Make a Wish: Vegan Birthday Cake Recipes

Birthday cake takes many forms, but is usually a sponge (usually vanilla or chocolate) covered with buttercream, and accompanied by sprinkles (never light candles near flammables like curtains, nor leave unattended, and keep away from children and pets). It’s a pretty simple cake to make, and super-easy to make vegean. Alongside homemade sprinkles using natural vegan food dyes.

School Night Vegan includes a recipe for the author’s own vegan frosting (the shortening can be replaced by vegan butter block or oil).

Keep birthday cake away from pets due to vanilla, chocolate, spices.

For these recipes, use a good ice-cold vegan block butter with no palm oil (Flora and Myoko’s are good brands). Also be sure not to overmix the dough, and leave stem vents when baking.

Unless you have a food waste bin (made into biogas), it’s best to just bin citrus/rhubarb peels, as acids could harm compost creatures.

If using tinned coconut cream, rinse/remove lids (or pop ring-pulls over holes) then step on the can to pinch the inner rims together, to avoid wildlife getting trapped at recycling points.

Three-tier vegan birthday cake

This vegan birthday cake (Emily Leary) combines a vanilla sponge with vegan buttercream icing and fruity jam. The recipe includes aquafaba (vegan meringue from bean water) to keep the sponge light and airy. This is a three-tier cake, so you’ll need three cake tins!

Mini vanilla birthday cake (for one or two)

This mini vegan vanilla birthday cake (Dessert for Two) is ideal if you are celebrating alone or just with one other person. It’s made with really simple ingredients, and the recipe is easy to scale up.