Dairy Free Birthday Cake
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Celebrate a birthday with this dairy free birthday cake! This super soft and moist funfetti cake is covered in vanilla frosting and all the sprinkles! This dairy free vanilla cake is perfect for people with food allergies.
Everyone knows that the best part of a birthday is the birthday cake! I had to give you guys my favorite dairy free birthday cake recipe. This dairy free vanilla cake is covered in vanilla frosting and loaded up with sprinkles.
You can easily adapt this dairy free birthday cake depending on what cake pans you have in your kitchen, you can even make this into a sheet cake! Are you a chocolate lover like me? Then you can use the chocolate frosting from my dairy free chocolate cake!
Why You’ll Love My Dairy Free Birthday Cake
- This dairy free birthday cake is packed with sprinkles, everyone knows that funfetti is the best cake for birthdays!
- This is a simple recipe that is dairy free, so it’s perfect if you have food allergies.
- You can easily switch up the frosting you use on the cake.
- It’s easy to adapt the recipe depending on what size cake pans you have on hand.
Ingredients Needed
- Milk: I love using oat milk but you can use other vegan milks. I recommend using unsweetened vegan milk, otherwise, it’ll make the cake too sweet.
- Sprinkles: I suggest using long strand sprinkles and avoid nonpareil sprinkles as those will bleed in the cake batter.
- Oil: make sure you use a neutral oil like vegetable oil, sunflower oil or canola oil. You want something that doesn’t have a taste to it!
- Butter: you’ll need to use dairy-free butter for both the cake and the frosting!
- Vanilla Extract: since this is a vanilla cake, make sure you use a high-quality vanilla extract! It’ll make all the difference.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°Fahrenheit and spray two 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray. Line both pans with parchment paper.
Step 2: Using a hand mixer or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and oil together until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla extract.
Step 3: Mix in the granulated sugar.
Step 4: Mix the flour, salt, cornstarch and baking powder in a separate bowl.
Step 5: Alternate adding the milk and dry ingredients. Gently fold in the sprinkles.
Step 6: Divide the cake batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake in the preheated oven for 24-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Step 7: Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then remove them from the pan. Let the cakes cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Step 8: In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter, salt and half of the powdered sugar together until combined. Add in the vanilla extract. Slowly add in a ¼ cup of powdered sugar at a time until you have your desired consistency. If you find the frosting too thick, add ½ tablespoon of milk at a time. If the frosting is too thin, add in more powdered sugar, a ¼ cup at a time.
Step 9: Add an even layer of buttercream between the two cake layers.
Step 10: Frost the outside of the cake, scraping off any excess frosting with a bench scraper. Place the cake in the freezer for 20 minutes before adding another layer of frosting. This is going to help keep your frosting look nice without any crumbs! Decorate with sprinkles and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- I always recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh out your ingredients, especially your flour! It is so easy to add too much flour if you use measuring cups, which is going to make the cake dry and dense. Don’t have a kitchen scale? Then make sure to use the scoop and level method to weigh out your flour!
- Don’t use non-pareil sprinkles (the tiny round ones) for the cake batter. They tend to bleed in the batter so once the cake is baked you won’t see any fun sprinkles!
- Don’t skip out on lining the bottoms of the cake pans! Otherwise, you won’t be able to get the cakes out in one piece.
- I recommend letting the cake layers cool completely before you start making the frosting. Warm cake and frosting are not a good mix!
Storage Instructions
Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days.
If you want to make this cake ahead of time, you can freeze the cake layers. Wrap each layer tightly in parchment paper and then foil. Freeze in ziploc bags for up to 3 months, then let them thaw at room temperature when ready to assemble. To freeze the frosting, store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months. Let thaw in the fridge before re-whipping, then frost your cakes.
More Recipes You’ll Love
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Dairy Free Birthday Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup (105 g) dairy free butter, softened
- ½ cup (108 ml) oil (canola oil, vegetable oil, grapeseed oil, or sunflower oil)
- 3 eggs
- 1½ Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cup (250 g) granulated sugar
- 2⅓ cup (292 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (25 g) cornstarch
- 2½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cup (375 ml) unsweetened oat milk, (or other dairy free milk)
- ½ cup sprinkles, (NOT non pareils)
Vanilla Buttercream
- 1½ cup (315 g) dairy free butter, softened
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3-3½ cups (360 g) powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare two 8 inch round cake pans. Spray the inside with cooking spray, then cut out pieces of parchment paper so that they fit in the bottom of each pan (do not skip this step!). Set the pans aside.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and oil together until combined. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Mix in the granulated sugar.
- Add in flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder to a separate bowl and whisk together.
- Alternate slowly adding in the milk and the dry ingredients. Mix until combined. Gently fold in the sprinkles.
- Divide the cake batter between the two cake pans and bake for 24-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then remove them from the pan (by running a butter knife or offset spatula around the edges and then flipping the cake upside down onto a cooling rack). While the cakes cool, make the buttercream.
Vanilla Buttercream
- In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter, salt, and half the powdered sugar together until combined. Add in vanilla. Slowly add in ¼ cup of powdered sugar at a time until it reaches your desired consistency. If the buttercream is too thick, you can add ½ tablespoon of milk in at a time, thinning it out as much as you'd like. If buttercream is too thin, add in more powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time.
Assembling the Cake
- Add an even layer of buttercream between each of the completely cooled cake layers.
- Frost the outside of the cake, scraping off the excess frosting with a bench scraper (this is called a crumb coat). Then place the cake in the freezer for 20 minutes then add another layer of frosting.
- If you'd rather skip the crumb coat, you can simply frost the outside of the cake in one layer then decorate with sprinkles or as desired.
Equipment
Video
Notes
The calorie information provided for this recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
Photography by: Callan from The Cozy Plum
This recipe was fairly easy to follow and turned out great! I ended up using this vanilla cake base to make coffee cake! Super good and not overly sweet.
Sounds delicious! Thank you for your review!
Do I have to use cornstarch?
I developed this recipe with cornstarch so that’s what I recommend using. If you leave it out, let us know how you adapted it and if it worked for you!
Loved this recipe. Wondering if it can also be made with regular 2% milk?
Yes regular 2% should work!
Do you think it would be okay yo use olive oil or avocado oil instead of the other oils listed? Thank you!
Yes those oils work, but there might be a slight difference in taste!
Loved this cake ! So fun with the sprinkles and really easy to make. A party hit !
Happy to hear you loved the cake! Thank you for the review 😊
Made this for my nieces birthday, such a hit with the kiddos, will be making again!
Thanks Morgan! So glad these worked out for the birthday ✨