To all of the people out there who have been disappointed with vegan white cake recipes, this cake is for you. It’s light, it’s fluffy, and it’s tender. No bready texture, no brownish color, and ordinary ingredients too. What’s my secret? Two: 1) I tested this 14 times and 2) A new way of thinking about vegan cake, which I’m introducing you to today.
There are a few things about this vegan white cake I will discuss in more depth:
- The mixing method
- The flavor
- The ingredients
- The measuring method
- Variations and troubleshooting
This post is a long one. If you’re not interested in any of that stuff and willing to simply follow my recipe then go ahead and scroll down, or click/tap the “Jump to Recipe” button up at the top above the post. The best vegan vanilla cake around is in your future and you don’t have to read my rambling to get to it!
A new way of mixing vegan cakes: reverse creaming
For many of us, when we learn to make baked goods like cakes, we come to expect a certain sequence of events. Cream together the fats and sugars (and eggs, back in the day), then add the liquid. Mix together the dry ingredients, and then combine the whole thing and bake it.
In my many vegan cake trials I learned that without egg for moisture and tenderness, vegan cakes made the “traditional” way reliably had a dense, bready or gummy texture. In a white cake in particular, there’s no strong flavor like chocolate for a bad texture to hide behind.
I started doing my research and most of the internet told me I was over-mixing, but because of the inferior emulsion formed without butter or eggs, it was difficult to mix any less, otherwise the cake baked unevenly. (See my parade of cake fail Instagram stories for evidence of this).
Finally, I came across something that I’m now surprised isn’t more widespread. It’s called the reverse creaming method (and seems to also be known as the paste method). Known for resulting in uber-tender cakes, this method is favored by many of the would-be scientists doing official baking experiments and sharing their results.
How does this method work? It’s surprisingly simple and easy. You start by sifting together your dry ingredients and sugar. Then, you add your fat directly to the dry ingredients, and mix well. Only at that point do you add any type of liquid. This way, the fat molecules coat the flour and prevent the flour from coming in direct contact with liquid, which in turn, prevents gluten from forming. That pesky gluten is exactly what made your other vegan cakes so dense and bready!
My research didn’t end there. There was very little evidence of reverse creaming being used with predominantly oil-based cakes (of which my vegan white cake is one), and even less of this method being used without a mixer. I actually do own a mixer, but I don’t want to tell you to shell out for a new kitchen appliance to make my cake recipe, so I was pretty determined to make this recipe work with a spatula and a fork.
I had a little bit of trouble with the oil mixing in too quickly/unevenly with my dry ingredients, but as it turns out, cutting the oil with just a little bit of shortening gave me enough fat “real estate” to mix everything perfectly. The shortening also improves the mouthfeel of the baked cake, and makes it easier to slice, so it’s a win-win.
After that step, you can pretty much mix the crap out of your vegan cake batter so the batter will bake up nice and evenly. Batter made with this method will seem to be very liquidy and drippy compared to what you would expect. You’ll be pouring it into your cake pans. That’s the correct consistency, so don’t be alarmed!
The flavor: vegan white cake vs. vegan vanilla cake
I’m a vanilla lover. That’s why I’ve got all kinds of vanilla-forward recipes on the site here like my vanilla almond milk pudding, raspberry vanilla bean vegan scones, and vegan sugar cookies.
Bakery-style cakes have a very particular flavor, though. While this recipe can easily be a vanilla cake with some quick tweaks, as written it’s a vegan white cake and that means the vanilla isn’t too strong. I also wanted to preserve the cake’s color and keep the appearance as snow-white as possible, so instead of vanilla extract I used clear imitation vanilla flavor.
To further round out the flavor and make this lovely vegan cake taste like the dairy-based cakes of childhoods past, I also use imitation butter flavor in the batter. Now, I know at this point some folks may be thinking that this cake doesn’t sound very natural. To those people, I would point out that my goal wasn’t to make a healthy vegan cake, my goal was to make a delicious one that doesn’t taste funny.
