I was looking for a good white cake recipe to bake for my husband's birthday. I saw a recipe for vegan white cake in The Vegan Family Cookbook by Chef Brian P. McCarthy. Actually that book has a lot of interesting recipes, especially vegan baking recipes and I literally want to try each one of them. Wish I had the time for it. So do look for that book in your local library.
For that week's class I had to take 8 cupcakes. So I used the recipe to bake one 8-inch cake for my husband's birthday and the remaining batter was exactly enough for 8 cupcakes.
We practiced with tips 3, 12, 21, 67 and 2D in the 3rd class. Check the following links to see what decorations are possible with these tips.
- Apple
- Figure Piped Baby Heads
- Grapes
- Leaves
- Shell
- Star Drop Flower
- Swirl Drop Flowers
- Clown
- Heart
- Rosette
Recipe
Vegam White Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups Cake Flour
- 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoons Egg Replacer Powder (EnerG)
- ¼ cup Lukewarm Water
- 1 and ½ cups Unsweetened Soy Milk
- ½ cup Margarine
- 1 and ⅓ cups Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F for 15 minutes. Oil and flour cake pans. I used one 8-inch round pan and baked the remaining batter in a muffin tin for cupcakes. Got 6 of them.
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a blender/food processor blend together the warm water and EnerG and blend it until it's frothy. To this add the soy milk and blend it for another 30 seconds and set it aside.
- In another bowl beat the margarine with an electric mixer until softened. Add sugar and vanilla to the margarine and cream together thoroughly.
- Add ½ of the soy milk mixture to the margarine/sugar mixture and beat for a minute.
- Add ½ of the flour to the margarine and beat for a minute.
- Now add the remaining soy milk mixture and flour mixture alternately and beat together for a minute after each addition.
- Pour the cake batter into prepared pans.
- Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire cooling rack.
My Notes
- I used sweetened soy beverage so I reduced the quantity of sugar to 1 cup and it was perfect because it also got the sweetness from the frosting.
- For the margarine, I used Fleischman's No Salt Added soft tub margarine.
- If you don't have cake flour it's ok. Instead use this substitute which is widely used. Place 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in a 1 cup measuring cup and then fill the rest (until the top of the cup) with all purpose flour and level it off.
Taste & Texture
Nutrition
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Regina says
I have been making vegan cakes for a few years now, and have found that you can add 2 TBS of vinegar to replace the eggs in cakes. You can't taste it all. I also did a side by side comparison of using soy milk VS filtered water. The difference was amazing. The one with soy milk was heavy and didn't rise, the one with water rose and was fluffy and moist! Just thought I would share what I have discovered!
Madhuram says
Thanks for the tip Regina.
VR says
Hi Madhuram
I tried this recipe but used shortening instead of margarine. I also added some orange juice to it. Overall it was good but it was very dense and almost tasted like banana bread. It wasn't light and flaky as a cake should be. Any suggestions on what I could have done wrong. Thanks
Madhuram says
If I remember right, the cupcakes were more light and fluffy than the cake. The only thing I can think of is overmixing the batter.
VR says
I don't think I over-mixed the batter. The only other thing I did was use 2% milk. Would that have made the cake dense and some what dry? Thanks
Archana Pradeep says
Hi MADHU, This cake looks realy awsome as it doesnt have any coco.Kids are always fond of coco and choclates..So on their birthdays especially they get anything they ask for. Next week is my son's bday so i was looking for a cake without coco. However i need clarifications for couple of things in this recipe.
Instead of Egg replacer can i use yogurt or maybe butter? Here egg replacer is not available.
Other than soy milk, is it fine to use regular milk?
What other product can i use other than margarine?
Generally i dont use margarine for my day to day life.Here most of it will have egg and we dont eat egg.My husband never eats any cake outside the house only bcoz it will have eggs.Here in Germany most of the cakes also have alchohol and gelatin. so poor kids hardly get to eat cakes outside.Thank you so much for posting such lovely cake recipes and helping others to bake the cake healthily at home.
