Recipe

Gluten-Free Vegan Vanilla Cake

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vegan gluten free vanilla cake v2

I promise this is truly my BEST cake recipe ever. This gluten-free vegan vanilla cake will not fail you. It’s a no-fail, no sink, no weird flavours, one bowl, gluten-free vegan vanilla cake that is insanely easy to bake. It tastes like a normal vanilla cake. You won’t be able to tell the difference. It’s also a go-to recipe if you’re looking for a Gluten-free vegan sponge cake as it’s really light in texture.

Gluten-free baking can sometimes be a baker’s worst nightmare. We all remember back in the day when gluten-free meant we were about to embark on eating something with the texture and taste of a brick covered in a layer of cinnamon dust – early gluten-free bread gave me nightmares. Thankfully, that good old G-F has come along way and we now have the knowledge and power to create godlike goodness of everyone to enjoy. Here are my top tips to get you started. 

GLUTEN-FREE VEGAN BAKING TIPS

  1. Use extra vanilla when baking. It will help balance out those nutty flavours that appear in gluten-free baking. 
  2. The smaller the better. I always recommend making cakes no larger than 6 to 7 inches or smaller. I find that the smaller the cake, the better the bake. 
  3. Don’t be afraid to under-bake your cake slightly. You want to retain extra moisture in your cake as GF cakes can be a little dry. I usually bake it for 5 minutes less and test it with a skewer. If the skewer still has a few crumbs and a tiny bit of moisture on it, it’s ready to come out of the oven. 
  4. Use 25 percent more raising agents (baking soda or baking powder) if you’re converting a recipe to gluten free.
  5. Do worry about over-mixing your batter even though there is no gluten to overdevelop. It still affects the outcome of your cake. Just mix until just combined.
  6. If you’re finding your GF cake is coming out dry, try using a vegetable shortening as your main fat source, this can add extra moisture.
  7. If you’re converting a recipe to gluten free, experiment with adjusting the temperature of your oven 10C/50F lower. 

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GLUTEN-FREE BAKING? CHECK OUT MY LATEST GLUTEN-FREE WORKSHOP.

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You can bake this cake along with me and I also show you how to decorate this cake in a naked cake style.

 

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Gluten-Free Vegan Vanilla Cake

Never Fail Gluten Free Vegan Vanilla Cake

★★★★★

4.7 from 15 reviews
  • Author: Sara Kidd
  • Total Time: 42 minutes
  • Yield: 1 3 layered 6 inch cake 1x
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Description

This gluten-free vegan vanilla cake will not fail you. It’s a no-fail, no sink, no weird flavours, one bowl, gluten-free vegan vanilla cake that is insanely easy to bake. It tastes like a normal vanilla cake. You won’t be able to tell the difference. It’s also a go-to recipe if you’re looking for a Gluten-free vegan sponge cake as it’s really light in texture.

Ingredients

Units Scale

DRY

WET

EGG REPLACER

  • 3 tbsp ground flaxseed meal
  • 7 1/2 tbsp hot water

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 160C/320F.
  2. Grease and line three 6-inch cake tins with vegetable oil and baking paper and then dust with a tiny amount of gluten-free flour to coat the cake tin.
  3. Make your flaxseed egg by mixing flaxseed and water together and set aside to thicken.
  4. In a large mixing bowl sieve flours, starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar together and give it a quick whisk to combine ingredients.
  5. In a large jug, mix vinegar with soy milk until it becomes thick. Then add oil and vanilla and mix together. Add thickened flax egg and stir.
  6. Pour liquid into flour bowl and gently fold ingredients together with a whisk until just combined.
  7. Pour batter into each cake tin making sure they both have the same amount of batter and tap on the bench to release air bubbles.
  8. Place tins into the middle of your oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer poked into the middle comes out almost clean.
  9. Allow to sit in the cake tin for 10 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack. Run a knife around the outside of the cake before flipping it onto your cooling rack.
  10. Let it completely cool down and ice with your favourite vegan buttercream.
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 27 minutes
  • Category: Cake
  • Cuisine: Dessert

Keywords: vegan cake

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Gluten Free Vegan Rosewater Thyme Shortbread

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Gluten Free Vegan Rosewater Thyme Shortbread

Vegan shortbread is such an easy cookie recipe to bake. The gluten free version is just as stress-free and the flavours are virtually the same. The only slight difference is the cookie texture. It’s a little more ‘crispy’. I think this is due to the almond meal but hardly noticeable. This cookie is very fragrant in flavour and pairs well with rose herbal teas.

