Name: Chocolate Chip Vanilla Cake (Vegan)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: 285 g (2 ⅓ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour; 15 g (1 ½ packed Tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch); 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder; ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda); ¼ teaspoon salt; 180 ml (¾ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy); 90 g (6 Tablespoons) unsweetened non-dairy yogurt (I use the Coconut Collaborative); 90 ml (6 Tablespoons) neutral flavoured oil (I use sunflower); 90 g (6 Tablespoons) vegan block butter (I use Naturli Vegan Block) (melted); 200 g (1 cup) caster or granulated sugar; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 ½ teaspoons vinegar; 200 g (1 ¼ cups) chocolate chips (plus a few extra for scattering if desired); 1 Tablespoon plain (all-purpose) flour

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Chocolate chip vanilla cake - this easy vegan snacking cake is soft, moist and tender, with a sweet vanilla flavour and plenty of chocolate chips.

It is perfect for snacking, parties, or serve it with ice cream or custard for dessert.

A stack of squares of vegan chocolate chip vanilla cake.

This vegan chocolate chip vanilla cake is a lovely, simple cake that is great to snack on, but would also be indulgent enough to serve at a party or birthday.

It consists of a melt-in-the-mouth tender vegan vanilla sponge cake which is packed full of chocolate chips.

It is moist, delicious, extremely satisfying and really easy to make too, and is the kind of cake that is bound to please everyone!

Chocolate chip vanilla cake in a square tin with a slice removed.

What Do I Need To Make Chocolate Chip Vanilla Cake?:

Plant milk: You can use any kind you like but it should ideally be unsweetened and soy milk is best as it has the highest protein content.

Non-dairy yogurt: I love using plant yogurt in vegan cakes, it is a great egg replacer and keeps the cake moist as well as adding flavour.

Either soy or coconut yogurt will work, ideally unsweetened. I like the Coconut Collaborative.

I haven't tested any substitutes for the yogurt I'm afraid. Oatly creme fraiche would likely work, and possibly unsweetened applesauce.

Vegan butter and oil: Generally in cakes butter adds flavour, but oil makes the cake more moist. I've gone for the best of both worlds and used both!

For the best results you should use a vegan block butter rather than the spreadable kind in a tub. I recommend Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant block.

For the oil I tend to use sunflower as it has a neutral flavour, though any neutral flavoured oil will work.

Vinegar: This reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to help the cake rise and give it a light texture. I use either apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. You can also use lemon juice instead.

Plain flour: Just regular plain (all-purpose) flour. I don't recommend swapping it for wholemeal, it will make the cake too dense.

I haven't tried making this cake gluten-free, but I suspect that it would work ok with a gluten-free flour blend plus ¼ tsp xanthan gum if the flour doesn’t already contain it.

Cornflour (cornstarch): Adding a bit of cornflour (cornstarch) gives the cake a lovely light texture. You can swap it for more plain flour if you don't have any.

Caster sugar: You can use granulated sugar instead. Don't use brown sugar, coconut sugar, sweeteners or liquid sugars as that will affect the texture of the cake.

Baking powder and bicarb: Using both baking powder and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) will give you the best rise and texture. Don't swap one for the other, you will not get the same result.

Salt: a little bit of salt rounds out the flavour.

Vanilla extract: Extract is better than essence and you can also use vanilla bean paste.

Chocolate chips: I use dark chocolate chips. Check that they are vegan friendly as not all of them are. You could also use roughly chopped dark chocolate instead.

How To Make Chocolate Chip Vanilla Cake:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Start by sifting together the dry ingredients - plain flour, cornflour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

In a large jug, whisk together non-dairy milk, non-dairy yogurt, melted vegan butter, oil, sugar, vinegar and vanilla extract until they are very well combined.

Toss the chocolate chips with a tablespoon of flour until they are well coated.

Step 3, the chocolate chips coated in flour.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until no dry lumps remain.

Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into a greased and lined 23cm/9in square tin and spread it level. Scatter over a few more chocolate chips if you like.

Bake for about 30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Squares of chocolate chip vanilla cake on a wire cooling rack.

Top Tips:

All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!

For the best results follow the recipe closely and make it exactly as written. Changing any of the ingredients could affect the outcome of the cake.

Make sure that you don't over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough. Just mix it until no dry lumps remain. I recommend stirring it by hand with a balloon whisk.

Because it is important not to over-beat the batter, you need to make sure that your wet ingredients and your dry ingredients are extremely well mixed in their separate bowls before you combine the two together.

The cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for around 4 days.

For a more decadent, chocolatey cake, this would be delicious topped with chocolate ganache.

Can I Make A Loaf Cake Instead?

I tested this cake as a loaf and the texture was quite a bit more dense so I don't recommend using a loaf tin for this recipe.

It is always best to use the type and size of tin specified in a recipe if possible, as using a different tin can affect the texture of a cake, or even cause it to fail completely.

Can I Freeze It?:

Yes this chocolate chip vanilla cake freezes well, either whole or in slices.

Make sure it is completely cold before freezing, wrap it well to prevent freezer burn and freeze for up to three months. Allow to defrost at room temperature to serve.

More Vegan Snacking Cakes:

Close up of chocolate chip vanilla cake on a wire cooling rack.

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5 from 4 votes