Nobody needs my dedication to butter, milk, buttermilk, cream, crème fraîche, sour cream, or eggs clarified here; we all know I get a little twitchy when the fridge is low on any. These vegan cupcakes are not an abnegation of anything, but a celebration, as they should be. What has surprised me the most since I happened on the first vegan cake recipe here, the Chocolate Olive Oil Cake, a couple years ago is not what it is “missing” — you’d never know — but what it does astoundingly better than cakes with any of my usual crutches: it’s even more moist and plush. Who knew that eggs in cakes were sometimes a …hindrance? Definitely not me.
Armed with this knowledge, I was eager to apply it to a classic white cake — plus some sprinkles, as I think we need all of the joy and color we can get right now. Confetti cakes can be a bit of a struggle; the egg whites make them seem more stiff and dry. They’re sensitive to overmixing and overbaking. This cake skips the eggs entirely, uses oil instead of butter, and the result is one-bowl, five minutes from measuring to baking, magic. It’s also really hard to mess up. I tried swapping fats and milks, I’ve even overbaked it, and it did not care. Plus, the texture is even perfect cold from the fridge, which is rarely the case of cakes with butter in them. You are in for such a treat.
A few questions, pre-answered:
- Sprinkles: You can make this without sprinkles and have a very lovely white birthday cake.
- Sizes and shapes: You can make this as a single (1″ tall) layer 9″ round or 8″ square cake; they bake in 25 minutes. You can make this as two 6″ round cakes, and stack them; check the 6″ cakes at 20 minutes, and add more time if needed.
- Ingredients: I’ve made this with melted vegan butter/margarine, coconut oil, and vegetable oil and all work. I’ve made this with oat milk and almond milk; both work. I’ve only tested it with all-purpose flour.
- Flavors: One of the things I struggled with in developing this cake was that when using liquids and fats designed with a neutral flavor profile in mind, a flavor boost is needed. A little lemon juice doesn’t make the cake lemon-flavored at all, just adds a little fragrance. Ditto with the dash of almond extract not making the cake taste like marzipan. I use a bit more vanilla than I usually would for a cake this size and it’s great here. If you have and like vanilla bean paste, you can use that for 1/2 teaspoon of the extract here.
- Frosting options: Shown here is a whipped (non-dairy) cream cheese topping; it’s softer than a frosting you’d use to pipe, or to fill a cake. For a more classic quick non-dairy buttercream, beat 4 ounces (1/2 cup) non-dairy cream cheese, 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) non-dairy butter, margarine, or shortening, 2 cups powdered sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract until fluffy. This is enough for 12 cupcakes, the top of an 8-inch square or 9-inch round cake, or to frost and fill a 2-layer 6-inch round cake.
- Vegan ingredients: Not all sprinkles are strictly vegan. Always check labels where there is a concern.
Previously
6 months ago: Whole Lemon Meringue Pie Bars
1 year ago: Roasted Squash and Tofu with Ginger
2 years ago: Baked Buffalo Wings
3 years ago: Banana-Oat Weeknday Pancakes
4 years ago: An Easier Way To Make Cookies
5 years ago: Leek, Ham, Cheese and Egg Bake and Spaghetti Pie with Pecorino and Black Pepper
6 years ago: Fried Egg Salad and Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Biscuits
7 years ago: Homemade Dulce de Leche and Cheese Blintz
8 years ago: Intensely Chocolate Sables and Pasta with White Beans and Garlic-Rosemary Oil
9 years ago: Potato Chip Cookies
10 years ago: Chocolate Peanut Spread (Peanutella)
11 years ago: Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions and Ricotta Muffins
12 years ago: Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake and Chicken Milanese + An Escarole Salad
13 years ago: Leek and Swiss Chard Tart and Key Lime Cheesecake
14 years ago: Icebox Cake
Plush Confetti Cupcakes
- 1 cups plus 7 tablespoons (190 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
- 1 cup (235 ml) unsweetened non-dairy milk such as soy, almond, or oat
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) neutral oil or melted vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles
- 8 ounces (1 cup) non-dairy cream cheese
- 3/4 cup (90 grams) powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
Cupcakes
Topping
In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together until well-mixed. Make a slight well in the center and add the non-dairy milk, oil, lemon juice, vanilla, and almond. Whisk the wet and dry ingredients together just until no lumps remain. Stir in sprinkles (the higher amount is shown here) with a flexible spatula.
Divide batter between 12 cups; each will be 2/3 full.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out batter-free. Let cupcakes cool completely — this took about 5 minutes outside on a freezing day.
To finish: Beat cream cheese with powdered sugar and vanilla until lightly whipped. Dollop about 1.5 tablespoons on each cupcake and spread it out in swirls. Finish with an extra pinch of sprinkles.
Do ahead: Cupcakes keep in the fridge for several days, but they won’t last that long.
What if I only had Dairy Milk….. would it kill it ?
Nope! I’ve made it with dairy milk before and it’s delicious.
My 9 year old son and his two Covid buddies of varying ages are in the kitchen making these now. Seems easy enough for them to make and enjoy together on this chilly afternoon! We’ll see how it turns out (and what kind of mess is left).
Is this really enough batter to fill two, 6 in. pans? Just want to make sure before I start! It seems like a small amount when I look at the ingredient measurements.
Yes, but it will be thin, the same height as the cake here.
What if I doubled the recipe for a 2 layer 6 inch cake? Would I just bake longer?
Are you planning on using 4 6-inch pans or 2 and then splitting it? If the former, it will probably bake faster. If the latter, it might be the same or a little longer.
I’m going to give it try with 2% milk and KA
Measure for Measure GF flour.
Can you come back and tell us how they were with the GF flour? My daughter is vegan AND gluten free so I’m curious how the flour substitution will turn out.
They came out pretty good, although my kids put way too many sprinkles in so I would go light on them with the GF flour. The kids were excited.
Can I make this cake ahead and freeze?
If I were to make a cake rather than cupcakes, do you have a suggestion for how the baking time would change?
Depends on the type of tin. A loaf or round tin would be approx 30-45 mins. Check at 30 and then at 5 mins increments.
Baking time estimates for cake sizes are in the post, above the recipe.
Dairy milk is fine
These look great!
Would coconut milk maybe work as a non-dairy milk??
Thank you for this! As a non-vegan mom of a kid with lots of food allergies, it can be really hard to find “normal” things to make. ❤️
Same here! My kiddo is going to love this vegan cake. Thank you so much!
Unfortunately my cupcakes did not have the fabulous bright white look with the pop of.color from the sprinkles. My cupcakes looked like murky water. They tasted very good but they were not beautiful like the plush confetti cupcake pictures shown.
What kind of milk did you use?
We made these today and had the same issue. I grabbed the nonpariel style rainbow sprinkles and it was pretty obvious when we stirred them in that the dye just leached out. They are a not super appetizing gray color that I’m sure will be remedied with frosting and (more!) sprinkles.
Use Jimmies! That’s the problem.
Same, we made these today as a Valentine’s treat for my egg-allergic kiddos, they were great! I’ve tried a LOT of egg free cakes, this one was in the top tier for sure!
Making them today-perfect to brighten up the weekend
Which non dairy cream cheese did you use?
I used tofutti brand this time but last time I actually just grabbed a container from my local bagel place (New York life for ya) because they all have dairy-free cream cheese as option. Not sure what brand they use but it’s always delicious.
Love this recipe, but I’m trying to make a strawberry cake. Could I add some reduced strawberry purée to the ingredients? Or would this make the batter to liquidy?
I might try freeze dried strawberries ground to a powder along with some dried strawberries chopped into pieces.
Yes: freeze dried strawberries are brilliant here.
Highly recommend Violife.
I’ve been nondairy for almost 30 years. Kite Hill is my favorite non dairy cream cheese. Good taste and less rubbery texture than Tofutti. Oat milk will keep your baked goods moist. I use it in place of dairy for all my breads and cakes.
I made it last night with Kite Hill DF Cream Cheese and the frosting tasted off. I love their cream cheese on bagels but it did not translate well to frosting.
I agree. I made it with Kite Hill and it was… nasty. On the fly I tossed that frosting and made a simple buttercream with Miyokos Salted Non-dairy Butter instead, which turned out decent.
Do not recommend kite hill alt cream cheese, does not whip.
These were really good! After reading the comments that it was gummy I decided to use an old trick in egg-free baking; rubbing the butter (not melted) really well into the dry ingredients before adding the milk, it prevents over-mixing. (I also dropped the almond extract since I’m using regular dairy.)
Do these cupcakes freeze well? I have toake a ton of desserts for an event and I would love to make the cupcakes ahead and freeze them!!!
They freeze well but frost after defrosting.
No judgement at all, but are you (or your family) now vegan?
Did you read the text?
My sister is. :)
Made these for my kids birthday today, after much anticipation (she requested cupcakes & loves rainbows). They taste terrible. No one ate more than a bite. Basically in the trash tonight. So- if you’re planning these for a bday or event I suggest you test them out first to see if you like them. Huge bummer for me on her big day :/ (luckily she’s forgotten already! Thank god for toddler energy!)
This is not even constructive criticism, this is just rude lol. Think how you would feel if you put a bunch of effort into developing a recipe and someone left a nasty comment warning others that it could ruin a child’s party/event…I think it’s fine to share that a recipe didn’t work out for you, but whereas saying something like ‘I thought the flavour of X was overpowering’ might give more information to someone wanting to make a recipe, just saying ‘they taste terrible’ and ‘they’re in the trash’ is pure spite.
Thanks so much Kate, for your constructive criticism! “Pure spite”? Over a cupcake recipe? I dont lurk in internet comments much so not sure if thats a common thing. My review was honest, and not meant to be a fangirl one (NB: near majority (but not all) of raving comments here are by people who havent baked them yet, just so excited to). Perhaps if more people were honest less people would be disappointed? My review was to warn others: these really dont taste good, so be sure you try them first before serving to others on an occasion. Sure I couldve said just that instead of “terrible” since this not NYT cooking and more personal, but I didnt mean it personally at all. In all honesty, I was bummed as this is the 3rd SK baking recipe thats flopped recently (my first time ever reviewing tho – literally just so that others are cautious), although many others Ive tried are very good. Anyway, I’ll stop here and let you get back to your comment policing. Gotta set people straight! Peace.
i wonder if the taste you didn’t like had to do with your sprinkles? I think i remember that Deb splurges on high quality sprinkles… i alas buy very cheap sprinkles, and was really bothered by the taste of the confetti cake (i made her other one that isn’t vegan)… i could tell that what i didn’t like in the flavor of the cake was the taste imparted by the sprinkles themselves (chalky and artificial and just weird), and i wondered if i spent more on sprinkles if that problem would go away. since i had a flavor problem with the non vegan version i’d be willing to bet that’s the common issue here, and one that Deb herself hasn’t encountered.
