgeous sugar/dairy/white flour laden no-bake cranberry tiramisu a blogger had posted. I am smitten with it and was wondering if you think I could use this sponge cake to create one myself. I was wondering if I could perhaps bake it up and then slice it rather than using ladyfingers. I also am wondering if you have any ideas for me as far as a pastry cream and a cranberry sauce or curd that would be good for layering in the tiramisu. The one I admire is finished with a dusting of crushed freeze-dried raspberries & sugar but I’m thinking of omitting the sugar altogether since it’s just a decorative touch similar to powdered sugar, which I sub arrowroot or cornstarch always. Cheers to you and please never stop creating- you are so valuable!
Rhian Williams
Hi Vanessa, thank you so much for sharing your story. I'm so so happy to hear that you like my recipes. I actually already have a tiramisu recipe on my site, which you can use as a guideline: https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/gluten-free-vegan-tiramisu/
I also have a sugar-free cranberry sauce recipe here: https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/cranberry-sauce/
I hope that helps! Cranberry tiramisu sounds so delicious!