Vegan Vanilla Cake

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Then prepare your pans by greasing them with a mixture that's equal parts (by volume) vegetable shortening, sunflower or vegetable oil, and flour.* (I used 1 1/2 tbsp. of each to grease 3 six-inch pans.)
2. In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream together your vegan butter and sugar on medium speed for about 3-4 minutes, until well-combined and fluffy. You can do this by hand, but you may need to cream the butter and sugar for a few minutes longer.
3. Add in your aquafaba, vanilla, and vinegar and mix until well-combined.
4. In a separate bowl, sift your flour, salt, and baking powder together. Whisk it together to make sure it's well-mixed.
5. Add about 1/3 of your dry ingredients to the butter mix and mix on medium-low speed until just combined, then add about 1/3 of your almond milk. Repeat twice more until everything is just combined, but don't overmix your batter.
6. Scoop your cake batter into your pans, using an equal amount of batter for each pan. I like to weigh the pans to ensure I have even layers. If you don't have a kitchen scale, you can use a measuring cup to measure the amount of batter you're adding to each pan. Use the back of a spoon to spread the batter inside the pan.
7. Wrap each pan with a wet cake strip, then bake for 35-40 minutes*, until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake springs back with light pressure.
8. Remove the layers from the pans, then let cool on a cooling rack for 30 minutes. Wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them until you're ready to frost them. You can also let the layers cool to room temperature and frost them, but the cake will be more delicate and difficult to frost.
9. Assemble the layer cake with a layer of frosting between each layer. Then frost the outside and top of the cake as desired. (Detailed frosting instructions are included in the post above).

Use a light-colored metal cake pan with straight sides for best results.

I recommend greasing your pans with a mixture of 1 1/2 tbsp. each of sunflower oil, shortening, and flour. See the post above for more details on this and other methods.

For the most accurate flour measurement, switch to metric and weigh your flour. If you don't have a kitchen scale, be sure to spoon the flour into the measuring cup before leveling it off; don't scoop the cup into the flour.

Cake strips help the cake to bake evenly, preventing domed tops and caramelized edges. In my tests, the cakes baked with cake strips had the best texture.

If you're not using cake strips, your cake will take about 5 minutes less to bake.

This cake will stay fresh for 3 days or so at room temperature, covered. For longer storage, I recommend freezing.

For more tips and frosting instructions, please see the post above.