Cake flour is made from a different type of wheat berry than regular all-purpose flour, and this also contributes to the familiar bakery, birthday cake esque flavor. And finally, in keeping with the theme, I frost my cake with some very basic, accidentally-vegan white frosting from the store. I don’t care for homemade icing made from vegan butter, as I find that most vegan butter products have a strong aftertaste that overpowers the cake.
Ingredients needed for vegan white cake
To make this cake you’ll need a little bit of everything. Where relevant, inside the recipe below I have linked to the specific products I used.
- Cake flour: It’s important to use this instead of all-purpose flour for the most tender vegan cake. Cake flour has a protein (gluten) percentage of 7 to 8.5%, and it is bleached. The lower protein content is necessary for a tender cake that isn’t tough. The bleaching helps make your cake whiter. Regular all-purpose flour has a protein content of 10 to 12%. If you use it, your cake will not rise as much, and it will feel greasier and heavier.
- Vegetable oil and vegetable shortening: Lighter colored oils like soybean oil or canola oil will give you the whitest cake, but you could also use avocado or grapeseed oil if desired. Please use shortening, not coconut oil. Coconut oil is not as creamy and will make your cake more greasy and heavy.
- Plain sugar: I endorse the use of regular, plain white sugar. I often bake with “crunchy” organic unbleached cane sugar but not only will it result in a darker color, the granules are larger and they will cause issues with the cake baking up correctly. Many common brands of white sugar are vegan nowadays. It’s a good time to be alive!
- Potato starch: Another weapon in my arsenal for a fluffy cake. Without eggs, the vegan cake doesn’t get quite fluffy enough with flour alone. You can try substituting arrowroot starch or tapioca starch if needed, although potato is best. I don’t recommend cornstarch; it doesn’t have as fluffy of a result.
- Soy milk: Soy milk has the highest protein content and will provide the best moisture and lift to your vegan white cake, so it’s my only tested and recommended milk for this. However, I’m eager to hear your results if you try something else like almond milk, cashew milk or oat milk.
- Aquafaba: To complete the trifecta of fluff-inducing ingredients, a little bit of whipped up aquafaba (the cooking liquid from beans; you can drain it from a can of white beans for the lightest color) is folded into the batter just before baking.
- Flavoring: See above for why I use imitation vanilla and imitation butter. Make sure your imitation butter flavor is vegan. I use Wilton brand, which can be ordered online. We buy it in person at Michaels.
Measure this way for the best vegan cake
Normally, with my baking recipes I include both weight and volumetric measurements. However, with this vegan white cake I have not even included volume measurements at all. It is crucially important to measure the ingredients by weight for a consistent, successful result. I use a basic, cheap baking scale. It has been well worth the $10.
Why is it so important to bake by weight, especially when doing vegan baking? So much of the success of this cake batter comes down to the precise quantities of leavening, flour and starch. Measuring dry ingredients by volume is not exact. The actual amount measured can depend heavily on the amount the flour has settled; the scooping method used; or even the ambient humidity. This vegan white cake is incredibly delicate and will easily be thrown off by a bad flour measurement.
Vegan cake variations and troubleshooting
Want to make this cake lemon flavored? You can do that too, simply swap the imitation butter flavor with lemon extract, and add lemon juice instead of vinegar. This white vegan sponge cake doesn’t convert easily to chocolate, but I’m working on that recipe too so stay tuned.
I’ve been fiddling around with making a gluten-free version of this recipe and I came pretty close by substituting the cake flour with a blend of rice flour and cornstarch. Then, I added sorghum flour to the mix to reduce the “ricey” flavor and it was an utter disaster. So, experimentation is ongoing, but I can tell you that AP gluten-free flour is not a good idea, neither is sorghum.
This recipe makes two 9-inch layers. It is easily halved (I’ve tested and verified this) to make a single layer, so it ought to work well at 1.5x to make a three-layer cake if you’d like.
I haven’t gotten a clue how to make this cake at high altitude. I’m close to sea level here in Baltimore. If anyone modifies the recipe to work at altitude, do let us know in the comments!
Finally, it’s natural to wonder about making cupcakes from this cake recipe. I haven’t tried it, but one of the advantages of this vegan cake is that it rises somewhat flatly, so I suspect it might not result in nicely domed cupcakes, but I’d definitely be interested to hear about it if anyone gives that a try.
