Vegan raspberry cake

Vegan raspberry cake

vegan raspberry cake cross section

Happy Sunday, I hope you are in the mood for cake as that’s what I am brining to the table today. It’s raspberry season over here and it’s one of my favourite summer fruit – for me it’s a tie between raspberries and strawberries although…who am I kidding, I love them all – so I’ve decided it’s time for a raspberry studded cake.

Duncan is away kayaking this weekend and I sent him with a loaf of this cake for himself and his kayaking friends as I imagine it must be extra nice to have a cup of warm coffee and a slice of cake after hours of trashing about in the cold water. He rang me to say that it was a massive success and people were fighting for the final slices. That’s always lovely to hear!

This cake is a simple one bowl kinda cake. It can be adapted to be oil-free, it can be made gluten-free and refined sugar free if you wish too. It’s deliciously moist thanks to ripe raspberries and almond flour, it’s fragrant with cardamom and pops of sourness provided by raspberries contrast beautifully with melted chunks of vegan white chocolate. I drizzled the top with a beautifully vibrant raspberry icing and sprinkled with toasted almonds on top, but you don’t have to.

MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS

vegan raspberry cake ingredients

VEGAN YOGHURT – vegan yoghurt keeps this cake moist and minimises the need for added fat. In fact, you could make it completely oil-free by replacing oil with extra yoghurt. I recommend using thick (rather than pourable) yoghurt here for best results. I used vanilla yoghurt by The Coconut Collaborative.

OIL – a small amount of neutral oil (grapeseed, sunflower, mild olive oil) helps to keep this cake beautifully moist, but you can make this cake OIL-FREE by replacing the oil with extra yoghurt.

SUGAR – I used caster (superfine) sugar, but coconut sugar will work just as well if you prefer to use that – the colour of the cake will be a little darker though.

RASPBERRIES – I used fresh raspberries, but frozen will work just as well. Both types benefit from a little dusting of flour before being added to the cake. Be aware that if using frozen raspberries, they will bring batter temperature down a bit so your cake may need a little longer in the oven. If you’d rather use different fruit, I’ve also made this cake with blueberries before.

PLANT MILK – any plant milk will work well here although I like using soy milk in baked goods.

CARDAMOM – I like a light touch of cardamom here, but if you are not a fan, feel free to skip it and perhaps add a zest of another lemon instead.

LEMON – lemon juice helps this cake rise as it comes into a reaction with baking soda so don’t skip it although you could use lime juice instead. As for the zest, it’s optional, but I like its fragrance against white chocolate.

FLOUR – I used white all purpose flour here, but if you want to make this cake gluten-free, use a well balanced gluten-free flour mix. One that contains plenty of starch and ideally some xanthan gum too.

GROUND ALMONDS – ground almonds give this cake a beautiful, moist crumb. I love using almonds in baking but you could replace them with extra flour. My guess is that 100 g of flour (slightly heaped ¾ cup) would yield a perfect result.

WHITE CHOCOLATE – I added chopped white vegan (based on oat milk) chocolate to the batter, but you can skip it if you wish. It provides little sweet pops of flavour, which contrast really nicely against tart raspberry pockets. Adding chocolate does add a bit extra moisture and so I found that the cake needs 5 minutes more in the oven (50 minutes in total).

vegan raspberry cake batter wet ingredients

Combine the first three wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix until well combined. Add lemon zest and vanilla extract if using.

vegan raspberry cake batter almonds

Mix in plant milk and once the mixture is homogenous, start folding in ground almonds. Incorporate them by making small circles in the middle of the bowl, gradually incorporating more and more of ground almonds into the wet ingredients.

vegan raspberry cake batter flour

Place a sieve over the mixing bowl and sift the flour in small batches (I sifted it off the camera). Fold each batch in by making small circles in the middle of the bowl again. Finally fold in chopped white chocolate, if using.

vegan raspberry cake batter raspberries

You could fold in the raspberries into the cake batter at this point, but I prefer arranging them in between layers of batter in the cake tin as this ensures a more even distribution.

vegan raspberry cake baked

vegan raspberry cake icing

vegan raspberry cake drizzled

vegan raspberry cake side

vegan raspberry cake top down

makes
2 lb / 1 kg
PREP
15 min
COOKING
45 min
makes
2 lb / 1 kg
PREPARATION
15 min
COOKING
45 min
INGREDIENTS
WET INGREDIENTS

