This vegan Victoria sponge cake is a vegan take on the classic English recipe, two layers of rich and moist vanilla sponge cake filled with vegan buttercream and strawberry jam.
The Victoria sponge cake is an English baking classic. Make it alongside some delicious vegan scones for the perfect English tea!
It’s a simple vanilla sponge cake with a filling of buttercream (or whipped cream) and jam. It’s named a Victoria sponge because Queen Victoria was a big fan.
The cake recipe is based on our vegan vanilla cake and the buttercream is based on our vegan buttercream frosting.
We decided to go with a buttercream filling instead of a whipped cream filling because my feeling was that a whipped cream filling could make the cake much too slippy slidey! But of course if you want to use whipped cream then our vegan whipped cream recipe will also work great.
What You’ll Need To Make The Cake:
Ingredient Notes
- Baking soda – this is called bicarbonate of soda in the UK and this, combined with the vinegar is what gives this cake rise. It can’t be substituted, it must be baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) that you use.
- White vinegar – this is distilled white vinegar and works great in this recipe. You can also use apple cider vinegar.
- White sugar – this is white granulated sugar.
- Soy milk – this can be switched for almond milk or any other non-dairy milk that you have on hand.
- Canola oil – this can be switched for vegetable oil or even a light olive oil or any oil that you prefer to use in baking.
What You Need For The Filling:
Filling Notes
- Strawberry jam – you can use strawberry jam or raspberry jam in this recipe. It’s a good idea to use a jam that is fairly thick and ‘sticky’ so that it doesn’t just slide right off the cake.
How To Make Vegan Victoria Sponge Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Add soy milk, oil, white vinegar and vanilla extract and mix into a batter. Don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between two 8-inch cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with circles of parchment paper at the bottom).
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool for a few minutes and then remove them from the cake pans and place onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Add powdered sugar, vegan butter, salt and vanilla extract to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.
- Add the jam to a bowl and use a small whisk to whisk it until smooth.
- When the cakes are completely cooled, add the first layer to your cake stand. Spread all the buttercream on top and then spread all the jam on top of the buttercream.
- Top with the second cake layer and sprinkle powdered sugar over the top.
- Your cake is ready to serve!
Recipe Tips
Measure the flour correctly. Either use the spoon and level method which is the only correct way to measure flour if using cups, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup. Alternatively, weigh your flour on a food scale for complete accuracy.
Whisk the jam. It’s a good idea to whisk the jam before you spread it onto your cake, so that it’s as smooth and spreadable as possible.
Add buttercream first and then jam. Spread the buttercream onto your cake layer first and then top that with the jam. If you do it the other way around it can be harder to keep the buttercream and jam in two separate layers.
Cake pans. This cake works wonderfully in two 8-inch round cake pans (as pictured) for a nice fat cake, but it also works great in two 9-inch round cake pans. If you’re baking in two 9-inch pans then check for doneness (insert a toothpick into the center of one of the cakes, it should come out clean) after 25 minutes of baking.
Recipe FAQ
We haven’t tested this with gluten-free flour but my guess would be that a gluten-free all purpose blend should work great.
This recipe would make around 18-24 cupcakes depending on how high you fill the liners. Top them with a spread of buttercream topped with jam.
You can store your cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
You can freeze the unfrosted/unfilled cake for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and bring to room temperature before adding the buttercream and jam.
More Delicious Vegan Cakes
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vegan Orange Cake
- Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Coconut Cake
- Vegan Biscoff Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Victoria Sponge
Ingredients
Sponge Cake:
- 2 ⅔ cups All Purpose Flour (330g)
- 1 ½ cups White Granulated Sugar (300g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Soda Bicarbonate of Soda
- ¾ teaspoon Salt
- 1 ½ cups Soy Milk (360ml) or other non-dairy milk
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Vegan Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 ¾ cups Powdered (Icing) Sugar (210g)
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (113g)
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt Optional
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Jam:
- 6 Tablespoons Strawberry or Raspberry Jam (120g)
Topping:
- Sprinkle of Powdered Icing Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and spray two 8-inch cake pans* with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper. Set aside.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Add soy milk, oil, vinegar and vanilla extract and mix into a batter. Don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared 8-inch cake pans.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool for a few minutes and then remove them from the cake pans and place them onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Add the powdered sugar, vegan butter, salt and vanilla extract to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.
- Add the jam to a bowl and use a small whisk to whisk it until smooth.
- When the cakes are completely cooled, add the first layer to your cake stand. Spread all the buttercream on top and then spread all the jam on top of the buttercream.
- Top with the second cake layer and sprinkle powdered sugar over the top. Your cake is ready to serve!
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly. Either use the spoon and level method which is the only correct way to measure flour if using cups, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup. Alternatively, weigh your flour on a food scale for complete accuracy.
- Strawberry or raspberry jam – it’s a good idea to use a jam that is fairly thick and ‘sticky’ so that it doesn’t just slide right off the cake.
