Fluffy and golden eggless vegan mango cake with a lush cream cheese frosting. This easy Summer dessert uses less than 10 common pantry ingredients. And you only need one bowl to make this delicious cake!
This eggless mango cake is incredibly soft and tender. It's packed with fresh mangoes giving you the best possible flavor! This cake also uses only common pantry staples with no store-bought egg replacers.
Common ingredients you'll need
Ingredient notes
All-purpose / plain flour or even cake flour will create the fluffiest vegan mango cake.
Sugar preferably regular granulated sugar because we want the beautiful yellow/orange mango to shine through). Coconut sugar will make the cake darker and heavier.
Mango puree made by simply blending fresh or frozen mango using a stick or stand blender or food processor. Alternatively, you can use canned mango puree. The mango also acts as an egg replacer for this eggless mango cake!
Baking powder and soda. As this cake is PACKED with 3-4 fresh mangoes, I added a little more raising agents to make sure the cake is fluffy.
A complete list of ingredients, quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to make this eggless mango cake
First, add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk until there are no lumps.
Then add all your wet ingredients (including your mango pulp) and mix until combined.
The vegan mango cake batter should have a similar consistency to a typical pancake batter (not too thin but not too thick). And there shouldn't be any pockets of flour or wet ingredients.
Baking the cake layers
As there's a lot of fruit in this eggless mango cake, it's best to bake it in thin layers such as 2 x 20 cm (8 inches) cake pans. Alternatively, you can make this cake into muffins, which I did on my Instagram account.
The cake batter is thin enough that it'll naturally flatten out after you pour it into your cake tins. As this is a layer cake, if you have cake strips, I'd also recommend using them for this cake.
The layers of mango cake are ready when you can insert a skewer in the middle and it comes out clean. This is a very moist cake so a few crumbs on your skewer are fine - just make sure there's no wet batter on it.
Dairy free cream cheese frosting
The delicate and subtle cream cheese frosting complements the tropical flavor of the vegan mango cake.
However, cream cheese frostings are notoriously soft. To overcome that, I recommend:
- Adding a little corn starch/flour. This absorbs the natural liquid in the cream cheese frosting which makes it firmer.
- Adding more powdered/icing sugar. The more sugar we add, the more stable the frosting!
- Creaming rather than whipping the frosting. This prevents unnecessary air from being incorporated into the frosting which can make it softer.
Customizing this recipe
I've tried reducing the sugar for this recipe but the less sugar I used, the more dense the cake. Sugar doesn't only sweeten a cake but adds moisture and improves its texture.
Normally I'd recommend replacing the plain flour using a blend of 50% almond flour and 50% gluten-free all-purpose flour (by weight ) OR a high quality 1:1 gluten-free flour. However, I haven't tested this recipe with gluten-free flour so can't vouch for results.
Yes, I customized this recipe to make mango coconut cupcakes which you can see on my Instagram! I'd recommend using the recipe below and baking it in a muffin tin.
The eggless mango cake will work well in a bundt tin or 1 x 30 cm (10 inch) cake pan. You'd need to bake the cake for longer (around 50 minutes) or until you can insert a skewer in the cake and it comes out clean.
I haven't tested baking this cake in a loaf tin. This recipe is high in fruit so benefits from being baked in thinner layers.
Check-out other Vegan Summer Desserts
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Vegan Mango Cake
Ingredients
Dry cake ingredients (note 1)
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose plain flour
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of any good-quality salt
Wet cake ingredients
- ~2 cups (480g) mango puree, approx 3-4 medium-size ripe mangoes (note 2)
- ⅔ cup (165g) dairy-free milk
- ½ cup (125g) light-tasting vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream cheese frosting + decorations (optional, note 3)
- 3 cups (300g) powdered sugar / icing sugar
- ½ cup (120g) vegan cream cheese, chilled
- ½ cup (115g) vegan block butter, chilled
- 3 tablespoons (20g) corn starch / corn flour
- 3 tablespoons (45g) melted vegetable shortening or coconut oil, optional for a firmer frosting (use refined coconut oil for no coconut flavour)
- 1-2 mangoes, sliced or diced
Instructions
- Note: I'd recommend using grams for this recipe. Like all my recipes, this was tested using grams so I can't vouch for results using the cups measurement.
To make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line or grease 2 x 20cm (8-inch) round cake tins.
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large-size mixing bowl and mix until there are no lumps. Add all the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix until there are no more pockets of flour.
- Pour the batter into the 2 cake tins. Bake in your preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.
- The mango cakes are ready when a skewer can be inserted in the middle and it comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the cake tin for 10 minutes then cool on a wire rack.
To make the cream cheese frosting:
- Add the powdered sugar, vegan cream cheese, butter and corn starch to a medium-size bowl. Cream until combined and smooth.
- If using vegetable shortening or coconut oil, slowly pour the liquid into the bowl while mixing the frosting.