Vegan white cake troubleshooting
Despite my detailed instructions, things can (and will go wrong). Here are a few possible reasons for this particular cake. Some of them would not apply if you are making a cake with traditional (not reverse) creaming, as over-mixing can be an issue in that case.
Why is my vegan cake crumbly? This is likely because it was cold when sliced or because the batter was not mixed fully after adding the liquids.
Why did my cake sink after baking? It’s normal for the cake to sink a little bit, but if it collapses in the middle, possible contributors are a very humid kitchen, under-baking the cake, hot spots or temperature inconsistencies in your oven (check it using a thermometer), or under-mixing the batter.
Why is there a gummy layer at the bottom of my vegan cake? This can be caused by using cold ingredients (instead of room temperature) to mix the cake, under-mixing the batter, the aquafaba being liquidy rather than foamy, or not whisking in the aquafaba fully.
Why does my cake look lopsided? Believe it or not, many people’s ovens are not level and they don’t realize it. If you’re making things like cookies you might not notice the difference, but if you’re making a cake you surely will. We added some screws below one side of our oven to straighten it out. You can test this by filling a measuring beaker with a cup of water, then setting it on your (cold) oven rack and seeing if the water remains level on all sides.
So, there you have it… my vegan cake manifesto. If you give this recipe a try, please do let me know how it goes, either here in the comments, or by tagging me on Instagram (@yupitsvegan). Your feedback and support help me keep this site going!
NEW in March 2019 – I’ve now included a video to show you the mixing method for this vegan cake in even more detail! Check it out below and enjoy.
Bakery-Style Vegan White Cake
Ingredients
Aquafaba mixture:
- 78 grams aquafaba room temperature (6 tbsp) (see note)
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Wet ingredients:
- 2 cups plain, unsweetened non-dairy milk room temperature (soy recommended)
- 2 tsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp clear imitation vanilla extract
- 2 tsp clear imitation butter flavor
Dry ingredients:
- 324 grams cake flour (This can NOT be substituted with regular flour. Seriously, don't waste your time)
- 36 grams potato starch
- 324 grams white sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Fats:
- 138 grams vegetable oil (not coconut oil)
- 48 grams vegetable shortening
Instructions
- Before starting, make sure all of your ingredients for this vegan white cake are at room temperature, otherwise your cake will bake up weird. Warm the soy milk and aquafaba in the microwave for a few seconds if you need to.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (make sure you are not using convection mode, this will cause the cake to bake unevenly). Line two 9-inch cake pans with circles of parchment paper on the bottom. Do not flour or grease the pans.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the aquafaba and cream of tartar vigorously until the aquafaba is fluffy and foamy, and set aside. No need to whip it to stiff peaks, just get it foamy.
- In another small bowl, stir together the soy milk, 2 tsp vinegar, vanilla and butter flavors, and set aside. The soy milk will curdle a little bit; this is normal.
- Sift all of the dry ingredients (including the sugar) into a mixing bowl and stir well, sifting a second time if the mixture still appears lumpy. Don't skip this step - sifting is important!
- Add the vegetable oil and shortening into the bowl. Use a strong fork to break up the shortening and then mix everything together well. The mixture will first turn crumbly like a shortbread dough and then as you continue to mix, will start to resemble wet sand (see photos in blog post). This will take some elbow grease. Make sure to scrape around the bottom of your mixing bowl to get any flour pockets hiding out there. Don't continue until the mixture is fully smooth.
- Add 1/3 of the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix until combined. Add another 2/3 and repeat. Finally, add the remaining 1/3 and mix until the batter is very smooth and runny, which will take a minute or two (see photos in blog post).
- Give the aquafaba mixture another whisk to get it foamy again, as it may have deflated a bit while you were mixing the rest of the cake. If it's still partially liquidy, take only the foamy part and not the part that is liquid. Then, whisk it into the cake batter until mixed in evenly (if you only fold it in, you might get streaks or a gummy layer - mix well if needed). Divide the cake batter between your two cake pans.