Madhuram says
Hi Archana, thanks for your comment. I would suggest you to try this Eggless Vanilla Cake or this Easy Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes instead of the vegan white cake recipe because I don't think you will get good results substituting yogurt for the egg replacer powder. Both the recipes I have mentioned can be baked as cupcakes as well as round/square/rectangular cakes and the ingredients are also easily available.
S. Kaur says
For the longest time I tried to find a decent white cake recipe without eggs. Otherwise I had to keep making vegan chocolate cake for every event in the family. Finally I came across this recipe just before my son's birthday in 2009. It was such a hit that everyone I know asked me for the recipe. I also use this as a base recipe fr cakes and change flavors (lemon with strawberry filling, etc). It's an awesome recipe for white cake. I have noticed that it works best with cake flour as suggested. I tried whole wheat pastry flour, all purpose flour, etc., but it turns out best with cake flour.
Madhuram says
Lemon and strawberry sounds like an interesting combo. Thanks Kaur.
jagruti says
Hi, want to try out this cake but I have a question. Is corn flour and cornstarch the same thing? If I don't want to use egg replacer as I dont know if we get it in Ahmedabad. Is there any other substitute I can use without compromising on the fluffiness of the cake. Thanks.
Madhuram says
Cornflour and cornstarch is the same. Try using a teaspoon of baking powder instead of EnerG
puvi says
Hi Madhuram,
I actually tried to post this comment in Eggless vanilla cake and cake decorating tips (the rainbow decoration on blue frosting) page.
Somehow the site would not let me post my comment even though i entered the correct antispam comment math (5+8=13). I got error msg which said i have entered wrong sum.
I tried a couple of times then thought of posting it here. Just thought of bringing it to your notice.
Thanks
puvi
Madhuram says
Try refreshing the page, so that you will get a new sum and you can answer that and the comment will be posted.
puvi says
Hi Madhuram,
I have a quick question regarding where can i see my previous comments? I actually read your reply to my querries in my email, cos somehow i am not able to find my comments so that i could thank you.
Anyways, I'll thank you here for all your quick replies. THANK YOU.
Also I have a question with frosting, I want to frost a cake this time. I want to make simple flower/rosettes. I looked around for stiff frosting recipes. I found a couple of recipes but all of it calls for too much sugar powder(4cups) to 1 cup butter. So thought of checking with you if there is any alternative to reduce the amt of sugar and still have stiff frosting.
Actually I have quite a lot of milk powder on hand, so was wondering if i could substitute some of the sugar with milk powder.
Would love to hear suggestion from you regarding substitute for sugar and also some recipe where i use my milk powder 😀
Thanks
puvi
Madhuram says
You're welcome Puvi. You should be able to view the comments in the appropriate post below your comment itself. Using milk powder for the frosting does sound very interesting. I cannot comment on it because I haven't tried it myself. But I guess it should work. Try it for a small batch and see how it works. Regarding recipes for using milk powder, you can make khoya/khova using milk powder by mixing it with water and cooking it in the microwave oven. You should be able to find the recipe if you Google it. You could also prepare a homemade hot cocoa mix.
Adelina says
What a lovely cake!
Did not try the Ener-G, but here is some thought for the health conscious, restricted diet or concerned about what you are ingesting, be aware that egg replacer contains both corn-derived ingredients as well as Carboxymethylcellulose, a chemical thickener that is indigestible and can cause diarrhea, constipation and bloating. Those concerned about your intake of random chemical compounds should reconsider this particular thickener/rising agent in your baking and cooking.
Meena says
Dear Madhuram,
Can I use vinegar instead of Ener-G replacer? I wanted to bake vanilla cake for my daughter's birthday but I am not sure about the measurement if i were to use vinegar as the egg replacer. Kindly, help me out with this...Thank you. 🙂
Meena says
Hi Madhuram,
I recently bought wilton's white frosting. As my daughter's birthday is coming up, I wanted to bake a cake and decorate it myself. (Going to be my first time..!) I came across your reply to Kala while browsing your site.So I called up the wilton's customer service and enquired whether their products contain any animal source as ingredients. They said that none of their products contain animal source or animal by-products as ingredients. I am hoping this will be helpful for ppl who want to buy readymade wilton products.
