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
Leslie McClintock says
This is a great recipe but you have to follow instructions carefully and measure precisely. I made it last year for my grandson’s birthday and everyone raved about it. Now I’m making it for the same occasion again, I would like to know whether anyone has tried freezing the cake layers to frost later. Does freezing affect the lightness and texture of the cake or is it perfectly safe to freeze it for a few days and then frost and decorate it shortly before the party?
Peter says
I was apprehensive about this because I have never tried baking anything vegan, but it turned out perfectly. AWESOME recipe. It was my daughter’s birthday cake, and everyone raved about it (vegans and non-vegans) Thank you!!!
A113 says
My mum’s review after trying it “please throw it away, the smell is turning my stomach”
By far the worst cake I’ve ever made, I followed the recipe carefully but it ended up rubbery and tasted off.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I’m sorry you had this experience. Out of the various issues people have sometimes had with this recipe, being rubbery or tasting foul are not among them. I have to think that there were issues with the ingredients, like the oil or shortening or soy milk had gone off. Without being in the kitchen with you I can’t be sure, but this definitely doesn’t sound right.
Rebecca W says
Could this be doubled for a half sheet cake? If so, how long would it need to bake?
Rachel says
This cake is absolutely gorgeous! It’s got a great crumb that I’ve been missing from a lot of vegan cakes. The only problem is that it’s so light and fluffy that it won’t stack. I tried three layers and once I cut into it I found that the bottom layer was crushed to half its original size and lost the amazing texture that it had started out with. Any advice on making this cake a little sturdier for stackability?
liliilililili says
Sorry if I sent this in twice because I really don’t think my first comment passed the moderation because I forgot to leave a rating. So here we go: I have a quick question to this, I am a vegetarian not a vegan and I came across your recipe. It looks amazing ! But I can’t find imitation butter flavoring, I am hoping that I can just substitute the vegetable shortening for butter, would that work? Do you think it would affect the texture? And lastly, What frosting did you use for the cake? Other than that great work on the research part of the recipe and I can see that you put in A LOT of effort so, great job! And thank you so so much for giving us this recipe!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi there! You can leave out the imitation butter flavoring and use more vanilla in its place if you need to (although the butter flavoring really gives it the “bakery style” flavor). I have no idea what would happen if you tried to use butter instead of shortening. It might work, it might not. Butter is a lot more watery than shortening is.
Jeannette Gialousakis says
Imitation vanilla is made from beaver gland juice!! Why would you not use the real stuff?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi there, I spent about 2 seconds Googling this after reading your comment and that was long enough to confirm that this practice has not been widespread for decades. I wanted to be sure to reply and state that imitation vanilla is vegan almost 100% of the time, because I dislike when misinformation like this is spread. I detail in the post my reasons for using imitation vanilla, so feel free to check it out!
Sarah says
I’ve made this cake three times now and it continues to impress me! Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe. Has anyone ever tried adding sprinkles for a funfetti style cake? I have a birthday request for one and I’d love to use this recipe again if possible.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I’m so glad you’re loving the cake! We tried several times to turn this into a funfetti version and found that even if we tossed the sprinkles in flour first and sprinkle them on top of the batter, all of them sank to the bottom of the cake. So, that’s still a work in progress…
Ashi says
Thanks for this delicious recipe! It looks beautiful and I can’t wait to try it.
The only issue is it is difficult to get a hold of butter flavoring in my country. What could I use instead? Can I just up the vanilla flavouring?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I definitely do think it tastes different without the butter flavoring (that’s a big part of what gives this cake the “bakery” taste). It will still be great though if you just increase the vanilla in its place.
Kimberly D Frazier says
Best vegan cake EVER! My son never eats cake and he ate half of this cake! He thanks you!
Shanmitha says
Can I use normal cow’s milk here in this recipe?
A says
I made this cake for a friend who’s not vegan but has a dairy allergy. It turned out so well! Instead of adding a frosting layer in the middle I filled it with raspberry sauce, then frosted it with vanilla frosting and added fresh raspberries on top. It was DELICIOUS and a huge hit with everyone, including people who are used to cakes with dairy ingredients.
Since I’m not experienced at baking with some of these ingredients, I followed the recipe EXACTLY; I weighed everything and made no substitutions (except I did use regular natural vanilla extract instead of clear imitation vanilla, since I had it on hand and didn’t mind if the cake wasn’t completely white in color). Can’t recommend this cake enough- it’s even better than my usual standard go-to white cake recipe.