It can be the sprinkles, although I’m using very cheap sprinkles here and it didn’t bother me, but that’s subjective.
Your recipes always inspire me so thank you!! I also would love to know which rainbow sprinkes you used? They are particularly bright and beautiful! 💕
I’m sorry they were such a disappointment. Something that I think has come up in reviews that are happy vs. disappointed might be more about managing expectations. As I explain from the top, these are softer and more plush than confetti cupcakes made with eggs and butter. But I also explain up top there is less flavor, without the butter and buttermilk perfuming the batter. Some people who can eat dairy and eggs might try these and go back to my original confetti cake. But for others who either found it too firm or cannot eat the ingredients, my goal was for this to be an as-delicious-as-possible solution. Plus, I think/hope it also addresses the over-leavened taste I’ve found in many vegan baked goods by ditching the baking soda and keeping the baking powder in check.
Made it today. Not too bad but not great either. I used 2% dairy milk and dairy cream cheese. I needed 10 extra minutes baking time, the sprinkles in the cake were barely visible after cooking (maybe partly melted or discolored?), overall there was an odd flavor, not sure if from the frosting or from the melted sprinkles
I’m planning to make these for my daughters birthday, and take them to her preschool, but worried about the almond extract. She has a few kids at her school with nut allergies. Would you replace with another extract?
9 out of her last 10 posts contain cheese, eggs and dairy.
I am allergic to both eggs and dairy and it’s my son’s birthday on Sunday so…we all know that these will definitely happen. So happy when you post non-dairy and egg- free options because I love and trust your recipes so much!!!
Made these as a Valentine’s Day treat for myself and they were delicious! I’m an aspiring vegan (current vegetarian) so I appreciate options that make me feel like veganism is possible without giving up all the tasty things I love.
Whoops, didn’t mean to reply here. Oh well! :)
Made a half batch to test for a friends birthday, and they were delicious! Can’t wait to try with the frosting.
Can you put any cream cheese because I’m in Barrie Ontario and can you use 2% milk or Homo milk And can you use vegetable oil,please let me know, thank you Deb
You can use vegetable oil. You can use regular cream cheese if dairy is not an issue.
Thank you so much Deb for your answer 😊..
Thank you for posting a vegan recipe! We will be making this over the snowy weekend!
If I made the recipe non-vegan, would it still work? Replace all the vegan options (milk, butter, cream cheese) with non vegan ones will it still turn out? And would I still need the lemon juice and almond extract if I do that?
Yes. The lemon and almond are less urgent (unless you like them) if you’ve got other flavors. However, I might bump the butter just slightly, to 6 melted tablespoons.
Just have to tell you that I couldn’t be more excited about this. Your chocolate olive oil cake is my go-to for birthday cakes because my brother-in-law and nephews are all allergic to dairy–and it NEVER disappoints. It’s the perfect cake for a celebration (or for a Tuesday night when the cake craving kicks in). My BIL always asks for funfetti for his birthday and I begrudgingly will make him boxed mix sometimes. Now I don’t have to! I CANNOT wait to test this one–will be making it tomorrow once we are done snacking on your Morning Glory cake (obsessed with Snacking Cakes…am I right?)
I made these on the weekend because I need practice with cakes. I’m not very good at being precise or being patient with butter and cooking times, and have had sometimes great and sometimes not great results with the SK confetti cake (which I’ve made annually for several years now). I thought a simple butter free alternative could really work. They were great out of the oven! Very soft, moist, and not too sweet. The sprinkles did make it taste a bit funny but the kids didn’t notice (I am going to make plain ones this coming weekend to see if I like the flavour better). We kept the cupcakes in a Tupperware on the counter and they stayed quite moist but also became slightly oily. So I’m now keeping them in the fridge to see if that makes a difference. I love that it’s such a simple cake to make. I am still going to try to perfect my non vegan cake making, but it’s nice to have a quick cupcake recipe on hand, one where I don’t have to run and buy buttermilk.
I awoke this morning to cold and gloomy weather. My covid test results were posted this morning (they were negative), and then I saw these cupcakes.
I usually do not have sprinkles, but my brothers and I have a tradition that when we visit each other we hide sprinkles where we’d least expect to find them (that is, anywhere but the pantry).
I found my sprinkles a few months ago, so now I have all the ingredients I need to bake these celebration cupcakes!! The Universe has such perfect timing!
I just wanted to say that is the cutest most lighthearted tradition I have ever heard of between siblings. As long as the sprinkles are in the container of course…
OOOh, hide the sprinkles! How fun. I might start this when I can visit people’s houses again.
Well this just made me smile! 😊 Hiding sprinkles is the most random and absolutely adorable thing I’ve ever heard of!
I love this tradition! My grandparents gifted my cousins and me some hideous paperweights one year for Christmas, and we’ve spent the last decades hiding them in each others’ homes—ideally in a spot where they’re unlikely to spot them until a guest asks about the “unique” paperweight. It brings me far more joy than it should.
Thank you for making me smile on this snowy, wet day! I hope that your sprinkled cupcakes were lovely. Congrats on avoiding Covid.
Deb, what nice people read your recipes.
Yesterday, I decided that I’d start baking an end-of-month cake to help beat back the quarantine blues. Today, you posted this recipe. Kismet? Absolutely.
Can I just up the vanilla and skip the almond extract? Kiddos with nut allergies!
Yes, although I’m not sure there’s any actual almond in almond extract — worth checking!
My almond extract contains almond oil which would definitely set off my husbands tree nut allergy. Imitation almond extract probably doesn’t contain any actual almond product.
FYI to anyone baking for those w allergies – a friend w a banana allergy reacted to artificial flavor made in chemistry class. No bananas were present. So no guarantees that artificial isn’t chemically close enough to the real thing to trigger.
I did a little digging on this when we discovered my son has a tree nut allergy (and I love nuts, and specifically love almonds, and even more specifically love them in sweets, sigh) – although most almond extract doesn’t contain actual almond, even the imitation almond extract does often use things (like apricot pits) that can cause reactions in some people with almond allergies. So I’ve reluctantly discontinued the use of even the cheapest imitation almond extract.
Thank you — I’m sorry about the allergy but appreciate the better information.
I love oil cakes—so moist. I’m assuming using dairy milk is fine too?
Dairy milk is fine
If I were to use vanilla unsweetened almond milk, would I need to use less vanilla in the cake?
I’m not sure how vanilla-y it is but probably you won’t need as much.
I have never wanted to make vegan cupcakes before. I am absolutely here for this.
Vegan cakes are my favorite! I’m not vegan at all, just love the alchemy that makes great cakes. Also going to blow my kids’ minds by using sprinkles because that’s usually what they bring to the baking, not me.
I was so happy to find the chocolate wacky cake and now this!
I just love knowing that even if I don’t have eggs or milk or butter, I can still bake a cake whenever I want!
Ohhhhhhh…adding this one to my (very long!) “to bake” list to have in the freezer for later in the year when I have successfully evicted the little health-freak occupying my Bump! Bump is a massive fan of raw veggies but a hard no (involving the 100m sink sprint) on anything vaguely sweet. Nine months without a cup of coffee or a glass of wine turns out to be very doable, but the prospect of another 18 weeks without a cookie or a bite of cake has me wondering just how long a human *really* needs to be in there…
This made me laugh! When my 8yr old was a bump, he only accepted cold cereal, plain noodles, and (luckily) fruit smoothies if they were ice cold. I didn’t eat a vegetable or meat for 40 weeks. As an independent person he is much less picky!
Over the past 3 days, I’ve made the butterscotch pudding, vanilla pudding, chocolate pudding, and vanilla-almond rice pudding to have for postpartum pick me ups :-D Due date is tomorrow!
Hi Deb! Excited to try this recipe! I have a friend who follows a gluten and dairy-free diet — do you think gluten free flour would work here? If yes, what’s your preferred brand?
Yes, I think any cup-for-cup gluten-free flour would work well, as long as it’s got a little xanthan gum in it. I made them with a GF flour mix I had on hand, and they were great. No need to change anything else!
I had been planning to make your confetti party cake this weekend, and then these popped up. How would you compare if all I’m looking for is a funfetti cake?
The regular confetti cake, of course, tastes more like butter and dairy, which is nice. It’s a little more firm and you don’t want to overbake it. This is more plush but less fragrant.
I love confetti cake!! And this site!! Thank you Deb!!
My husband turns 69 (*gulp*) on Sunday and my daughter has recently decided not to eat dairy because it causes her almost-three-month-old tummy troubles. Today, I woke to find this recipe on FB. You’re brilliant.
Thank you so much for this! Very excited to try it. I love to bake but I’m breastfeeding and my daughter has a cow’s milk protein intolerance so I’m off dairy for the moment and it is hard to find tasty looking dairy free baking recipes. Love the site :)
I have been here! Luckily my almost 2 year old outgrew her dairy allergy in the fall. Happens for most so 🤞
I love how gentle and sweet the framing of this recipe is- it’s not an apology for veganism or a “good enough” substitute, it’s just “who doesn’t love funfetti cupcakes these ones are vegan and delicious and also check your sprinkles.” So inclusive and kind ❤️
I’ve read this a couple of times, but apologies if I missed it. Do you prefer this over the other confetti cake on this site? You did list some pros to this vegan version, but I couldn’t tell if this was your new fav vanilla/confetti cake, different significantly flavor-wise from the other confetti cake, or if the point of this is that’s it’s vegan (and awesome).
It doesn’t really matter – I love the other one and I bet I’ll love this one too. And I know a lot of people are excited for another vegan recipe! Just wondering really.
Coincidentally my name is also Katie and I am wondering this same thing.
My name is Kat and also wondering lol!! Curious which one is preferred as I don’t have any dietary restrictions.
ICYMI, check Deb’s response to Felicity on Feb. 1 for a response to your questions.
Thank you, Pamela!
Thank you SO much for this recipe! My oldest is allergic to eggs and we have struggled to find a good recipe for her birthday cake for years. I am super excited to try this one, your recipes are always stellar!
Can I use pastry flour if that’s what I have on hand? Thx!
Made these tonight. Only deviation would be used 2% milk instead of vegan milk. The texture was a bit gummy. Also, needed an extra 10 (!) min to be done. Wonder if I overmixed?
Yummy! I weighed almost everything (are you supposed to weigh liquid? It’s on my scale) and baked for 15 minutes and I thought they were lovely. My kids thought it was a little weird without frosting but that might have been my drops of lemon extract, since I couldn’t find my almond extract. Thanks for this quick, delicious treat!
Exactly the same result for me! Gummy, ten min longer. Smells like play-dough, but not inedible. :/
Same result. Weighed everything too. Gummy. Kids will eat them, but I feel embarrassed to deliver to friends (main intention).
