Easy Vegan Frosted Cake
Has the idea of vegan baking always intimidated you, and you don’t know where to start? Here’s a recipe for a frosted vegan cake, made from mostly ingredients you already have at home! The perfect birthday cake, this cake can be covered in coconut or sprinkles, or served with (vegan) ice cream or fruit! In both chocolate and vanilla, it’s the perfect easy cake recipe to keep on hand.
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup plus 2⁄3 cup all- purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1⁄2 tsp baking soda
- 1⁄4 tsp sea salt
- 1⁄3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 3⁄4 cup granulated sugar
- 1⁄3 cup vegetable oil, or 1⁄3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Frosting
- 4 cups (512g) Powdered Sugar
- 3-4 Tbsp (45g) Coconut oil or Vegan Butter
- 4 Tbsp (60ml) Soy Milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
- 2 tsp (10ml) Vanilla (or other) Extract
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup shredded coconut (optional) for decoration
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Oil the cake pans and dust with an even coating of flour to help easily remove cake from the pans. Alternately, you can line the bottom of the cake pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside to thicken and curdle.
- In a large bowl sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. If making the chocolate cake, include the cocoa.
- Once the soy milk mixture has thickened, combine it with the sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract and stir to combine.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them in with a spatula, but do not over mix. Small lumps in the batter are fine, but you shouldn’t see pockets of dry ingredients that aren’t incorporated.
- Divide the batter between the prepared pans and spread out evenly with a spatula. Gently shake the pan back and forth to even out the batter.
- Bake the cakes on the middle rack for 14-18 minutes and check if a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean at this point.Remove the cake pans onto wire racks and let cool for 10 minutes. To remove the cakes, place the wire rack on top of the cake pan and flip it upside down. Remove the parchment paper from the bottom if you used that. Let cakes cool completely before frosting and assembling.
Icing:
- Add powdered sugar, vegan butter or coconut oil, “milk” and vanilla extract to a mixing bowl.
- Using your electric mixer, start at low speed, gradually increasing your speed until smooth.
- It will be thick yet easily spreadable. If it’s too thick, add a bit more “milk” or oil, if it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar.
Serve the same day as baking and frosting for best results. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge or at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. If refrigerated, let cake sit at room temperature before consuming to take the chill off.
