This vegan Victoria sponge cake is so easy to make with NO weird ingredients! A light and fluffy sponge piled with jam and buttercream.
🍴Why you will love this recipe
What could be more quintessentially British than a slice of Victoria Sponge cake and a nice cup of tea? Well here's a deliciously light and moist vegan Victoria Sponge deep-filled with jam and buttercream that you will bake again and again once you've tried it, I promise!
The sponge is made with dairy-free block margarine which behaves just like butter in baking, and uses vegan yoghurt as an egg-replacer. This works so well - keeping the sponge really light and moist, without having to use vinegar, flax seeds or any other strange ingredients!
Do read my Top Tips below before you start for showstopping results. Keeping the cakes in an airtight tin overnight before adding the jam and buttercream makes them incredibly soft and moist, it is almost like magic!
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📝 What you need
Dairy-free butter Do try to use a block 'butter' rather than spread out of a tub - you will get much better results. I used the new Flora Plant Butter block which is excellent, or Naturli block is also great if you can find it. It tends to be in the same aisle as the dairy butter at supermarkets.
Dairy-free yoghurt I tend to choose soya yoghurt (unsweetened) which gives the best results as it has the highest protein content of the various yoghurts available, and also no powerful flavours. But if you can't use soya any other yoghurt will work fine - I like the new oatly oat yoghurts.
Dairy-free milk As above, I usually use soya milk for baking due to its protein content. Unsweetened is best.
👩🏽🍳 How to make your Vegan Victoria Sponge Cake
For a full, printable recipe with ingredients and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this page 👇🏼.
Grease and line two 23cm cake tins. Beat together the dairy-free block margarine and caster sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the dairy-free yoghurt, soya milk, and vanilla extract, then the flour and baking powder. Mix until fully combined. Divide between the cake tins then bake for 20-22 minutes.
When the cakes are completely cool, smother the bottom layer with jam. Make the buttercream and spread it thickly over the jam, then add the top layer. Scatter with caster sugar then serve.
🔪 Top Tips and FAQs
Here are my top tips for making a perfect vegan Victoria Sponge Cake:
'Rest' your sponge cake overnight in an airtight tin or tupperware. I know it sounds strange but this is the single most important thing you can do to improve the texture of your sponge. This draws the moisture right through the cake, so the sponge becomes extremely soft and moist, and loses its crispy crust.
Get the cakes into the oven as quickly as you can once you've added the flour and baking powder Raising agents start to work as soon as they come into contact with liquid, so have your tins prepared in advance, the oven at the right temperature, and work quickly to get the cakes baking as soon as you can.
Use good quality dairy-free block 'butter. A good quality block margarine makes all the difference, both to the sponge and the buttercream. Tub margarines have much too much water in them for baking.
FAQs
The sponges freeze beautifully, but not the buttercream - so if you need to make these ahead just wait for them to cool completely, then put a piece of greaseproof paper between the two sponges, wrap them in foil and freeze until needed. Then just defrost, and sandwich together with the jam and buttercream when you need them.
If kept in an airtight cake tin or container this victoria sponge keeps moist for 2-3 days.
In this recipe the vegan yoghurt and soya milk are used as the egg replacer. They have a good protein content so behave like eggs to bind the cake mixture, and work with the baking powder to give a good rise to the sponge cakes.
You can also use flax 'eggs', (a mixture of ground flax seeds and water), though they produce a slightly more heavy, dense sponge, or a shop-bought egg-replacer, though these often lead to a more crumbly cake.
⭐️ Reader Testimonials
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Absolutely the BEST textured cake I have ever eaten – plant based or otherwise. It never lasts long in our house!" Jenny
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I have just made this as a two tier wedding cake and it was absolutely excellent! Totally recommend! Xx" Diane
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "This is such a wonderful recipe!!! I have struggled finding a vegan recipe that taste as good as its non-vegan counterparts and many other recipes come out really dense or reaking of vinegar. But this one baked great! Thank you very much for sharing such a brilliant recipe." Krystle
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "The BEST Victoria sponge I have ever made, vegan or not! What an amazing recipe." Kathryn
🍽 If you liked that...
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Victoria Sponge Cake
Ingredients
For the sponge cakes:
- 200 g dairy-free block margarine
- 300 g caster sugar
- 200 g dairy-free yoghurt soya yoghurt (unsweetened) works best
- 200 ml dairy-free milk soya milk (unsweetened) works best
- 3 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 400 g self-raising flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
For the buttercream:
- 150 g dairy-free block margarine
- 200 g icing sugar
- strawberry or raspberry jam
Instructions
For the cakes:
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4. Grease and line two 22cm cake tins.
- In a food mixer, beat the margarine and sugar together for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy.
- Add the yoghurt, soya milk, and vanilla extract, then the flour and baking powder. Mix until fully combined, (don't beat it, just a slow mix).
- Divide the mixture between the two tins, and bake for 20-22 minutes until an inserted skewer or knife comes out clean. Rremove from the oven and turn out onto a cooling rack.
For the buttercream:
- Beat the margarine and icing sugar in a food mixer for 3-4 minutes until very light and fluffy.
- When the cakes are completely cool, (a few hours at least), smother the bottom layer with plenty of jam.
- Pipe or spread the buttercream over the jam, then carefully sandwich the cakes together. Sprinkle the top of the cake liberally with caster sugar.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Free 4-Week Vegan Meal Plan
Have you got your hands on a copy of my meal plan yet? If not CLICK here to download a copy of my FREE 4 Week Vegan Meal Plan today!