I needed an extra 15 minutes and experienced the same thing. Subbed KA measure for measure as a gluten free option. Thought it might be that I need to add an altitude adjustment for baking and to get a better rise (I’m at 7000’), but maybe not for the bake time part…
Mine were gummy and unpleasantly dense, too. I was careful not to overmix.
I made these using oatmilk and canola oil. I topped with coconut whipped cream because I am tree nut free so can’t do the vegan cream cheese. I liked the texture, very moist, but the flavor tasted a bit dull and floury to me. Next time I will try rice milk and either coconut oil or vegan butter, hoping for better flavor. Appreciate the simplicity of the recipe though!
I also had them come out a bit gummy and needed extra cooking time. I wonder if almond milk or oat milk might work better than soy.
That said, they were still festive and delicious. I’ll try again.
To all experiencing gummy cakes: I recently read (possibly on Smitten IG?) that over mixing a vegan cake is the number one reason they don’t turn out. Apparently mix JUST UNTIL flour is incorporated and then RESIST temptation to keep going. Hope this helps!
Hmmmm, I haven’t had this issue with other cakes (and I’ve got a killer vegan chocolate cupcake recipe), but maybe my exuberance for a funfetti cupcake was too much! I’ll whip up another batch tomorrow and see what happens! :)
Hi there! Is there room to make this chocolate-y? Made this the other evening and the tea taster taste buds of my husband and son were extremely happy. Huge success!! I used coconut oil and almond milk, btw. I have to bake a chocolate cake for a friend today and would love to make this one – but with chocolate. I’m not a baker so I do as I’m told and don’t take risks.
You should make the chocolate olive oil cake!
I haven’t tried this with gluten-free flour, but if it’s just eggs and dairy that’s the issue, this recipe is great. I use it all the time.
Crazy Cake
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup water (cold)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp soda
3 T cocoa
1 tsp salt
6 T salad oil
1 T vinegar
Sift dry ingredients into an ungreased cake tin (8 “). Make 3 impressions in the dry mixture Into one pour the vanilla, into the second put the vinegar and into the third the oil, over all pour the water. Mix with a fork till the mixture is thoroughly moistened. But do not beat. Bake in 350 degrees oven for 30 min.
Frosting:
3 T. cocoa
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 T. butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 T hot coffee
Mix smooth, spread on cooled cake.
Note, that should be baking soda, not “soda,” and “salad oil” is what some call “vegetable oil.”
Skip the frosting if you don’t want dairy.
Same for me. I made them last night with almond milk and grape-seed oil, weighed the dry ingredients and they were very industrial tasting/gummy (I barely mixed the ingredients with a wooden spoon). The kids really liked it, but I wouldn’t serve this to any adults. Maybe that’s how vegan cupcakes taste normally, but there are so many great cupcake recipes that if you don’t need to I don’t see a reason to make these.
I love this for a January day! Thank you for posting the vegan frosting recipe, especially!
They are yummy! I used coconut oil.
Saw this recipe at 1:40, whipped them up before I had to leave for car line at 2:20 (my husband had to take them out, mine took longer than 20 minutes, but I’m starting to suspect my oven, as this isn’t the first time). We just had them as an after dinner treat (Friday yay!!). They were great! We’ve been vegan for almost 4 years so I’m no stranger to vegan treats. I used oat milk and some weird old sprinkles I had lying around that I needed to get rid of. Moist (sorry…!), just sweet enough and the frosting was a good combination with the cupcakes! Thanks Deb!
I made these using almond milk. My only comment was the vegan sprinkles I used totally disappeared once baked. But I suspect that has to do with which kind of sprinkles you use).
They weren’t exactly the same as my usual non-vegan cupcakes, but I thought they were good. I sent to them to school with my son, and his classmates liked them.
Talk to me about sprinkles! Do you have some favorites? The ones in these pics look rainbow-y and so bright in the cake
I’m using very basic ones here.
I made them today almost as soon as i saw them on insta stories!!
didn’t have any almond extract , didn’t miss any
when they came out of the oven, we decided to try them and what can i say we couldn’t even get to making the frosting.. they were still so so good!
Thanks for the recipe Deb ❤️
I, too, am wondering about sprinkles. The basic ones I bought in the grocery store baked up fine for pretty color. However, they tasted like crunchy wax when sprinkled on top. (Yuck)
Do you have a favorite brand for decorating with?
Cake Mate sprinkles ( I get them online, in a BIG jar; you never know when you might have a Sprinkle Emergency).
These tasted really healthy to me. I was so sad.
Hello, is there a type of non-dairy cream cheese that you recommend? I have tried the Daiya brand and people found the coconut taste overpowering. Do you find that the non-dairy butter and vanilla mask any off notes? I am not vegan, but my mother-in-law is lactose intolerant and I’m always on the lookout for non-dairy recipes that we can all enjoy.
I love the kite hill vegan cream cheese-also find the daiya and tofutti brands really terrible.
Miyokos brand was a game changer for me! I can even eat it plain unlike the other brands. I find it at Trader Joe’s and my local natural foods store.
Nicole, do you use the plain Miyokos? I’m new into the dairy-free cream cheese and can’t stand the aftertaste…
Hi Patricia – I’m lactose intolerant. I use Green Valley, which tastes exactly like regular cream cheese. It’s made with regular cream (not non-dairy) but it’s lactose free. I find it at Whole Foods! I can’t stand any of the other non-dairy cream cheeses
Source for those colorful sprinkles? The ones around here look drab by comparison.
I am using these — nothing fancy.
Husband loves to bake cakes and I love to eat them. Oldest (3yrs) LOVES sprinkles and has been asking to make cupcakes. Youngest (nearly 3 months) can’t eat cake yet, obviously, but has a dairy sensitivity that means I also frequently can’t eat cakes. You may have created the perfect answer to the question, “It’s too cold and we to hike as planned- what should we do this weekend?” Thank you!
These sound wonderful! Can’t wait to make them!! Thanks for sharing!
Hi,
I can’t wait to make this. I am so glad to see a Vegan cake recipe on your blog. Thank you. Could you tell us the brand of your confetti? It’s so pretty.
Thank you.
Nancy
It’s absolutely not fancy in any way (and probably not vegan), just what I got from grocery delivery in early Covid months!
My son just started a egg free, dairy free, soy free diet for health reasons. You have made a 12 year old boy very happy today! Thank you!
Oh, thank you Deb for experimenting with vegan baking! My toddler son has multiple food allergies (including egg and dairy) and I now bake vegan out of necessity. I love your recipes because they are reliably delicious and tested, but can’t always make them for my whole family. Brava on the beautiful cupcakes and I can’t wait to try them! More vegan recipes to Deb’s high standards, please!
I love that you also cool your bakes outside in the winter. Here I thought I was cheating. 😂
You weren’t kidding about forgiving. Promised my 3yr old daughter we would make these. All of my cupcake cups/pans/makers were gone. Only had Christmas nonpareils. So in it went to a ~10” springform pan. I thought it would be too thin and cook in 8 minutes. It tripled in size and took about 23 minutes. My daughter stirred the nonpareils so it came out red and green with brown streaks but still perfect. Thanks again!
I’ll report back with full details, but I’m here to share a couple notes: one, the typical, grocery store-sized, 1.75 oz/49g bottle of sprinkles/rainbow jimmies is exactly the right amount to match the quarter- to one-third cup called for inside the cake; and two, the batter fills a nine-inch square pan perfectly. (I ran out of cupcake liners recently and I hate cleaning a cupcake pan after baking without liners. Baking small batches in this pan, or a large loaf pan, has been a p*ndemic-related delight.) Oh! Also, I used reconstituted coconut milk powder and canola oil in my version. For the frosting, I’ll do a simple, whisked buttercream: half a stick of butter, a big spoonful of plain, full-fat yogurt, a pinch of salt, a bloop of vanilla, and enough powdered sugar to get the consistency right. This was terrific last weekend on Deb’s jacked-up banana bread, again baked in this same square pan.
Turned out delicious. Pan size was just right. To build a very smart fellow baker’s comments on baking a single cupcake, I think that half of this recipe would be a good fit for a large loaf pan.
Made this today and followed exactly — even weighed ingredients! Came out pretty gummy and not great. Very bummed out. Hoping icing will save them, but should have stay true to my regular vegan cupcake.
Christina, I experienced a similar result with the cupcakes. I also don’t care for the aftertaste of the non-dairy cream cheese frosting so that’s getting chucked into trash and I’ll make something else to top I guess.
I had the same issue, gummy texture despite long enough bake time. Sounds like a couple people did too from comments above. I kept going over things in my head afterwards wondering if I maybe did some wrong, but I’m almost certain I followed it exactly and i also measured ingredients by weight. I don’t follow any dietary restrictions so I think I’ll try the regular funfetti recipe and skip this one next time.
Exact same thing happened to me. I also weighed the ingredients. Batter seemed a bit runny though. Normally I’m a pretty good baker but definitely had to bake these longer and they still came out oily and gummy as everyone else has mentioned.
Umm this is the answer to all my confetti cupcake dreams. Totally makibg this for purim thank you!!!
I made these last night because I shockingly had all the ingredients. They. Are. Awesome.
Thanks, as usual, for making sure we’re very well-fed.
As someone living alone, at this point in the pandemic, I have a freezer full of halved recipes of baked goods and just wanted one cupcake to eat now. Without an egg, I was able to scale down this recipe to a single cupcake and it came out great! Anyone wanting to do this:
16 g flour, 12 g sugar, 1/8 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 4 tsp milk, 1 1/4 tsp oil, 1/4 tsp lemon juice, 1/8 tsp vanilla, drop of almond extract. And I used a grating of nutmeg and no sprinkles. Thank you for this, the flavor is super adaptable, it would be great with a cup of tea.
I love the idea of making one cupcake! Thank you for telling me about this. I also cut down the Chocolate Dutch Baby recipe to one serving and wrote about it on that recipe. Sometimes it is so nice to just have one or two treats around but I would never have thought of one cupcake! :)
Well now you’ve just helped me decide what I’m eating for breakfast tomorrow, thanks! Scaling it down definitely helps scratch the baking (and eating) itch but let’s me try new things more frequently :)
This was the most brilliant idea ever- I wouldn’t have tried this recipe as I also have a freezer full of halved baked goods that I need to get through, but the one-cupcake version was too much to resist. Came out delicious- light and fluffy texture, took 15 minutes on the dot.
Oh! We NEED your scaled down Dutch Baby recipe!
i made this single cupcake yesterday and it really brightened my monday! thanks for sharing the recipe!
Not sure how I missed this comment but thank you — this is beautiful. My favorite thing about these vegan cakes is how easy it is to scale up and down because you don’t run into splitting eggs.
I just made these and agree about the gummy texture. I think because there is a lightness to them, they tend to stick together when you eat them. The cake itself doesn’t hold form like some non vegan recipes do. I thought the flavor was nice though. Kids enjoyed them without frosting.
