Today I'm so excited to share this scrumptiously sweet vanilla blueberry cake with you. It's got an amazing texture and crumb, and is bursting with juicy baked blueberries.
And all that while being vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and oil-free <3
I've been enjoying baking with fresh blueberries lately and have had this specific cake in mind for a whole week, but alas was missing an ingredient so it had to wait... But oh it was so worth it :)
It ended up being the perfect coffee / tea type cake. Sweet, springy, fruity. Amazing with a cup of coffee...
I based it off of my classic cashew vanilla birthday cake recipe, but with a few slight changes:
- I added fresh blueberries
- I skipped the frosting
- I skipped the guar gum
- I added more salt
The blueberries impart a lovely fresh and mildly tangy spin to the cake. Leaving me to think this would be great with a bit of lemon zest folded in or lemon extract (or both).
But alas my husband doesn't like lemon much, so I never got to experiment as he was really looking forward to this cake. Leaving this experiment up to the curious ;) and am expecting a full report in comments!
Interestingly this gluten-free blueberry cake worked perfectly without the guar gum. Over the last however many years I began to suspect that guar gum is really not all that essential to gluten-free baking... this cake def proves the point well. Often, less is more.
And while no frosting is needed for this type of cake in my opinion, I did sprinkle a few of the slices with some powdered dried coconut milk (my trick for a powdered sugar substitute; just be sure to pick a dairy-free product as some have milk additives) and it was lovely as well. So if you're feeling a bit more festive, that's one way to spruce this cake up.
Lastly, for those who have made the classic vanilla cake version of this, one difference to note is that the top of this cake isn't as hard / crusty and doesn't lend itself as easily (though absolutely doable) to frosting (should that be needed), due to the added moisture of the blueberries...
Blueberry Cake
A scrumptious vanilla cake with fresh blueberries. This gluten-free vegan cake is oil-free and refined sugar-free, and has the loveliest crumb and texture.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 9 slices
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Vegan
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Liquid Cake:
- ¼ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp pure almond extract
Dry Cake:
- ¾ cup white rice flour
- ½ cup tapioca starch
- 6 tbsp sweet sticky rice flour/glutinous rice flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
"Butter" Mixture:
- ½ cup cashew butter
- ½ cup boiling water
Fold-Ins
- 1 ½ cups fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Oil an 8x8 square cake pan. Set aside.
- In a small bowl combine the plant milk with vinegar and set aside, allowing it to curdle a little while working on next step.
- Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bow. Add in all liquid cake ingredients, including the almond vinegar mixture, and mix everything thoroughly to combine.
- In a separate bowl combine the cashew butter with the boiled water and stir to thin out and dissolve the cashew butter. Add this to the cake batter and mix everything to combine.
- Fold in the fresh blueberries.
- Pour the batter into prepared cake pan.
- Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 45 mins (until the top is nicely golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out completely dry). Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Notes
Store leftovers in the fridge. This cake freezes relatively well, though best served fresh for an occasion.
Trang says
Hi,
As i dont readily have maole syrup on hands, how much sugar and water equivalent would i need to swap the syrup out for plain sugar and added liquid please?!
Mary says
Could I use Bob's Red Mills gf flour instead of the different flours in the recipe? Probably not but just in case, could I substitute vegan yogurt instead of the nut butter? (Related, do you have cake recipes with yogurt? Not to be picky, you have awesome recipes.) Thx
Audrey says
Hi Mary. I think the texture will be different with Bob's Mill. I haven't tested it out, so not sure 100% (and if you give it a go, would love to hear how it worked out).
The mix I used here has glutinous rice flour, which is absent in Bob's flour mix. It ads bounce and springiness to gluten-free goods.
I'm not sure the vegan yogurt would have enough fat content to be a good swap. It might be, but I have no idea as I've not tried...
I have some vegan yogurt containing recipes, but they are mostly cheesecakes. If you're looking to use some up, here are a few ideas:
- Strawberry Shortcake: https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/strawberry-shortcake-vegan-gf/
- Chocolate Mousse Pie: https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/gluten-free-vegan-decadent-chocolate-mousse-pie/
- Tahini Orange Blossom Cheesecake: https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/tahini-orange-blossom-cheesecake/
- Sunflower Seed Butter Cheesecake: https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/nut-free-sunflower-seed-butter-cheesecake/
- Blueberry Cheesecake Tart: https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/gluten-free-vegan-blueberry-cheesecake-tart/
- Easy baked cheesecake: https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/classic-baked-cheesecake-recipe-dairy-free-soy-free/
Kelly says
Hmmm, I’ll have to try this to feel the texture… it might be a great start to blueberry/cherry/apple donuts that i requested 💕
Audrey says
Yes, that's right! :)
Coleen says
Hi! Would I be able to substitute almond butter for cashew? If so, same ratio with water? Or, if I have raw cashews at home, how much raw cashews to soak or not soak? Thanks!
Audrey says
Hi Coleen. I haven't tested this particular recipe out with other nut butters. I had it in mind to try a variation with sunflower seed butter next week. I suspect it should work just fine with the almond butter, but sometimes there can be texture / flavor differences so I'm not 100% certain how it'll turn out. If you give it a go, pls share the results :)
You can make cashew butter from the raw cashews just by processing them into a nut butter first in a power blender or food processor.
My mind is going in the direction you're probably asking about (blending cashews with water), but I don't think you can blend boiling water in a blender, and the warmth plays a role in the batter mixture. So I'd say it's a pretty experimental path to take. Would be difficult to blend through evenly in such small quantity...