Gluten Free Vegan Vanilla Cake with Summer Berries
This gluten free vegan vanilla cake recipe is THE recipe to have on hand if you have any kind of food allergy, or if you follow a vegan lifestyle. With a fluffy, moist sponge cake (no egg substitutes!) and a delicious coconut cream frosting, this recipe is both quick and easy!
Servings 8
Ingredients
For gluten free vegan vanilla cake:
DRY:
- 2 cups (240 g) plain gluten free flour blend (I've used a simple store-bought blend of rice, potato and maize flour with no added xanthan gum)
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 2/3 cup (150 g) granulated sugar (Note 1)
- pinch of salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- zest of 1 lemon (optional, but recommended)
WET:
- 3 1/2 tbsp (50 mL) vegetable oil
- 1 1/3 cups (300 mL) non-dairy milk (for instance coconut milk, rice milk or almond milk if not sensitive to nuts)
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla paste (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
For coconut cream frosting:
- 2 cups (400 g) coconut cream (Note 2)
- 1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla paste (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
You will also need:
- ~2 cups berries of choice (I used a mix of blueberries, raspberries and blackberries)
- 2 round 6 inch (15 cm) cake tins
Instructions
For gluten free vegan vanilla cake:
- Pre-heat the oven to 355 ºF (180 ºC) and grease two round 6 inch (15 cm) cake tins with vegetable oil. You can also line the bottom of each tin with some baking/greaseproof paper.
- Sift all dry ingredients together.
- Mix all wet ingredients together and add them to the dry ingredients. Mix well until you get a smooth batter with no flour clumps.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the two greased cake tins and bake in the pre-heated oven at 355 ºF (180 ºC) for about 35 minutes, or until golden brown on top, springy to the touch and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes out of the tins as soon as possible and allow to cool on a cooling rack. (Leaving the cakes in the tins can lead to condensation, and a soggy cake bottom.)
For the coconut cream frosting:
- In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or using a hand mixer with the double beater attachments, whisk the coconut cream, powdered sugar and vanilla paste together until fluffy.
Assembly:
- Place one of the sponge cakes on a cake stand or plate, and spread 1/2 of the coconut cream frosting on top.
- Scatter a handful of berries on top of the frosting in an even layer.
- Place the other sponge cake on top of the berries, and spread the rest of the frosting on top of it.
- Top with a heap of berries, and enjoy!
Storage:
- The gluten free vegan vanilla cake keeps well in a tightly closed container (or wrapped in cling film) in a cool dry place (even the fridge) for 1 - 2 days. After that, it tends to dry out slightly.
Notes
Note 1: If you’re a vegan who’s concerned about bone char used in refining sugar, you can see a list of companies that don’t use bone-char filters on the PETA website.
Note 2: You can get coconut cream by putting coconut milk (the type from a can, with a high coconut content and without too many stabilisers/preservatives) into the fridge for a few hours – without shaking! The coconut milk will separate into coconut cream (that you'll need in this recipe) and coconut water (which is great in smoothies).