Gluten Free Vegan Rosewater Thyme Shortbread

The four flavours in this recipe are Rosewater paired with Thyme for the cookie base. Lemon for the simple lemon buttercream icing. And pistachio which is crushed and sprinkled on top. These flavours all compliment each other to create a really lovely eating experience.

Gluten Free Vegan Rosewater Thyme Shortbread

The flours used for the recipe are white rice flour, cornflour or cornstarch and almond meal. You shouldn’t have any issues getting these at your local supermarket as they are very common.

Gluten Free Vegan Rosewater Thyme Shortbread

Here are a few tips when making this recipe:
1. Keep your butter and your hands cold and make sure you chill your dough. Don’t skip this step. It helps with the cutting out process and helps the cookies keep their shape.
2. The perfect thickness is 0.5 centimetres or 5 millimetres.
3. Know how strong your rosewater is. I find some brands are really strong and others are weak. You want to be able to taste the rosewater slightly at the end of eating the cookie.

Gluten Free Vegan Rosewater Thyme Shortbread

Using a really high-quality lemon essence will help your buttercream sing and balance out the sweetness of the cookie.

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GLUTEN-FREE BAKING? CHECK OUT MY LATEST GLUTEN-FREE WORKSHOP.

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Gluten Free Vegan Rosewater Thyme Shortbread

Gluten Free Vegan Rosewater Thyme Shortbread

★★★★★

4.7 from 3 reviews
  • Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Yield: 30 small cookies 1x
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Ingredients

Units Scale

Shortbread Cookie

  • 200 g white rice flour (plus extra)
  • 100 g cornstarch or cornflour
  • 50 g almond meal
  • 250 g vegan butter or margarine (cold and cubed)
  • 2 tbs rose water ((more if your rosewater is weak, less if its super strong))
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 80 g icing or powdered sugar
  • 2.5 tbs lightly chopped fresh thyme leaves

Lemon Buttercream

  • 100 g vegan butter or margarine
  • 100 g icing sugar
  • 1 tbs lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp high quality lemon essence
  • 1/2 tsp high quality vanilla bean paste
  • vegan pink food colouring
  • 1/2 cup crushed pistachios

Instructions

To Make Cookies

  1. Sieve all flours and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add Thyme and mix through.
  2. Add cubed cold butter, rosewater and vanilla. Using your hands or a pastry cutter rub butter into flour until it becomes a soft dough ball. If it’s too wet you can add more rice flour (not cornflour). If it’s too dry add a tbs of water.
    ANOTHER OPTION – you can add all ingredients into a mix master with a paddle attachment and mix it together and create a ball
  3. Cover and chill in the fridge for around 30 mins or until dough starts to become stiff. Pre-heat your oven to 155C / 311F. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
  4. Roll dough out on a bench floured with rice flour to 5mm or 1/2 cm thick and cut with cookie cutter. I used a 6cm sized cutter. If the dough is still too mushy, chill it in the fridge for another 20 mins.
  5. Place cookies on the tray and bake for 25-27 minutes on the top rack of your oven. Check them at the 22 min mark. They will remain pale but go slightly brown on the bottom and around the edges. The tops should be firm. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool before icing.

To Make Lemon Buttercream

  1. Using a hand mixer beat butter, icing sugar, lemon juice, lemon essence and vanilla together in a small mixing bowl, until completely smooth and creamy.
  2. Ice a small amount on top of each cookie and sprinkle with crushed pistachios and any leftover Thyme leaves.
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Category: Cookies
  • Cuisine: Snack

Keywords: shortbread, vegan cookie

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Share a photo and tag @veganbakesbysarakidd — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

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Want normal shortbread? GO HERE

Vegan Raspberry Pie

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water rasp tart

This delicious vegan raspberry pie recipe was featured on Lifestyle Australia. It’s incredibly simple to make and the shortcrust pastry is crumbly and buttery, all the things we love about vegan baking. You can play around with the filling and add fresh grated ginger, blueberries, blackberries or even some mint leaves to garnish.

Here are some quick tips on how to achieve that perfect vegan pastry.

1. Make sure everything is super cold. All your utensils should be put into the freezer for 30 mins beforehand. Once you have lined your pie tin put the pastry back into the fridge for 30 mins to chill. This will help stop shrinkage.

