This vegan rainbow cake is absolutely show stopping. Delicious colourful cake layers are layered between vanilla buttercream, you wont be able to tell this cake is free from eggs and dairy!
This cheesecake has been made in collaboration with Rainbow Dust. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. (For more information along with affiliated links, check out my disclosure policy.)
Vegan Rainbow Cake
Say hello to the showstopper of all desserts, my glorious Vegan Rainbow Cake! Layered with bold, beautiful pastel colours and made entirely without eggs or dairy, this cake proves you don’t need animal products to enjoy something truly magical. Perfect for birthdays, special occasions, celebrations, or just when you need a little extra happiness, every slice is filled with fluffy sponge, sweet buttercream and colourful layers.
Looking for more vegan cakes? Check out my:
- Vegan Blueberry Cake
- Viral Vegan Pistachio Cake
- Small Batch Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
- Easy Vegan Blueberry Coffee Cake
- Vegan Golden Oreo Cake
Why you’ll love this cake
- Glorious pastel layers that are as pretty as they are delicious!!
- 100% vegan. This cake is free from eggs and dairy! It also uses vegan friendly food gels.
- Hand-piped buttercream flowers for a stunning floral finish to the cake.
- Light, fluffy, and moist cake texture in every bite!
- Perfect for birthdays, baby showers, and special occasions.
- Buttercream is light, airy and pairs perfectly with the sponge.
- Simple yet fun and elegant design.
- Easy to make. Cake batter is made in one bowl then separated and coloured!
How to make rainbow sponges
- Making vegan rainbow sponge layers is easier than you might think, and the result is a colorful, crowd-pleasing cake that’s as beautiful as it is delicious. To start, you’ll prepare your simple vanilla cake batter.
- Once your batter is ready, divide it evenly into five (or six) bowls, one for each colour of your rainbow. Using vegan-friendly gel food gels (I use Rainbow Dust Pro Gels), colour each portion to create soft pastel shades, or vibrant tones depending on your style. A high pigmented gel colouring works best because it gives bright colour without adding extra liquid to the batter.
- Pour each coloured batter into its own lined cake tin. If you don’t have multiple tins, you can bake the layers in batches. Bake at 180°c for around 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Be sure to let each layer cool completely before stacking.
- To build your rainbow cake, level each layer if needed with a sharp serrated knife, then stack them with your creamy vegan buttercream in between. For a pastel finish, you can frost the outside with a smooth coat of the same vanilla buttercream and decorate with hand-piped flowers for a whimsical, floral look. The result will be a light, fluffy, happy and super colourful cake that’s completely vegan friendly and guaranteed to impress at any celebration. You’ll love it!
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram , TikTok and Facebook! Pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!
Vegan Rainbow Cake
- Total Time: Overnight
- Yield: 8–10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Scale
Ingredients for the cakes
- 960ml of dairy-free milk (unsweetened soya milk works best)
- 4 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
- 800g of self raising flour
- 600g of caster sugar (fine white sugar)
- 2 teaspoon of baking powder
- 2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 240ml of sunflower oil
- 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- Vegan friendly food gels (I use purple, pink, peach, yellow, green from Rainbow Dust Colours)
Ingredients for the buttercream
- 560g of dairy-free butter (I used Flora Plant Block Butter)
- 600g of powdered / icing sugar
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- Dairy-free milk (if needed)
Instructions
Method (sponges)
- Preheat your oven to 180°C fan and line 5 or 6 (depending how many layers you wish to have) 8 inch loose base / push up cake tins with greaseproof paper. If you don’t have multiple cake tins you will have to bake the cakes separately. Just cover the unused batter with a damp tea towel until you’re ready to use it.
- In a bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well to combine.
- Add the oil into the ‘buttermilk’ along with the vanilla and whisk to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix. Don’t over-mix!
Method (colouring the batter)
- Divide the batter among 5 mixing bowls. Colour each batter with food colouring to make your desired coloured batters (I opted for purple, blue, yellow, orange and pink). Pour a single colour batter into each cake tin. Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Pop the cakes into the centre of the preheated oven and bake for around 25-30 minutes. You will know they are done when you put a knife or cake skewer in to the centre of the cake and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.
- Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool slightly before removing them from the tins. Leave the cakes to cool fully on the cooling rack. Once cool, pop them into a sealed container to keep them fresh before frosting.
Method (buttercream)
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter, whip until light and creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
- Sift in the icing sugar and add in the vanilla. Whip on high speed for around 5 minutes to incorporate it. Add a splash of dairy-free milk if needed. If the frosting is too thick, add some more chunks of butter. If it’s too soft, add more icing sugar. You want it smooth, creamy and airy. If it ever looks like it’s split, add some more chunks of butter to get it to the right consistency.
- Separate a little bit of the buttercream into a separate bowl and colour with some yellow food gel (this is for the piped flower decoration). Transfer this into a piping bag and snip off the tip.
- Transfer 3 heaped tablespoons into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip nozzle. Set aside.
- Place one of the cakes on a serving plate or cake stand. Dollop or pipe some of the vanilla buttercream on top and spread out until even using an off-set spatula or pallet knife. Repeat until you have all the cakes layered on top of each other with buttercream in the middle.
- Apply a thin layer of buttercream to the top and outside of the cake, this is the crumb coat. Scrap with a cake scraper or smooth with a pallet knife. Place the cake into the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. This makes applying the final coat easier.
- Apply a thicker layer of buttercream and smooth this out over the entire cake. This is your final layer.
- Use the buttercream in the piping bag (the plain white and yellow) to pipe flowers all over the cake, sides and top. See video for reference!
- Use a sharp knife to cut the cake into slices, serve and enjoy!
Notes
To store: Store this cake in a sealed container in the fridge. Best eaten within 3 days of making.
Remove from the fridge and leave at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
Un-iced cakes can be stored in a sealed / air-tight container at room temperature for 2 days.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
- Category: Cakes and layer cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Hi! I just made this cake, but the colors aren’t very vibrant, and it looks flat. I want to redo it tonight since it’s for my daughter’s party tomorrow. Any ideas why it turned out flat? I doubled the recipe because I used 8-inch tins.