Vegan Valentine’s Day Cake
This vegan Valentine’s Day cake is light, fluffy and perfect for sharing. It’s made with simple ingredients and is much easier to make and decorate than a traditional layer cake. Perfect for beginners!
I’m back with another pink, Valentine’s themed dessert recipe for you today! I do love a bit of holiday-themed baking, as I’m sure you can tell…
This one is a bit of a last minute dessert but I just had to post it. I told myself I’d definitely make a Valentine’s cake this year (after failing to every other year) so I made sure I had time to squeeze it in before the day had passed.
I chose to make this cake into a tray bake and I’m happy with how it turned out. Because, to put it quite frankly, making layer cakes is NOT my forte. I’ve made a few for this blog but my decorating skills could definitely use some work.
It’s something I’ll keep practicing with but right now, I much prefer to make traybake cakes. They are just so much easier! There’s no faffing around with cutting, crumb-coating or chilling and you don’t need any fancy tools to make them look beautiful. Just whack the icing on there, cover with a few sprinkles and you’re good to go!
Vanilla cake with strawberry frosting
Every time I buy baking ingredients at the supermarket, I see loads of vegan-friendly frostings that I haven’t tried yet. I had originally planned to make my strawberry buttercream recipe to top this cake with but I thought I’d finally give one of the ready-made frostings a try.
I decided to go for the strawberries and cream one because it was such a pretty colour. The flavour is really nice too! It’s not too in your face but definitely strong enough to know it’s strawberry-flavoured. They also have a vegan-friendly raspberry frosting which looked really nice too.
The cake itself is a simple vanilla sponge cake, although you could definitely substitute the vanilla extract for strawberry extract if you prefer. You could even add some pink or red food colouring to the cake batter if you want to go all out. I recommend PME gel food colourings– the ones that come in the set are all vegan-friendly, even the red one!
More vegan Valentine’s Day recipes:
Ingredients you’ll need for this cake
- Soy milk. This gets mixed with an acid (apple cider vinegar in this case) to make a dairy-free version of buttermilk. This helps to keep the cake moist but still light and fluffy. I always use unsweetened organic soy milk as it usually don’t contain any additives that may interfere with the curdling process.
- Apple cider vinegar. You can substitute this with an equal amount of white vinegar or lemon juice.
- Self-raising flour. If you don’t have self-raising flour, you can use plain flour plus 2 teaspoons of baking powder instead.
- Baking soda. Also known as bicarbonate of soda. This works alongside the self-raising flour to help the cake rise.
- Caster sugar. Caster sugar is also known as super-fine sugar.
- Vegan margarine. I recommend the spreadable kind of vegan ‘butter’ rather than the block. The latter contains less water and will result in a drier cake batter. You can also use an equal amount of oil if you prefer- I recommend a neutral tasting one such as sunflower or rapeseed oil.
How to make vegan Valentine’s Day cake
Step 1:
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C/325°F for fan or convection ovens).
Line an 8×10-inch tin with baking paper. The size of the tin is important to ensure the cake bakes evenly.
Step 2:
In a small mug or bowl, mix together 250ml of soy milk and 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so. It will curdle and become slightly thick, acting as a replacement for buttermilk.
Step 3:
In a large bowl, mix together 280g of self-raising flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 160g of caster sugar.
Step 4:
Add the ‘buttermilk’ to the bowl of dry ingredients, along with 140g of melted vegan margarine and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix well until you have a smooth cake batter.
Step 5:
Spoon the cake batter into your lined tin and spread it out evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick through the middle comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the tin for around 10 minutes then carefully flip it out onto a wire rack. Gently peel off the baking paper and let the cake cool completely.
Step 6:
Once the cake has completely cooled, it’s time to ice it!
Spread a generous layer of frosting over the cake and use any leftovers to pipe swirls around the edges. Top with some Valentine’s sprinkles.
I used just short of one 400g tub of strawberries and cream frosting. If you prefer to make your own, you can use my strawberry buttercream recipe or you can use a simple vanilla buttercream with pink food colouring. For the sprinkles, I used Tesco’s red and pink hearts.
Once the icing has hardened on the cake, cut into square slices and enjoy with your loved ones!
FAQ:
Store it in an airtight container and keep it at room temperature away from direct sunlight. It’ll last for around 4 days this way.
Yes. Once the cake has been iced, place slices into an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. You can place sheets of baking paper in between layers if you’re stacking the slices. When you’re ready to eat it, transfer it to a wire rack or plate until fully thawed. Do not refreeze.
I used Tesco heart sprinkles when I made this cake. If you want to look elsewhere, Baking Time Club has a great selection of Valentine’s themed sprinkles, as does Etsy.
I hope you enjoy this vegan Valentine’s Day cake! If you make it at home, please let me know how you get on by leaving a rating and comment below. Happy baking! xo
Vegan Valentine’s Day Cake
Vanilla flavoured vegan Valentine's traybake cake with strawberry frosting.
Ingredients
- 250 ml Soy milk
- 2 Teaspoons Apple cider vinegar (sub for white vinegar or lemon juice)
- 280 g Self-raising flour
- ½ Teaspoon Baking soda
- 160 g Caster sugar
- 140 g Vegan margarine, melted
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract (or strawberry extract)
To top:
- Strawberry frosting* (you can make your own or use this ready-made version)
- Vegan-friendly heart sprinkles (I used Tesco's heart sprinkles)
Instructions
-
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F (or 160°C/325°F for fan or convection ovens).
-
Line an 8×10-inch tin with baking paper.
-
Mix the soy milk and apple cider vinegar together in a small mug or bowl. Set it aside for a few minutes- it will curdle and thicken slightly.
-
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and caster sugar.
-
Add in the curdled soy milk, along with the melted margarine and vanilla extract. Mix well until you have a smooth cake batter.
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Transfer the batter to your lined tin and spread out evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick through the centre comes out clean.
-
Let the cake cool in the tin for around 10 minutes then carefully flip it out onto a wire rack. Peel off the baking paper and leave to cool completely.
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Once the cake is cool, spread over your frosting and top with heart-shaped sprinkles.
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Cut into 12 slices and enjoy.
Recipe Notes
- *If you don’t want to use strawberry frosting, you can just use a simple vegan vanilla buttercream and add pink food colouring to it.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