2. When adding the filling, make sure it has cooled right down (even chilled) this will stop your pastry from going soggy on the bottom

3. Be prepared for shrinkage with your pastry. Make it a little larger than what you’re anticipating.  

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Vegan Raspberry Pie

★★★★

4 from 2 reviews
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Yield: 5 slices 1x
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Ingredients

Units Scale

Pastry

  • 300 grams all-purpose plain flour
  • 150 grams vegetable shortening cubed
  • 2 tbs brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 125 mls ice water (must be super cold)

Filling

  • 400 grams frozen raspberries
  • 100 mls lemon juice
  • 100 grams caster sugar (more if you like it extra sweet)
  • 100 ml water
  • 1 tbs vegan butter or margarine
  • 3 tbs cornstarch/cornflour (mixed with 3–4 tbs water)

Instructions

To Make The Pie Crust

  1. Grease a rectangle tart pan with vegetable oil and preheat your oven to 230C/446F
  2. Have all crust ingredients in the fridge cold including your mixing bowl
  3. Using a food processor, pulse flour, sugar and salt together to combine, then add shortening and pulse together until very crumbly and fine
  4. Pour in cold water and pulse together until it starts to form a dough
  5. Empty pastry into your chilled glass bowl and using your hands knead together into a smooth dough ball
  6. Tip dough onto a floured surface and roll out to 5cm thick in a long rectangle shape that’s longer than your tart pan
  7. Add to your greased pie tin, trim the edges and pierce the bottom of the pastry with a fork multiple times
  8. Roll remaining dough into a ball and roll out to 5cm thick and cut out small heart shapes with a cookie cutter and place on a separate greased tray
  9. Blind bake your tart without filling and extra shapes, bake for 20 minutes, then remove beads and bake for 5-10 more minutes until the crust is lightly browned
  10. Remove from oven and fill with raspberry filling, pushing hearts into the tart and leave to set for 10 minutes. Serve with vegan ice-cream

To Make The Filling

  1. Add all ingredients except for cornflour mix to a large pot and bring to a simmer
  2. Gently simmer on a lower heat for 5-10 mins until it’s lost about 1/3 of its original liquid, then vigorously stir through cornflour until it thickens
  3. Once the filling has thickened, remove from heat and pour into your baked tart crust
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Category: Berries, Dessert
  • Cuisine: Dessert

Keywords: tart, tart shell, vegan, vegan baking, vegan pastry, vegan raspberry pie, vegan tart

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Vegan Jaffa Tart

By 5 Comments

Vegan Jaffa Tart

If you’re an orange and dark chocolate lover then this vegan jaffa tart if the one for you! It’s not overly sweet and has that classic orange tang with the smooth silky feel of dark chocolate ganache. It’s an easy vegan tart to bake with a classic combination that looks super fancy and is sure to impress your non-vegan guests. The orange curd filling tastes exactly the same as a non-vegan version no-one will ever know the difference. I hope you love this jaffa tart as much as me.

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Vegan Jaffa Tart

Vegan Jaffa Tart

★★★★★

4.9 from 8 reviews
  • Author: Sara Kidd
  • Total Time: 21 minutes
  • Yield: 1 rectangle tart 1x
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Ingredients

Units Scale

ORANGE CURD

  • 5 tbs cornflour (or cornstarch if US)
  • 5 tbs vegan butter or margarine
  • 150 ml orange juice
  • 170 g caster sugar (more if you like it sweet and not so tangy)
  • 1 tbs grated orange rind (use organic oranges for best results)
  • vegan orange food colouring (optional )

CHOCOLATE GANACHE TOPPING

  • 150 g vegan dark chocolate
  • 150 ml coconut cream

CANDIED ORANGE PEEL GARNISH

  • 170 mls water
  • 170 g caster sugar (plus 2 tablespoons extra)
  • the peel from two oranges cut into very thin strips (use organic oranges for best results)

Instructions

PASTRY

  1. See my SHORTCRUST PASTRY or PIE CRUST PASTRY recipe (see notes for links). I used a rectangle tart pan sized 36×13×2.5cm. You need to make your pastry before you make any of the other elements.

ORANGE CURD

  1. Melt butter in small saucepan on low heat
  2. Take off heat and mix in flour to form a paste
  3. Return to medium heat and add remaining ingredients and continue to stir until sugar has dissolved and curd thickens
  4. Take off heat and pour into your pastry case. Smooth out so it’s even and place into the fridge to set

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

  1. Heat coconut cream until small bubbles start to form around the outside
  2. Remove from heat and add chocolate, make sure the coconut cream completely covers the chocolate. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.
  3. Stir chocolate through cream until it’s completely smooth. If it’s still lumpy, gently heat on a very low heat until completely smooth.
  4. Pour over your set curd and gently tap on the bench to release any air bubbles. Put back into the fridge for 30 minutes to set the ganache.