Elle says
Hi!
I love making this cake but I can’t seem to get it right which is super frustrating! The cake turns out too dense and moist, sticky. I did everything accordingly but unfortunately I did not get the fluffy result that I can see in the photo (it looks so amazing, I need this to work!)
Should I try cutting out some moisture? Also I can’t buy shortening here so used vegan butter and a little less soy milk to make up for the moisture of the butter. Maybe that’s it? I can’t seem to figure out what is causing the problem.
Again thanks for this amazing recipe, I am looking for that perfect end result and I will not give up 🙂
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Definitely the shortening thing could be an issue. Cutting the soy milk a bit was a smart thought, but I haven’t tested that myself so I’m not sure if that’s the only adjustment you’d need to make. Vegan butter is pretty watery and has a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fats. It might work better to use softened coconut oil if you have access to that.
Just to make sure, are there any other ingredients you substituted or omitted? Do you have access to bleached cake flour and potato starch?
YS says
I’m going to try this out soon, I’m looking for a light chiffon like vegan recipe, well at least something close to it. But I know that’s a lot to ask since the eggs is what makes the cake like that. But I haven’t been happy with vegan vanilla cakes as they are usually dense. I stick to chocolate cakes as they are normally nice and light and easy to work with. But I want to be able to make my mother’s cake, as well as that opera cake sometimes, not sure if this is too delicate for an opera cake though.
What can I sub the butter flavor with wo using lemon? Can I just leave it out or will that compromise the texture of the cake? Someone said they sub melted butter but they didn’t have too much success. That would have been my solution using a vegan butter. Also I noticed you mentioned it has to be bleached cake flour, I happen to have non bleach cake flour. But that won’t work even if it’s fake flour? Sorry for the questions. Best
YS says
Cake flour of course not fake flour 🙈..
Judy says
Just baked this cake!!! Followed recipe to the letter! It came out perfectly!!! Smells so good! Love it!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!!! It’s a lifesaver!
Aaron says
Just used this for my layered Scandinavian cake. I normally buy it from a Danish bakery but my mom has developed an egg reaction so figured I would try a vegan recipe, but use lactose free milk. This cake has a wonderful sponge and bakes up nice and evenly. I studied all of Shannon‘s tips and it paid off. Beautifully pale and ideal texture. Did not notice any difference whatsoever between it and a traditional bakery cake using eggs. Would proudly make this cake for someone again. Better than Whole Foods Vegan Cakes. It held its own and did not lose its integrity against ganache, jam, marzipan or chantilly cream. Did not crumble whatsoever and cause trouble when filling or layering. Hands down the best cake I have made. Competes, if not wins against cakes with eggs. Thanks so much, Shannon.
Amanda says
Can you bake this in a standard 9×12 cake pan (rectangle) instead of 2 rounds? I want to make this as a birthday cake that has a rectangle transfer on top. Thanks!
Sophie May says
Hi there! This recipe looks absolutely amazing. I have tried many plain vegan cake recipes over the years and have never been happy with any of them, so end up sticking to chocolate or carrot cakes. The crumb of this cake looks to be exactly what I’m after!
I am quite disheartened, however, since I am in the UK and cannot find the type of cake flour you suggest anywhere (it seems that this type of flour is actually banned in Europe). I have found advice online that suggests cutting all-purpose flour with some cornstarch. The all-purpose flour I use has a protein content of 9.73%.
I sincerely hope this works as that crumb looks divine!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Bleached cake flour really seems to work the best. I’m not too surprised that it’s banned in Europe because I’m not sure the bleaching process is very healthy for us, but it does produce a wonderful cake here. I think 10% protein content is not going to work well for you in this cake. I would suggest seeing if you can locate a lower protein flour. If you can do that and still reduce it a little bit in favor of starch that will probably be your best option. Something about the bleaching process does affect not only the color but also the absorption, but I can’t put my finger on the exact metric.
YS says
Perhaps try ordering it from the states online? The one I use doesn’t have much ingredients only and it’s not bleached. Typically cake flours do tend to be bleached, perhaps why it’s banned?
Helan says
Thanks For Sharing this Amazing Recipe. My Family Loved It. I will be sharing this Recipe with my Friends. Hope They will like it.