For more vegan baking inspiration check out these recipes from blogger friends:
- Helen's Easy Ginger Cake from Fuss Free Flavours
- Elizabeth's Chocolate Cupcakes with Avocado Frosting from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary
- Nadia's Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Mug Cake from Nadia's Healthy Kitchen
- Rebecca's Peanut Butter & Banana Bread from Munchies & Munchkins
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Mrs Rose Reynolds says
Hi. Was disappointed in this cake. It sunk in the centre of the cakes and only got one decent layer from both. I have been trynig to figure out what went wrong. In Melb Aust I couldnt locate block vegan butter so used nuttlex. I did a double batch of recipe to accommodate the quantity I needed. Havent had a cake sink, on me, in a long time. Felt a bit disheartened. Not sure what I'll use the leftover cake for but that's another story.
Kate Ford says
Hi Rose, Sorry to hear your cakes sank in the middle. You'll see from the other comments that this is a very well tried and tested recipe and generally works out really well. I haven't heard of Nuttlex before but it looks like it is a lower-fat vegan spread, which may well have quite a high water content which doesn't work so well in baking. If you have then adjusted quantities of all the other ingredients to accommodate it that may also have caused problems. Baking is quite an exact science and I'm sorry I'm not familiar enough with Australian ingredients to offer much advice on the best brands to choose. If you've made a double batch, did you fill four normal sized tins or two large ones? Larger cakes bake quite differently to small ones and need a different temperature and time in the oven. Another cause of sinking can be opening the oven door too often or too soon whilst baking. Just a few ideas that might help, and hope you were able to make use of the leftover cakes. Kate x
Mrs Rose Reynolds says
Hi Kate. Taking on your advice,I did only use 2 tins so that's one possibility. The orher is possibly the temperature. I did leave them longer. It was pointed out to me that the Vegan yoghurt i used may have been "wetter" than other vegan yoghurt brands. Our supermarket doesnt have a huge range. Will give it another try at the set serving next time. Tasted good though, so that was great! Thanks for the blog. Much appreciated.
Sarah says
Hi! I really love this recipe and it always turns out PERFECT. I was wondering whether this can be adapted and used to create a cake inspired by a Mai Tai (the cocktail). How much rum could I add to the sponge without ruining it? Or should I use less milk if I add rum?
Kate Ford says
What a fab idea! What I would probably do is create a rum drizzle to soak into the sponge afterwards. I'd be worried that in the cake batter the rum might inhibit the raising agents as they are fairly temperamental in a vegan cake. Perhaps mix the rum with a few tablespoons of icing sugar to create a syrup, then when the cake is still warm from the oven, prick it all over and let the drizzle syrup soak through the sponge, then turn it out of the tin once it is completely cool. No idea how that would go as I haven't tried it but that would be my best guess! Hope that helps and please let us know how it goes! X
Sarah says
That's also a great idea! What you're saying is actually quite helpful, I was worried alcohol could mess with the texture etc. Would you say that it's ok to add the zest of 2-3 limes without messing up the sponge? Lime juice would probably be too risky, vegan cakes are indeed quite temperamental, haha.
Kate Ford says
Yes zest will be fine, the acid in the juice would make the raising agents go crazy but add it with the rum to the drizzle syrup... yum! X
janevosky says
Sounds great and I will be trying it this weekend for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Does coconut oil work instead of the block margarine, please?
Kate Ford says
Hi Jane, I've never tried it using coconut oil instead of margarine - I think the consistency would be fine but it does have a coconutty flavour which might come through to the finished cake. If you do give it a go please let me know how it goes!
Mandy says
Hi Kate
I have just put my sponges in the oven. Was a bit worried that the butter/sugar/yoghurt/soy milk mixture kind of separated and looked like cottage cheese before I added the flour? Is that usual please? I really want to perfect this recipe so would really appreciate your advice. Thanks very much.
Kate Ford says
Hi Mandy, yes don't worry at all - it does look like it has 'split' when you add the liquids but as you say as soon as you add the flour it all comes together into a smooth batter every time so no need to panic! Kate
Mandy says
Thanks very much for your reply Kate. So when I add the liquid to the butter sugar mix should I just stir it in or beat it with electric whisk? (Like you would with eggs) then gently fold in the flour?
Thanks again
Mandy
Kate Ford says
Just add everything together - the milk, yoghurt, flour and baking powder all at once, and stir fairly slowly until everything is combined. The most important thing is then to get it in the oven as fast as possible. Hope that makes sense!
Mandy says
Brilliant! Thanks so much X
Chris Smith says
Turned out really well despite using vitalite as I could not get the solid stuff.. Many thanks!
Kate Ford says
That's great, thanks Chris.
Andrea says
I can't wait to make this! It looks like the perfect texture. Thanks so much for this recipe.
Mirlene says
My kids love this cake and can't tell its vegan. It's moist and a tasty dessert. I like having a slice with my coffee!
Dana says
My first time making vegan cake, and it won't be my last! This turned out beautifully. So excited!
Kate Ford says
Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Kris says
So moist and fluffy! Came out perfectly. Thank you! 🙂
Kate Ford says
That's great to hear, thanks!
Colleen says
I made this cake for our Canadian Victoria Day gathering because we have several vegan family and friends, and because the name! It turned out perfect.
Kate Ford says
Perfect celebration cake!
Sheila says
I made this cake for my ex-pat,'s 71 birthday and he was well impressed!!! So moist and the texture was amazing! Thanks ever so much👍
Kate Ford says
That's great - thanks Sheila!
Colleen says
I made this recipe into a rainbow layered cake for my grandson's 18th birthday , I was so pleased with how moist and light the cake was. Everyone enjoyed it!! Thank you.
Kate Ford says
That's great to hear - thanks Colleen! X
Annie Yiangou says
Would this work with bicarb rather than baking powder as that is all I have? Is a food processor essential? Many thanks