- Add more powdered sugar and/or the coconut oil for a firmer frosting. Cream cheese frosting is normally quite soft but it can be thickened and stablished with additional sugar.
- Chill the frosting until needed.
To assemble the cake:
- When the cakes have completely cooled, slice the dome off one of the cakes. Place that cake on a serving plate.
- If you chilled your buttercream, stir it a few times to make sure it’s smooth and soft. Spread or pipe around 1 cup of buttercream on the cake and place the remaining cake on top.
- Spread or pipe the remaining frosting on top and decorate with the remaining mangoes.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge until serving. If you used coconut oil in your cream cheese frosting, the cake will keep at room temperature for at least 1 hour on a 20°C (80°F) day. If you used vegetable shortening, it will keep for a little longer. However, if the temperature is any warmer, I'd recommend chilling the cake and letting it come to room temperature just 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- For extra flavor, you may add 1 teaspoon cardamom powder to the dry ingredients.
- I managed to get around 160g of mango flesh from a medium Kensington Pride mango. However, if your mangoes are smaller or larger, you may need less or more mangoes. This recipe also works well with frozen or canned mango.
- If you cannot access vegan cream cheese, simply substitute the cream cheese with vegan butter and add lemon juice to taste.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in January 2020 and updated in September 2021.
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Such an amazing recipe!!! I had such fun making it and it was delicious! Can highly recommend the addition of ground cardamom it takes it to a whole new level 😍I also used coconut oil in the frosting which gives it an amazing tropical taste! No one guessed it was vegan until I told them! Fantastic fantastic recipe, I will be making it again for sure!
Hi Sam! I'm so glad you enjoyed this cake and that no one could tell it was vegan! Thanks so much for all your feedback and tips, I really appreciate it 🙂
How much almond flour and gluten flour do I need to make the Mango Vegan Cake? Can you give the measurements for this recipe? Thanks, I would really appreciate.
Hi Patricia, try using 200g almond flour and 200g gluten-free all-purpose flour. However, I didn't provide the measurements because I haven't tested it myself. Let me know how you go and I hope that helps!
I made this cake for my birthday and it is hands down the best cake I and my guests ever ate. The silence while everybody was enjoying it spoke more than a thousand words. Now I am wondering if it would work to replace the mango with different fruits, currently I am specifically considering pineapple or strawberries. What do you think, could it work?
Aw that's amazing Barbara! By reading your comment, I feel like I was right there! Strawberries will work with minor adjustments - my vegan strawberry cake is actually adapted from this mango cake recipe! I think pineapple would work and be lovely in a cake too 🙂
Hi! I would love to make this recipe, it looks delicious! But I was wondering, is it possible to use less mango in this recipe? For example, would only 2 mangos work as well? Would I have to use something to replace it? Apple sauce perhaps or would it be ok to just leave out? I wouldn't mind if it means that the cake tastes less of mango and is more 'cakey'. Thank you!
Hey! Yes, it should be fine to use less mango and applesauce instead (I think they are about the same consistency). The mango helps replace some of the milk and oil so I think it'd be easier to substitute than to just leave it out. I hope that helps!
I halved the recipe and made a mini cake out of this for my birthday. Everyone was blown away (even the non-vegans!).
Aw that's lovely to hear! And even better that non-vegans enjoyed it too! Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
This cake is delicious 🎂 thank you for sharing this! The only thing I did differently was I used swerve powdered sugar in place of regular powdered sugar for the icing and made buttercream icing, not cream cheese. The texture of the cake is amazing!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe and that your substitutions for the icing worked too! Thanks so much for your feedback x
This is such a great recipe. I used whole-wheat spelt flour, coconut sugar and a combination of frozen and fresh mango for the cake batter. I love how the chopped mango on top of the frosting stays in place and how it cuts so cleanly when slicing. It is so indulgent. Cannot recommend enough!
Aw I'm so happy that you loved this recipe! I'm glad that it worked with spelt flour, coconut sugar and a combination of fresh/frozen mango too. Thanks so so much for taking the time to leave a comment x
I made this cake today with wholemeal spelt flour and it turned out so good all my family enjoyed it and said it was delicious.
Thank you for recipe Anthea. Can't wait to try more of your vegan cakes they all look amazing!!
So glad it worked with wholemeal spelt flour and your family enjoyed it! Thanks soo much for your feedback and kind words 🙂
Hi I haven't made this cake yet, so wondered if I can use tinned mango pulp rather than making it myself?
Hi Jayne, I haven't tried it with tinned mango pulp but from experience with other cakes, it would work 🙂
Thank you. Once I have made it I will let you know if it was a success. ☺
Hi I am not vegan but I do not eat eggs so can I replace you recipes with dairy products , such as diary milk , butter and cream cheese etc.
Yes they should all work fine!
I made it twist but I don’t know what’s wrong with the recipe none of them went well
Hi Andrea, I'd recommend following the recipe as closely as possible. What did you change about the recipe?