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
Follow Rainbow Nourishments on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Pinterest, and subscribe via email to receive all of our latest recipes!
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
- Pinch of salt
Wet ingredients for almond cake
- 1 cup (250g) 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.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
This cake is so delicious, it’s my new favorite. It’s extremely quick and easy. I reduced sugar to 175g. I measured the dry ingredients into the thermomix and mixed to combine, tipped it into a bowl, measured the wet ingredients into the thermomix, mixed to combine, added to the bowl, folded together and poured into a lined spring pan 18 cm for about 45 min. Moist, perfect almond flavor with a hint of lemon flavor, the texture is perfect and the toasted almonds look beautiful. Thankyou so much for the recipe.
We’re thrilled to hear your cake was a success and has become your new favourite 💛 Thanks for sharing your method, and we’re glad it worked with your sugar adjustment too x
Ontem fiz pela segunda vez esse bolo maravilhoso. Fiz algumas alterações, troquei a farinha de trigo por amido de milho; cobri com geleira de jaboticaba e crocante de castanha do Pará, ficou divino. ✨✨
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment! We’re so happy to hear the almond cake was delicious and worked well with your tweaks 💛
I made this cake today. It came out delicious. Instead of all purpose flour I used 7 grain pancake mix and reduced the baking powder to 2 teaspoons. Added orange zest instead of lemon. Also added 1 tablespoon of flax egg. Thank you for sharing this recipe.🙏
Hi VJ, glad that this worked with your substitutions! Thank you so much for your feedback!
This recipe is fabulous. I used almond meal, vegan yoghurt, orange juice and orange zest ( only because this is what I had) and it was still fabulous. I made a large cake for a celebration and it still cooked beautifully. Great recipe, I will be making this again and again.
Hi Jo, I’m so so glad you enjoyed this cake and that it worked well with orange juice and your other ingredients! Thanks so much for your feedback!
I have yet to try this recipe but my mom and I love almond cake so this is a must very soon. Can you make a frosted version? Or a vegan burnt almond tort cake?? you’re the best girlie i love your recipes the most! you’re my forever fav! <3
Hi Emma, thanks so much for your ongoing support! A frosted version and burnt almond torte cake both sound delicious and I’ll keep them in mind for my very long recipe list! If it helps, you can divide this recipe into 2-3 cake pans and it’ll work well as a frosted cake without any other adjustments. Hope that helps and thanks again for your support!
Lovely recipe, tastes delicious. Kids love it too which is great! Would it still work ok if I replaced the plain flour with tapioca flour? Thanks
So glad to hear you and the kids enjoyed the recipe! Unfortunately, tapioca flour won’t work – it tends to make baked goods gluey in texture!
Seems so good..
can I use stevia or any other sweetener instead of sugar ? And is it the same quantities please? Looking forward to make it..
Thank you in Advance
Rosanne
We haven’t tested this recipe with a stevia blend, but generally you can substitute it 1:1 for sugar with slightly different results. Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe!
This is a lovely recipe comes out perfect every time – this is a family favourite in our house.
This makes us so happy to hear! We love that it’s a family favourite (it’s a favourite here too!), and we’re thrilled it works so well for you every time 😊
Amazing recipe!!! Used orange zest and what an amazingly fragrant cake! Orange and almond do go soooo well together. The cake actually has a bit of a cupcake-like texture, who doesn’t love a giant cupcake??! It was a hit with non-vegans too, they asked for the recipe – that’s when you know it’s truly GOOD.
This makes us so happy to read! We totally agree, orange and almond are made for each other and we love that non-vegans wanted the recipe too 🥰
I made this today, and it turned out (mostly) fantastic! I added 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup wildflower honey, essentially halving the total sugar content. I should have reduced the butter – the cake dipped a little in the middle because it was too wet. I also added orange essence instead of almond or vanilla and dropped in 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Yay! We’re thrilled you enjoyed it 😍 Orange and chocolate sounds like a dream! We hope the reduced butter helps prevent the sinking next time!