If you’re looking for a super simple, no weird ingredients, vegan sponge cake recipe you’ve come to the right place! Just look at that fluffiness!

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A slice of vegan sponge cake, filled with raspberry jam.

Since I posted my recipe for easy vegan fairy cakes I’ve had lots of requests from readers for a large dairy and egg free sponge cake recipe, so here it is. 

Dairy Free Sponge Cake and afternoon tea on a picnic rug.

This easy sponge cake is great for birthdays and celebrations and it is absolutely essential for an English afternoon tea. I filled this one with raspberry jam for a simple garden picnic. If you want the full Vegan Victoria Sponge experience a batch of my simple vegan buttercream should tick all your cakey boxes.

Mixing buttercream in a stand mixer.

My Vegan Baking Journey

Much of my life as a Mum has been spent baking with and for my children and my recipes are like old friends. I bake brownies for birthdays, cupcakes for treats and biscuits for after school pick me ups.

Sitting with a muffin and offloading all the stuff from their school days, or handing them a flapjack as they flew back out to see friends, has been an essential part of our family tapestry.

Consequently, since I made the leap from vegetarian to vegan, I’ve spent a lot of time in my kitchen adapting old recipes. It is important to me to keep the flavours and textures of their childhood while removing eggs and dairy. Most important of all, they must be simple and quick to rustle up!

Dairy Free Sponge Cake filled with raspberry jam and sprinkled with icing sugar.

The Simplest Recipes Are Always The Best

This recipe is the one I use most, it is quick, contains nothing which is difficult to get hold of and can be adapted according to season, occasion or taste. For more information on the mechanics of dairy and egg free cakes check out my earlier post How To Make Dairy Free Cupcakes. 

This vegan cake mix uses sunflower oil in place of butter and utilises the magical chemical reaction between apple cider vinegar and bicarbonate of soda for that fluffy rise. I do love a bit of wizardry!

Dairy Free Vanilla Cake outside in the sunshine.

What Do You Need To Make A Vegan Sponge Cake?

9 simple ingredients are all that are needed here – no egg replacement powder or ground flax seeds and nothing you can’t buy in your local supermarket. All you need is:

  • Self Raising Flour
  • Sunflower or Rapeseed Oil (or any other lightly flavoured vegetable oil)
  • Soya Milk
  • Cider Vinegar
  • Baking Powder
  • Bicarbonate of Soda
  • Caster Sugar
  • Vanilla Extract
  • a pinch of salt

How To Make Vegan Cake

If you haven’t tried vegan baking before all the magic happens with that little bit of cider vinegar. You won’t taste it in the final cake, it is there just to turn soya milk into vegan buttermilk and then to react with baking powder and bicarb when it all goes in the oven! My top tips would be:

  • DON’T replace the cider vinegar with malt vinegar or you cake will taste like a chip shop! 
  • DO get your cake in the oven as soon as you have combined all the ingredients and poured it into the tins. You want all that fizzy reaction to take place in the oven for the best result.

 

Egg Free Sponge Cake on a plate with spring flowers.

Vegan Sponge Cake Fillings and Toppings 

My offspring are not big fans of cream filled and icing topped cakes so I save those for treats for myself or to share with friends.

This cake is at its simplest as I’ve shown it here, filled with jam and sprinkled with icing sugar.

If you want to ring the changes you can also try:

  • Topping and filling it with vegan buttercream (add a little cocoa to the cream for a chocolatey treat)
  • Filling and topping it with fresh fruit – try strawberries, raspberries or blueberries
  • Covering it with chocolate fudge icing

Serve it simply with a cup of tea in front of a fire in winter or with a glass of fizz and a dollop of sunshine in summer!

Vegan cake on a vintage granny square blanket in a spring garden.

Have you been admiring my lovely blanket? Isn’t it gorgeous?! We have had the sad task of clearing out Mr TS’s childhood family home. I miss my mother in law with all my heart but seeing her blanket, flapping on my washing line, brings her close. I love it and its stained glass beauty. 

Vintage Granny Square Blanket on a washing line.

 

If you make my recipe I’d love to hear how it turns out for you. Please leave a comment and a star rating below and share your pictures with me on social media. Tag me @thinlyspread and include the hashtag #thinlyspread so I can see them!

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A slice of vegan sponge cake, filled with raspberry jam

Easy Vegan Sponge Cake

This super simple dairy and egg free sponge cake contains 9 easy to find ingredients. It is light and fluffy with a delicate vanilla flavour.
5 from 6 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Baked Goods, Cake
Cuisine: English, vegan
Keyword: dairy free cake, egg free cake, vegan cake
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 12
Calories: 367kcal

Ingredients

  • 400 ml soya milk
  • 40 ml cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 400 g self raising flour
  • 200 g caster sugar
  • 150 ml sunflower oil
  • 4 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt

Filling and Topping

  • 200 g raspberry jam
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180C/350F
  • Lightly grease and base line two 20 cm/8 inch sandwich tins.
  • Add the cider vinegar to the soya milk and leave to stand for 10 minutes or until curdled.
  • Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt into a mixing bowl.
  • Stir in the sugar.
  • Pour in the oil, the milk and vinegar mixture and the vanilla extract. Stir until you have a smooth batter.
  • Pour the batter into your prepared tins.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for 25 - 30 mins until risen, firm to the touch, just beginning to pull away from the sides of the tin and a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean.
  • Cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out onto wire cooling racks and allow to cool completely.
  • Spread jam, generously over one cake then place the other cake on top. Dust lightly with icing sugar and serve.

Notes

Nutritional information is only an approximate guideline. Calculations will vary according to the ingredients you use and your cooking methods.

Nutrition

Calories: 367kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 69mg | Potassium: 110mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 131IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 62mg | Iron: 1mg
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