I made these with soy milk, vegan butter, and some cheap sprinkles that turned my batter brown-purple. Still tasted great though! I also added some fresh lemon juice to the vegan cream cheese frosting.
Next time I might skip the liners and just line the tin with vegan butter because my cupcakes stuck to the liners.
Thank you so much for this recipe! We love egg free recipes in our house as one of my daughters is allergic to eggs and my kids love anything with sprinkles! I haven’t been able to find our favorite sprinkles for months, though, and I need them to be nut free. Somehow many sprinkles are labeled as “may contain nuts.” Yours always look so vibrant! Are they nut free, and if so, what brand are they? Thank you!
Oh boy! It’s funny how I had no craving for funfetti cupcakes until this very moment. Now, I’m going to find out if this recipe will tolerate a cup for cup swap with quality GF flour blend and then we’re in business. Not only can my husband not tolerate gluten, but I have a friend who can eat neither gluten nor dairy. What a fun surprise these would be if they are successful. I have also heard that using imitation vanilla is what yields a cake most like a box cake. Yes, my life’s goal is to make a homemade cake taste like a box mix. Oh the hardship!
How did the gluten free version turn out? I have yet to find a tasty vegan gluten free vanilla/sprinkle cake! Curious about your results.
Hi Deb!
How can I adapt the frosting recipe to make it chocolate frosting? I love that it doesn’t use butter and needs < 1 cup of powdered sugar.
Thanks!
You could add some cocoa powder to it, of course. You could also make the chocolate glaze I use here. But just keep in mind that the sweetened cream cheese whip I show here isn’t a frosting-frosting — it will be softer and less structured. And you might find once you add chocolate that it needs more sugar. Also keep in mind that you can make this classic fudgy buttercream with shortening, margarine, or nondairy butter.
As soon as I saw this recipe posted, I knew I had to try it. And it is most definitely worth it. It was super simple and quick to put together and resulted a flavorful and moist cupcake. Definitely recommend!
This is about to come out of my oven, whipped up after putting the kids to bed because it has been a looooong, thank-goodness-we-made-it-through-another-day-of-parenting kinda day, and cake is required.
Deb, I’m not sure if you can read our minds, but four of your last five recipes have been made almost immediately after you posted them, all delicious and enjoyed. I know this will be another of them. Thanks for the work you put into this blog. You are a gem.
We must have had the same day! 4yo in bed, these went right in the oven and are being enjoyed by adults without frosting (bc darn, turns out there’s no cream cheese in this house after all), because cake is indeed required.
I have a note on my go to yellow cake recipe: almond extract and powdered ginger instead of vanilla. It’s similarly subtle as vanilla is, but a little out of the ordinary. I might have to try this with cherries stirred in.
Cardamom instead of the ginger in some of my bakes. Just a dash.
Made this yesterday and was so yummy! Actually went to the site to bring up your coconut cake recipe and was so excited to see this instead! Always looking for more nondairy recipes! Made a cake instead of cupcakes and came out great. Definitely going in to my dessert rotation.
Would this recipe work as a layer cake?
Daisy, it worked well for me in a 9″ square pan, so I’d think it’d work great as a layer cake. If it were me, I’d feel confident in making layers of square or round pans in diameters of anywhere from 8-10″ each.
Absolutely. I list size and shape options in the post.
Have you tried these with a 1-1 gluten free flour?
I did! They were great! The GF flour I used had a little xanthan gum in it, so if you generally use a kind without, I’m not sure how that would go but I did a one-for-one substitution on flours with no other changes (well, I did use real cream cheese since I didn’t have any vegan cream cheese in the house!).
Wow I’m so impressed with how well these came out, really fast, easy and delicious. I think I might make this my new go-to cupcake recipe. I love how light the texture is. I couldn’t get vegan cream cheese so I tried to improvise a frosting using vegan buttery spread and icing sugar, it didn’t work. So I will make these again and hopefully follow the frosting recipe properly next time.
I made this yesterday as an 8-inch round cake (I wanted slightly more height than the 1 inch Deb indicated a 9-inch round pan would offer), using coconut oil and dairy milk, and it came out very well—took 28 minutes to bake. For frosting I used some strawberry buttercream from the Bravetart cookbook I already had in the freezer, but I think it would also be delicious with the cream cheese version Deb suggests. My toddler loved measuring the sprinkles (though more ended up in her mouth than on the cake during the decorating phase), so all in all, a success!
This recipe seems to be a variation of that staple of the Great Depression, Wacky Cake, so named because it does not use eggs, butter or milk and, in the original recipe was mixed in the baking pan. A very stable, tolerant but always good recipe. My go to cake recipe with all it’s possible variations.
Yes — my spin on the Wacky Cake is here, the Chocolate Olive Oil Cake.
did you “develop” this recipe or did you basically copy recipes from vegan blogs like minimalist baker and add some almond extract? why don’t you credit vegan bloggers who have been doing this for a much longer time than you have. you have a much larger platform, recipe book deals, etc.
Wow this seems kind of mean. Deb usually over-cites her recipe inspirations so maybe we should give her the benefit of the doubt.
Or maybe she should cite properly and do the proper research on who has already actually developed a vegan funfetti cupcake.
This is a Smitten Kitchen recipe; I developed it in my own kitchen over the last year. If it wasn’t, or if I so much as was inspired by or learned from another recipe, I’d say so. I always do — I enjoy giving credit where it is due — and didn’t suddenly last week, publishing the 1340th recipe in the 14th year of SK decide to change this practice.
Unlike so much of the cooking web, where eliminating sources isn’t so much a hushed practice, but a rule, I think cooking is more interesting when we cite where it came from and wish everyone would do it.
But this recipe came from the chocolate olive oil cake, which came from a Depression Era cake called a “wacky cake.” Flour was swapped for cocoa. Baking soda didn’t work here. Vinegar wasn’t needed; flavor boosts were. It was reduced to fill just 12 cupcakes. That’s it; that’s the process.
Excellent mic drop, Deb. Your citations are always appreciated and congratulations on your 1340th(!) recipe.
@Brittany – Multiple people can have developed recipes independently and arrived a similar result. Cooking and baking are not magic nor are ingredients and techniques proprietary.
Minimalist Baker already published an almost identical recipe years ago. You need to check for existing recipes before you start. And then cite them. It is basic research 101. Nowhere did I say that you do not cite in other recipes. You do, I know this. That is why I was surprised at how under researched this recipe is.
I’m a great fan of MB’s work, but I didn’t start there, or I would have said so. I’m now looking at the recipe and the sugar level is different, the flour level is different, the oil level is different, there’s baking soda in it, there’s apple cider vinegar, there’s less vanilla, there’s no almond, there’s no lemon. The ingredients are mixed in a different order. The frosting is different.
I’m sure it’s a wonderful recipe but I feel it is worth digging a level deeper into what is being said here: There are only so many ways to make vegan cakes; this is a fairly standard ingredient list. There are also only so many ways to make yellow layer cakes; most ingredient lists will be similar. Ditto with blueberry muffins, brownies, chocolate chip cookies. It’s the ingredient levels that change the outcomes. Personally, I put the most trust in recipe developers who you give credit freely when credit is warranted, and without worry that it will damage their professional prospects.
I did not explicitly say nor imply that you *started* with minimalist baker’s recipe. one can obviously come to an idea independent from another person, however, once you have your idea, it is crucial to do the proper research on the existing literature. a vegan funfetti cupcake recipe is a bit more specific and far less universal than a brownie or a chocolate chip cookie recipe. you are not a vegan food blog, vegan food bloggers exist and have been doing the work of actually developing vegan recipes for awhile. so how can you lay claim to “developing” a vegan funfetti recipe when one already has existed, albeit with SLIGHTLY different measurements and hardly dissimilar mixing order. it is essentially “loosely adapted” at this point. the ingredient levels did not radically alter the outcome of this recipe. you did not do the proper research. you are offering up nothing more than a recipe that most people are commenting, “can I use dairy milk” so what is the point?
Oh, dear. This seems like a classic case of doubling down despite all evidence to the contrary. I’ve been there. I imagine we’ve all been there given how human brains work and our penchant for sticking to a false narrative when it supports some aspect of our identity we feel is threatened. I’ve found the only thing that helps is kindness, so Brittany, may you be safe, may you be healthy, may you be happy, and may you live with ease.
As a vegetarian who’s considering veganism, I’m super grateful to have all the vegetarian/vegan recipes possible from all the platforms—large, small, exclusively vegan or not. The more the merrier for the planet, non-human animals, and us humans alike. Thanks for your wonderful work, Deb.
If something is not used as a source, it does not require a citation. There are A LOT of vegan funfetti cake recipes on the internet – if you develop your own recipe that works, why would you retroactively “research” other recipes and cite them if you didn’t use them to develop your recipe? That isn’t the way food writing, or any kind of writing, works. No one is inventing recipes at this point, everything’s been done before. There’s no need to double down on a theory that isn’t correct. You could just accept that cake – even vegan cake – isn’t that mysterious and move on :)
Personal sidebar: if people asked me the amount of ingredient-sub questions that Deb gets asked, I would yell at everyone and pull my hair out, but that’s why she does this for a living and I do not.
Actually I think Brittany makes a very good point, and sadly I think Rebecca is quite wrong in her ‘evidence to the contrary.” I’m not clear how what Brittany stated, which is her opinon, is a false narrative. But sadly, it seems anyone who doesn’t agree with what seems to be popular is told they are wrong and should essentially stop sharing their views. Having a real dialogue appears to be a thing of the past (and I am quite young for the record). Very sad.
I do think Deb has shared many sources over the years. It seems like from the recipe and all the comments that she developed it herself and talks about this. I agree that it’s always good to note where inspiration comes from.
Deb explicitly stated that she did *not* take any inspiration from other food bloggers in developing this recipe, but started with her chocolate olive oil cake. the “false narrative” is Brittany’s insistence that Deb must have used someone else’s confetti cupcake recipe as a starting point. her opinion that one must undertake a thorough historiography of a recipe before developing one’s own is a unique one and not one that’s widely shared or acknowledged as a necessary step.
What an unnecessarily mean comment from this Brittany person who is obviously looking for a fight and who didn’t even bother to make this recipe. I checked the Minimalist Baker recipe and it uses completely different measurements AND ingredients.
@Deb, I can’t imagine what other kinds of awful comments you receive on the daily. I always expect the baking community to be so wholesome and helpful, so comments like Brittany’s are really jarring to me. Just wanted to let you know how much I adore your recipes. I make your strawberry chiffon shortcake and vegan chocolate cakes often.
I made this last night. I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9×13 pan. It took about 30 minutes to cook at 350. The only change I made to the recipe was to use dairy milk instead of vegan, and topped it with whipped cream.