- Bake the vegan white cake layers for approximately 24-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and dry. Be sure not to open the oven until it has been at least 15 minutes (preferably longer), otherwise you will risk your cakes deflating when you open the oven door.
- Let the cakes cool in their pans on top of a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. You can then run a sharp knife around the edges of the pans before very gently inverting the cakes to cool completely. I recommend lightly flouring or spraying your cooling rack before flipping the cakes onto it; they are very moist and have a tendency to stick. After flipping them over, gently peel off the parchment paper.
- These cakes can be layered and frosted once completely cooled (and the layers can be gently evened out if needed, although they tend to bake pretty flat). Take care in handling them; they are rather delicate. Leftover cake can be stored covered in the fridge for a couple of days. If your layer cake is fully frosted it can also be stored covered at room temperature. If stored in the fridge, it's recommended to bring it to room temperature before slicing, to reduce crumbliness.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
NOTES 2/21/2019: So many of you have already made this cake and shared your results with me! So glad everyone is loving it. It seems that differences in aquafaba consistency and some aquafaba not staying foamy is causing wet streaks in some people’s cakes. Please use ONLY the foamy part of the aquafaba and be sure to mix it in thoroughly with your whisk. Secondly, several people have tested out using all-purpose flour instead of cake flour and it does NOT seem to work well.
My sources consulted are too many to name, but particular thanks go out to Isa Chandra’s cupcakes, from which I adapted my initial base ingredient quantities (although the recipe has since changed dramatically, as you can see); and to Sugar Geek Show’s recipe which taught me many helpful things about reverse mixing.
More vegan cakes from the blog:
- Vegan German chocolate cake
- Vegan tres leches cake
- Vegan sweet potato cake
- Vegan flourless chocolate cake
- Vegan carrot cake
THANK YOU to everyone who makes and shares this vegan white cake recipe. A significant amount of time, effort, and money went into this cake’s creation. If you want to post about the recipe on social media or your own site, please link back to me and do not copy/paste the recipe directly. This way, we can both benefit from it. Thank you! -Shannon
Robin says
Has anybody tried freezing the layers and defrosting before frosting?
Terra says
Getting ready to make this for a bridal shower, but the bride is also celiac. Has anyone tried with a gluten free flour?
Shannen says
No but I too am going to try it next with a gluten free flour, how did yours turn out ?
Tewana H. says
Hello! I’m so excited to try this recipe. Do you think I could use butter flavored Crisco in place of the imitation butter flavoring? I have never actually tasted the butter Crisco or imitation butter flavor so I’m not really sure how they might compare. Thank you so much for doing the work and letting us reap the benefits!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I am guessing that would work well! Let me know if you try it out!
Tewana says
I tried it, worked out great! This cake was really tasty, with a very nice texture and crumb. It doesn’t seem quite as fluffy as the picture looks though. I halved the recipe to try it out and baked it in a 8 inch square pan as it was all I had. My finished cake was only about an inch thick. What did I do wrong?
Ty says
I had been wanting to try out this recipe for over a month before I finally got the opportunity. It was so worth the wait! This is hands down my favorite vegan cake recipe I’ve tried so far. The cake is super tender and light, and it freezes and thaws perfectly and without turning gummy like some vegan cakes I’ve tried out have.
I made this cake in 3 8″ layers, layered them with a coconut cream filling and covered with coconut Swiss meringue buttercream and coconut flakes. This cake was the perfect base, and I couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out.
Just a note for those of you that don’t have/can’t find potato starch – Ener-g egg replacer has a potato starch base, and I replaced the potato starch in this recipe gram for gram with Ener-g. It worked perfectly!
I plan on trying this recipe with almond extract in a sheet pan next!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thank you very much for sharing your experience and the modifications that worked for you! I appreciate it and I’m sure many others do as well.
Cheryl says
Thank you for the great detail in this recipe. I bought all new fresh ingredients because I really wanted this to come out well. They rose nicely in the oven but when they came out they are now super flat. Where did I go wrong?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Cheryl, first of all, please know that it’s normal for the cake to sink *somewhat* after coming out of the oven. Mine do too. However, if it sinks quite a bit then that may be a sign that it wasn’t baked long enough or the aquafaba was not foamy when incorporated.
