Light. Fluffy. Vegan.
Sponge cake.
I have been pursuing the PERFECT vegan sponge cake since I went vegan back in 2016.
That’s EIGHT YEARS.
I’ve baked more so-called vegan sponge recipes than you ever want to know. And it turns out, that was my mistake:
BAKING.
Wanna know more?
Let’s get into it!
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links for products I use and love. If you make a purchase after clicking one of those links, I may earn a small affiliate commission, perhaps enough to buy some extra gochujang or gochugaru 🙂
Generally speaking, there are two different kinds of cakes:
Butter cakes and foam cakes.
Butter cakes, as the name suggests, incorporate substantial sources of fat–like butter! Or margarine or vegetable shortening. Pound cake, for example, is a good example of a butter cake. Butter cakes tend to be richer, denser, and quite moist. Foam cakes, on the other hand, have no or little fat. What fat they do contain, moreover, is usually from eggs. They are lighter and fluffier and more delicate. They are therefore often decorated with a lighter frosting (like whipped cream).
As you can probably guess, a sponge cake falls into the latter category (with the exception of the Victoria sponge, which includes butter). Traditionally, the sponge cake relies on beaten eggs alone or supplemented with baking powder in order to achieve aeration and rise.
I was at my father’s 80th birthday party a couple months ago and fell completely enamored with the beautiful, Korean style bakery cake my mother had custom made for the special occasion. Of course, it wasn’t vegan so I couldn’t partake. Instead, I munched on a very terrible, very dry vegan chocolate chip cookie (it remains one of the great mysteries that restaurants can’t make better vegan desserts when the internet is full of free vegan cake recipes).
I haven’t had a Korean style bakery cake since going vegan. Why? Korean bakery cakes start with a light, fluffy sponge. But vegan sponge cakes are not truly “sponge-y.” Without eggs, most vegan sponge cakes lack the structure and protein to achieve sufficient aeration and good rise.
But not THIS vegan sponge cake!
I was absolutely determined to perfect the vegan sponge cake so that I could make the perfect vegan birthday cake–for moi.
You see, I’m turning 45 tomorrow and I simply refuse to celebrate without my Korean style bakery cake, made up of perfectly fluffy cakes, sandwiching fresh strawberries, and topped with whipped cream frosting and a cornucopia of fresh fruit.
Many years ago, a good friend and fellow vegan recipe developer and cookbook author, Sheil Shukla, invited me and my husband over to his house for dinner. Sheil’s family hails from Gujarat, a region of India that is largely vegetarian. Among the many delicious Indian delicacies he and his wife prepared for us was a light, fluffy, savory cake made out of chickpea flour. I’ve since learned that these are called khaman dokla.
I marveled at the airy texture. He explained that the cake was steamed instead of baked. A lightbulb went on. Could this be the secret to the perfect vegan sponge cake?
Sadly, I got sidetracked from my pursuit of the perfect vegan sponge cake and for years, settled for what can only be described as vegan butter cakes or really dense vegan cakes (still delicious!) masquerading as vegan sponge cakes.
After having to refuse a slice of my father’s beautiful birthday cake, though, I came back to my kitchen more determined than ever to figure it out. I went deep down a rabbit hole of eggless steamed cakes–most of which were demonstrated or shared by Indian recipe developers and cooks. In some cases, there were no raising agents at all–no baking powder, no baking soda. In other cases, both baking powder and baking soda came into play.
But, in every case–literally every case I could find–there was dairy.
Sometimes it was yogurt. Sometimes it was buttermilk. Sometimes it was just plain milk.
In all my years of tinkering in the kitchen with developing vegan recipes, replacing regular milk with plant-based milk has never caused me any problems. Even when making milk bread! It’s always the eggs or the egg whites that provide the biggest hurdles to vegan desserts.
Accordingly, I had to take a leap of faith and believe that it was the methodology–i.e., the steaming–and not some unique property of dairy that facilitated the glorious “fluff” of these eggless fluffy cakes.
And boy. Did it pay off!
What’s even more awesome is that this recipe is about as uncomplicated as it gets. No need to whip anything to stiff peaks, create ribbons, or do any of those fancy things that used to screw me up when I was little and there were no YouTube videos to explain what “stiff peaks” even means. You’ve got a handful of ingredients that you measure, mix, and steam, and that’s it!
You’ll need some of the basic equipment that typically attends cake making: large mixing bowl or two, whisks, spoons, etc. But there are a couple of pieces of equipment that are worth flagging, in case you don’t already have them lying around:
The following are a list of the key ingredients and recommendations on substitutions:
First, prepare your cake pan by spraying it with a little cooking spray and lining it with parchment paper. Then, make your vegan buttermilk by mixing together your soy milk and lemon juice. Set this aside until it curdles (about 10 minutes). Next, sift your dry ingredients (except for the sugar) into a large bowl: all purpose flour, soy milk powder, baking powder, and baking soda. Set this aside.
In another large bowl, add your vegan buttermilk, together with the vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and sugar. Whisk for about 7 to 8 minutes, until all the ingredients are smooth and well incorporated. You should not be able to see any separation between the vegan buttermilk and the vegetable oil.