And it was AMAZING!! Seriously one of the best cakes I’ve ever made. I can’t explain exactly how, but it tastes like cake batter, in the best way possible. I will definitely make it again!
I had finished cupcakes within an hour of seeing the post. I did use a chocolate buttercream and real milk as I didn’t have any nondairy milk in the house. They were delicious and are almost gone.
Hi! These cupcakes were tasty. I used sunflower oil and ripple pea milk. I found the texture to be slightly gummy but could that be because of the milk/oil I used?
Hi Deb:
If I make this as a 8×8 cake, do you think it requires parchment/greasing the cake dish?
Yes. You will want to grease the pan and line the bottom with parchment. You should coat the parchment too, just because these cakes run sticky.
I had to substitute 200g cake flour for the all purpose, and used whole milk. I used 1/3 cup of Wilton tiny round sprinkles and they immediately bled into the batter and turned the whole thing blue! The cupcakes baked in 20 minutes at 175*C but like others said the texture was dense and kind of gummy, and they didn’t really smell like cake. I took the suggestion to mix minimally and they were baked well, I think the texture just wasn’t what I was looking for in a vanilla cake. That may be because of the amount of cake flour, or maybe the smaller amount of sprinkles would help make them less dense. (Also they were completely purple, but that was the fault of the sprinkles, and once they were frosted it didn’t really matter–next time I would try with AP flour and less, different sprinkles and see if it helps.)
My guess would be that the combination of cake flour and whole milk tipped this over the edge – cake flour is much finer ground than AP, and the extra fat/protein content in the whole milk could easily have overwhelmed the flour’s ability to absorb. My rule of thumb is that you can make one substitution (different flour or milk) to a recipe without mucking with ratios and methods, but more than one substitution (flour and milk) and you need to do a little remedial jiggling with the method or quantities to get it to come out right, and once you start playing with method or ratios, you really need a lot more experience to find the right tweaks first time around.
This recipe looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it (mostly because my toddler is allergic to egg and I struggle to find good eggless cake recipes) – but I have a question. What rainbow sprinkles do you use? Every time I’ve tried to bake with them the colour is washed out. I am based in the UK so maybe not using the right product (I bake from a lot of US sites like yours).
@Brittany : we don’t need people like you on this blog. Keep your friggin comments to yourself and if you don’t like what you read here then LEAVE. Deb has been around long enough and has the ethic and class many out there should follow.
@Deb : made these last night and they turned out great. Thanks for your work & inspiration.
she needs to cite. she did not invent nor develop this recipe. it is called giving proper credit to those who have already done the work. a quick google search would have showed that vegan food bloggers had already developed a vegan funfetti cupcake recipe. when someone has already done the work, you credit them. you may build off of or adjust, but you always credit an original source. This is not a mean comment nor an attack on Deb, just a simple request that she simply acknowledge the work already done.
Do the vegan bloggers credit Pillsbury, since they’re the makers of the original Funfetti (TM) cakes that are being ripped-off? Making a famous non-vegan recipe vegan is a really common thing that lots of people do. It doesn’t require researching everyone else who has also tried any time you omit eggs and dairy.
Made these with my sprinkle loving 4 year old daughter this weekend. Our only change was we used regular, dairy filled, cream cheese for the frosting. We made a batch on Saturday morning. When I am writing this it is Monday morning and there are no more cupcakes. :)
Hi. Not willing to buy a different milk. Can I sub cow’s milk or am I better off with a different recipe? Thank you!
Yes, you can use regular dairy in this recipe.
These were delicious! I made a strawberry version for my son’s fifth birthday. I made a strawberry concentrate from simmered down frozen strawberries and then mixed it into the cashew milk. Also used half white spelt flour and half whole wheat. Thank you for bringing a bit of brightness into our homes these days, Deb!
Dearest Deb,
I’m sure these are delicious, but how do they hold up against your other confetti cake recipe? The one ala Anna’s Sesame Street birthday however many years ago (I’m not a creeper, just make that recipe a lot.) I only ask bc that’s my favorite cake recipe and can’t imagine how it could get any better. In fact, I just convinced my four year old that’s what he wanted for his birthday!
If you’re happy with the original cake, no need to change what you’re making. Overall, this cake is more moist and “plush.” But a cake with butter and buttermilk will have a more classic flavor.
Do you think it would work to double the recipe for a generous 3 layer 8″ cake?
Btw, so excited to try making these! Thanks for the recipe.
We made these over the weekend using dairy milk, regular cream cheese and canola oil. My four year old and I whipped the batter up in ten minutes and the whole family was enjoying within the hour. Hands down delicious! We will definitely be making these on rotation!
It looks like a lot of readers are interested in which sprinkles you use. I will point out that you covered that question, very thoroughly, in your original confetti cake recipe (with Molly Yeh’s advice). Although many may hate to think it, artificially colored sprinkles seem to be the only ones that really work in a cake like this. I once put out a lot of effort to make sprinkles for a Martha Stewart cake recipe and it was a total bomb! So sad because it looked great in Martha’s photos. I’ll stick with store bought any time I might need them now. Thanks for the fun recipe and all you do. Stay warm in the frigid East Coast!
I loved these! They came together so fast and I had everything on hand. I think plush is the prefect descriptor. I used rainbow sprinkles from nuts.com–I think they came in a 1 lb bag and they are so tasty and colorful. I actually like these vegan cupcakes better than the NY Times copycat funfetti cake (by Candace Nelsin/Julia Moskin), which I found to be too dense.
YUM! I made 1/3 of this recipe for 4 cupcakes; I added lemon zest to boost that flavor but did everything as noted. So easy, so delightful!
I made a half-recipe using coconut oil and 2% cows milk, and frosted with a mini-batch of my typical back of the box buttercream. So quick and easy! The blue and green sprinkles in my rainbow mix bled, so the interior color is a bit unappealing, but the texture is lovely and they’re adorable when frosted. The flavor was a bit vegan-y for me, but I will boost the vanilla next time. I’d say I prefer the non-vegan version, but these are a great option especially when meeting various dietary requirements. Thanks for giving us such variety, Deb!
Thank you for this recipe! It came at the perfect time for me because I’ve just given up dairy (thanks to breastfeeding a baby who may have a milk allergy) and I am in the mood for cake. I can’t wait to make this!
These were delicious! BUT… Something happened to my sprinkles. As soon as they hit the batter all the color ran out, so we ended up with beige cupcakes full of little white pellets. 🤷♀️
I used loreann “princess cake” flavor emulsion instead of vanilla+almond extract – I’m guessing that’s the culprit? Word to the wise – don’t repeat my mistake!
I just wanted to say THANK YOU for throwing a vegan recipe in the mix and for the commenters that have ideas/comments on various dairy free alternatives.
I grew up in Europe in a country where baking with butter/nuts/milk/cream is at it’s core. But one of my kids has life threatening dairy, peanut and tree nut allergies. So life changes.
I’ve gotten really good at re-learning how to bake and how to sub stuff.
Great to hear how many folks are trying different ingredients because they actually have a different outcome (butter vs oil etc., dense vs. lighter)
But for those folks that might be wondering why anyone would “fix” a recipe that’s working well (the original funfetti or birthday cake for instance) and don’t “want” to buy dairy free/vegan products to make this cake…. Don’t. You don’t need to. (I don’t understand some of the comments sound so snide.)
Sometimes we don’t have the luxury of choosing.
I just made this and it is decidedly scrummy. I did not do dairy free. I used milk and cream cheese although I stuck with the oil ( I love oil based cakes. So moist and never dry out). I am adding this to my repertoire of cakes I can make at the drop of a hat (the chocolate olive oil cake is in this category). So happy to have another treat to give my 2 boys who have been real troopers during this pandemic mess. They may not be able to see their friends but they will have cake! Thanks Deb!!!
I made these and they are amazing. So tasty! My kids loved them, definitely will be making again.
I’m wondering if this could be made in cake form, and what size pan you would recommend?
There’s something very appealing about an old-fashioned white cake. Since I have no kids around to bake for right now, I’d probably leave out the sprinkles. But I’d love to try substituting mini chocolate chips, or to keep the colorful effect, mini m&m’s. I wonder if they would sink to the bottom. Has anyone tried it?
Deb- these are outstanding. LOVE how quick they were to make and they made the cut for the 9yr old’s birthday cupcakes today! WOO HOO!
Oh these look delicious! My girls love anything with sprinkles. When we travel, they pick anything out just because it has sprinkles. This looks like an easy recipe we could try in our RV. Thanks for the recipe.
Made these for my kids birthday today, after much anticipation (she requested cupcakes & loves rainbows). They taste terrible. No one ate more than a bite. Basically in the trash tonight. So- if you’re planning these for a bday or event I suggest you test them out first to see if you like them. Huge bummer for me on her big day :/ (luckily she’s forgotten already! Thank god for toddler energy!)
I’m sorry they were such a disappointment. Something that I think has come up in reviews that are happy vs. disappointed might be more about managing expectations. As I explain from the top, these are softer and more plush than confetti cupcakes made with eggs and butter. But I also explain up top there is less flavor, without the butter and buttermilk perfuming the batter. Some people who can eat dairy and eggs might try these and go back to my original confetti cake. But for others who either found it too firm or cannot eat the ingredients, my goal was for this to be an as-delicious-as-possible solution. Plus, I think/hope it also addresses the over-leavened taste I’ve found in many vegan baked goods by ditching the baking soda and keeping the baking powder in check.
I halved the recipe and made this with dairy milk and dairy cream cheese. Turned out delish! We colored the cake blue and frosting pink, and decorated with candy eyeballs.
I made this today in the manner of a Wacky Cake – directly in the 8×8 pan, no mixing bowl. Worked great. I will be sharing this with my Cub Scouts virtually in a few weeks.
Deb! Thank you for the snow day treat! The Park Slope Food Coop was out of rainbow sprinkles (probably because everyone reads this blog and is also making these cupcakes), so we got chocolate sprinkles. This was beyond okay with the 3-year-old chocolate fiend who helped me make these. We used canola oil, unsweetened coconut milk from a carton, and baked them in a silicone heart-shaped cupcake mold. (My birthday is Valentine’s Day and over the years my mother has gifted me every possible kind of heart-shaped cookware.) Anyway, the texture was perfect! And because we are kind of extra and we knew the chocolate sprinkles aren’t known for their chocolate intensity, we finished each cake with a thin smear of Nutella. Perfectly indulgent and so fast and easy!
Hi,
wondering if anyone out there can help with why my cupcakes didn’t turn out. I thought I followed all directions well but they were not white and domed as shown.
I used oat milk and oil. No changes to anything. . .the color was the thing I was saddest about as the photo here looks so cute and i LOVE white cake. They looked and tasted more like sweet cornbread. . .
Help!! I want to succeed.