Christina says
I love this recipe! I’m wondering if there is a way to incorporate cocoa powder to make it a chocolate cake? Would you just omit some of the cake flour to do so?
stephanie says
I need to make this cake in a 9×13 pan for a fundraiser. Do you have an advice on baking time?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
It probably needs to cook longer and it’s possible the temperature may need to be adjusted too. I haven’t tested it in this type of pan so I’m not sure. This cake can be finicky about changes like that so you may need to experiment. I would definitely recommend you start with the original recipe so that you know what you’re dealing with. Let us know how it goes!
Linda says
Did you try with the sheet pan? I’m curious how it turns out as I plan on trying the same thing today!
Shohida says
Hello Shannon, this cake looks so light and fluffy. You don’t even know how excited I am to try it! I’m not sure if you’ve already addressed this and I just missed it, but I was wondering if you could sub the shortening with vegan butter? I totally know what you mean with the weird aftertaste of most butters, I’ve personally had the same complaint, but I have found Miyoko’s butter to have a much more pleasant overall taste that makes me hopeful in using it in baking (albeit, it is slightly pricier). Thank you for the exciting recipe, though!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Shohida, yes, I agree, Miyoko’s butter is really good tasting! So, shortening is pure oil whereas vegan butter has some water content. Some quick and very imprecise napkin math tells me that you’ll want to reduce the soy milk by about a tablespoon if you substitute the shortening with butter. I haven’t tested this though so I can’t totally stand behind it! Please let me know how that goes if you try it.
Stacey says
I tried this recipecipe and it came out dense and gummy. I did use almind milk instead of soy so I’m not sure if that affects the texture and it also took 40 minutes to bake. Want to try this again after a response. Thank you
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Stacey. Almond milk is thinner and has a lower protein content so it can make the cake a bit more wet and gummy. I’m not sure it would cause such a large effect though. Did you make any other changes? I’ve had other people have a result like this if they did not use cake flour and instead used all-purpose flour. Another culprit I would guess is that maybe the aquafaba was not foamy. Make sure it’s nice and bubbly when you mix it in and be sure to bake the cake right away after mixing the batter. Hope this helps.
Lucy says
This is the best vegan cake I’ve ever made, or maybe even eaten! It’s so tender. Wonderful!
Sarah says
Im allergic to chickpeas. Any alternative to aquafaba?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Sarah,
Is it just chickpeas? White bean aquafaba would also work just fine. You could use the cooking liquid from any sort of cooked bean. I’ve even heard rumors that tofu liquid works, though I haven’t tried that myself.
Mariah says
Am I supposed to mix the Aquafaba with vinegar or cream of tartar?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Sorry for the confusion there. A previous edition of the recipe gave the option of either vinegar or cream of tartar. I’ve since updated it to only recommend cream of tartar because some people were having issues with the vinegar. I fixed the typo in the instructions. Thanks.
Corrie says
I made it this weekend with vinegar and it turned out amazing! The best cake I’ve ever made and I have been vegan for 22 years! Seriously!! I made a lemon vegan buttercream frosting and it’s to die for!!! Thank you for all your hard work on this. 🙂
Maraika says
Was so looking forward to making this but had to wait for some of the ingredients ordered. Cake did not bake in suggested time frame so just kept baking it till it was done. About 40 minutes in total. So far it is the most AWESOME looking light cake. And I haven’t even tasted it yet:) I did notice that it is a bit “gummy” on the bottom but I am presuming that it is because I left it cool in the cake tin longer than 10 minutes. And the colour is not exactly white but a pale butter colour. Thank you for a brilliant recipe which I will make many many times again.
Rose says
This cake is a game changer!! I have made it twice since finding your post on the Aquafaba Facebook group and I am mixing some of my other recipes with this method now as well. I thought of vegan cake as having limitations but this recipe convinced me it can be JUST as good! I highly recommend it!
Lindsey says
What is the name of the Facebook group? I would love to join!
Coco says
Vegan meringue hits and misses, possibly?
