The Best Vegan Vanilla Cake (or Cupcakes) recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to super moist cupcakes? ›

One of the best ingredients for creating moist cakes and cupcakes is sour cream. Adding a few tablespoons of sour cream to your batter will help to keep your cakes and cupcakes moist and fluffy. You can also add a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to the batter to help keep the cakes moist.

Vegan cupcakes are animal product and dairy free. This means they contain no egg, butter, or dairy products. However, they do contain ingredients that are familiar to the baker such as flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, oil, and vanilla.

Cakes typically take longer to bake and prepare, including layer cakes. Mini cupcakes are quick and easy to make as they don't require much time to prepare. Cake tins need to be lined.

For example, when converting from 9" pans to cupcakes, you'll likely only need to reduce the time by about 5% to 10% if you use the same baking temperature. If you're going from a 9" x 13" cake to cupcakes (using the same temperature), the baking time will be reduced quite a bit.

YOUR CAKE IS SINKING IN THE MIDDLE OR NOT RISING

You may not have used enough raising agents. I do recommend experimenting with double action baking powders. Otherwise try using 25 percent more chemical raising agents (baking soda or baking powder) if you're converting a recipe to gluten free. b.

DENSE RESULT

This can be caused by not using the right egg replacer. Over mixing batter is another reason which causes over development of the gluten and a dense result. If your oven isn't heated to the correct temperature before you put your cake in, it can cause it to not bake properly.

The ratio of wet ingredients (fat and vegan milk) to dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder etc.) has to be in perfect balance. If you have too much fat and too little milk and/or flour, you'll get a greasy cake. If you have too much milk and not enough fat, you'll end up with a gummy, dense cake.

Use milk instead of water

Most box cake recipes will tell you to add water to the mix. Instead, try adding milk using the same proportions. This will make the cake richer and creamier because it ups the fat content. You can even use buttermilk here for a pleasant tang.

Turns out, whilst baking from scratch at home is still cheaper than buying a cake from a professional bakery, it would actually be cheaper to Fake Bake. You don't need to turn on the oven, saving you on energy.

What is the one big rule in baking? ›

Read the Recipe Through Completely

At the risk of sounding way too basic, this one deserves repetition. You must read and re-read your recipes before beginning anything. Human error, even for the best bakers, can get in the way and ruin your entire endeavor.

You can bake cupcakes up to two days ahead; arrange them (unfrosted) on a baking sheet, wrap the whole sheet with plastic wrap and store at room temperature. Frost before serving. To freeze, arrange unfrosted cupcakes on a baking sheet and wrap the whole sheet in plastic wrap, then in foil. Freeze up to three months.

In most cases, you can leave cupcakes on the counter, but if your cupcakes are filled or decorated with anything containing dairy, like cream cheese frosting or custard, you'll want to store them in the refrigerator for food safety.

Formulate a cake soak: You can make a cake soak using simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water), evaporated milk, buttermilk, or a liqueur. With a wooden skewer or toothpick, pole holes in the cake. Then use a pastry brush to blot the liquid over the surface of the cake layers to moisten the cake.

Milk's most important role in baking a perfect cake is the part it plays in making the batter wet enough for the chemical reactions to take place. In a pinch, if milk is not available, water may be substituted.

Runny cake batter bakes well, if not better. If you do want to thicken it up, just add more cake mix/dry ingredients and eggs/oil or whatever the recipe calls for in the appropriate proportion.