Oh my goodness I just realized I used baking soda and not baking powder. Chemistry lesson. I blame my kids for the lack of brain power. Their punishment is eating my mess ups and they don’t seem too bothered. : )
Are you at any kind of altitude? That seems to be making a big difference here.
So delicious! I used unsweetened almond milk and canola oil, and they came out fluffy and flavorful. The frosting was tasty too and I didn’t miss the dairy. I was worried after so many comments about gummy cupcakes, but I was careful not to overmix the batter and they were exactly what I had hoped for when I first saw the recipe.
These are delicious simple cupcakes! I used 2% milk and leftover bottled key lime juice instead of lemon juice because that’s what I had on hand. I also left out the almond extract because of my husbands nut allergy. They were a little gummy fresh out of the oven but the next day were perfect. I will be holding onto this recipe for sure. They took about 5 minutes to throw together and are good even without frosting!
These were so gummy and disappointing. Not a normal cupcake texture. My 5yo didn’t mind, but the adults couldn’t finish theirs. I’m not sure if it was the use of whole milk instead of non-dairy milk, but I would not make these again. I’ll stick with regular butter and egg cupcakes.
So fantastic! Used whole wheat pastry flour, halved the sugar in both the cupcakes and “classic quick non-dairy buttercream” frosting option, and they were a real hit! Whole wheat flour dampened the funfetti brilliance, but just goes to show how flexible this recipe is!
These cupcakes are so good. My roommate and I have made them two weeks in a row. Please create more cupcake recipes like this!
Made this with my three year old this morning – it was easy enough for him to help me with and of course I loved that it could go in one bowl. My 8 week old has a dairy allergy and since I am nursing her that means I’m dairy free for the foreseeable future. This was a wonderful homemade treat and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything as I sometimes do with dairy free items. This is definitely a new staple for us.
Oh I should add we bought dairy free frosting to make one thing simpler – if I’d been cooking without a little kid I’d have happily made one but wanted to make sure I kept his interest throughout the project!
After reading some comments about how these came out gummy, I was a bit nervous to try these. But since they seemed so easy I thought why the heck not?
Anyways, I really liked how these turned out. I weighed all the ingredients including the liquids (which I’m usually too lazy to do). I used canola oil and oat milk for the liquids. I also stirred the batter very minimally – it was lumpy like pancake batter, but the cupcakes came out lump free :) They don’t taste like buttery cupcakes, but they’re soft and moist and have that birthday cake flavour I really love when I want to eat some funfetti cake.
made these for my sister’s birthday. i ate six. the cake itself is so dangerous, it makes these so good i’m pretty sure i can never make them again. the frosting i made (didn’t have ingredients for the recipe frosting) wasn’t even that good, so if i were to make them with good frosting they’d be even better.
Made these for my Son’s first birthday. Fun to look at and delicious to eat! No gummy texture, as some others experiences. I would absolutely make these again!
Of all the smitten kitchen posts, this one has the most snide or rude or argumentative comments. Are people all (even unconsciously) triggered because there’s a vegan baked good on this site?! As I said in my comment above, we personally loved the cupcakes! Deb-another great recipe…as always!
Hello! I made these last night. They were easy, I used dairy milk, and they came together beautifully. Just one question – I used vegetable oil, the amount specified, and they seems reallyyyy oily. I put them onto paper towels out of the pans just to see if some of it would soak out. They still had a faint oil taste; wondering if I shouldn’t have used vegetable oil? have you gotten that comment before, would canola be better? or (bc I’m not vegan) could I simply use melted regular butter? I love the texture and flavor of these, so I don’t want to change that too much! thanks and LOVE your site.
You can use regular melted butter. I actually used a melted vegan butter a couple rounds, and then extremely basic vegetable oil in the others and didn’t have an issue with either. But of course, the more nuance the flavor of the oil, the more flavor it will add.
I made these last night with canola oil and dairy milk (whole milk). I didn’t even frost them, and they were delicious and so easy. Texture was light and not gummy at all. I would definitely make these again – sprinkles make everything more festive.
Sorry if this has been already asked, but couldn’t find it. Do you recommend a certain type of rainbow sprinkle? (I call them jimmies!) I have bad luck finding tasty and colorful jimmies here. Either too crunchy or blech. Thank you!
Your chocolate olive oil cake is the first cake my son ever cooked by himself. And it is a family favorite! When you post a vegan recipe, I know it is going to be worthwhile. Thanks in advance for this one! I can’t wait to make these for Valentine’s Day. I rarely comment, so I’ll take this opportunity to add that you are the best. I love your recipes, but I mostly I love your writing. You are so relatable and hilarious! I wish you and your family all the best!
I appear to be the only one who made this and found the almond extract to be too much as I am not seeing any comments about it! Although looking again I am seeing many people having left out the almond extract entirely, so maybe there just weren’t too many commenters who actually used it. Regardless, I wonder if it might have to do with the age of my extract as it had admittedly been sitting in my pantry for a few years. This theory goes against the general consensus that flavors weaken over time, but my thought is that the alcohol maybe evaporated a bit leaving the flavor behind?? Or maybe that makes no sense as the flavor would evaporate along with the alcohol. Any thoughts?
TL;DR: I thought the almond flavor was too strong. My extract was old. Deb, have you ever found that extracts get stronger with age (I don’t mean a homemade vanilla with a bean sitting in it)?
My son wants a rainbow cake for his 5th birthday, and I want to try coloring the layers with natural foods (blueberries, beets, etc.), so I’m looking for a white cake recipe as the base for my layers. It seems like most white cakes are a bit dry from the lack of egg yolks, so I like that this one avoids eggs all together, and the plush texture sounds appealing. Do you think it would work for my purposes (minus the sprinkles)?
Yes, it works for coloring. I’ve done it too — pink and purple with ground dried berries. Flavor doesn’t come through a whole lot, fwiw.
I made these with my three year old. I used soy milk, coconut oil, and omitted the almond extract (because I didn’t have any). Baked it in a square pan for 25 minutes and skipped out on the frosting. The cake was delicious and addictive! It came out more chewy than plush (probably because I let my toddler do most of the recipe on his own), but I loved the resulting texture. It was a hit with the whole family!
I always have great success with SK recipes but this one let me down. I weighed dry ingredients, didn’t overmix, and even extended cook time. They still came out gummy and too dense/wet. Pass on the recipe, as there are more reliable ones out there.
I am defs tossing out my other confetti cake recipe! This is so tender, flavourful and not at all dry. I did a six inch layer cake with chocolate frosting. So good!
These cupcakes live up to the hype! I made em with coconut milk and they were as plush as could be. Thank you, Deb!
Perhaps I messed up but these just didnt rise enough for me. They were squat little cupcakes. That said, they were eaten super fast since anything with sprinkles is just irresistible. I will likely make them again when we’re low on eggs (slacker chickens!).
Thanks!
Could we make this into a layer cake?
Yes, instructions in the post
I made this today – fantastic cake!! Very moist!!
I made two 6” cakes to make a mini layer cake (we are a household of 3). It took 27 minutes to bake – one I took out at 25. Perfect! Thanks Deb!
Note: I used dairy milk & avocado oil. I did NOT put parchment in the bottom of the pans and I really should have. They almost stuck & I almost lost part of one cake. Close call.
I’m so so so disappointed by these! I’m in the group of folks who ended up with gummy cupcakes, despite reading all the comments and tips. I have no idea what I did wrong. And the frosting wouldn’t whip up to boot!
Tried out this recipe today, and the cupcakes were so yummy! They were moist and fluffy and the almond extract bumped up the flavor. Loved them!
I made these the other day and I have learned a lot from the experience. I had to use substitutions that did not work well for me. I tried to substitute almond milk for whole milk and the oil that I had was sunflower seed oil. They turned out pretty dense. My second lesson was more of a personal problem that it turns out I don’t like almond extract. I think I may try making these again with almond milk and a more neutral oil or vegan butter, but leaving out the almond extract. The vegan cream-cheese frosting was the star.
I am just dairy-free right now because of son’s cow’s milk allergy. If I wanted to add egg, what would I switch out?
Just made these this morning for a vegan friend (I don’t typically do a lot of vegan baking) and I LOVE how they came out. After reading in the comments that some folks thought they lacked flavor, I decided to use virgin coconut oil as the fat and I also added the zest of a whole lemon to give it a lemony flavor. The texture is wonderful and the flavor is delicious. (Used a different frosting recipe, so can’t comment on the frosting). Would definitely make these again!!
Wanted to make cupcakes with the kids the weekend of Jan 30-31 and didn’t have a good vegan recipe on hand. Thought “now I’ll have to go to some vegan blog that will want me to buy expensive/weird substitutes I’ll never use again” and then thought “or some recipe blog that I don’t know if I can trust and I’ll get cupcakes that taste like a box mix.” Then I clicked over to your site and THIS RECIPE WAS JUST POSTED. Do I need to say more. Thank you!
this recipe is AMAZING! It is so quick, easy and (for me) uses staples that I almost always have in the house. AND the cupcakes are SO TASTY! The flavor is great, the texture is great, they are moist! Also, they are (almost) just as good without the frosting. I’ve already made them twice. I didn’t know that my life was missing a go-to confetti cake recipe…but here we are! Thank you Deb!
I made these for my son’s Valentine’s Day Party at daycare (he is anaphylactic to egg/dairy). I thought they turned out great, but his teacher pulled me aside and asked me to make them again for St. Patrick’s Day because the kids “ATE THEM UP!” She said they loved these cupcakes and I’m SO happy you posted this recipe because it’s one “normal” thing my son can eat with his friends.
Full disclosure, I did not use the frosting recipe here, I’m only speaking to the cupcake part (I used canned frosting because I’m a mom of a toddler with allergies and also have a full time job so I don’t have time to make from scratch frosting in addition to cupcakes too!). Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe!!
Has anyone tried making the batter in advance? I will be using dairy options (my friend for whom I am making this eats dairy just not eggs) and I wanted to know if anyone had prepped the batter a day in advance? I am thinking of doubling the batter and baking one batch today (for ourselves) and another tomorrow for my friend.
The taste was okay, but I did have the gumminess issue with some but not all of them. My sprinkles were fine for the first few, but melted into the batter as I scooped more, so they weren’t as pretty. The gumminess was less evident after refrigerating. I used 1 percent milk and regular cream cheese, no almond extract. Easy to make. Worth a shot to not have the over-dry experience. Deb, yours always look so beautiful!
So having made this: these are really, really good and this will be my go-to eggless vanilla cake recipe. Plush and moist is the exact way to describe this. The texture of the crumbs is sublime.
I used butter for vegan butter (6 tbsp as Deb suggested to someone else) and regular whole milk for non-vegan milk and regular cream cheese for the frosting.
