Vegan Almond Cake
Soft and moist vegan almond cake with a crunchy sliced almond topping. This cake comes together in one bowl and can be made gluten-free! Or check out my crunchy vegan almond cookies.
What to expect
TASTE/TEXTURE: More moist and denser than a regular vegan cake. Fluffier and has more ‘body’ than marzipan or the almond filling for a croissant!
DIFFICULTY: Easy to make. You don’t need a food processor, blender, hand mixer or any special equipment!
Simple ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Almond flour adds moisture and flavor. I recommend using almond flour rather than almond meal (with the almond skin still on) for a lighter vegan almond cake.
All-purpose plain flour for structure and to bind the almond flour. You cannot only use almond flour as the cake will deflate and crumble. Flax eggs, aquafaba and other common egg replacers do not work for this recipe.
Oil doesn’t only add moisture but makes the cake fluffier. For alternatives, see the section ‘Customizing this recipe’.
Dairy-free milk. I recommend choosing a higher protein plant milk, such as soy milk as it makes a more tender cake. However any milk will work, such as almond milk or oat milk.
Almond extract and lemon zest to complement the nuttiness of the almond flour.
How to make a vegan almond cake
This almond cake is easy to make as you just stir the dry ingredients in a large bowl, add the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
For the fluffiest and most flavorful vegan almond cake, here are some tips:
- Rub the lemon zest with the sugar. This releases the oil in the lemon zest and brings out more lemon flavor.
- Mix the cake batter until there are no large lumps, but not too much otherwise the final cake will be dense and stodgy.
- The final batter is meant to be quite thick! This recipe works best with a thicker batter as a thinner batter is more likely to sink when baked.
Tips for baking the cake
For extra crunch and almond flavor, I love decorating this cake with sliced almonds!
In most ovens, the almond topping will not burn. However, if your oven has a strong top heating element, your almonds may brown too quickly. If you know your oven tends to burn cakes on top, I recommend covering your cake pan with aluminum foil at the beginning of baking.
With the exception of a burning cake, I strongly recommend avoiding opening the oven door in the first 45 minutes of baking. Almond flour is a delicate gluten-free flour so inconsistent oven heat will more likely make your cake sink.
Adding other ingredients to this cake
This cake is lovely by itself! However, the following ingredients will complement the cake:
- Chocolate chips
- Dried fruit such as cranberries
- Dried coconut
- Fresh raspberries
For an apple almond cake, make the gluten-free version of my vegan apple crumble cake. It uses a combination of almond flour and gluten-free all-purpose flour!
Customizing the recipe
Yes, I tested this cake replacing all-purpose flour with all-purpose gluten-free flour and it worked well! However, some brands of gluten-free flour are more absorbent so, if your batter is very thick, I suggest adding a dash of dairy-free milk.
It depends on what kind of cake you’re after. I tested this cake with as little as 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (and more almond flour) but it resulted in an overly moist cake that sunk and had a wet marzipan texture.
If you want a 100% almond flour recipe, see my vegan almond flour shortbread.
I tested this recipe in a regular 12-cup muffin tin and the muffins spread and deflated. Instead, I recommend checking out my vegan almond muffins recipe.
You may also like my vegan almond cookies, and almond croissant cookie bars.
You can experiment by replacing it with applesauce or mashed banana. In my tests, replacing the oil with other ingredients made the cake denser.
Alternatively, check out my other vegan cakes that use almond flour and don’t have added oil:
– Whole Orange Cake
– Whole Lemon Cake
– Flourless Chocolate Cake
– Strawberry Cake
More vegan desserts using almond flour
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Vegan Almond Cake
Ingredients
Dry ingredients for almond cake
- 2 cups (200g) almond flour / blanched almond meal
- 1 ½ cup (190g) all-purpose plain flour, or gluten-free all-purpose flour (use grams, note 1)
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar, (note 2)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest, or orange zest, optional
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients for almond cake
- 1 cup (240g) dairy-free milk
- ⅓ cup (85g) neutral flavored oil, light olive oil or melted vegan butter
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice, optional (note 3)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
To decorate (optional)
- ½ cup (45g) sliced almonds
- powdered sugar / icing sugar
Instructions
- For the best results, I recommend using a digital scale to weigh the ingredients for this recipe. It's difficult to accurately measure the key ingredients using cups and this recipe has been tested using grams (except the smaller ingredients).
