Vegan vanilla almond flour cake, made with ease in 1 bowl! It is oil-free, grain-free, gluten-free, Paleo, and made with 6 ingredients (plus water and optional salt).
I like naked cake.
Forget frostings, fondants, and glazes. Hold the chocolate chips, nuts, and sprinkles. My preference is plain. Best yet, vanilla. The cake itself should be moist, flavorful, and worth every forkful.
My vanilla almond flour cake is just such a cake!
1-Bowl Vegan Vanilla Almond Flour Cake Attributes
This simple and sublime cake is all of the following and more:
- Vegan
- Oil-free
- Grain-free
- Gluten-free
- Made with 6 ingredients (plus water & optional salt)
- Ready to bake in under 5 minutes
The cake is moist, fragrant with vanilla, and, like my 3-ingredient almond flour cookies, buttery, despite the absence of butter or any other oils. You can justify eating it for breakfast (I do; it is perfection with a cup of coffee) or serve it with seasonal fruit all spring and summer long.
How to Make the Cake
You will dirty exactly 1 bowl to make the cake. No mixers, food processors or blenders required. That merits an Hallelujah! Or, at the very least a yippee!
First, mix all of the dry ingredients–almond flour, potato starch, coconut sugar, flaxseed meal, baking powder, and (optional/adjustable) salt in a large bowl. Measure the water in a glass measuring cup; add the teaspoon of vanilla to it.
Second, add the vanilla water to the almond flour mixture.
Whisk until the batter is combined and smooth.
Third, pour the batter into an 8-inch (20 cm) round cake pan that has been lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking.
Fourth, bake the cake in a preheated 350F oven for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with only moist crumbs attached.
Completely cool the cake in the pan before removing it. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and then invert the cake onto a flat plate or cutting board (an uneven plate, with a dip in the middle, may cause the cake to break).
Turn the cake right side up onto a serving plate, platter, or stand. If your middle name is fancy (mine is), sprinkle with some confectioners’ sugar :).
The cake is moist, luscious, and swoon-worthy.
I hope that you love this cake every bit as much as I do! The flavor can be varied with different extracts, spices, or the addition of citrus zest or fresh herbs.
And while I love my cake plain-ish, feel free to make two batches of the recipe for a layer cake, slathered and smoothed with any and all of your favorite frostings and fillings!
Happy Baking!
A few questions answered:
Is it Necessary to Use an 8-Inch Round Pan?
Pan size matters, especially with cake.
An 8-inch (20 cm) square baking pan can also be used, but keep in mind that the cake may need more baking time if the pan is glass or ceramic (instead of metal).
The cake can also be baked in a 9-inch (22.5 cm) cake pan. Begin checking for doneness at the 25 minutes mark. Note that the cake will be thinner than the 8-inch cake.
I Do Not Have Potato Starch. Can I Use Something Else?
An equal amount of cornstarch can also be used if you do not need the cake to be grain-free.
Tapioca starch will not work as a substitute. I tried. The resulting cake is sunken and gooey (I still ate some of my test batch, but it is more pudding cake, with an emphasis on pudding, than cake).
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Vanilla Almond Flour Cake {vegan, oil-free}
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 10 slices 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Vanilla almond flour cake, made with ease in 1 bowl! It is vegan, oil-free, grain-free, gluten-free, Paleo, and made with 6 ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (196 g) blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- 2/3 cup (128 g) potato starch (see notes for options)
- 1/2 cup (96 g) coconut sugar (see notes for options)
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons (20 g) flaxseed meal (see notes for options)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- Optional/adjustable: 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (250 mL) water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional: Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Lightly spray an 8-inch round or square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, potato starch, coconut sugar, flaxseed meal, baking powder and (optional) salt.
- Measure the water and add the vanilla to it. Pour into bowl with almond flour mixture and whisk until blended and smooth. Spread into prepared baking pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out with only moist crumbs attached.
- Transfer cake to a cooling rack and cool completely in pan. Run a butter knife around edge of pan and invert cake on a plate. Turn right side up on cake plate.
- If desired, lightly dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.
Notes
Storage: Store the completely cooled cake in a covered container at room temperature for 2 days; store inanairtight container in the refrigerator for 5 days or the freezer for 1 month.
Potato Starch Tips/Options: Be sure to use potato starch, not potato flour; they are different ingredients in the U.S. Potato starch is bright white, potato flour is slightly tan in color. The cake works best made with potato starch, but an equal amount of cornstarch (if grain-free is not necessary) also work. Tapioca starch does not work as a substitute (I have tried).
Coconut Sugar Options: An equal amount of brown sugar or granulated sugar can be used in place of the coconut sugar.
Flaxseed Meal Options: An equal amount of chia meal (ground chia seeds) can be used in place of the flaxseed meal.
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (1/10 of cake)
- Calories: 199
- Sugar: 10.7 g
- Sodium: 109.7 mg
- Fat: 10.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 25.5 g
- Fiber: 2.4 g
- Protein: 4.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: almond flour, cake, oil-free, grain-free, vegan, gluten-free, 1-bowl, layer cake, easy
Hi Camilla!
Was wanting to try this recipe!. But did not have potato starch or cornstarch. Do you think arrowroot starch will work instead?
Thank you.
Hi Ashwini,
I have not tested with arrowroot starch. I would normally say yes, since it work so well as a sub, but I had one reader say she used arrowroot and it came out bitter. If you do try with arrowroot starch, I would suggest scaling down to a very small cake (e.g., 1/4 of everything, small pan, shorter baking time) to see if you have the same experience. I plan to try it myself, but ran out of arrowroot starch!