The Cake Merchant

I posted this recipe a little over a year ago because it is one of my favorite cakes to make, but I did not expect that it would become by far the most popular recipe on my site. It’s also the commented on recipe, as well as the most controversial. I know, it’s weird that vanilla cake is controversial, but while some people have had great luck with this recipe, others haven’t, so I want to devote the next couple of paragraphs to troubleshooting, and hopefully we will all have happy vegan vanilla cakes in our bellies.

This is a recipe that I got from one of my very favorite baking books, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. This is the book that got me into baking in the first place, and still the baking book I use the most. I love the vanilla cupcake recipe in this book, but I wanted to make a layer cake version. Since I’m a fan of tall cakes, I made a 3 layer 6-inch version, which is what you see here. I know that not everyone has 3 6-inch pans, so here are some other versions I’ve made with success.

-A 2 layer 7-inch cake (baking time should be increased slightly)
-18 cupcakes (these take about 20 minutes in my oven)
-about 55 mini cupcakes (these take about 10 minutes in my oven)
-I have not tested this recipe in a 9×13 or any kind of sheet pan.

-For the cupcake version of this, click here. You can get 12 cupcakes or 8-inch layer cake out of the cupcake recipe.

I hope that gives you some options as to the size of cake that you want. I’ve also tested this recipe with soy milk, almond milk, and rice milk. For some reason, the rice milk version turned out a little more dense for me. For the frosting, I’ve cut back as much as I could on the sugar. Any less and I got too much “greasy shortening” taste. However, it is still on the sweeter side. If it’s too sweet for you, you could try leaving the sides naked and you’ll have less frosting on the cake overall.

Now onto the trouble shooting.
-I always thought that this recipe was foolproof, but after making this cake in a few different ovens without an oven thermometer, I realized that oven temperature is key. An oven thermometer is a small investment that will help improve your results on this cake and pretty much any other cake you bake. You’d be surprised how much ovens can vary. Mine is almost 25 degrees off!
-Sift together the dry ingredients. I used to skip this and just dump everything in, but sifting the dry ingredients aerates the flour and helps it incorporate into the wet ingredients better.
-Once you add your dry ingredients, don’t over mix! Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions and mix gently after each. It’s ok if the batter still has a few lumps. This will prevent the cake from getting too tough. I prefer to use a whisk rather than an electric mixer or stand mixer for this recipe.
-No peeking! Opening the oven in the first 15 minutes can cause your cake to fall.
-Don’t over bake. Check your cake a few minutes before the recommended baking time. If they look done, use a toothpick to check the center of the cake while it’s still in the oven. If it comes out clean, it’s done.

If you are still have problems with this cake, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email and I’ll do my best to help you trouble shoot. Happy baking!