This Vegan Pound Cake recipe is a moist, buttery vanilla pound cake recipe made in one bowl and perfect as a breakfast or dessert. Plus, you will love its vanilla icing that turns the crumb even more tender and moist.
Vegan baking recipes are so much easier to make than traditional recipes and the whole family always loves them. Just try my 4-Ingredients Lemon Cake, 2-Ingredient Banana Donut Holes, or 3-Ingredient Banana Muffins to convince yourself!
If you are not a baker yourself, vegan pound cakes are the easiest recipe for beginners. This cake recipe truly comes together super quickly, and it’s a great recipe to start with egg-free baking and gain confidence.
What Is A Vegan Pound Cake?
A pound cake is usually a cake made from 4 ingredients, each of them weighing a pound, hence the name. For vegan pound cakes, the recipe is a bit different. Since you don’t have eggs, butter, or milk in the recipe, you need more ingredients and different measurements.
A vegan pound cake still has the same soft texture and delicious flavor as a traditional pound cake recipe. It’s a moist, tender, slightly dense vanilla cake with a delicious butter vanilla flavor. It’s an egg-free, dairy-free cake and one of the easiest vegan cake recipes to start your baking journey if you are not a fervent baker.
Ingredients and Substitutions
You need just a few simple wholesome ingredients to whip up a pound cake batter and, of course, a quality pound cake pan.
- All-Purpose Flour – or white spelt flour. I haven’t tried gluten-free flour.
- Lemon Juice or apple cider vinegar.
- Plant-Based Yogurt or the thick layer on top of a can of unsweetened coconut cream or vegan sour cream.
- Plant-Based Butter – You can also use light olive oil or avocado oil.
- Plant-Based Milk – Such as soy milk, almond milk, or oat milk.
- Vanilla Extract – for flavor/
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda – To give them a fluffy texture.
- Sugar– I used unrefined cane sugar to keep the loaf pale in color. Coconut sugar or date sugar are great healthier options, but the vegan cake crumb turns darker.
How To Make A Vegan Pound Cake
There are two options here, you can bake pound cakes either in a Bundt pan or a loaf pan. Using a Bundt cake pan makes it more challenging to release the cake from the pan. So I recommend using a 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper and lightly oil the pan with cooking oil spray. If you are using a Bundt cake pan, you can’t line parchment paper inside. Instead, sprinkle a bit of flour on top of the oil. This makes the cake much easier to release. Set the prepared pan aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add plant-based milk, plant-based yogurt, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and melted butter. Stir and set it aside until it looks curdled a bit like buttermilk.
- Next, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Use a hand whisk and work slowly, don’t over-mix. Just combine both ingredients together until the batter is shiny and smooth. If you over-stir the batter, the pound cake is packed and dense.
- Pour the pound cake batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake the pound cake on the center rack for 40 to 45 minutes at 350°F (180°C). The cake is ready when it has risen and turned golden brown on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the pound cake comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool down in its pan for 10 minutes. Then, use a sharp knife to loosen the sides. They often stick slightly to the pan as the sugar melts and cools.
- Next, pull the hanging parts of parchment paper to release the pound cake onto a cooling rack.
Decorating with Royal Icing
You can serve this pound cake plain or drizzle a delicious vegan royal icing. Cool completely before adding any toppings.
Ingredients
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla Extract, almond extract, or lemon extract.
- Plant-Based Milk
- Lemon Zest – optional for a lemon glaze-flavored icing.
To make the icing, stir powdered sugar, plant-based milk, and vanilla extract together. If too thick, thin it out with a bit more dairy-free milk. If too light, add more powdered sugar to thicken it.
Drizzle on top of the completely cooled down pound cake and place the cake in the fridge for 1 hour to set the icing hard.
Drinks To Serve With Pound Cake
Slice the pound cake into thick slices and serve plain with a cup of your favorite warm drink.
Here are some vegan hot drink recipe options to try:
Storage Instructions
You can store the pound cake in the fridge, on a plate covered with a piece of foil. It stays moist and fresh for up to five days. Slice just before serving to prevent the cake crumb from drying out.
Allergy Swaps
I listed below some ingredient swap ideas if needed for allergies or intolerance.
- Nut-Free – Pick nut-free milk, like oat milk, soy milk, or coconut milk.
- Gluten-Free – I didn’t try a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend, but I am confident it will work. It may turn the crumb a bit denser and gummy. If your blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum, make sure you add 1 teaspoon to the dry ingredients. Also, make sure you use gluten-free baking powder.
- Sugar-Free – Feel free to replace the sugar with a natural sugar-free sweetener like allulose.
- Oil-Free – I can’t recommend an oil-free option. I didn’t try applesauce, and it might be a great option, but it would impact the texture of the crumb.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are my answers to your most common questions about this easy vegan pound cake recipe.
You can’t replace a crystal sweetener with a liquid sweetener in a cake recipe without impacting the texture. Maple syrup has a strong maple flavor and turns the batter chewy, not tender and moist.
You can freeze the whole cake, or slices, in zip-lock bags or sealed containers. It last a month in the freezer and thaws at room temperature the day before.
You can stir up to 1/2 cup of fresh berries like blueberries or raspberries in the batter. Avoid strawberries, they release lots of juice, and the batter has difficulties setting. For flavor, add up to 3 extra tablespoons of lemon juice or orange juice and decrease plant-baked milk regarding. Or, use my vegan lemon pound cake recipe instead.
More Vegan Cake Recipes
I love vegan cakes and here are some more cake recipes to inspire you.
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Vegan Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup Plant-Based Milk
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- ⅓ cup Dairy-Free Yogurt
- ½ cup Melted Dairy-Free Butter (Unsalted) - or light olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- ¾ cup Cane Sugar
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Vanilla Glazing
- 1 cup Icing Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2-3 tablespoons Plant-Based Milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃). Line a 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Use cooking oil spray to oil the paper and sides of the pan. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir non-dairy milk, yogurt, lemon juice, sugar, melted vegan butter, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and whisk until smooth and no lumps show. Don't over-mix the batter, or the pound cake turns gummy or packed.
- Transfer the pound cake batter to the loaf pan.
- Bake for 50-65 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. After 40 minutes, I recommend adding a piece of foil on top of the pan to prevent the pound cake from darkening too fast.
- Cool the pound cake in the pan for 5 minutes, then pull the hanging parts of parchment paper to release on a cooling rack.
- Cool for at least 3 hours before glazing.
Vanilla Glazing
- In a small mixing bowl, stir powdered sugar, plant-based milk, and vanilla until runny and glossy. If too thick, thin it out by adding a bit more milk. If too liquid, add a bit more powdered sugar to thicken it.
- Drizzle the glazing on the top of the cooled pound cake.
- To set the glazing refrigerate the cake 1 hour.
Storage
- Store in a sealed box for up to 4-5 days in the fridge. Freeze whole or in slices in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Thaw the day before eating at room temperature.
Can I use a plant based coffee creamer instead of plant based milk? I’m making this for my FIL who has dietary restrictions, and a whole container of plant based milk would go to waste in our home.
Thanks!
I have never bought plant-based coffee creamer so I am not sure what’s inside and how it react in baking I am sorry.
does it have to be Himalayan salt??
Any salt would work fine!
Delicious but next time I skip the icing, it makes the cake way too sweet and I only used half the sugar… I have this problem with all American recipes
I’m the same Anna always cut down sugar in recipes that has too much in it as way to sweet also didn’t have yoghurt so added apple sauce and worked out fine