K says
Baking from Houston TX, this was my first time trying this recipe. I baked it for about 32 minutes. I couldn’t find the butter flavoring so I just used 2 tsp of melted butter instead and I added a few drops of almond extract I need addition to the vanilla). All other ingredients were measured and used as instructed. I found the texture of the cake to be very fine and beautiful, however the cake after cooled had too much moisture in it and for some reason my cakes had a few big holes in spots (not a huge deal, about three big holes the size of small marbles in each cake,but because the crumb is so fine, these holes seem to stand out too much). I’m impressed with this recipe and will do some playing around with it as far as reducing the moisture (maybe cut back on some of the soy milk or add some more flour). It is a very sweet cake (notice how there are equal parts flour and sugar) so I’d like to figure out how to reduce the sugar as well. Over all pleased with this recipe and feel I am one step closer to finding a good eggless white wedding cake recipe. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I’ve gotten a few holes in this cake before when I wasn’t completely thorough with mixing. Let us know if you have success reducing the sugar, but sugar and flour in equal parts is pretty standard for a white cake. Taking care to remove the cake from the pan promptly will also help with the moisture issue. Good luck!
Nadi says
Hi! This recipe is sooo good!I half the amount and got to make three 5″ size. I also reduced the sugar by 1/3 and came out just nice!Thank u!
VA says
Instead of aquafaba can i use cake gel?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I have no idea, I’ve never even heard of cake gel
Y says
What is cake gel!? I’m going to have to look that up 🧐. Chickpea water is so easy to get, cheap too. Plus you can mash up the chickpeas and make a yummy sandwich or make a soup or something.
Kyla says
i’m making this delicious recipe tomorrow. Can I make these into cupcakes? Please let me know
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
This does not work very well as cupcakes unfortunately, since it is too delicate.
Kristen says
Is there a way to stabilize it more so that it won’t be as delicate and would be able to be turned into cupcakes?
Juju says
I need to make this cake chocolate version. If I add cacao powder, would you recommend changing some of the quantities of say, flour?
Thank you, I’m excited to try this recipe. Going to make a cake log for my grandmother 🙂
Juju <3
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
You can’t swap cocoa powder for flour, it won’t work. Sorry!
Margaret Hayter says
Would there be any problem using two 8″ tins?
Sharon Frech says
Hi Yup! I would love to make this however we are vegan with a twist no oil, no avocado, no nuts! anyway I can make it and substitute oil for applesauce.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I could not recommend more strongly against doing this. The cake will not work at all if it is made oil-free, it will be terrible, and throw off all of the chemistry. You would be much better off looking for an oil-free cake recipe that is designed to be oil-free. I recommend a website called The Vegan 8 for tasty oil-free baking. Good luck!
Joanne says
I’ve been searching / baking for a LEGIT delicious vegan vanilla cake recipe, that tastes like the real deal for AGES! And whilst I haven’t made this yet, from reading your blog and the trials and tribulations you made along the way, I can tell already that this cake is going to be amazing! 🙂
Tessa says
Can this be made gluten free? If so, what do you recommend for a flour blend?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I have tried making this cake gluten-free with a couple of different flour blends and I am not happy with any of the results so far.
Kathleen says
I’ve made this cake several times now and it is the most requested at our house (including the lemon variation you suggest). Now my son wants it as a taller layer cake for his bday. Have you ever tried doubling it? Any suggested changes, or should it all work out just the same?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I would recommend just making the recipe twice for best results. If you have room in your oven to bake 4 cake pans at once then maybe ok to double the recipe. You shouldn’t let the batter sit before baking, though.
Dreams says
Can we replace creame of tartar with white vinegar ???
Darlene Berkovitz says
I’ve been baking vegan cakes for years and haven’t found a white/vanilla cake I was happy with until this one. This cake is AMAZING! I followed all your instructions and it was worth every step. I can’t wait to try out more of your recipes. Thank you for developing and sharing such an amazing recipe.
Mike says
I used this recipe for a birthday cake, and it was amazing. I messed up and didn’t make sure that my batter was homogeneous before adding the whipped aquafaba, I had a few lumps so I had to mix it and pass it through a sieve so I lost some levity. (Plus, my dad opened the oven mid-rise…). Even so, the cake turned out moist and fluffy, but I’m sure it could’ve been even better. The reversed creaming method is genius.
I really love this recipe for how simple it is, from the ingredients to the process.
I measured the dry ingredients directly in my stand-mixer bowl, I just had to measure the liquid ingredients in another bowl while my standmixer worked on the flour/oil mixture. So thank you for developing this recipe !