Alison says
Wow. As one who also experiments quite a lot in the kitchen, I am extremely impressed with the level of detail described above! Thanks for sharing your recipe, but also the process. Respect! xx
Nicole says
This was a very delicious cake! Thank you! I used regular vanilla extract and I did not have the butter flavoring. It was a really lovely, soft and tender cake.
Amanda says
I’m really excited to try this recipe, but I haven’t found potato starch at my local store 🙁 do you think I could use corn starch instead? Or ener-g egg replacer? It’s mostly potato starch with some leavaning and cellulose gum.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Amanda, I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble finding the potato starch! I haven’t tested it with cornstarch yet. I did try it out with arrowroot starch and was pretty satisfied with the result. I think tapioca starch might also work well. Potato starch is a little bit unique so I can’t confirm if any starch would work just as well but I’m hoping it will! Sorry, I am not familiar with Ener-g egg replacer so can’t speak to that one.
Amanda says
Okay I just made this with the arrowroot starch (it’s what I found at my grocery store) and it is AMAZING. hands down the best vegan cake I’ve tasted. I infused the milk with some lavender and it’s just perfect. Thank you SO much for this amazing recipe.
Tamanna Rashid says
Can I use self raising flour and cow’s milk? Actually vegan milk is not available where I live.
Thank you very much for sharing an outstanding recipe !
Love from Bangladesh
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Tamanna, I would guess cow’s milk would work fine instead of the soy milk, but I obviously haven’t tested that 🙂
I wouldn’t recommend self-raising flour – you would need to reduce the other leavening, but I’m not sure by how much. Also, I don’t really recommend any flour other than cake flour or any other low-protein flour you can find, if possible. It seems that substituting plain flour may result in a cake that’s a bit greasy and heavy because it doesn’t absorb quite as much of the liquid and oil as the cake flour does. So, if you must do this, maybe add a little bit of extra flour? I haven’t tested that out, so I’m not completely sure.
Tamanna Rashid says
Now I get it why my cakes are dense and heavy. It’s because of the flour. I will try to my best to find cake flour. Thank you for reply.
Tamar says
Ok, after many attempts with other recipes, resulting in dense gummy sponge cakes and the aquafaba totally deflating even when adding flour in the most careful way possible, I’m going to give this another try. Question: can I use vegan butter or margarine instead of shortening? I’m not sure what shortening is and don’t think it’s sold where I live.
I really hope it works out this time, because I absolutely love sponge cake, layering it with cream, mmm…
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I am not sure what a good substitute for shortening is. Room temperature margarine is probably the closest. What part of the world do you live in? Per Nigella Lawson, if you’re in the UK it is “sold under the brand names Trex, Flora White or Cookeen”. I’m not sure what cake flour is called there.
Tamar says
I live in Israel. We get vegan butter here (which flavor I much prefer to all kinds of margarine) which contains a mixture of rapeseed/canola oil, coconut oil, shea butter and a little bit of almond butter. It is spreadable-soft at room temperature and also not very hard from the fridge. Then there are margarines, some hard some spreadable straight from the fridge. What would be best you think?
Cake flour we do get here.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I would use whichever one is firmer at room temperature has the lowest water content out of the ones you have. Let me know how it goes!
johanna @ green gourmet giraffe says
Looks really interesting – I made some brownie a year or two ago with a roux at the start and it was one of the best vegan brownies I have tried so I wonder if this is a similar style of baking. Your discussions of the science of the method are really interesting. I would like to try this cake – though I have never heard of a white cake so am not quite sure what sort of cake you are trying to achieve. Will google it when I have a bit more time!
Shelly Bean says
Do you reduce your aquafaba before whisking or is it straight from the can?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Shelly, it’s straight from the can, just make sure to exclude any parts that remain liquidy after whipping, per the instructions.
Kellie@foodtoglow says
I’ve not had a chance to try this but I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the scholarly efforts you have put into this recipe. As a recipe developer myself I understand how much can go into creating new recipes, new methods and refining those from others. It takes *so* much time. And to have it written up so thoroughly in a friendly voice, too. I’m very much looking forward to, even as a non sweet tooth person, making this cake very soon. Just need to source a few things here in the UK. Thank you. x
Patricia Dusatko says
Would gkuten free fliur work?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Unfortunately not.