Making the vegan almond cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease or line an 8-inch (20 cm) springform or loose bottom cake pan that's at least 2-inch or 5cm tall with parchment paper.
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk until the mixture is well combined. Add all the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and mix until just combined. The batter should be quite thick.
- Scoop the cake batter into your cake tin. Smooth the top of the cake with a spoon or spatula. Generously sprinkle the sliced almonds on top.
Baking the cake:
- Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes. The cake is ready when you can insert a toothpick in the middle and it comes out with no wet batter (a few moist crumbs are fine). For a cake with a slightly fudgy marzipan-like center, underbake the cake by 5 minutes. Allow the cake to cool in the cake pan for 30 minutes then cool on a wire rack.
- To serve, dust the cake with powdered sugar. Serve with fresh berries, yogurt or as desired. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day, in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- I recommend using grams because not all brands of gluten-free all-purpose flour have the same volume measurements as regular all-purpose flour. Some brands will also make the cake batter much thicker than pictured. If so, add a dash of dairy-free milk to ensure the cake isn’t dry.
- This amount of sugar creates a mildly sweet cake. You can decrease the sugar to 3/4 cup (150g) but your cake will be denser and you may be able to taste the baking powder.
- The vinegar or lemon juice reacts with the dairy-free milk to make vegan buttermilk and makes a cake more tender. You will not be able to taste the vinegar or lemon juice in the final cake.
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I LOVE this cake! Your recipe worked so well and it tasted absolutely delicious. This will become a regular cake in our house now! Thank you so much for sharing.
Hi Kerstin! So glad to hear you loved this recipe and that it will become a regular bake – that’s always the best compliment! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback 💛
Oh my holy goodness, thank you for this one! I had high hopes and this cake did not disappoint. Super fast and easy to assemble, bonus points for a short ingredient list, it was gorgeous coming out of the oven and it hits like a really good almond croissant but without the dairy 🙂 and without all the work.
Hi Rachel, this has made our day! We’re so glad the almond croissant comparison came through! And less fuss is what we’re all about! Thank you for taking the time to write such lovely feedback ❤️
This almond cake is easy to make and is delicious. I made it several times. ❤️
Hi Helena! Aw we are so happy to hear that this has become a repeat recipe! Thank you for leaving a comment 🥰
How can something so easy to prepare be so delicious ?
This cake is so light, flavorful and beautiful in its simplicity.
A recipe keeper for sure.
Thank you for sharing it !
Hi Emma! Haha, isn’t it the best when the easy ones turn out the most delicious? So glad this one is a keeper for you. Thank you so much for sharing your feedback 🥰
I absolutely love making this cake and it always gets compliments when I bring it as dessert to someone’s home. This recipe is flawless and delicious.
Just wondering if you could tell me why the center of my cake sinks when I take it out of the oven. It’s happened all 3 times that I have made this cake.
Hi Michelle, so glad this cake has become such a regular bake, that means a lot 💛 For the sinking, the most common cause is opening the oven door too early, almond flour is quite a delicate gluten-free flour, so any drop in temperature during baking can cause the centre to sink. We’d recommend avoiding opening the door for at least the first 45 minutes. It could also be down to your oven’s heating elements and uneven temperature distribution. Let us know if that helps next time!
Excellent cake. Will make this regularly!
Hi Denise! So happy to hear you enjoyed it, thank you!
Just made this and added a layer of homemade marzipan to the middle of the cake. It’s so incredibly good!
That sounds *incredible* and I want to try that next time!! Thanks so much for letting me know 🙂
This looks great! I’d love to make it and am considering adding some blueberries rolled in plain flour, stirring through the mixture just before baking – do you think it would work?
Hi Kat, that sounds delicious and I imagine it would work well – the batter is on the thicker side so that should also help prevent the blueberries from sinking (though, I haven’t tested it myself). The cake will probably need an extra 5 minutes in the oven. Let me know if you give it a try!