If you're looking for the best vegan birthday cake, I am here for you with so many options! This Vegan Vanilla Cake is made without eggs or milk, and you can bake it in a 6-inch small pan, a 9-inch pan, or double it for larger cakes or a loaf cake. The recipe proportions are endlessly versatile, so be sure to print and save for all your future cake needs!
You will love this Vegan Cake Recipe
After baking cakes and cupcakes for many years, I am finally ready to say it. Vegan baking is a lot easier than traditional baking! I don’t have to wait for butter and eggs to come to room temperature, and most of the recipes come together in just one bowl.
I've always leaned towards cakes and cupcakes made with oil, because oil makes the final cake more moist and fluffy. Some might say that butter might have the best flavor, but as a cake sits, the butter solidifies and the cake texture alters significantly.
So, I personally made the switch to a vegan cake batter, and I have never looked back. The first thing I mastered was a vegan vanilla birthday cake!
The best thing about this cake is that it is so easy to change the size because the recipe proportions are so simple to scale up or down!
The Ingredients
- Flour. We're baking with regular all-purpose flour, not pastry flour or cake flour. We just need ¾ cup for the small 6-inch version of this cake. Fluff it very well in the bag, scoop it way over the top of the measuring cup, and then level it off with a knife.
- Sugar. Seven tablespoons of granulated sugar, slightly less than ½ a cup.
- Baking Soda. Yes, this cake only has baking soda, no baking powder.
- Vegan Milk. Any type of vegan milk works for this cake: soy milk, almond milk, or coconut milk in the box. I don't recommend canned coconut milk because it is very thick and usually not emulsified.
- Vanilla. Two teaspoons of vanilla extract may seem like a lot, but vanilla is the main flavor to this cake. I like a Bourbon-aged vanilla extract; don't use the imitation vanilla.
- Oil. Any type of neutral oil, like canola oil, vegetable oil, grapeseed oil or avocado oil works great for this vegan vanilla birthday cake.
- Apple Cider Vinegar. Because vegan cakes lack eggs for lift, we often use a small amount of vinegar to react with the baking soda and create lift. You will not taste the vinegar in this cake at all.
- Vegan Butter. For the vegan vanilla buttercream, use one stick of plant-based butter.
- Powdered Sugar. This is only for the frosting.
- Sprinkles. This is where I say that sprinkles are optional but we both know that they're not. You can stir one tablespoons of sprinkles into the batter and use extra sprinkles on top of the frosting for decorating.
This Vegan Birthday Cake is so simple to make!
- Preheat the oven to 350, and spray one 6" cake pan with 2" sides with cooking spray, and then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together the milk, vanilla, oil, and vinegar.
- Slowly pour the wet mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients while whisking. Try not to over-mix.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan, and bake on the center rack of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- While the cake cools, make the frosting: beat together the softened 'butter' with the powdered sugar, vanilla, pinch of salt and splash of milk. Add extra milk if needed to bring it together.
- Once the cake is cool, slice it in half horizontally. Place the bottom of the cake on a plate, and scoop ⅓ of the frosting on top. Spread the frosting almost to the edges. Place the remaining cake layer on top, and frost with the remaining frosting. If desired, portion some frosting into a bag fitted with an open star tip and decorate the cake with buttercream swirls and sprinkles.
This cake is so quick to make! I had both the large vegan vanilla cake and the small batch version in the oven in just part of an afternoon. The following day, I had both versions frosted and photographed before noon for you.
Vegan Vanilla Cake Decorating Suggestions
I know you’re going to ask, so I’ll mention that YES, you may stir sprinkles into the cake batter here, and make a vegan confetti cake! If you’ve had your eye on my mini funfetti cake, but have always wanted a version without eggs or dairy, today is your lucky day!
I also have a vegan chocolate cake version of this exact recipe that does not contain any vegan milk, but instead relies on coffee!
How to scale down a cake recipe:
Typically, when I scale down a cake recipe to a small 6 inch cake, the recipe divides in half easily. In the case of my vegan chocolate cake, the 6 inch and 9 inch version are the same recipe doubled. However, when it comes to this vegan vanilla cake, everything is doubled when scaling up—except for the vinegar!
For changing the cake size, the same instructions for most of my small cake recipes apply here:
Vegan Birthday Cake Recipe Tips
- The recipe below is for one 6 inch small cake. Slice it in half and fill with buttercream to make it a layer cake as seen in the photos.
- If you double the recipe below, you'll get one 9 inch cake. However, be sure to only use 1 tablespoon of vinegar, not 4 teaspoons, if doubling. If you quadruple the recipe, you'll get two 9 inch layer cakes, just like a normal layer cake. Or, you can double it and bake two 6 inch small cakes for stacking higher.
FAQ:
Most regular non-vegan cake recipes contain a dairy product. Dairy products are acidic, and as such, they react with the leaveners in a recipe (the baking soda and baking powder). But since vegan cakes don't have dairy, we add a very small amount of vinegar to the cake batter to activate the baking soda. This also takes the place of an egg, which causes cakes to rise in the oven.
