Best Vegan Gluten-Free Vanilla Birthday Cake. This cake is soft, fluffy, really moist, healthy and oil-free. It is also grain-free!
VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE VANILLA CAKE
This vegan vanilla birthday cake with chocolate ganache is adorned with curled white chocolate on top. Yes, please. Now, this is how to start the week. It’s hard to believe it is completely vegan, without eggs and dairy-free. I’m a sucker for vanilla, it’s almost right up there with cinnamon. These Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes are incredibly light and fluffy. I love vanilla cakes, like this Vegan Gluten-free Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cake and this Funfetti Birthday Cake.
But, hey, if you are a chocolate fan, definitely make the most amazing Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes ever and if you are gluten-free, make my Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes. They are honestly the BEST chocolate cupcakes I’ve ever had in my life and readers agree!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
To make this vegan gluten-free vanilla cake, you need to gather these 8 ingredients (+salt):
- blanched almond flour
- potato starch (this is the exact starch that makes the cake so fluffy, other starches will NOT work the same)
- baking powder
- pure maple syrup
- unsweetened applesauce
- apple cider vinegar
- vanilla extract
- aquafaba
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN VANILLA CAKE
First, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a 9 inch round cake pan with a piece of round parchment paper on the bottom and along the sides. It helps to lightly spray the inside of the pan first so the paper adheres. OR you can make cupcakes and line a pan with 10 liners.
Add the almond flour, potato starch, salt and baking powder to a large bowl and whisk everything together really well until there are no lumps remaining.
In a separate small bowl, add the syrup, applesauce, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and aquafaba and whisk until smooth. Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and beat with a handheld mixer for about a minute to incorporate some air and make it really smooth.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes, until it has risen with a light golden top (as pictured here), a toothpick comes out completely clean from the center. Let cool 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Then turn it over, so the flat side is facing up on a cooling rack. Cool completely before icing,
APPLESAUCE IN PLACE OF OIL
Using almond flour and applesauce keeps this cake really moist and oil-free. The almond flour gives it a buttery taste, keeps it insanely moist and the potato starch is what gives it fluff and that all-purpose flour effect.
In place of eggs, I used aquafaba, which is just the liquid at the bottom of a chickpea can. This idea has exploded all over the internet. It works as an egg replacer, among a billion other things. It is NOT my idea, the credit goes to Goose Wholt for the amazing discovery I found on Facebook. The recommended amount for 1 egg is 3 tablespoons chickpea liquid, but I found 4 tablespoons to work best for my specific recipe. In fact, it worked better than flax.
CAN YOU MAKE THIS CAKE AHEAD OF TIME?
Yes, you can make this cake the day before you need it and it will still be moist and taste delicious. Of course, I prefer the texture and taste of cakes always made the day of, but you can cover the baked cake at room temperature and then add the icing or ganache the day of serving.
VEGAN FROSTING OPTIONS FOR CAKE
- Vegan Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Vegan Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Vegan Strawberry Frosting
- Vegan Chocolate Espresso Truffle Frosting
OTHER VEGAN CAKES TO TRY:
- Vegan Gluten-free Funfetti Cake
- Vegan Almond Butter Cake
- Vegan Pumpkin Cake
- Vegan Gluten-free Vanilla Cupcakes
- Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Cake
f you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING POTATO STARCH, NOT POTATO FLOUR! Some have incorrectly used that and the cake doesn't work!
- 2 cups (224g) superfine blanched almond flour (Do not use regular almond meal (with the skins), it is not light enough and will not produce the same results. See NOTE below)
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (100g) potato starch (this is the exact starch that makes the cake so fluffy, other starches will NOT work the same)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (200g) pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup (120g) unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon (15g) real vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (60g) aquafaba (the liquid at the bottom of a chickpea can)
NOTE
- It is crucial to not sub these ingredients for best results. It's necessary to use a superfine blanched almond flour because it is what makes the cake so moist and light. Always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups, just the scale and bowl and make sure to zero out in between each ingredient.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- This cake is best made the day of but you can bake it the night before if absolutely necessary. Just cover the cake well and add the ganache the day serving it. I recommend baking it at least 2 hours before your event to make sure it has completely cooled. Baked goods with starch tend to still slightly "cook" and fluff up for a couple of hours after removing them from the oven. They are a tad too moist to eat immediately.
- Line a 9 inch round metal pan with a piece of round parchment paper on the bottom and along the sides. It helps to lightly spray the inside of the pan first so the paper adheres. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. OR you can make cupcakes and line a pan with 10 liners.
- Make sure to weigh all your ingredients for accurate results. Fluff your almond flour with a whisk first to break up any lumps. If unable to use a scale, then scoop your cups into the dry ingredients, lightly pat down to make sure there are no gaps and then level off. Add the almond flour, potato starch, salt and baking powder to a large bowl and whisk everything together really well until there are no lumps remaining.