Madhuram says
That's great to know Meena. Thank you very much for sharing this info with all of us.
Vasavi says
Can I substitute margarine with butter ?
Vasavi says
Never mind Madhuram, I found that margarine can be substituted
with butter from the above site
manjula says
hi, u mention cake flour, what are the measurements for using plain or self raising flour, how much baking powder etc do u use with either of the above.
Madhuram says
Check this link for the substitution table: http://joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html
andrea says
Lovely cake! I am going to try this replacing the soy milk with coconut nut mmilk. I wonder if that works? The coconut milk is so nice and mild tasting, and bright white.
Madhuram says
It should work andrea. Any non dairy milk should be fine.
Miakaye says
Thank you so much for this recipe. I have tried LOTS of vegan cakes out there and none of them turned out the way I wanted. This turned out perfectly. It domed beautifully. I think it was the baking powder and oil vs. milk ratio that made all the difference!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Miakaye.
vani sudarshan says
hi madhu,
i wanted to ask you one thing.. as u have mentioned in the recepi that we need 3 cups of cake flour... and in your notes it said for every 2 tblspn on cornstarch and rest the All purpose flour... so for 3 cups of all purpose flour do i need to repeat it 3 times? am i right? pls let me know.. as i got confused.. thanksin advance.
Yes Vani. It's 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and balance APF for every cup to be substituted. So totally 6 tablespoons of cornstarch. This is the substitute given in many baking websites but I have to let you know that I haven't tried it myself.
divya says
oh!thank u so much madhuji.can u please tel me how to make an icing using whipping cream or home made butter.i need it with measurement.please tel me in detail.next there is week my son's birthday.reply me please.i want how u did cake decorate.thank u so much.
I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you immediately. Check the following icing recipe and use butter instead of the vegetable shortening mentioned. Also you can use regular vanilla extract instead of the clear extract. http://www.egglesscooking.com/2009/11/04/vegan-buttercream-icing/
divya says
what is cake flour?is it home baking(maida)?
Divya, its a low protein content flour especially used while baking cakes, so that you get a light and fluffy texture. You can make it yourself. It's just 3/4th cup of all purpose flour mixed with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Susan says
Can you clarify this for me please, to equal 1 cup of cake flour you use 3/4 cup and 2 tbsp cornstarch?? How does that work?
Thanks
Madhuram says
You measure 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in a 1 cup measuring cup and fill the rest with all purpose flour (which will be about 3/4th cup plus 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour).
Wanda says
Thank you so much for this recipe! My daughter is allergic to eggs so I've been searching for a cake recipe. I made it for her 3rd birthday and she loved it. Everyone else loved it too and they didn't even know it was eggless until I told them. Awesome cake recipe!!
Oh! I'm so glad that your little one enjoyed the cake. Thanks for trying the recipe Wanda.
shivani says
awsome for people who don't eat eggs which is one of me
😉
shivani says
😉
Kala says
Hi
All your cake decoration look very beautiful.
I am also starting to decorate my cakes but I have a issue with the frosting. I make the butter cream frosting using Dr.Oetker frosting mix. The problem is my frosting starts to melt once I put them on the cake and leave it out.
Let me know what the issue is as I want to decorate the cake for my daughters birthday.
Thanks
Thanks Kala. I have used Dr. Oetker's frosting and it does melt quite quickly. So it is advisable to put the cake out just before serving it. Also that frosting will not be good for making flowers and other decorations. If you follow my cake decoration posts you will know that for each decoration a particular consistency of icing is required. So do prepare it right from scratch at home or use the Wilton's ready made Buttercream Icing Mix. But be warned that the mix contains glycerides which is animal derived. The store bought frosting is only good enough to cover the cake and not for decorations.
Rupa L says
Does Cake Flour means Pastry Flour?
