What actually is a yellow cake? Isn’t it just vanilla?
Well, In our past lives and certainly in my bakery it was the egg yolks in the recipe that gave the cake it’s classic yellow tinge.
The term “yellow” implies that you are getting a rich, dense and super moist vanilla cake!
Well now we don’t even need the eggs to get the most beautiful and delicious yellow cake recipe with minimal ingredients!
As a matter of fact we don’t even need an egg replacer!
It’s so versatile you can even make it lower sugar and lower oil!
This yellow cake recipe doesn’t crumble and it stacks and carves like a dream come true!
Dense light pound cake with a tighter crumb than a sponge cake iced with classic bakery fudge icing this cake is going to top your winners list!
Of course you can ice it with whatever icing you prefer but I love the classic yellow cake and deep, dark fudge icing combination!
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Notes for Success:
I am baking in a 9″ x 13″ cake pan today but this cake batter will make 18 cupcakes, 2- 8″ layers or 3-7″ layers
Soy milk is the only milk that will sour upon adding vinegar for our mock “buttermilk”
Of course you can use any plant milk of your choice if you are staying away from soy
And you will still add the vinegar as that is also the activator for the baking soda to leaven this recipe
A combination of oil and melted vegan butter is my preference but you can use all of one or the other if you prefer
WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THIS CAKE!
Yellow Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake Batter:
- Soy Milk 1½ cups (355ml)
- White Vinegar 1½ Tablespoons
- Vegan Butter ½ cup (113g)
- Vegetable oil of your choice ½ cup (117ml) *or more vegan butter melted
- Granulated Sugar 1½ cup (300g)
- Salt ½ teaspoon
- Vanilla Extract 3 teaspoons (15ml)
- All Purpose Flour 3 cups (375g)
- Baking Soda 2 teaspoons (8g)
for the optional icing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and then grease & parchment line your cake pan(s) ~ this recipe will make 3-7" layers or -9"x13" pan
- Combine the vegetable oil with the melted vegan butter add the vanilla extract and set aside
- Combine the soy milk with the vinegar and let stand for 5 minutes to thicken. Soy milk is the only plant milk that will thicken, but you can use another milk if you prefer
- Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, including the sugar.
- Pour the wet ingredients in and whisk smooth, this will be the plant milk mixture and the butter/oil mixture
- Pour the batter into the greased and parchment lined pan(s) and bake immediately in the preheated 350°F oven for 15 minutes, then turn the open temperature down to 325°F to bake the rest of the way, approximately 10-25 minutes more depending on the size pans you are using. When you gently press the centers they should be springy to the touch. Or do the toothpick test for moist crumbs.
- Cool in the pan(s) until you can safely touch without burning yourself then turn the cake(s) out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.
- Once completely cooled ice with your choice of icing
I have 2 x 8inch square pan would this recipe work in these pans or would I need to convert it?
Yes it will work, She states in the beginning of the recipe what it will make
Hi do you have a perfect red velvet recipe like this one?
If I want to make this without soy milk would I/could I use buttermilk? And how much would I use
I made and baked this as instructed. The center was springy. when I turned it out on to the wire rack, I found that the bottom of the middle was completely liquid..I put it back in the pan, bottom side up and cooked it another 12 minutes at 350 and it still hasn’t firmed up. I dont want to scorch the cake..not sure what to do
Hmm, sounds suspect. It’s hard to say what happened here, since this cake really is perfect and so many people have made it with great results. I’ll always ask that you go back to the recipe, make sure you measured everything correctly, mixed according to the video instructions and used proper sized pans also check your oven temperature to make sure it is calibrated.
Am I able to use gluten free flour
Yes! Works great with a 1:1 ratio AP GF Sub, I’ve used Bob’s Red Mill with great results!
I know this recipe calls for butter? But I can’t find vegan butter anyway or its a lot pricier. Is it possible to use margarine instead the ones that come in a tub?
This is by far the best vanilla recipe. Would this work in a loaf pan? So I’ll have to change the measurements.
Great! yes it will work! Just be sure to fill the batter 3/4 full and use the rest for something else like cupcakes or maybe even 2 loaves??
I’m not sure how much it will make, so that’s why I’m not trying to say just HALVE the recipe because I’m afraid you may not have enough batter for the loaf depending on what size the pans are.
You may want to lower the temp towards the 30 min lark to 325 to make sure the top doesn’t over bake before the middle is done!
This might be a weird question but do you think I could swap some of the flour for crushed Graham Crackers?
Hi Gretchen, would it be possible to substitute the vegan butter with something else? Like shortening or more oil? Thanks!
Yes you can do all veg oil
Hi Gretchen, I love your recipes, I’ve just made the Tres leches, unfortunately the sponge didn’t soak up all of the liquid but it was equally delicious.
One question, is there a reason why you use baking soda and not baking powder in this recipe, does the texture of the cake change in some way? Thanks!
Hey there! Hmm, I may have to look at that amount I have listed for the liquid soak portion, thanks for letting me know!
This is the original “wacky cake” recipe from the depression era, so baking powder was not yet available!
Baking soda and the acid *vinegar is essentially the same thing though, since baking powder is nothing more than baking SODA with an acid *(cream of tartar usually) that causes the reaction.
I prefer to stick to the recipes as written since they work perfectly, however if there is a reason you do not want to use baking soda, and must use baking powder instead? CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Although again, I would not recommend to alter this recipe.
