This pesky vegan vanilla sponge cake recipe has taken me seven(!) attempts to perfect – I have been searching for the holy grail of ‘free-from’ baking for such a long time! The Victorian sponge cake recipes I’d settled for in the meantime, were temperamental, unreliable and ultimately, stress-inducing, and that’s not good enough.

This vegan vanilla sponge cake recipe is truly a reliable, tried-and-tested, easy-peasy and delicious vanilla sponge cake, that happens to be dairy free, vegan, and easy to make gluten free too. It’s also a one-bowl-wonder, and what could be better than that?

Bee’s easy peasy one-bowl vegan vanilla sponge cake

Makes two layers of 8 inch sponge approx. 1 inch thick.

Ingredients:

Dry:

• 390 g white, self raising flour (gluten free works too, try a blend of flours)
• 340 g caster sugar
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• 2 tsp Xanthan gum (optional, will be crumblier without)
• large pinch of salt

Wet

• 460 ml Good Hemp plant milk (or another of your choice, the paler in colour the better)
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• 120 ml groundnut oil (or another oil of your choice)
• 3 tsp Neilsen Massey vanilla bean extract (the thick stuff with speckles in it)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees C.

Pour all your dry ingredients into one large bowl. Add in the wet ingredients as they’re ready, then mix everything together thoroughly, using a whisk if you need to break up any lumps. Leave to thicken for a few minutes while you line two round 8 inch baking tins with baking paper.

Pour equal amounts of batter into each tin, bake for around 30 –35 mins, until the tip of a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Allow to cool before filling with a great DF (dairy free)  buttercream (recipe below!), and some roughly chopped fresh berries.

Vegan buttercream recipe

Makes enough to fill the above cake, with a thin layer for the top.

Ingredients:

• 125 g white solid vegetable baking fat e.g. Crisco or Trex, at room temp
• 125 g solid dairy free baking block e.g., Naturli or Stork, at room temp
• 325 g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean extract

Method:

Using a food mixer or lots of bicep power, mix the two fats together until you have a smooth paste with no lumps. Add in the vanilla, then icing sugar in two goes, beating until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add in a tbsp. at a time of plant milk e.g. Good Hemp.

Enjoy!!

– Bee