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...
.... you might also enjoy these vegan recipes from The Veg Space:
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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.
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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Michelle-Louise says
I made this but it turned out stodgy despite hand mixing the butter and sugar, very carefully folding in the flour and having the oven at the right temp 🙁
thevegspace says
Hi Michelle, sorry to hear this - I'm not really sure what to suggest as it always turns out well for me, and I've had lots of other comments from people who have really enjoyed it. Sorry - hope it turns out better next time x
Louise says
Thank you for this recipe! It turned out amazing. I’ve been vegan for over 2 years and this is the best Victoria sponge recipe I’ve found. I did have to leave mine in the oven for 30 mins before it was cooked though. ????????????
Carol Faccini says
Hi Kate,
just found your wonderful site and not from US! where names of ingredients, measures and oven temps can be different to GB. With your Victoria sponge recipe, would it work do you think with replacing the yoghurt with vegan creme fraiche please?
Thank you, Carol
thevegspace says
Good to hear from you Carol, yes that would work really well. Enjoy!
Leanne McAteer says
Hi
My daughter cant have soya as well as dairy and eggs. Do you know how I could replace the yogurt in this? Would egg replacer be any good or Oatly cream/creme fraiche? Thanks
thevegspace says
Hi Leanne, yes I think oatly creme fraiche would be your best bet, or else coconut yoghurt would also work well, most supermarkets stock it these days. Hope it turns out well! Kate x
Nasima says
Hi,
Can you use a sweetener such as Stevia instead of the caster sugar, or would that impact the cake?
Thanks
thevegspace says
Hi Nasima, I've never tried using a sweetener so really don't know how it would turn out - if you Google instructions for substituting sugar with stevia (to get the quantities right) I can't see a reason not to, but having never tried I can't guarantee how it would turn out!
Nadia says
Hi there I was wondering if you could use plain flour instead? Im in Denmark and can't seem to find Self raising flour, the danes don't really use it. Any suggestions on getting a good rise without SRF?
Thanks so much!
thevegspace says
Hi Nadia, absolutely - you can easily make self-raising flour from plain by adding 2tsp baking powder per 150g flour. Hope it turns out well! Kate x
JOsie says
So many vegan cake recipes don;t work out. I have just made this and it truly is a great recipe! Great rise and tastes just like any other cake - good work! I will definitely using it as a base for my vegan trifle recipe and will give you a mention on my site when I share it this week. Thanks!
Mel says
Hi! First of, that looks amazing, I was looking for a vegan victoria sponge for Xmas and I was just wondering if the cake (just the sponge) could be made the day before maybe, if they could keep quite fresh? And then just have to do the sandwiching filling bit just before serving it? If anyone has any experience making that recipe in advance, I'd appreciate any advice 🙂
Thanks,
Mel
thevegspace says
Hi Mel, Yes absolutely, as long as it is kept in an airtight tin it would be absolutely fine the next day. If you're sandwiching it just before serving you could add some sliced fresh strawberries in the middle too - totally delicious but you can't do it if you're making the cake in advance as the juice runs into the sponge! Enjoy!
jo says
I made this cake today had to do a vegan and gluten free one so I replaced the flour with gluten free self raising and 1/2 tsp of xanthum gum. It worked really well one of the best free from everything cakes I’ve made. thanks for the great recipe.
thevegspace says
Oh that's great to hear Jo, what a good idea re the xantham gum. I've never tried a gluten-free version before so its good to know that can be done!
Rachel says
Just wondering how much xantham gum would be substituted for as there's no amount specified for that. I'm not a big fan of chia seed grit and i'd liek to try a seed free cake. Thanks.x
thevegspace says
Hi Rachel, sorry about that - the xantham gum replacement PER EGG is a quarter of a teaspoon xantham mixed into 60ml water. I haven't tried it in this recipe as I use flax or chia so sorry I can't comment from first hand experience, but do let me know how you get on! Kate
Claire says
Best vegan Victoria sandwich I've ever made! My boyfriend says it tasted just like his granny's - so the highest of compliments! Thanks for a great recipe 🙂
Stephanie says
Hiya - I tried your recipe and whilst it tastes absolutely great, the texture is a little bit stodgy and it really didn't rise much. I forgot to 'fold' the flour in slowly and just added it into the food processor and whizzed it up. Could this have been the problem?
Any advice you can offer would be great. I am trying to find the ultimate recipe so that I can make an eggless, dairy free wedding cake!! : )
Many thanks , Steph
thevegspace says
Hi Stephanie, yes its really important to be super-careful folding in the flour, or else all the hard work you did beating the marg & sugar for AGES to get lots of air in is completely wasted, as the air will be knocked straight out by whisking in the flour. I often don't even use a mixer for the flour, just do it by hand with a spatula really slowly, and stop stirring the minute it is all combined. If it isn't rising much there's a chance your raising agent isn't working properly - self-raising flour has a surprisingly short shelf-life as the baking powder in it loses its active power quite quickly, so if it has been lurking in the cupboard for a while try a brand new bag, or add an extra half teaaspoon of baking powder in there too. Hope that helps and good luck with the cake! Kate
Stephanie says
Thank you very much! I will give it another go. Steph
Hannah says
Great recipe! I'm just wondering if I am able to substitute the butter for oil?
thevegspace says
Hi Hannah, to be honest I've never tried it with oil so couldn't tell you how it would turn out - sorry! Definitely worth a try though and let me know how it goes. Kate
Robert says
Excellent job! Turns out really similar to a victoria sponge cake my mom made. Can see it on my site ^^
Eb Gargano says
Great cake! You'd never guess it is vegan...pinning! Eb x
thevegspace says
Thanks Eb! I know - I totally fooled my father in law.... haha!
Helen at Casa Costello says
I would absolutely love to conduct a taste test with this to see if people can tell? I didn't realise that Stork was vegan (I should have been able to work it out though but never thought) - I find Stork ok for simple sponges but anything heavier it seems to struggle with. Well done on another month of veganism. Thanks loads for joining in with #Bakeoftheweek
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says
This looks fab Kate, and great tip on the Tomor which I've never heard of. I'll need to try it.
Munchies and Munchkins says
This looks great! Just as good as any other victoria sponge I've seen! My daughter can't have dairy but also can't have gluten or soya which is a real nightmare as gluten free being is HARD. We are using the new Flora dairy free spread here too which is quite good. I never knew stork was vegan. Thanks for adding my PB cake XX
Munchies and Munchkins says
I meant baking above not being!
Roz says
this looks great - I've got friend who's just gone vegan who's big on cakes - will try this on her!
Camilla @FabFood4All says
What a fabulous looking Victoria Sponge and such clever substitutions:-) Thanks for featuring my Banana Cake:-)
Emily says
Amaazing! Saving this for my vegan friend's birthday cake xx