The best way to store a frosted cake is at room temperature for one day in an air-tight container. Beyond one day, move it to the fridge for up to 3 days. If you want to freeze cake, slice it, lay it flat on a small paper plate, double wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.
Vegan Vanilla Cake Recipe
Vegan vanilla birthday cake without eggs. Recipe doubles for a single layer 9" cake pan. Or, quadruple the recipe for a 2 layer 9" cake. If doubling the recipe, use just 1 tablespoon of vinegar instead of 4 teaspoons.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 7 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ⅓ cup milk alternative* (soy, almond, or coconut)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
For the vegan vanilla buttercream:
- 1 stick plant-based butter substitute
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
- splash of milk alternative, to bring it together
- decorative sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350, and place an oven rack in the center position of the oven.
- Spray one 6" cake pan with 2" sides with cooking spray, and then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper and spray again.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together the milk, vanilla, oil, and vinegar.
- Slowly pour the wet mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients while whisking. Whisk until the cake batter is mostly lump-free, but try not to mix too much and make a dense cake batter.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan, and bake on the center rack of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- While the cake cools, make the frosting: beat together the softened 'butter' with the powdered sugar, vanilla, pinch of salt and splash of milk. Add extra milk if needed to bring it together.
- Once the cake is cool, slice it in half horizontally. Place the bottom of the cake on a plate, and scoop ⅓ of the frosting on top. Spread the frosting almost to the edges. Place the remaining cake layer on top, and frost with the remaining frosting. If desired, portion some frosting into a bag fitted with an open star tip and decorate the cake with buttercream swirls and sprinkles.
Notes
*I tested this recipe with soy milk, almond milk in the refrigerated carton, and coconut milk in the carton. I do not recommend canned coconut milk because the consistency varies.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 733Total Fat: 38gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 63mgSodium: 486mgCarbohydrates: 97gFiber: 1gSugar: 77gProtein: 3g
To double this recipe, double it exactly, but instead of 4 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar, use just 1 tablespoon.
Zahabia says
Hi cake looks good can we use regular vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar?
Hina says
Hi! Would love to try! Do you have any pointers on how to adapt this to an 8 inch pan?
Thanks!
Christina Lane says
Did you see the recipe notes about how to double the recipe? It's in the text.
Stuart says
If I quadruple the recipe, am I to use 2 tablespoons of vinegar? That is not clear in your instructions to double and quadruple the recipe. Also, I assume I can simply bake in an 8 inch pan vs a 9 inch pan and watch the baking time. I did this already in a 6 inch pan and it was wonderful!
Nikki says
I made this over the weekend. I used almond extract instead of vanilla and it was good. The rise was great, the texture perfect, very moist. I have no problem using regular milk but I often run out of eggs so this cake is great for that. Also a great desert for this single without too much fuss.
Winnie says
Can I use regular vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar? Since the cake is vegan and doesn't contain dairy products, is it okay to not refrigerate it? Will that soften the "buttercream" too much?
Christina Lane says
Yes, regular vinegar is fine. Technically, you don't have to refrigerate it, but if your house is warm, it might melt.
Shifara says
Hi! How many Cup cakes can be made with this recipe?
Susanna says
Hi, I made this recipe and it turned out delicious!! I actually made it as cupcakes because I didn't have any cake pan that would fit sush a small cake and they were soooo good! I got 6 cupcakes and baked them for just 12 minutes. The texture was so moist and soft! This one will be a keeper in our kitched for sure!
Alexis says
Do you happen to have a chocolate frosting recipe I could use with this cake. My mom is lactose intolerant but eggs are fine.
Thanks so much
Allison says
What butter do you like for this recipe?
Christina Lane says
I tested with Country Crock Plant Butter and Miyoko's.
Sania says
Didn’t have any eggs and was happy to find this recipe for my son’s 4th birthday. Ran out of granulated sugar and had to substitute a few tablespoons of brown sugar in order to double the recipe but the cakes turned out amazing. Delicious and moist! Stacked the two 6 in cakes and my son loved the look and taste!
Deep Mhatre says
Thank you so much for this recipe. Having failed at baking so many cakes, this one turned out to be perfect. Your recipes are foolproof. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Ann says
Hi,
I would love to try this recipe but I don't have soy or almond milk. I'm not vegan so can I use regular 2% milk as a substitute? And would I still use the vinegar? Is there any way of using unsweetened applesauce to substitute for the oil?
Thanks,
Ann
Christina Lane says
Yes, use regular milk and still use the vinegar. We're making 'faux buttermilk' here.
As for the applesauce, I haven't tried it, but I think it's a 1:1 substitution. Good luck :)
Emily says
If I'd like to use buttermilk do I just swap in in for the non dairy milk part and eliminate the vinegar? So excited to try this recipe for my 1 year olds bday cake (he has egg allergy).
Christina Lane says
Yes, you got it! No vinegar if you're using real buttermilk.
Brittany Johnson says
I love this recipe! It can be difficult to find small batch, vegan recipes, so I love one where I don’t have to make substitutes. My cake always divots in the middle while it cools (maybe because I use oat milk?), but I just load up on the frosting and it smooths out in the end. :) I think it tastes best a day old, cold, straight from the fridge.