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    Home » Cakes and Cupcakes

    Modified: May 20, 2023 by Sweet Sensitive Free

    Soft Gluten free Sponge Cake (Vegan)

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    Vegan and delicious, try this gluten free sponge cake recipe today! Easy to make, it uses aquafaba as egg replacer, it's soft and versatile, perfect for your gluten free layer cakes. Just like this Victoria Sponge that you can't miss!

    close up of inside of gluten free sponge cake
    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Baking in grams
    • 📖 Full Recipe

    Aquafaba is the precious cooking liquid of beans.
    I love using aquafaba in gluten free baking, as it works both as a binding agent and it gives a lovely, soft texture to the final product. Also, you won't taste any legume flavor, promise 😉

    Try this cocoa cake with aquafaba or this gluten free white bread loaf!

    Ingredients

    This vegan sponge cake with aquafaba calls for very simple ingredients.

    Brown rice flour, a great, light gluten free flour, also neutral-flavored.

    Almond flour (always make sure it is labeled gluten free), or you can use homemade ground almonds by grinding blanched almonds in a food processor or blender. Either way, almonds give e a softer texture to the cake.

    Potato starch, or other gluten free starch like corn, rice or tapioca. It works as a binder and helps keeping the texture soft and airy.

    Sugar, I usually go for brown sugar, but for this recipe caster sugar works better.

    Aquafaba (whipped), the cooking liquid of chickpeas or other legumes. You can read more about it in this article.

    Margarine or vegan butter, it will need to be melted and room temperature

    Gluten free, plant based milk, rice or soy milk work better for their neutral flavor. But in this recipe almond or cashew milk will work too (they need to be liquid and not dense/creamy milks).

    Vanilla extract and grated lemon zest will add lovely flavors. You can play around with flavors, especially if you are using two or more sponge cakes to make a layer cake.

    All the quantities in the card below

    Instructions

    Here's how to make quick homemade gluten free sponge cake without eggs and without butter.

    • Grease a pan or line it with parchment paper and set aside
    • Pre-heat oven at 180° C / 350 F
    • Beat the liquid aquafaba with a hand mixer on high speed, until stiff peaks form
    • In a bowl, weigh and mix flours, starch, sugar, baking powder, salt and grated lemon zest and mix well
    • Add the milk and melted margarine and mix with a hand mixer for 1 minute, making sure all the dry ingredients are well incorporated.
    • With a spatula incorporate the whipped aquafaba, with soft gentle movements (do not use the hand mixer). You will get a liquid batter, it's ok.
    • Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
    • Let cool down completely before removing from pan
    steps to make gluten free sponge cake

    Baking in grams

    I cook and bake in grams as they are more accurate (than cups) when measuring ingredients. This is especially important when it comes to gluten free and vegan recipes.
    Also, I weigh both dry and wet ingredients in grams and most of the time I share one- or two-bowl recipes, to make everything easier for you.
    A simple affordable kitchen scale is definitely a useful and worthy investment for your gluten free cooking.
    So you will simply need to place the bowl on the scale and weigh ingredients as you go!

    gluten free sponge cake on a serving plate

    If you make this recipe or have questions, leave me a comment down here! And a 5 star rating if you have loved it would help me grow the blog 😉
    For all the updates, follow me on Pinterest and Instagram and tag me if you make this or any of my recipes! I absolutely LOVE to see what you make and share it in my stories!

    Ciao!
    Sonia

    slice of gluten free sponge cake

    📖 Full Recipe

    Soft Gluten free Sponge Cake (Egg free, Dairy free)

    Vegan and gluten free sponge cake made with aquafaba! It's soft, fluffy and versatile, perfect for your gluten free layer cakes!
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Cook Time 25 minutes mins
    Total Time 40 minutes mins
    Course Breakfast, Dessert
    Cuisine American, Italian
    Servings 8 slices

    Equipment

    • 2 medium bowls
    • 1 hand mixer
    • 1 spatula
    • 1 8 or 9 inch baking pan
    • 1 kitchen scale

    Ingredients
      

    • 100 grams (¾ CUP) brown rice flour (gluten free)
    • 100 grams (1 CUP) almond flour, or finely ground blanched almonds
    • 100 grams (½ CUP + 2 tbsp) potato starch (or other gluten free starch)
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • pinch of salt
    • 50 grams (¼ CUP) caster sugar
    • 50 grams (4 tbsp) vegan margarine or vegan butter, melted, room temperature
    • 100 grams (½ CUP) aquafaba (cooking liquid of chickpeas or other legumes)
    • 150 grams (¾ CUP) gluten free, dairy free milk
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

    Instructions
     

    • Grease a pan or line it with parchment paper and set aside
    • Pre-heat oven at 180° C / 350 F
    • Beat the liquid aquafaba with a hand mixer on high speed, until stiff peaks form
    • In a bowl, weigh and mix flours, starch, sugar, baking powder, salt and grated lemon zest and mix well
    • Add the milk and melted margarine and mix with a hand mixer for 1 minute, making sure all the dry ingredients are well incorporated (check for remaining flour at the bottom of the bowl)
    • With a spatula incorporate the whipped aquafaba, with soft gentle movements (do not use the hand mixer). You will get a liquid batter, it's ok.
    • Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
    • Let cool down completely before removing from pan
    • If desired, dust it with powdered sugar
    • Double the quantities and bake into two separate pans, to make a layer cake

    Notes

    Please note that measurements in cups may differ from the ones in grams, due also to the difference in texture/grinding of naturally-gluten free flours. Which is why the use of a kitchen scale is advised, for a correct outcome of the recipe.
    Keyword dairy free, eggless, gluten free, sponge cake, vegan
    Loved this recipe?Let me know how it was! Leave a comment and rating down below!

    More Cakes and Cupcakes

    • Gluten free Strawberry Rolls (Vegan, No Yeast)
    • Gluten free Orange Cake (Dairy free, Eggless)
    • Gluten free Carrot Muffins (Vegan)
    • Gluten-free Baked Cheesecake (Vegan)
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    1. Emilye says

      August 07, 2023 at 1:32 pm

      Hi Sonia!
      I’d like to use this as a thin sponge cake for ice cream sandwiches. Do you think I could get away with not whipping the aquafaba, and just add it directly to the ingredients? I don’t need the sponge to be super fluffy. Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks 😊

      Reply
      • Sweet Sensitive Free says

        August 07, 2023 at 2:12 pm

        Hi!! I have only used liquid aquafaba in bread to make it softer, I haven't tested yet in cakes. It should still work as a binding agent, I can't say though if it might change the batter consistency and make it runny. Maybe try with a lower quantity and add more as you go and see if the batter remains a standard cake batter consistency and not too liquid. I wish I could be more precise, but I haven't tested it and I can only guess.

        Reply

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    Hi! So grateful you're here! I'm Sonia, welcome to my little Italian corner of the world where I share comforting recipes without gluten and mostly vegan, to help you enjoy a much easier and definitely tastier allergen-free life!

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