- In a separate small bowl, add the syrup, applesauce, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and aquafaba and whisk until smooth. Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and beat with a handheld mixer for about a minute to incorporate some air and make it really smooth. It should be a very smooth, pour-able batter. Now, try not to eat all the batter now. I know, it's so dang good.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes, until it has risen with a light golden top, a toothpick comes out completely clean from the center. If making cupcakes, using an ice cream scoop makes for nice rounded tops. Cupcakes should be done around 25 minutes, but check for a clean toothpick in the center. Your time may slightly vary depending on your oven and may take longer to bake. Let cool 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Then turn it over, so the flat side is facing up on a cooling rack. Cool completely before icing, at least an hour. Or, you can flip it back over and frost the dome top if you prefer that look.
I recommend topping it with my Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Ganache/Glaze! For additional decoration, I added some curled vegan white chocolate. OR if you want a traditional buttercream icing, use the one from my Best Vanilla Cupcakes .
Recipe Notes
Nutrition per slice: 276 calories, 14 g fat, 6 g protein, 35.2 carbs, 18.8 g sugars, 3.1 g fiber, 312.4 mg sodium
The nutrition does not include the aquafaba since there is no nutritional info that I could find online. But it's such a small amount, it wouldn't make much a difference anyways.
This was GREAT. worked exactly as expected- it’s one of the few vegan/gf things I’ve made that has been successful. I felt like I was eating a pancake-flavored cupcake. I loved it.
Yay! That makes me so happy to hear Melina! Thank you so much for the awesome review and for making it!
Hi Brandi, I’ve made this cake one time before and we LOVED it. This time I’m planning to make it into cupcakes. Will standard paper cupcake liners be fine or would it be better to use non-stick or parchment ones since the recipe is oil-free?
Hi Callie! So glad to hear that! Yes, you are exactly correct, since these are oil-free, it’s always best to use either of the non-stick or parchment paper ones 🙂
Thanks so much!
Hi Brandi,
Thanks for all your delicious recipes. I am a big fan! This is my go-to vanilla cake, and I’d like to make a trifle using this cake and a cashew sweet cream. Do you think the cake will hold up? Thank you.
Hi Naomi! So glad to hear that! Thank you! Yes, I think it would fine because it will be held in the trifle dish. It’s a moist cake but I wouldn’t think it would get too moist with a cashew cream. You would be keeping it in the fridge anyways, right? So I think it would be fine and delicious. I would love to see it and hear about it after you make it!
My son has a terrible like allergy and isn’t supposed to eat any sort of grain. His first birthday was coming up And we were desperate to find a recipe that not only he could eat {safely} and enjoy, but something everybody else at the party would love as well. I had my heart set on a funfetti cake I’m finding one with the right ingredients that I thought I could trust to make the day of it without trying multiple versions and recipes in the days or weeks before I was proving to be difficult. And then I stumbled upon the Vegan 8 vanilla cake {Just add a few tablespoons of sprinkles and there’s your perfect funfetti birthday cake!} Not only was it incredibly simple, but it tastes so good, and it’s beautiful! I made sure to weigh out all of the ingredients and because I made it the day before and wanted it to stay a bit more moist for the party the following day I did substitute some coconut oil for part of the applesauce. So happy I found this body Thank you, Brandi for being so responsive during our Instagram messaging and giving me some great ideas and tips! It turned out perfectly! And another bonus to this cake being eggless is that you can lick the beaters without a care in the world 🙂
Wow, thank you Seneca so much for this amazing review! Your pic of it on Instagram was just beautiful!! So glad everybody loved it! The cake does stay very moist for a few days since applesauce keeps things moist but glad the little bit of oil worked well too! Thank you for making it!
can we skip apple cider vinegar from this recipe?
asking as i dont want to buy that whole bottle as wont be using it for other things!!
please reply soon . 🙂
Hi! The vinegar reacts with the baking powder which helps the cake rise and give fluff, so you definitely don’t want to just skip it. You can, however, try subbing with lemon juice instead. I have not tried this so not sure of the exact result, so hope it works!
I’m interested in the nutritional values per serving. How many servings for this cake when it’s prepared as a layer? It states it’s a 9″ cake or 12 cupcakes. Does that mean the nutritional calculation is based on 1/12 of the cake?
Hi, it’s based on 9 slices, or maybe 10 I think, definitely not 12. I’m sorry, it’s been years since I did the calculations, I don’t recall!
Hello,
I’m so excited to try this recipe…do you think
I could poke some holes into the cake and and
add and orange syrup made by maple
and orange juice? I’m craving an orange syrup
Cake! I love your recipes I make them often
and they are always a hit!
Thanks so much
Hi Vyk! This cake is very, very moist, so I wouldn’t suggest poking holes in it, but I’m sure you could just add the orange glaze on top and it’d be delicious!
Thank you so so much! I can’t wait to try it.
Thanks for all your hard work creating the best gluten free vegan recipes around!
Is there anything I can substitute for the aquafaba?
Hi there, the aquafaba is really important as it acts as eggs and yields a fluffy cake. Is there some reason you don’t want to use it? The only sub I can think of to try is soy milk, since it is a good egg substitute and a liquid just like aquafaba, but please know I have never tested it and don’t know if it will work. If you try it, let me know!