I’ll repeat, baking POWDER is baking SODA with the acid already in there, so you are still getting the baking soda either way
What would the baking instructions be for cupcakes?
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full
bake 350F about 20-25min, so the toothpick test to be sure
Should get about 20 cupcakes
Hi!
This recipe looked amazing so I wanted to test it with my favorite gluten free flour mix (Better Batter Original Blend) because I use it for water based wacky cakes (as well as all my other baking) with success, and your recipe seemed very similar. I figured the extra protein from the soy milk would make it even better. So here’s what happened, and I’m looking for your thoughts on how I can make it better or if this recipe just won’t work the same for this gluten free blend or gluten free in general….
WHAT I DID: I made the cake with all the same ingredients, measured by weight with a scale (I bake by grams), but for the flour I used 120 g per cup of gluten free Better Batter Original Blend (120 g is the per cup equivalent suggested by Better Batter company). For the cake flour I used 105 g better batter flour and 16 g cornstarch (per your instructions on the cake flour info link).
I did made the mistake of not halving the recipe when I was baking in a 9×9 pan instead of 9×13, but I did bake for 15 min at 350 & 25 min at 325 to compensate. My tester came out clean multiple times so I pulled the cake out of the oven at that point. I also made sure not to over mix the batter, which works best for this flour because of the gums.
RESULT: It rose well but then sank a little in the middle after cooling. Although I believe it was cooked, the whole cake was very oily and mushy, especially the middle.
I’m thinking that the smaller pan was part of the problem, but more likely that it needed more of the gluten-free flour to help the structure .
What are your thoughts?
Thanks so much!
Hmmm, well first let me say I am not GF baker. I have however used this recipe a bunch of times with Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 blend with great results. (that would be the total weight of the flour substituted with the 1:1 Bob’s – no additional cornstarch to compensate for the cake flour
** which I think was probably the majority of your problem? )
I am not sure how Better Batter compares to Bob’s mix ingredients?
But I do know that many GF blends have gums added to them, so with another addition of cornstarch this could prove disastrous.
Also if Better Batter is asking you to convert the flour measure to suit their calculations versus a 1:1 mix. Agree as you suspect that this calculation is messing with the original recipe ~ again I am not familiar with Better batter~ But again 1:1 GF mixes do great in this recipe
Also the pan size being alot smaller than a 9″ x 13″ would cause a problem too.
Thanks so much! I’ll try it again with the total weight of the flour, as Better Batter should be a 1:1 flour, so maybe that was a big part of the problem, no cornstarch, & half of the recipe in a 9×9. Let me know if this sounds ok. I’m used to testing recipes for GF. LOL.
This is a favorite in my house, can I make a double layer cake with this recipe?
awesome! The recipe makes 2-8″ layers as well as the sheet cake I show, so for more layers you can double the recipe
This was AMAZING!!! By far, by far the best vegan gluten free (I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1) cake I’ve ever made! When I discovered my wheat allergy none of my vegan baked goods recipes worked any more so I’ve mostly been using eggs or dairy butter – I’m so glad I tried this one. I used Ripple and subbed BRM and other than that, followed the directions exactly. BTW, Ripple definitely thickened so I’d recommend it! It is a bit on the dense side, not a fluffy cake, but that’s what I prefer anyway. So incredibly delicious. Thanks for sharing this one!!!
Great! Thanks for the feedback!
Hi, Gretchen! So sorry for this comment, I know you’re vegan now, but I want to know if I substitute the ingredients with non vegan, will it still achieve your Vanilla cake before? It’s so delicious and I regret I forgot to save it.
Made this cake today because I wanted Strawberry Shortcake tonight. It was perfect. THANK YOU.
I have been baking vegan for almost 30 years. Over that time, I have tried many many recipes for many baking projects. This is by far the best cake I have ever made. Thank you for the recipe.
Awesome! thanks for the comment Mary Claire!
Hi! Can I convert this same recipe to make cupcakes and if so, how long would you recommend the time to keep them in the oven at 350?
yes! I think I bake mine for about 18 minutes? Same temp yes
I made the gluten free version of this and used Bobs Red Mill gf flour for both the cupcakes for my niece’s class, and a birthday sheet cake for her party and everyone loved it so thanks so much for this recipe! I also made it using regular flour and I actually like the taste of the gf one better, which is rare; probably the best vanilla recipe I’ve made for cake/cupcakes 🙂
Hi..new baker here. I’ve been reading about the best oil for vegan baking. One article said safflower oil yields a lighter, fluffier cake, while canola oil makes for a denser cake. What is your preferred oil and why? PS…safflower oil is hard to find. Thank you!!
Yes that is true! I have followed Rose Levy Berenbaum since I was in high school! Her book the Cake Bible was my very first baking book! I still have it! She also recommends safflower oil ~ & yes it is not easy to come by!
Thank you for responding… I’m not familiar with her, but I think I read the info about oil on another site. Is there a second option for oil?
Gretchen,
Can I substitute this recipe with almond milk?
yes!
I made this recipe as cupcakes and it is absolutly amazing! So fluffy on the inside and a little crunch on top and exactly my level of sweetnes…. I am planing to fill them with a little ganache and top them off with american buttercream with freeze-dried raspberry powder and it make my mouth water just thinking about it. These are my birthday cupcakes!
Thank you for this!