Vegan cake recipes – from strawberry to chocolate and even red velvet cake

MOST cakes have all the ingredients that vegans aren't allowed to consume, especially ones like chocolate cake which is a double whammy.

But luckily we've found some recipes you need to recreate our top favourite cakes in a fully vegan-friendly manner.

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What are the best vegan cake recipes?

Veganism is the act of eating nothing that contains animal products.

So not only does it rule out meat and fish, but also dairy and eggs.

And consumers need to also be aware of any hidden animal-derived products.

So these recipes are perfect for vegans...

Chocolate cake with a chocolate peanut butter ganache

Method:

Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/170ºC. In a bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients for the cake really well.
2. In another bowl, heat 1 cup of non dairy milk and chocolate until just about hot (heat in the microwave or stove top). Whisk until chocolate is melted. Add in the rest of the wet ingredients and 1/2 cup non dairy milk and mix in until smooth..
3. Add the dry to the wet and mix to make a smooth batter.
4. Transfer batter to two greased or parchment lined 8 inch cake pans.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F/170ºC for 32 to 34 minutes or until toothpick from the centre comes out clean. Do not overbake as the cakes can get crusty or dry.
6. Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes then remove from the pan and cool on the rack completely before adding a glaze or ganache. Cover the cake with a towel while it is cooling to prevent drying out. To shorten the cooling time, cover the cake with a towel or parchment or a lid and place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.

Ganache:

1. Heat the non dairy milk + sugar in a pan over medium heat, until just about hot. Mix well. Add in the chocolate, mix once and take the pan off heat. Keep mixing until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
2. Add in the vanilla and peanut butter or other nut butter. Mix until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes to thicken to desired consistency.
3. Pour some of the ganache on one cake. Spread using a spatula to even out if needed. Let the ganache set in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes or freezer for 10.
4. Add a thin even layer of fruit preserves on the other cake (optional) (warm the preserves to make them easier to spread if needed). Place this cake on top of the cake with the ganache glaze.
5. Pour the rest of the glaze over the top cake. Spread using a spatula if needed. Let the ganache set in the refrigerator for half an hour. If you have more ganache left, pour over the set glaze for another layer. Cover the cake and let it chill for a few hours before serving.

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Strawberry cake

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt.
3. Prepare your flax egg by mixing 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed meal with 3 tbsp of Hot Water from the kettle. Allow to sit for a minute to become gloopy.
4. Add the strawberry purée, strawberry essence, olive oil, vinegar, flax egg and food coloring and mix in. The batter will be very thick, too thick to whisk, so just use a spoon and mix as well as you can, being careful not to over-mix.
5. Spray two 7-inch cake tins with non-stick spray, and place a circle of parchment paper at the base of each. Divide the batter evenly between them and place into the oven to bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
6. Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
7. Prepare your frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vegan butter, strawberry purée and strawberry essence into the bowl of an electric mixer. Starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until thick and smooth. The frosting should be very thick, but still spreadable. Add more powdered sugar if it’s too thin and a little more strawberry purée if it ends up too thick.
8. Frost the cakes when cooled and serve with fresh strawberries.

Coffee cake

Method:

1. In a large bowl combine flours, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Then using a pastry blender cut in the coconut oil until a crumbly mixture is formed. Do not over mix. You could also use your fingers to combine this but using a pastry blender will prevent the coconut oil from melting too much. You want small pieces of oil to remain solid in this mixture. You could also use vegan margarine or butter instead of coconut oil.
2. Reserve 1 1/4 cup of this crumb mixture. Add in another 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to this portion and set aside. This will be your cake topping.
3. In another bowl combine the almond milk with apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, coffee, and coconut yogurt. Stir to combine well and then add to the remaining dry crumb mixture. Fold these together gently, without over mixing, until combined.
4. Pour the cake batter into a non-stick 8 1/2" - 9" spring form pan. Then take the crumb mixture and evenly spread out on top out to the edge of the pan.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350F for 60-70 minutes. A toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the centre.
6. Allow the cake to rest for 10 minutes. Then remove the outside of the spring form pan and allow the cake to cool entirely before adding the vanilla drizzle on top.
7. To make the icing just whisk together powdered icing sugar, vanilla extract, and almond milk. Drizzle it across the cake in a criss cross pattern or however you desire!
8. Store left over cake in an air tight container or covered in plastic wrap at room temperature to keep it soft.

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Red velvet cake

Method:

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To frost and decorate the cake

1. Place one half of the cake on to a plate or cake stand, and spread just less than half of the frosting on to it
2. Place the other half of the cake on top of that and use rest of the frosting to spread on top
3. Decorate with freeze-dried raspberries and cacao nibs if desired
4. Keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days

The Great British Bake Off reveals the next episode will be the first ever vegan week