Vegan Birthday Cake Recipe - Dessert for Two

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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 3/4 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 1/2 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:

Why do vegan cake recipes have vinegar?

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.

How to store leftover Vanilla Vegan Cake:

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.

Yield: 4 slices