  • 115 g / ½ cup thick vegan yoghurt
  • 30 ml / 2 tbsp neutral oil (I used grapeseed oil)*
  • 175 g / ¾ cup + 2 tbsp sugar (coconut sugar for refined sugar-free version)
  • 15 ml / 1 tbsp lemon juice + zest of 1 lemon
  • 1½ tsp quality vanilla extract (optional)
  • 120 ml / ½ cup plant milk

DRY INGREDIENTS

  • 100 g / 1 cup ground almonds
  • 180 g / 1½ cups all purpose white flour or GF cake flour mix, sifted
  • ¼ tsp fine sea salt
  • ¾ tsp baking soda
  • 1¼ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp ground cardamom (optional)
  • 150 g / 1 heaped cup raspberries, coated in 2 tsp flour
  • 50 g / 1.75 oz chopped vegan white chocolate (optional)

DECORATION

  • flaked almonds, toasted if using icing
  • raspberry / lemon icing*

METHOD
CAKE

  1. Heat up the oven to 175° C (or 155° C fan forced) / 350° F (310° F fan forced). Grease a 1 kg / 2 lb cake tin (see NOTES) and line it with a wide strip of baking paper to be able to remove your cake easily.
  2. Stir the yoghurt, oil (if using) and sugar together with a spatula until the mixture is uniform.
  3. Add in the vanilla extract, plant milk, lemon zest and juice. Mix well.
  4. Gradually add in almond flour while incorporating it into the wet ingredients. Make small circles in the centre of the bowl gradually incorporating more almond flour as you go along – I find that this method minimises lumps.
  5. Next sift in flour, salt, both baking agents and cardamom (if using). Fold them into the wet ingredients gently, again use small circles technique I described above. The finished batter should have a fairly thick, rather than pourable consistency.
  6. Finally, stir through chopped white chocolate. You could also fold in raspberries by this point, but I prefer laying them in between the layers of the batter for a more even distribution.
  7. Cover the bottom of the baking tin with only a thin layer of cake batter. Arrange raspberries on top, cover with half of the remaining batter, follow up with more raspberries and the rest of the batter. Make sure raspberries are not peeking through the cake batter.
  8. If not using icing, sprinkle flaked almonds in the middle of the cake.
  9. Bake for about 45 min, until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is nicely browned. If using white chocolate, you may need to bake it a little longer – my white chocolate version needed 50 minutes.
  10. Once cool, drizzle with icing first then immediately sprinkle toasted almond flakes on top. Allow to cool down completely before slicing – I find that a serrated bread knife works best.
NOTES

*OIL-FREE: make this loaf oil-free, substitute oil with 30 g / 2 tbsp more yoghurt.

*ICING – to make the icing, gradually stir 3-4 tsp (15-20 ml) of raspberry juice, lemon juice or plant milk into 50 g (½ cup) icing (confectioner’s) sugar. This produces thick icing like in my photos, if you would rather have it thinner, simply add a little more liquid.