Chris says
Hi Shannon, will the flavour change much if I don’t add the artificial butter flavour ?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
The artificial butter flavor gives it a pretty specific “bakery”/boxed-mix type of flavor, but certainly you can have a delicious cake by swapping it for extra vanilla. Also, I added a couple of notes after the recipe based on some reader feedback on ingredients and substitutions, so be sure to check those out too. Happy baking!
Whitney says
When I took the first bite of this I literally said “oh my god” out loud. I don’t even remember tasting a non-vegan cake like this, it’s literally like a cloud. I was really nervous because it seemed like it sank after coming out of the oven but it did stay very fluffy. I really cannot say enough how great the texture is, it’s so soft. A thousand thanks, seriously.
Debbie S Knight says
Hello Shannon, I made this cake yesterday. It was awesome. My hubby likes it a lot. However, I see some places near the bottom of cake that is soft oily. What do you think the problem is? Did I not mix it well enough? I was afraid to over mix the batter like I made other vegan cake.
Or should I reduce the oil and shortening? After I mix the oil mixture and dry ingredients it looks a bit wetter than what you show in your picture.
Thanks,
Debbie
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Debbie, so glad you liked it! Two theories about the soft parts at the bottom: it may be a bit under mixed (or at least, this happened to me when I did the same), you need to mix it very well, both at the step where dry ingredients and oil are combined, as well as at the step where the liquid is added. It is impossible to overmix this cake so be sure to continue mixing thoroughly.
Second, it may have cooled in the pan for too long before removing. If it stays in the pan for too long, the bottom will steam a little bit and retain extra moisture.
If you still experience this issue next time, let me know what brands you used for the flour, sugar etc. and I’ll see if I can figure anything else out.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Just thought of another thing, it could be that it was slightly under baked too.
Debbie S Knight says
Thanks Shannon. I will try again. I also baked it like about 38 minutes as at 24 – 26 minutes didn’t look baked. Maybe my oven is not hot enough. This is my first time baking this way so a totally new way and will try again. I use Bob’s Red Mill Fine Pastry Flour, Spectrum Shortening, Zulka sugar, canola oil, Dr. Oetker vanilla extract, and Lorann Professional Kitchen Butter Vanilla bakery emulsion. I happent to have the flavoring on hand so didn’t buy the Wilton.
M says
Thanks a for the detailed instructions. Which frosting do you recommend for it? Would appreciate a link to a recipe. The one in the pictures looks awesome.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I used store-bought white frosting – sorry I don’t have a recipe for you! https://www.pillsburybaking.com/products/creamy-supreme/classic-white
I’ve been playing around with frosting recipes but it’s difficult to get the right consistency without using vegan butter products that I don’t like the taste of.
CF says
Thank you for this recipe! I am hoping to make this funfetti. Did you test with vegan sprinkles in the batter? Do you have a suggestion about whether or not this would work and/or at what stage of the recipe they would be added? Thank you!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I haven’t tried sprinkles in this batter since back before I switched to reverse creaming. I have my suspicions that they may sink to the bottom or make the cake not rise as much but I’m honestly not sure. If I did add them I would definitely fold them in at the very end with the aquafaba. Good luck!
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pola says
hello, your cake looks incredibly scrumptious, I’ll surely give it a try. But what do you think about using corn starch based gluten free flour? Is wheat flour a must in this recipe? Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi, I did three tests of making this cake gluten-free. For the first test, I used a mostly cornstarch base with a little bit of rice flour. The corn flavor was prominent and the texture was gummy. For the second test, I used some cornstarch with mostly rice flour (i.e. adjusted the ratio). This cake was very good and my guests enjoyed it too. However, it was a little bit gritty from the large proportion of rice flour. Finally, the third time, I swapped out some of the rice flour for sorghum flour and that one had a terrible, grainy texture. Overall I didn’t think any of the recipes were good enough to share, but the first two were pretty good. Hope this info helps.