Before you combine your dry ingredients with your wet ingredients, place a large pot (like a stock pot or a pasta pot) with about 1 inch of water on the stovetop over medium high heat. Place the steam rack inside the pot. You’ll want your water boiling by the time you’ve prepared the batter, because the longer the batter has to sit outside the steam, the more likely it will deflate.
To finish making the batter, add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients in four parts and through a sifter or fine mesh strainer (that’s right–you’re going to double sift!). Make sure that you mix the dry ingredients until all the flour is well incorporated before adding more. Doing this in parts will guard against over-mixing. Once all the flour mixture has been mixed into the batter, top it off with a little more dairy-free milk. Whisk until you have a silky smooth batter.
Pour the batter into your cake pan. Then, gently place it atop the steam rack in the pot of boiling water. Cover the pot with a lid and let the cake steam for 5 minutes over medium heat. Then, reduce the heat to as low as it will go and steam for another 40 to 45 minutes. To test whether your cake is done, insert a large wooden skewer or toothpick into the center of your cake. If it comes out without any wet gook on it, your cake is done cooking!
Place your cake, still in the tin, on your wire rack. Let it cool for about 10 minutes. Then, using a sharp knife or offset spatula, gently loosen the cake from your cake pan. Place a plate over the top and flip your cake pan upside down, allowing gravity to do the rest. To get your cake right side up, sandwich your cake gently between the plate and your wire rack and flip once more.
Voila! Perfect vegan sponge cake!
Tip: Wrap the lid of your pot in a kitchen towel to avoid condensation dripping into your cake!
You can absolutely create two layers of vegan sponge cake with this recipe. Just make sure to do a better job of creating even layers than I did! The sponge is fragile, though, so make sure to use a very sharp knife.
Also, because sponge cakes (traditional or vegan) are lighter cakes, you do not want to frost with a vegan buttercream frosting here. Such a heavy topping would weigh the cakes down and risk breaking them. Instead, use a light whipped cream frosting or even just an icing or a chocolate ganache. You can also just use some fruit jam or preserves and dust the top with powdered sugar.
I went a little overboard with the fresh fruit on my Korean style birthday cake and neither my vegan whipped cream nor my vegan sponge cake could withstand the weight of that aforementioned cornucopia. So, just a word to the wise–go easy on the toppings!
Many sponge cake recipes utilize both eggs and baking powder. But if you are looking for a completely eggless sponge cake recipe, you can use baking powder, baking soda, and some kind of acid (e.g., vegan buttermilk) to react with the baking soda and achieve the aeration and rise of a traditional sponge.
Steaming provides a much gentler and slower heat for your sponge to cook in than baking, allowing for the gradual development of structure and air pockets that will keep the cake fluffy, light, and moist.
Yes. You can make the vegan sponge cake in advance, wrap it in plastic wrap or place it in an airtight cake holder, and store it in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
April 25, 2024
April 25, 2024
Just made this, and it is absolutely perfect. I didn’t have a large soup pot so I used the biggest pot I had, and it was able to fit the tall rack as well as the cake pan, but it left a tiny crack between the lid and the pot. I thought this would be fine until I realized after 40 minutes of cooking, that all the steam was escaping so my cake wasn’t really cooking! Luckily I added a few layers of towels to create the seal and the top and middle of the cake finished cooking (probably took another 30 minutes, but the cake turned out fine!) Thanks so much for the recipe, I made it for my vegan friend’s birthday party, you saved me so much money since I didn’t have to go to an overpriced bakery for a cake that might not even taste as good! Cheers!
hi,
is this recipe for steaming only? can you bake the batter?
Hi Vivian! Yes, this is for steaming only. It is a traditionally Indian recipe and the steaming creates the fluffiest crumb. You can try baking it, but having not tried it myself, I’m not sure how it would turn out. I CAN say, however, that the crumb will likely be quite dense. Still tasty though!
Made this once with a slight tweak and it was amazing! I omitted the soy milk powder, couldn’t tell it was not there. I also had to steam it for about an hour because my “fire” was too low the first time (I work with induction) so I just increased the heat and cook time and it came out so good. I had been looking and trying so many recipes for layer cake and though tasty, having multiple layer always made it too heavy. This is exactly what I was looking for!
I’ll try it again today and flavor it differently 🙂
I can’t wait to try it! Is there a reason why soy milk is split? Can I “buttermilk” the whole amount?
Hey Kimmy! Great question–one that I had myself. Honestly, I haven’t had a chance to try it the way you suggest, but I will say that I watched a LOT of videos on steamed cake and they ALL did this little top off at the end. I think that it helps to make the batter super silky smooth to add milk withOUT curd if that makes sense?
Can you make this with oat flour and vegan butter because I’m allergic to milk and vegetable oil
Hi! Did you mean “Oat Milk” and vegan butter? If so, yes, you can substitute the soy milk and soy milk powder with oat milk and oat milk powder. And yes, you can substitute with non-dairy butter!
Sounds amazing, I can’t wait to try it! How do you think it would do in a rice cooker?
The thing with a rice cooker, at least my rice cooker, is there is NO way to open it once it’s locked in. So, you can’t check on it midway to see how it’s doing or take it out early to avoid over-steaming. I tried to make chana masala once in my ricecooker and it was a TOTAL disaster for that reason!