900 g / 2 lb tins vary enormously between brands so I recommend measuring the volume of the tin you intend to use first. For this recipe, I used a tin that holds 1250 ml / 5 cups of liquid (to the brim), but the batter should fill no more than 2/3 – 3/4 of the 2lb cake tin or else the cake may not raise.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
203
10%
sugars
17 g
18%
fats
7 g
10%
saturates
1 g
4%
proteins
4 g
9%
carbs
30 g
12%
*per 1 out of 12 servings (without decoration)
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5.0
8 reviews, 16 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Brigitte:
What a healthy recipe so yummy , I didn’t use the white chocolate next time I will and I will reduce the palm sugar to 2/3 cup at 3/4 cup sugar it’s not too sweet , I prefer less sugar for a healthier version . I used whole wheat flour used 9” glass square pan I baked it for 30 minutes , it came out perfectly , they would be great baked in muffin pan . Very moist but not gummy really great texture next time I will add a Tbs of lemon juice and reduce the milk just a little bit , lemon and raspberries goes so well together . I will save this recipe for sure it’s very adjustable , it can also be made with blueberries ! Yummy !
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you for your kind words, Brigitte! I am delighted to hear that this recipe was a hit and thank you for taking the time to let me know - I really appreciate it. And yes, it can absolutely be made with blueberries - in fact, I also have a lemon blueberry cake recipe, which this cake was based on. x Ania
This cake is so wonderful! Sweet but not overly, light and moist at the same time. it barely lasted a day in our house.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw thank you so much, I am delighted to hear that it went down so well with you and your fellow cake lovers :) And thank you for taking the time to review – I really appreciate it. x Ania
Stacy Foster:
Thank you for sharing your wonderful raspberry cake recipe! I made it this morning for a dear person at church who returned tday after a long, complicated injury. I made it as described to the best of my ability and it tasted amazing! Yes, past tense as it was gobbled up quickly! My church is full of wildly talented bakers and cooks who asked for your recipe! This is extra impressive given I made the cake in the only pan I had on hand, a Bundt which worked great except I didn't "grease" the pan with enough oil (and zero flour - what a newbie) in the tin to keep it together. However, not even novice baker me could ruin your recipe because the almond flour *did* form the perfect crumb you mentioned so when the top of the cake finally came out of the tin, it was perfectly formed and sat well on the rest of the cake so it didn't look terrible despite my enormous error. I did not take a photo but I will make definitely make your wonderful raspberry cake to share with special people again! ***Thank you so very much!***
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw thanks so much Stacy, I am delighted to hear that this cake was such a success with your church group. I commend you for making it in a different pan as that's not an easy thing to get right - sound like you have loads more baking know-how than you give yourself credit for!! Thank you for your kind words and taking the time to leave this lovely review, I really appreciate it. x Ania
Nica:
made this yesterday as a simple birthday cake and it was fabulous. I baked it in a silicone bundt "tin", skipped the white chocolate and drizzled it with lemon icing before adding candles.
one of the tastiest vegan cakes I've made or eaten - my baking confidence hasn't gotten back to where it was pre-veganism so this was a great boost.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw that is so lovely to hear, Nica! I am delighted to hear that you enjoyed it so much and that your confidence in vegan baking has been restored :) x Ania
Jacqueline:
Ania,
This recipe of vegan raspberry cake is amazing!! I’ve just made it, it looks nice and tastes delicious!!
I guess I can replace the raspberries by other fruits or bake it just plain with spices, the cake by itself is very good.
Thank you for sharing :-)
Jacqueline
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much, Jacqueline! I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed this cake so much. Yes, you could use other fruit with similar moisture content - blueberries, blackberries or cranberries would be my recommendations, or you could bake it plain too, absolutely! x Ania
Marjan Keijzer:
I received this recipe in my mailbox and I instantly felt in love. Some weeks later I was happy I could give it a try and I loved the combination of raspberry , the vegan white chocolate and hint of cardemom. Big shout out to Lazy Cat Kitchen in general for sharing her love and passion about vegan food. The blog is so well documented, with finger licking good food and beautiful food photography.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much, Marjan. I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed this cake so much and the flavour combo in general and thank you for your kind words regarding my work, I am really happy to hear that my recipes resonate with you. x Ania
Charlotte:
This was so delicious! I absolutely love raspberries and the hint of citrus and almond flavour made the perfect combination!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much, Charlotte. I am delighted to hear that you enjoyed it and thanks so much for taking the time to let me know - I really appreciate it. x Ania
Dorota:
I made this cake and it's divine! I had to skip cardamon because I didn't have any and I decided against the icing, although it looks beautiful on the pictures 🙂 I actually made 2 of them, one was with ksylitol instead of sugar. Super easy to make, and the taste of white chocolate and raspberries is soo nice! Thank you for the recipe!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Dorota! I'm really chuffed to hear that you enjoyed this cake. It's also great to know that it worked well with Xylitol as well - I'm sure someone will find this information valuable. Thank you for taking the time to review! x Ania
Kim:
Did you get such a vibrant color in your icing by only adding raspberry juice? It's beautiful.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Kim,
    Yes, that's it, raspberry juice and icing sugar :) Ania
Sandra:
Could it be made as cupcakes?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Sure, I don't see why not. They need a shorter baking time for sure, my guess is 20-25 minutes. Hope this helps! x Ania
Helen:
Do you think you could use frozen raspberries (unthawed perhaps) instead of fresh. Just wondering if you'd tried them?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Helen,
    Yes, you can! Coat them in flour like you would fresh and be mindful of the fact that they will bring batter's temperature down a bit so the cake may need a couple more minutes in the oven. Hope this helps! Ania
Daryna:
Hello
What can I replace yoghurt with in this recipe? Thank you!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Daryna,
    You can replace yoghurt by using 80 ml of oil and 40 ml of plant milk, or 60 ml oil and 60 ml plant milk depending how indulgent you want your cake to be. Hope this helps! Ania
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