Vegan spice cake with cream cheese frosting is a fantastic way to decorate your advent or Christmas table with a lovely white cake that is equally delicious and good-looking.

Vegan spice cake + cream cheese frosting = <3

I created this recipe accidentally. I worked with a vegan store that sells vegan mascarpone cream. This mascarpone cream tasted like butter and is really thick, almost like butter, really. It’s tasty but super fatty. I had to try if it worked as a vegan buttercream frosting.

It turned out it worked super well. The cream I created was super delicious and I just couldn’t let that slip away unused. So I created a perfect spiced cake to go with the vegan buttercream.

It took me a few trials and errors before I got it right. I am happy with the result now – the cake is tasty, soft, moist, and pairs super well with this vegan mascarpone buttercream.

I added coconut yogurt to the mix so it really reminds me of cream cheese frosting. Call it what you want, it’s delicious and that’s all that’s important.

Things to be careful about with this spice cake

The most important one is the cake batter and baking the sponge cake:

I’m using coconut oil for the batter – I mix it with sugar and yogurt and then add it to the batter. If you’re using margarine, be careful because it tends to separate into water and fat and it doesn’t work well. If you’re using margarine instead of coconut oil, then don’t add yogurt when you’re whipping it up with sugar. Add yogurt later along with milk. I still highly recommend using coconut oil (hard of course) for this part as the recipe was created for that combo.

When baking cake, really give it time. If you undertake it, it will be too moist, too low, and too sticky. In case 55 minutes are not enough and the batter still sticks to the toothpick when you stick it into the cake, then let it bake longer. Each oven is different so give it time.

Also, let the cake cool down completely before you cut it in half. It might take some time, but cutting it too fast might cause it to be sticky, fall down and not be fluffy anymore, etc. It’s not worth it.

There are some things about the cream cheese frosting, too:

I’m not sure what mascarpone cream you could get your hands onto, but Schlagfix that I used is perfect. It’s really hard, harder than butter I’d say, very fatty and it really resembles butter. Look for something like that. In case your mascarpone is too soft, then add less yogurt. You might not need any yogurt at all. Observe the consistency. It has to be creamy and soft, but not too soft – it needs to stand in place when you spread it onto the cake. If your mascarpone is soft, then use more mascarpone and less to no yogurt. Just make sure you end up with 400 g of cream (so 200 g mascarpone and 200 g yogurt or 300 g mascarpone and 100 g yogurt or even 400 g mascarpone and no yogurt) without sugar and other ingredients.

Make sure to mix it really well so there are as few lumps left as possible.

Q&A

My mascarpone is very soft, if I mix it with yogurt it’s runny. What can I do?

If your mascarpone is really soft, then you’ll have to only use mascarpone and maybe even add some whipped cream thickener (in Slovenia that’s Kremfix) to help you make it thick enough. Read the section about the cake above for more information on the frosting.

Can I use margarine instead of coconut oil?

I wrote about this above – I would recommend using coconut oil. If you’re using margarine, make sure to only mix margarine and sugar, without yogurt – if you add yogurt, then margarine might get separated into water and fat and the batter for the cake will not turn out well.

I don’t have wholemeal flour, can I only use all-purpose?

I haven’t tried that, but I think it would work very well.

My cake is low and sticky. Why?

It might be that your baking powder was not activated properly or you didn’t add enough of it. When baking this cake, make sure it’s baked thoroughly – give it enough time. Make sure that the toothpick you stick into the cake to try if it’s baked stays clean after pulling it out of the cake.

Do you like cakes? Try my simple vegan rich marble cake or maybe this lemon poppy seed bundt cake. If you’re looking for more holiday recipes, you might like my softest vegan cinnamon rolls, traditional Slovenian holiday roll called Potica, or maybe this holiday sweet bread with nuts and dried fruit.

Are you recreating any of my recipes? Don’t forget to take a photo and tag me on Instagram @littlekitchenvibes

Vegan Spice Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

This vegan spice cake is decadent, rich, and tasty. With vegan cream cheese frosting and pretty decorations, it will make every celebration a tad bit better.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 55 minutes mins

Resting time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 5 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine european

Servings 8 pieces

Ingredients

  

• 150 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g wholemeal flour
• pinch salt
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1½ tsp cinnamon
• pinch ground cloves
• pinch allspice
• pinch nutmeg
• pinch black pepper
• ⅓ tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp ginger
• 200 g grated apple
• 70 g coconut oil
• 70 g yogurt
• 70 g brown sugar
• 100 ml oat milk

Frosting

• 200 g vegan mascarpone
• 200 g coconut yogurt
• 1 pack vanilla sugar about 8 g
• 20 g brown sugar
• ⅓ tsp cardamom

Decoration

• cinnamon sticks
• anis stars
• whole cloves
• dried flowers

Instructions

 

• First, let's add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl. Flours, sugar, salt, baking powder, and spices. Whisk them well.
• Grate an apple and don't throw away the liquid, we need it.
• Add coconut oil, coconut yogurt, and sugar to a bowl and mix it well with a hand mixer. We want a smooth whipped cream. You can also use an electric chopper or a blender to easily mix all the ingredients.
• Now, add an apple, coconut oil + yogurt + sugar cream, and milk to the bowl with dry ingredients and gently mix it all together. Use a whisk or a spatula to gently incorporate all the ingredients. Don't overmix it, but make sure there are no dry lumps in the batter.
• Put the batter into a cake tin (approx. 22 cm) greased and lined with parchment paper. Using a spatula, straighten the surface and put it into the preheated oven.
• Bake at 180°C for about 55 minutes or until it's well-baked - use a toothpick method to check if it's done.

  Toothpick method: take a toothpick and stick it into the cake. Pull it out and check, if there's some batter sticking to the toothpick. If there's still some batter sticking to it, your cake is not done yet.

Cream cheese frosting

• In the meantime, prepare the frosting. Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix them together with an electric hand mixer. You want a smooth and light cream that holds its shape (more or less). Then cover the bowl and place it into the fridge so it cools down.

Putting the cake together

• Once the cake is baked, take it out of the oven and let it cool down completely.
• When the cake is cooled down, cut it into two layers.
• Add about 3 tbsp of cream cheese frosting onto the first layer and spread it out evenly. Then, place another layer on top of that and add another 3 tbsp of frosting on top of that. Spread it out evenly again.
• Use the rest of the cream to cover the sides of the cake.
• Decorate as you wish, using the listed objects or add any of your choice.

Keyword eggless spice cake, spice cake, vegan buttercream, vegan cream cheese frosting, vegan spice cake, winter cake