I baked for 20 mins. The pale color threw me off and ‘twas a good thing I inserted the toothpick to check if it was cooked! It was. Then it struck me there was no egg in this; hence, the pale color.
The first two bites took some adjusting to. It felt subdued and lacked the oomph of a regular cake. But it sort of grew on me as I ate a few more bites. I wonder if it will taste better tomorrow and a few days later. That’s what I remember happening with SK’s vegan chocolate olive oil cake. The day I made it, it tasted like it lacked the butter and the eggs and the dairy. But it tasted phenomenal the next day. Like I’d totally make it vegan or not. So I am interested in seeing if the same thing happens with this!
Note: I tried this a few hours after baking and it tasted much much better. I think by the end of a day this should be phenomenal. If anyone wants to bake the whole batter in a 6” pan like I did: will take 40 mins to cook. I tin foiled the cake after a while. Two layers might be a better idea.
P.S: I forgot to put sprinkles in the batter!
Deb you have outdone yourself!!!!! These are incredible and come together so quickly – these aren’t the best vegan cupcakes I’ve made, they are the best cupcakes PERIOD!!!
These made the perfect dessert for a 76th birthday supper this evening. Because the recipe has no egg, it was very easy to scale down to four cupcakes for our two-person celebration. I used 1% milk and safflower oil and baked for 15 minutes; the texture was just right. Because they looked so cute with their confetti-ed tops, I skipped the frosting and thought they tasted delicious on their own. How nice to know I can come up with such a festive treat with so little time and effort!
Today I needed to make some sort of cake and was out of butter and eggs. For a five-minute prep time recipe, these are good. I used dairy milk and a little orange extract rather than almond extract. No sprinkles. I frosted them with leftover dairy cream cheese frosting. I filled the muffin tins a little more full than recommended and ended up with only 11 cupcakes. The cupcakes rose well and their texture is light, rather than gummy. The next time I accidentally take leftover cream cheese frosting out of the freezer and leave it on the counter and have no butter in the house, I’ll consider making these cupcakes again.
As soon as I added the sprinkles, they leeched all of their color into the batter and turned it an unappetizing grayish green-brown. What sprinkles do you recommend that won’t do that?
Lauren, did you use spherical sprinkles or rod-shaped sprinkles? It seems like the former is a culprit in color-leaching. This is a common supermarket brand that works perfectly for me (your mileage may vary): https://www.bettycrocker.com/products/dessert-decorating-products/sprinkles/betty-crocker-rainbow-sprinkles – but I have a 9 oz. (!) bottle that is also labeled “ice cream sprinkles” in addition to rainbow, jimmies, etc. – the typical labels to many people.
I needed a cake for someone allergic to eggs, and was so happy to find one on Smitten Kitchen! Made two batches for 4-6″ layers. I started checking at the recommended time, but needed an additional 7-10 minutes. I forwent the sprinkles and put in two drops of blue gel food colouring for a gender (aka sex, gender is a construct) reveal cake. Next time would use one drop, they were VERY blue!
Cakes rose beautifully, nice texture, held together well. I used a scale to measure ingredients. No gumminess issues, I was very careful not to overmix. Used 2% milk for the dairy.
Would bake again for an eggless cake recipe.
These are fantastic. I didn’t have nut milk or vegan cream cheese in the house so i made them with olive oil, whole milk, and normal cream cheese and they were a big hit! I would definitely make them again. Thanks, Deb!
Has anyone made this in a mini muffin tin? Do you think you would just reduce the length of the baking time?
I didn’t try that. Love, Carol.
Not sure if anyone has already said this, but use the more stick shaped rainbow sprinkles, NOT the cute little multicolored ball sprinkles. I used the little ball shaped ones and they dissolved into the batter and turned it a gross gray color :p
Made these and they were delish! I don’t follow a vegan diet but wanted to try them anyway. No one knew that they were vegan!
Thanks Deb!
These were so good! I used coconut oil and oat milk and baked the for about 22 minutes. I definitely recommend letting them cool all the way, I got impatient and tried one before it was cool and the bottom was a bit soggy. They are even better the next day. Another great Smitten recipe!
I tried making this recipe twice with gluten-free flour. The first time it didn’t come out perfect, a little dense, but not gummy and the flavor was okay. Second time I used a different gluten-free flour with some almond flour and just lowered the milk to 200g – I kept everything else the same. It came out great! So I think it just depends on the gluten-free flour you’re using if you’re trying to make this GF too. Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank you SO much for this recipe! I love to bake but have needed to be dairy & egg-free while nursing my baby daughter who has some serious food sensitivities. This recipe is delicious, as all of your are, and I am so excited to have a treat I can make for celebrations that my whole family AND I can enjoy.
This looks AWESOME however, quick note for other moms like me who are going ‘dairy free and soy free’. A surprising fact is that many sprinkles (like the ones seen above) contain soy and special sprinkles may need to be purchased. I would use store brand (or silk) almond milk, Earth balance vegan butter, and Diaya non dairy cream cheese for this recipe. Love the idea of this recipe and can’t wait to try it out for the next family birthday party!!
As a vegan who has terribly missed the Funfetti cakes of my childhood, THANK YOUUUU
Turned out great!! I used soymilk and vegetable oil, doubled recipe to make a two layer 9″ cake for my son’s 7th birthday.
These were delicious – so glad to have a vegan-friendly recipe in my back-pocket… thanks Deb! I used pastry flour, canola oil, sprinkles and mini chocolate chips. Weighed the flour and sugar. Texture was perfect for us. When freshest, the chocolate chips seemed excessive for my taste buds, but the next day… just right :-)
Add me to the list of people who got gummy cupcakes. Used unsweetened oat and almond milks, sunflower oil and measured everything on the scale/to the mL. Was super careful not to overmix. And all the color came off the sprinkles. 5 year old was thrilled with the results, me not so much.
All I had were the Wilton rainbow nonpareils which I discovered bleed like crazy as soon as they touch the batter, and made the end result kind of visually unappealing. I even used the 1/4 instead of the 1/3 cup! I’m making a do-over cake now and used maybe tablespoon or less in the batter since I didn’t have time to go source other sprinkles. I still wanted to have a colorful speckled cake and I think it’s worked out much better! I like that this uses pantry staples and doesn’t require me to “sacrifice an egg,” which is a pandemic-related habit I’ve developed even though I *know* I can just go to the store and buy more eggs when I need to.
Made these with Ripple pea protein milk and Earth Balance Buttery Sticks for my dairy and egg-allergic daughter’s fifth birthday. She loved them! The texture was fine; they weren’t overly sweet, which I appreciated.
Have made these as written to great acclaim from my vegan kids. However my daughter’s favourite cake from childhood contained a lot of butter, five eggs and a block of marzipan (from Nigella Lawton’s Domestic Goddess book).
So if you actually want them to taste of marzipan…
I subbed all the vanilla for almond and upped the lemon by an extra tbsp.
Utterly delicious without icing, sublime with strawberries, raspberries and raspberry vegan ice cream.
Argh, Nigella Lawson, sorry
Do you think this might work if I used blueberries instead of confetti?
Made these with regular whole milk but otherwise followed the directions (and used canola oil). They came out great!
Hi, I made the recipe and didn’t have lemon juice or almond extract so I left them out. I made them as cupcakes just as the rest of the recipe is written. One problem I had was that the bottoms got all weird and hollow and stuck a lot to the cupcake liners too. This has never happened to me before and I make Deb’s red velvet cake in cupcake form and her pumpkin cupcakes. This was the first time this has happened. I’m not sure what I might have done wrong…
I made a double batch in a 9×13 and it took approximately forever to bake, but WOW, when it comes to one-bowl vegan cake, it kicks the pants off of those “depression cakes.” I’m excited to make this again!
Oh, one other note: we had no lemon juice, so I used half white wine vinegar and half water. I imagine lemon juice is a better flavor, but I think it worked out just fine.
I made this in a 9 inch cake pan and it did not turn out well. I baked it for almost 30 minutes and the texture was, as others have said, gummy and just not pleasant . I’ve made other vegan cakes and haven’t had this problem, so I’m not sure what the issue is.
Oh, and I used unsweetened almond milk and canola oil.
Whoa these are SO good. Exceeded every one of my expectations. I made it not vegan because of what I had on hand and these are still hands down the best homemade cupcakes I’ve ever had.
Deb- I am so excited to try this recipe for my daughter’s birthday. She is dairy and treenut allergic. Your chocolate olive oil cake is a staple in our house and a recipe that I share with the allergy community on the regular. Just wanted to say thank you! ❤️
Why does this cake not use cornstarch but the other confetti cake does?
Can I make these plush cupcakes with regular milk? If I omit the lemon juice how much more vanilla extract do I need to add to pump up the flavor?
Hi Deb! I read that you used Tofutti and your local bagel place’s non-dairy option. I tried Daiya, and it was good (maybe more okay) but it didn’t really whip the way dairy cream cheese would. Did I do something wrong? Wondering why it’s more rmty and not firm…. Thank you! I haven’t tried the cupcakes yet, just made them last night for my sons birthday today and am up early making the frosting:)
I made this recipe as a cake and as cupcakes and it was a true hit both times! I used grapeseed oil and upped the vanilla to 2 tsp because I didn’t have almond extract. This is definitely going into the regular rotation. Thanks for another simple and delicious recipe, Deb!
Your sprinkles are such bright and pretty colors! What’s your favorite source?
I think I’m using Betty Crocker Parlor Perfect here, but I don’t have a real preference.
Just made these little gems. Delicious and so easy. Perfect for two people. Thanks Deb!! 🇨🇦
Hi Deb, I made these tonight and they were scrumptious and exactly as described. My daughter has a severe egg allergy and when I saw this recipe didn’t contain eggs, I got so excited. I have tried many eggless vanilla cakes, none of which have blown my socks off, and you are a kindred food spirit (that’s a thing, right?). Like some people just click with an artist and they feel like they just GET them? You’re like that for me but with food! I make your recipes, and you just get it. I don’t have to alter your recipes because they’re too sweet or lacking flavor, etc. You just get it- for me. As in art, we all have different preferences and I’m not saying those who prefer milk chocolate over dark chocolate are WRONG (yes I am), but they don’t get it. They don’t get that when I want chocolate, I want CHOCOLATE. This comment has really gotten away from me, hasn’t it? Anyway, I got so excited when I saw you had a recipe for white cake that didn’t call for eggs because I knew it would be good. Not ‘good for a cake without eggs’, but good. And it was! I read through many of the reviews before making and couldn’t believe some of them, for either their lack of constructive feedback or just downright bristled absurdity. Naturally those folks would feel the need to spend so much time in your comment section. I have enjoyed your brilliance for many years (and have shared it with others) and have never taken the time to comment and say so. I knew I’d make this cake and wanted to make a point of coming back after I had to thank you for it as well as for all of your recipes, cookbooks, and generally bothering to share the goodness with us, even if it means you occasionally have to respond to some nonsense in your comments section. You’re wonderful.