- Cake pans. This cake works wonderfully in two 8-inch round cake pans (as pictured) for a nice fat cake, but it also works great in two 9-inch round cake pans. If you’re baking in two 9-inch pans then check for doneness (insert a toothpick into the center of one of the cakes, it should come out clean) after 25 minutes of baking.
- Gluten-Free: We haven’t tested this with gluten-free flour but my guess would be that a gluten-free all purpose blend should work great.
- Cupcakes: This recipe would make around 18-24 cupcakes depending on how high you fill the liners. Top them with a spread of buttercream topped with jam.
- Storing: You can store your cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: You can freeze the unfrosted/unfilled cake for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and bring to room temperature before adding the buttercream and jam.
Delicious! First time I made it I baked it for the suggested 30 minutes and it came out overdone and burnt round the edges – no idea why! As it was for a special occasion I re-made it and only baked it for 22 minutes the second time and it came out perfect. Thanks!
Glad to hear the recipe turned out well for you Molly! Thanks so much for your great review!
I made this cake to serve to my book club as the book we were discussing had a Victoria Sponge pictured on the front cover. This was very easy and straightforward to make. I asked for honest reviews from the attendees, all omnivores. They all thought it excellent. I am a cake lover and am very happy to have this vegan cake recipe as so many of the cakes I used to make call for eggs and butter. This cake was delicious made just as written. Thanks for the excellent recipe. I’ll be trying more of your cake recipes in the future!
That’s great Kate! Thank you so much for sharing and for your wonderful review!
Hi, please advise bake time if using one loaf tin instead of 2 cake tins, thx.
Delicious!
Really quick and easy. Thank you
I will be baking this cake again but I will reduce the buttercream by half as it was a very generous portion.
Thanks so much for your wonderful review Surinder!
This is a great recipe! Thank you 🙂
You’re welcome!
Made this recipe using a 9×12 rectangle pan. Turned out amazing. Mine is a lemon cake so instead of all vinegar, I used 3/4 tbsp lemon juice with 1/4 tbsp vinegar plus zest from orange and lemon in the dry ingredients. I added the vinegar to oat milk instead of soy milk, separate from the dry ingredients. I also used vegan butter instead of oil and added that to the batter after the dry and wet ingredients were mixed. Result is very soft and pillowing yet still a bit dense. Really good💜 I recommend the aforementioned mods.
Thanks for sharing and your review!
Hi Alison,
I tried the Vanilla Victoria Sponge cake and it turned out to be Super Hit!! The taste is really awesome and craves for more!!
I LOOOOOOVE your baking recipes!!
Thank you!!
Cheers,
Anjali
Thank you so much Anjali!!
I made a 3-layer red, white and blue cake using this recipe for King Charles’ coronation. I used vanilla soya milk instead of regular, and reduced the vanilla essence slightly to 1/2 tsp per layer. I made mine in my countertop Combi oven, which perhaps heats up a little hot, so I cooked each in layer individually, 15 minutes at 180, then 15 minutes at 160 degrees C it is fantastic! Hold together perfectly (you wouldn’t know that it didn’t have eggs in), very light and extremely tasty (I had to cut the tops off two layers so they were flatter, because it rose up so perfectly). I highly recommend this recipe. It’s really good.
Thank you so much for sharing and for your great review Tina!
Hi Alison, I’ve made this cake and followed it as set out but my cakes are dark in colour and not the colour a Victoria Sponge should be. Do you think it’s because the veg oil “cooked” it more than it should have? I cooked them for 30 mins.
Many thanks
I have made this cake several tines with spelt flour and sandwiched it together with vegan cream. Everyone loves it and it’s the easiest and most delicious vanilla cake I’ve ever made! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Hello Alison!
this looks amazing but haven’t made yet. Quick Qs:
Can you use a Flax Egg like your Chocolate cake (I’ve made this many times-great cake!, thanks!)
Thank you for your feedback.
Martin
Hi! is there any way to make this chocolate flavored? Thank you.
Hi Mickey, you could use our vegan chocolate cake recipe instead.
Hi Alison
I made this cake recently and it was really yummy!
The only thing was that it was a bit dense in some parts, especially the bottom bits which were a bit sticky. The cooking time was right.
The only think I can thing of is overmixing ? Also I used parchment paper and followed the recipe fully. I have cake tins that have push out bases so do I need to use the parchment paper ?
Any help and guidance would be great for a beginner like me!
Thanks
Hi Vix, parchment paper is not an issue, I almost always use it. There are a few reasons this can happen: over-measuring the flour, over-mixing the batter, not baking the cakes right away.
Hi, I’m going to try this recipe today. How many mls of oil is half a cup please?
Hi Linda, it’s 120ml.
Hello, if I cut the recipe in half and make cupcakes, would this work? How long is the bake? What would be best, to line and use a cupcake paper holder or just grease the tin? I think my tin is a muffin tin and makes 12? They aren’t particularly deep/ big for muffins though! Thank you.
I would use cupcake liners. Baking time would be in the region of 20 minutes.