Vegan Vanilla Cake with Coconut Cream and Berries

This vegan vanilla cake is fluffy, moist, and super delicious. The only vegan vanilla cake recipe you’ll ever need! It’s refined sugar-free (unlike most other recipes out there), filled with a beautifully thick coconut cream paired with fresh berries and edible flowers.

This may not be your typical vanilla cake, but one bite of this deliciousness, and you’ll be making this cake every time you get a craving or need it for a special occasion. 

I think the best part about this cake is that it’s so versatile! You can dress it up or down, depending on what you’d like to do with it. You can make it 1,2, or 3 layers.

A good vanilla cake should be a part of everyone’s recipe essentials. If you prefer chocolate, no problem, my chocolate cake should give all you chocoholics out there the right fix.

Kitchen tools needed to make this naked vegan vanilla cake

The items that you’ll need to execute this cake are: 

• Scales
• Measuring spoons
• Large bowl
• Small bowl
• Fine mesh strainer (for sifting dry ingredients)
• Mixing spoon
• Whisk
• 9inch cake tin/s
• Unbleached parchment paper
• Wire rack (for cooling the cake/s)
• Silicone spatula or palette knife/offset spatula (for spreading coconut cream)

Tips for making this easy vegan vanilla cake

There are a few tips and tricks to get the best results with this cake.

• If you’d prefer to have a lighter cake (in colour), use regular caster sugar. If you’re in the US, make sure it’s organic as otherwise, it’s not vegan.
• Use two separate cake tins if you’re making the double layer as you want to make sure that the cake tin is completely cool before placing in the oven for even heat distribution and baking. 
• Don’t use frozen berries for decorating the cake. The berries will start to bleed by losing their moisture, and your coconut cream will suddenly have a pool of berry juice throughout it. Not the best look! Trust me, I’ve made this mistake, and it ruined the whole cake.

Tips continued…

• Berries and flowers are the best decorations for a cake that will be eaten the same day. They don’t hold well for long, so make sure that you decorate it when you plan to eat it. Alternatively, use other things to make your cake pretty. Nuts and seeds, chocolate, dried fruit and flowers are all great options. Things like puffed grains also add a lovely texture to the cake decorating. Eg. Puffed amaranth.
• The coconut cream is best prepared ahead of time. I usually buy full-fat coconut cream that has a thickener in it (guar gum), so the consistency is nice and smooth. Once I’ve combined all the ingredients for the cream, I pop it in the fridge to firm up before spreading it on the cake. This typically takes about 2-3 hours. We’ve got a recipe that shares tips and tricks and how to make whipped coconut cream.
• If you want to spruce up the coconut cream, you can fold in my passionfruit curd into it or use it in place of the coconut cream and make the cake a tropical adventure!
• Don’t overmix the batter! You’ll otherwise risk of overdeveloping the gluten and will end up with a chewy bread-like cake. We’re not trying to bake bread here 🙂 

What makes this vegan vanilla cake recipe unique?

This cake is unique because it’s a healthier alternative to the other vegan vanilla cake recipes out there. Here are some of the differences:

• This recipe doesn’t use refined sugar (which is what gives it the darker coloured sponge) using a mix of coconut sugar and good-quality maple syrup. 
• There’s no classic frosting or buttercream on this cake, so it’s much healthier without the icing sugar, vegetable shortening and/or vegan butter. 
• No tricky business! It’s SO easy to whip up even a child could make it (with your supervision, of course).
• The sponge has only ten ingredients, making it quicker and more approachable to put together.

If you’re after a cake that tastes amazing and looks beautiful but doesn’t contain any processed ingredients, this cake is for you! You can eat it guilt-free and share it with loved ones. 

Other cake recipes you’ll love:

1. Classic Vegan Chocolate Cake
2. Baked Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake
3. Vegan Banana Custard Cake
4. Vegan Chocolate and Pear Loaf Cake
5. Vegan Banana Cake with a Chocolate Ganache
6. Vegan Persian Love Cake (Almond, Orange, Cardamom & Rose Cake)
7. Easy Vegan Salted Caramel Cheesecake

If you try this recipe, let me know! We’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below. If you want to go that extra mile, tag us on Instagram or share your photo of the recipe on Pinterest. 

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