I also found this recipe to be gummy and a little flour-y. I missed butter and eggs. I did the cake as a 9×13 single layer without putting frosting in the middle though, I wonder if I had a higher frosting:cake ratio I wouldn’t have minded the cake texture as much.
I made them but since I did not have almond extract, I added Mango essence, which I had on hand LOL and lime zest! Then instead of icing, I used a good quality, gourmet cotton candy. Some kids were really happy! BTW I loved the texture and the moistness of the cake! Thank you Deb! You are an inspiration
I love this recipe but as soon as I put my (target brand) sprinkles in, they started to bleed and turned the cupcakes purple! Is there a particular brand of sprinkles I should be using or something I should do to them beforehand? Thank you!
These are so easy and delicious! Truly plush, even when they looked like they had lost their rise. So good!! Will definitely make again soon
I made this recipe as cupcakes and they were a huge hit! I made two tweaks. I added some powdered dehydrated strawberries to the frosting by just replacing some of the powdered sugar with the strawberry powder. About a third. It made the frosting a pretty pink and really brought a fun strawberry flavor to the party. I also added a 1/2 tsp of sea salt to the frosting. I made the cupcakes the day before and put them in the fridge. I made the frosting day of and took everything separate to a party and added the frosting and sprinkles right before serving.
I was worried about the texture after reading many of the other comments, but mine turned out perfect. I couldn’t be more happy with the texture, no gumminess whatsoever! I used weights, grape seed oil and oat milk, and even whisked a bit more than I would normally to get rid of the lumps (mostly). They did take about 10 minutes longer to bake. Thanks for another amazing recipe Deb!
I really enjoyed this cake. Four other people tried it and all seemed to enjoy it, though some said it was dense (maybe it was but its density didn’t bother me). I used light (as in, NOT extra virgin or regular virgin) olive oil and Silk almond milk. I made it into a 6-inch three-layer cake; took about 17 minutes I think.
I opted for the non-dairy buttercream recipe you provided for the frosting, and used vegetable shortening and used Kite Hill cream cheese. It turned out pretty good too! I doubled the recipe since I was layering so much, and it made more than enough (but I’m glad I doubled it).
I have successfully made this recipe as cupcakes several times. However, when I made it today as a double batch in two 9” rounds (plus two extra cupcakes for testing), I’m sorry to say that the cakes turned out sticky and gummy. I think the problem was that I weighed the ingredients. When I put 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar into my mixing bowl, the weight exceeded the listed measure by roughly 50 grams. Accordingly, I removed enough granulated sugar to match the intended 300 grams. I am pretty sure this is the only time I’ve used the weight measures, and this is the only time I’ve had the problem. Moreover, I’m confident the problem is not the double batch, because I made the two tester cupcakes and they were also off. I hope this comment is helpful. Thanks for your hard work, Deb.
I made these with coconut oil (it’s what I had, and I was low on butter) and Ripple milk. They were easy, pretty, and fun for the kids and tasted great, but came out a bit dense and with lower rise than expected. I’m at high altitude (Denver). Should I be adjusting the leavening? Or could I have overmixed? Felt like too much to whisk to the “no lumps” phase.
Altitude can definitely affect the rise, especially with a cake like this. Do you have an egg allergy? If not, I’d go for a more classic vanilla cupcake. (This is intended to be vegan.)
My son wants a graham cracker cake of this birthday this year and it needs to be vegan. Would this recipe work by replacing half the flour with graham cracker crumbs like you do in your graham cracker cupcakes? I was also considering replacing some of the sugar for brown sugar. Thank you!
I’d do a test run. Theoretically, yes, but without eggs etc. it might be extra-heavy. Best to check with a cake layer first.
Love these, Deb!
If your kid, like mine, has food allergies and you have to send them to school with special treats of their own on birthdays – this is a great recipe to size down because it doesn’t require halving eggs. Here’s a reportioned recipe that makes 2 cupcakes, for anyone interested:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2.5 tsp oil
1/6 cup soy milk (2 tbs + 2 tsp)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Generous 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (I left out the almond)
2 tsp sprinkles
2 tbs sugar
Thanks Deb, I bake a lot and have used this recipe multiple times- it tastes great, great texture and is sooooo quick and easy.
I tripled the last batch for a sheet cake with chocolate icing and a digger on top for my 2 year old. Everyone loved it X
My son has extensive food allergies, and I made these for his first birthday with ripple milk, avocado oil, and bobs red mill gluten free flour. They were a huge success! Thank you for helping me figure out a way to give him a somewhat normal 1st birthday experience!
Looks amazing! I assume you could make the frosting using dairy-based ingredients with no changes other than the swap? I have some cream cheese I need to use!
If I wanted to use dairy, is real milk, cream cheese okay, will that work? Thanks!
I made this as an 8-inch square cake and loved it. My farcical recipe commenter two cents is that I threw in almost a whole bag of roughly chopped cranberries (thanks to the cranberry bars recipe in SK Every Day I am now a cranberry fiend!). That was objectively an insane thing to do but it turned out so well!! The recipe is a keeper and I will definitely use it next time I need cupcakes (vegan or not!)
This recipe doesn’t make sense to me… 1 cup plus 7 tablespoons = 190g of flour but 1 cup = 235ml of milk? How does that work? Ratio seems off and batter is super runny. So sad to waste ingredients like this.
That’s how much 1 cup of milk weighs. I’m not sure your confusion. Weigh it yourself to check but it might vary just a touch based on type of milk used. And one cup of flour weighs approximately 120-130 grams so another just under half cup (7 tbsp) would equal about 190. The measurements are fine. Maybe off on the flour by 10 grams or so, if that.
I made a test batch of these before making them for a birthday this weekend due to the mixed reviews. I should have known better! I’ve never made a recipe from SK that didn’t turn out. They were delicious, plush as stated. The crumb isn’t like your typical cupcake, but it is so good, and so, so simple to make.
Could you substitute kefir or non-dairy kefir for the milk?
Could you add some cocoa powder to make these somewhat chocolatey?
Would this turn out if made 24 mini muffins instead? Obviously less time in oven. Thanks!
Ok, I just made these to take to a vegan friend’s house tonight for dessert.
I read through ALL the comments and I was a little nervous, but I truly have no idea why so many people had issues. I just tasted one and I think it’s delicious! I used grapeseed oil and oat milk, and I do taste an oat flavor in the final product so almond or coconut milk might be better but other than that, it’s a great vegan cupcake! No gumminess or dense texture at all. I baked them for 25 minutes total. I would recommend turning the pan for even distribution halfway through.
I did not beat the batter much at all, just a light whisk to incorporate flour and then one quick stuff with the spatula when adding the sprinkles.
I use the generic bar sprinkles/jimmies that come in a giant tub. They work best for funfetti cake.
Turn with the spatula! Autocorrect!
I used Kite Hill cream cheese. I found the icing to be very wet. Almost like a glaze, I had to triple the powdered sugar. just FYI
Excellent recipe. The best vegan cupcake!! Only changes I made were no sprinkles and a little extra almond extract.
I love these cupcakes and I am not a cupcake lover. I undercooked mine and they are still delicious. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
These were amazing!!
I made the cupcakes without sprinkles for a friend with a dairy intolerance–they turned out great! I used Ripple Pea Milk and the taste and texture were perfect–plush and not too sweet. The only minor issue is that I only ended up with 10 cupcakes rather than 12, so perhaps I overfilled the cups slightly, but they rose beautifully and I actually liked them this way. So next time I might double the recipe and end up with 20 cupcakes :)
I did use a different frosting–I made a vegan strawberry buttercream using Miyoko’s vegan butter and freeze-dried strawberries (source: https://veganhuggs.com/vegan-strawberry-frosting/). The cupcakes paired beautifully with the strawberry frosting, especially with that subtle hint of almond in the cake. I highly recommend giving it a try if you’re ever looking for an alternative to the cream cheese frosting.
Yummy! I wanted a quick cupcake recipe, and this is it! I used King Arthur’s gluten free measure for measure flour, subbed in a little Kerrygold butter with the neutral oil, and pulled back the vanilla by 1/2 tsp and the almond extract just a tinge. I used Califia unsweetened almond milk, too, and made a half recipe of Kitchn’s buttercream recipe to ice the cupcakes with. The cupcake texture is plush! So soft and yummy! 20 minutes was the perfect baking time, and I let them cool as directed. The only thing I’d do differently next time is add all melted butter (Deb said to up it to 6 Tbsp) and keep the extract levels the same. The flavor was a bit bland, but they are still delicious.
Made as directed but baked in a 9×9 square pan. Came out great. I think the combo of vanilla, almond, and lemon juice erases the sort of “vegan” flavor of the plant milk.
Also, to prevent the sprinkles from dissolving, I put half the batter in the pan, put on the sprinkles, swirled with spatula, added remaining batter, sprinkles, swirl.
I made this (6x the recipe) as part of a large cake for a book release party, and it was a huge hit! Multiple people commented that it was the best cake they’d ever had; I appreciated how simple and inexpensive it was to make. I increased the almond extract since that was a requested flavor and used dairy milk as there was no need for it to be vegan. Cannot recommend this recipe enough–thanks, Deb, for an absolute winner!
The perfect allergy-friendly (except for gluten) cupcake for kids parties. I paired it with a dairy free buttercream.
The cake was surprisingly good! I wouldn’t have known it was vegan. Be careful with the almond- easy to put in more than recommended (especially in a half batch). Didn’t try the vegan icing. Used silicon muffin cups and they slid right out.
I found they got gummy around the edges in the fridge even after a few hours. Recommend baking same day you will serve.
How would you adjust to use maple syrup in place of some or all of the white sugar?
Thank you!
These are so perfect, even gluten free! I used King Arthur Measure for Measure and didn’t change anything else ( I used the oil option). They took about 30 minutes, which is typical of a GF/vegan bake.
Hello!
Can I use avocado oil? Or, best to use canola oil?
Thx, Terri
You can use any kind of oil you want to bake with!
I didn’t have plant milk, lemon juice, or sprinkles, so I subbed milk, yuzu juice and chocolate chips. It came out perfectly! Thanks for my new rainy-day go-to, Deb!
Made these twice. Once w Jimmies (they still ran and gave the cake a slightly weird flavour but I got TONs of compliments from 2 longtime vegans and several non-vegans. I wonder if its because I used melted butter and that perhaps caused the sprinkles to run. I did it again and without jimmies. They were PERFECT! So great for my kids’ school birthday- lots of allergies to avoid so I skipped the almond extract and used lemon extract instead.
I cannot believe how easy and delicious these were!
Probably the worst cupcakes I’ve ever made!
I’ve made these cupcakes before and they are easy and delicious!
I’m wondering if they freeze well?