CANDIED ORANGE GARISH

  1. In a small saucepan heat water and sugar until sugar has completely dissolved
  2. Add orange peel and bring to a gently simmer. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes to soften the peel. Keep an eye on the peel as you don’t want your sugar to turn into toffee. Remove from heat and strain peel. Coat in a few tablespoons of sugar.
  3. Place peel on the top of your completely set tart as a garnish or serve it on the side.

Notes

SHORTCRUST PASTRY RECIPE

EASY PIE TART RECIPE

This tart keeps in the fridge for up to a week. See my youtube video for more tips and tricks. 

  • Prep Time: 1 minute
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Category: Citrus, Dessert
  • Cuisine: Dessert

Keywords: dairy free, egg free, orange, tart, vegan, vegan baking, vegan ganache, vegan pastry, vegan tart, video

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BAKERS NOTE: Please see my PIE CRUST PASTRY or my SHORT CRUST PASTRY recipe. These are great options for this tart. I used a rectangle tart pan-sized 36×13×2.5cm. You need to make your pastry before you make any of the other elements.

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Gluten Free Vegan Apple Glaze Cake

By 11 Comments

vegan gluten free apple cake recipe 2

This glorious gluten free vegan apple cake recipe is from my brand new cook book that is coming out in October. I wanted to give you a sneak peak of what to expect. This recipe is all about the gluten free flour mix, it gives this cake the most gorgeous texture, no-one will ever suspect it’s gluten-free. There are a few ingredients in this recipe but it’s so easy to make and you won’t be able to stop eating it.

Want to learn more about Gluten-Free baking? Check out my Gluten-Free workshop.

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Love Gluten-free recipes? Check out these…

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How to bake dairy free egg freeVegan Gluten Free Apple Cake

Gluten Free Vegan Apple Glaze Cake

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Sara Kidd
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 12 – 15 serves
  • Diet: Gluten Free
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Description

An easy gluten free vegan apple cake that stays moist and delicious for days… 

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS
Egg replacer
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
2 1/2 tbsp boiling water

Dry Ingredients
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup cornflour or cornstarch
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Wet Ingredients
1 1/3 cup soy milk
1 tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup veggie oil you can use melted coconut oil also
2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping
1 large apple
1/2 cup crushed walnuts
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tbsp hot water
1 tbsp golden syrup

Instructions

HOW TO MAKE THE CAKE

  1. Preheat your conventional oven to 175C/347F. Grease your 6 inch round cake tin with vegetable oil, then line with baking paper and lightly grease with more vegetable oil. Then dust with a small amount of cornflour or starch. Tap upside down to release any excess flour.
  2. Firstly make your egg replacer, mix the flaxseed with the boiling water and stir. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, sieve all your dry ingredients together and mix together with a whisk.
  4. In a large jug, mix your soy milk and vinegar together until it thickens. Add remaining wet ingredients, including your flaxseed egg, and mix together really well.
  5. Thinly slice your apple and place in a small bowl. Cover apple pieces with a tiny amount of your wet ingredients and then cover with a small amount of the dry ingredients. Put aside 2 tbsp of the flour mix.
  6. Make a well in the centre of your flour mix and pour in your milk mix. Gently mix together using a whisk until just combined. Pour into your cake tin and gently tap on the bench to release air bubbles.
  7. Sprinkle the spare flour mix over the top of the batter. Sprinkle 3⁄4 of the walnuts over the flour. Arrange the apple onto the cake starting from the outside and working your way to the middle.
  8. Bake on the middle rack in the oven for 45-50 mins or until a skewer comes out almost clean. Remove from oven and allow to sit in the cake tin for 10 mins before turning onto a cooling rack.

HOW TO MAKE GLAZE

  1. To make your glaze mix together your icing sugar, water and golden syrup until combined and pour over the top of your cake. Decorate with walnuts. Best served with icecream.

 

Notes

Store this cake in an airtight container NOT in the fridge as it will dry out. 

Watch how to make this cake on my youtube channel which also has loads of vegan baking tips

  • Prep Time: 30
  • Cook Time: 50
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Mixing
  • Cuisine: Dessert

Keywords: Gluten-free, vegan, apple,

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Vegan Strawberry Jam Cupcakes

By 2 Comments

This vegan vanilla jam cupcakes are divine and super dooper easy to bake. It takes about 10 mins to mix up the batter and get into the oven, you will be baking like a vegan professional in no time. The strawberry Jam can be replaced with any of your favourite jams or sauces. Check out the YouTube video below on how to bake these cupcakes and then watch my tips video for all my vegan cupcake hacks.

You can find the recipe in my free eBook HERE

vegan strawberryjam cupcakes
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