Yes Rupa.
Kelly says
I have been searching for a good eggless white cake recipe for 4 years (kids have egg allergies). I made this according to the recipe except I used regular milk and butter. It turned out awesome. I made cupcakes. Finally, an eggless cake recipe that doesn't taste like biting into an old, wet sponge.
Thanks for trying the recipe Kelly. I too am going to try it with butter and milk.
Sukhi says
Madhu,
Just completed Wilton's Course 1 after seeing it on your blog. I was wondering how made these rose flowers on the cake?
Thanks,
Sukhi
That's great to know Sukhi. The roses are covered in the 2nd course. I just tried it with one of the tips already being used in the 1st course. These are rossettes and check the link I have provided in the post.
vani says
hi ,
i tried making this cake and it came out really good and i just added tutti fruti on the top of the cake....the cake came out really well and nice and spongy and everyone liked the cake in the family:)i am happy:)thanks to you and for recepies too..........
vani says
hi ,
i am taking classes of wilton 1 decorating classes in Joann... after seeing your posts... i finished 2 classes and this weekend will be my 3 rd week of class and i have signed up for the wilton 2nd course also.... i am an eggless person too ... so i just love your website and i visit it everyday.. today i tried this cake .. and baked it it came out really well and fluffy and spongy.. but the only part is that the top of the cake becomes hard and cracked:( can u pls tell me what mistake i did... and how to correct them... as i need to start icing on it 🙂 pls let me know. thanks a lot for all your recepies and pls do give us more recipes here... i have recommended your site to all my friends.. pls let me know..
You're most welcome Vani. I'm guessing maybe you over baked it. You will be cutting off the tops anyway to level it. So I think it should be fine.
vani says
wah, what a beautiful cake. it is really nice. i am eager to join the wilton course 1..in joann.... i also donot use egg in my kitchen at all and products which contain eggs in them. so i am really happy to see ur blog. thanks and keep posting recepies for all of us here. i could find black forest cake in ur webiste . can u pls point it for me... thanks
is there any replacer for ener-g. as i am in usa and i did go to walmart and ask for it. but no lunck finding that item in walmart. can u pls tell me where i can buy them.. thanks
You should be able to find whole wheat pastry flour, Ener G in organic aisle of supermarkets, or try Whole Foods, Trader Joes. I did see another brand of egg replacer, I think it is called No Eggs or something, but it's here in Canada. I'm not sure if it's available in US too. I'm sure that finding EnerG in US should not be a problem. Check the following link from EnerG's website. Enter either the State or your area's zip code to find stores which sell EnerG. http://www.ener-g.com/Where/
Go to Michaels for cake decorating supplies. They have everything from cake carrier, boards, course kits etc. But I feel it's pricey, at least here in Canada. So look for other cake decorating supply stores and do a price check.
I have not tried an eggless black forest cake so far. Please check the following link for an egg free recipe. http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/2007/06/eggless-black-forest-cake.html
JC says
Check out this informative and inspiring video on why people choose vegan: http://veganvideo.org/
Also see Gary Yourofsky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bagt5L9wXGo
Nayna says
Hi Madhuram, lovely post,
Instead of the Egg Replacer Powder (EnerG) is there anything else I can use.
Alka says
Guess what..I just finished making a cooker cake(choco cake with cake mix) for my BIL, and was searching for some simple Icing tips..and look where I landed ..Darn how much I wish you were here to teach me the lovely lovely Icing..its simply to die for !
Followed the links that you provided and I don't think I am yet ready to take the plunge..completely boggled with the look of the cake here....I need this icing for my cake..Boooooohooo
Tami Reese says
hi so glad i was able to find this site. My granddaughter has been tested recently and we found out she is very allergic to eggs. do you know if this enerG egg substitute has any form of eggs in it what so ever? We were told that she needed to stay away from all egg substitutes because they all contain some egg. and it breaks my heart to see her not being able to have cookies and cakes.
Thanks for any help you or anyone out there can give us!
