The yummiest vegan vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting! This cake is super indulgent, fun to make, and even more fun to eat. You only need one bowl and around an hour to make it from start to finish!
First, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F. Meanwhile, mix together the plant based milk and apple cider vinegar, setting aside to curdle for 10 minutes. At the same time, combine the flaxseeds and water for the flax egg and stand aside to soak.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the rice flour, chickpea flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and maple soda. Then, pour in the apple cider vinegar mixture, maple syrup, the flax egg, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Whisk until smooth.
Line the bottom of two 9-inch cake tins with parchment paper and divide the batter evenly between them. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. Try not to test the cake too early because if you open the door the center might sink. The cake layers are ready when golden brown and a toothpick test comes out clean.
Meanwhile, make the frosting. Cut the butter into cubes and add to a large mixing bowl together with the cream cheese. Whisk together using a handheld electric mixer until fully combined.
Then, sift in 1 cup of the icing sugar and whisk to combine. Repeat with the rest of the sugar, adding it gradually and making sure there are as few lumps as possible
Make sure to allow the cake to cool down fully before frosting. If you know that you will be in a rush, make the cakes the night before and store in an airtight container before you are ready to ice them. You can also leave the icing in the fridge while the cake cools down.
If you want to, you can add food coloring to the icing and create a fun design. Start by adding a small amount of food coloring to the icing, whisking, and adding in between the layers, on top of the cake, and around the edges.
Next, add a little bit more food coloring, whisk, and use an icing spatula to add evenly-spaced specks of the darker icing. Repeat until you have created your desired number of 'layers' - I did around 4 in total. Reserve some of the original icing to add right at the end for a beautiful contrast!
Craving more veg-friendly recipes? Shop our collection of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including our new Vegan Thanksgiving and Vegan Christmas cookbooks!