Hi Tamie, EnerG is totally an egg free product. It is made of potato/tapioca starch and other leaveners. You can definitely use it in your granddaughter's diet.
Sweatha says
Belated B'day to your Hubby Madhu.I know I am late in commenting/wishing.I came here earlier itself but could not read the post as I was simply staring at the pics.I am always lazy to decorate the cakes.Too PERFECT this looks.TRULY INSPIRING
That's fine Sweatha. His bday was last month anyways. I got the time to post it just now.
Aparna says
That's a very pretty cake. Can see you've learnt a lot going by your variety of decorated cakes.
Thanks Aparna.
R Varalakshmi says
Hi Madhu
what a beautiful cake for a beautiful mind! Good and colourful decoration! u r really a master ! Congrats!
Thanks Pinamma.
Lavani says
I love your recipes . I dont use eggs in my kitchen too , so it is very inspiring to read such posts .
Welcome to my blog Lavani.
spice says
Nice decoration...like the look of cake...i'm sure must have tasted equally good...
It was good, Spice.
Silent Reader says
Very nice and Happy Birthday to S..
It was last month SS.
roma says
The roses look really neat, great effort!
Thanks Roma.
marla {Family Fresh Cooking} says
The cake you made for your husband came out great!! The rosettes are so pretty! Glad the flavor worked out as well!
Thanks Marla.
Rajeshwari says
hi madhuram,
what a lovely cake..your husband must have really liked it..i really appreciate you putting all efforts in bringing together so many nice recipes..i have become greatest fan of yours 😀
Oh! I'm blushing here. Thank you very much for the compliments Rajeshwari.
A&N says
It looks great! I'm sure your husband loved it.
Yes, he loved it very much.
Anu says
Hey Madhu,
first - wishes to your husband on his bday - he is very lucky to have a wonderful wife like you who can make these delicious looking cakes!
This looks beautiful - keep the cake designs coming - do an exclusive post on just the designs.
Thanks Anu. I'm still practising on the use of tips and I have to improve a lot before I can make a post on designs alone.
Bharti says
Nice...so much fun! Happy Birthday to your husband!
Thanks Bharti.
Sonia says
Such a lovely cake Madhu! :)I love the 2nd pic most. I can't wait to join the next batch of Wilton classes. And here, yours and reader's tips are really handy and useful prior joining the class. I'll note down each and every tips. Thanks for doing this Madhuram. 🙂
Thanks Sonia.
Soumya says
oh yeah thanks, will clear this again, but i just finished my course 1 and she actually mentioned this in the class.Sorry if i am wrong here.
Champa says
Sorry, I had to correct one thing. You cannot keep buttercream flowers forever. You can keep Royal icing flowers in a box in cool dry place for 6 - 8 months. I have never heard of anyone making buttercream flowers and storing in a dry container for more than 2 weeks. Forgive me if I am wrong.
Oh, okay, that's what I was wondering too. We did royal icing flowers and my instructor told that it can be made ahead and it comes forever.
Soumya says
Yeah a wonderful cake and u have made so many roses...did u only make so many roses or ur instructor told u too(we made only 3 in the class)...they have come up really nice...One more thing u can do is make those swirl flowers on a wax paper as Champa said and once they r hard u can store them in an airtight box in a cool dry and less light place, which will stay for yrs...so whenever u have plenty of icing left make some and store them so when u r decorating a cup cake/ a cake u can use them n it saves ur time.This was one more tip that i got in my class.
Mona says
Wow, looks lovely!
Thanks Mona.
Priya says
Fantastic cake with beautiful frosting...
Champa says
Nice cake. Did they teach you drop flowers with a swirl? Many instructors don't tell you all the secrets. When you are doing this with buttercream, it tends to spoil your icing on the cake. What you do is make these swirl drop flowers on wax paper and freeze them for an hour or so. When they are firm, pick them up and place them on cake. Just a tip.
Thank you so much for the tip Champa. My instructor did not mention this. I did find it hard to make those swirl flowers on the icing.