Vanilla Almond Cake

Presenting the most PERFECT vanilla cake you'll ever try. Fluffy, sweet, vegan, oil-free, protein-packed, & with a life-changing white choc ganache.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
To assemble 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
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Buffy Ellen holding 4 layer vanilla cake with white chocolate ganche using flowers and almonds.

May I present you with the most perfect vanilla cake you’ll ever try. Before you get scared off by the fancy layers, let me let you in on a secret. It’s actually insanely easy to make!

As you’ve no doubt garnered, I’m not a fancy chef. In fact, I’d hardly call myself a chef at all. I have however become rather proficient at creating plant-powered recipes that taste amazing, are good for you and our planet, whilst also requiring the most minimal of efforts. Because – if we can tick all those boxes and get to the beach, why wouldn’t we?

So, let’s chat cake. I’d never made a vanilla cake before this one, but after some success with a chocolatey version of a similar ilk, I decided to give it a go. I wanted fluffy, sweet, delicately flavoured with real vanilla, and grounded with creamy almonds. Well my friend, we didn’t just get that. We also got protein packed, and the best white choc ganache I’ve ever tried!

If you weren’t craving cake already, you should be now. So grab the recipe below, and put it on your to make list this weekend. It’s gorgeously good, you can’t miss it.

What makes this cake healthier than most?

So what makes this cake healthier than most? It’s…

  • High in fibre
  • Packed with protein
  • Low in sugar, and
  • Entirely oil free

I began experimenting with this cake after the team at Nuzest asked me to create a recipe with their OG (original gangster) Clean Lean Protein Powder. I’ve been using the protein powder for almost 10 years, and it’s still one of my favourites. Made with non-GMO golden peas, with all nine essential amino acids, it has everything you need if you’re looking for an extra boost of protein in your life. I’m pretty sure Tony has had a scoop of this every day since they launched – 3,650 scoops perhaps…? Now that’s a lot of peas.

4 layer vanilla cake with white chocolate ganche using flowers and almond with nuzest clean lean protein powder

Who needs to add a protein powder

You might be wondering – do I really need to add protein powder into my diet? I wouldn’t say it’s essential, but it can be a really helpful addition for certain groups of people. These include:

  • Athletes and gym enthusiasts
  • Men and those needing extra calories
  • The elderly
  • Plant-based children, and
  • Just if you’re looking for a quick and easy snack

If you’re eating a well-balanced and diverse plant-based diet, you should be getting ample protein from foods such as legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds, and some vegetables. However if you’ve fallen into a bit of an avo on toast routine, you may not be getting all you need. This is where adding a good quality plant-based protein can be beneficial.

Is plant-based protein as effective as animal based?

For many years it’s been purported that plant-based protein isn’t as digestible as that from animal sources. But this has now been entirely debunked.

A recent 2021 clinical trial published in Sports Medicine, compared 19 healthy vegan men with 19 healthy omnivorous men over a 12 week training period. It showed that a plant-based diet supplemented with plant-based protein produced the exact same muscle mass and strength gains as an omnivorous diet supplemented with whey protein. In other words, protein source doesn’t impact muscle mass gain or retention as long as you’re consuming adequate overall protein.

top down of 4 layer vanilla cake with white chocolate ganche using flowers and almond with nuzest clean lean protein powder

What are the best vegan protein powders

What protein powders do I recommend, if you’re wanting that extra boost? I suggest choosing one made from:

There are other ones coming out all the time, but these are my favourites right now – from a nutritional perspective, amino acid profile, and taste.

So back to our cake! Not only have I added a dash of Nuzest’s vanilla Clean Lean Protein to the mix, I’ve also completely eliminated the oil and butter and replaced it with a blitzed apple instead. That’s right, an apple! It tuns out perfectly.

Check out the recipe below, then give this divine Vanilla Almond Cake a try this weekend. I can’t wait to hear what you think.

More delicious plant-based cakes

If you love this cake, here are some of my other favourites to make next:

If you try this Vanilla Almond Cake, let me know! Leave a comment below, rate it, or share a photo of your version on Instagram and tag me @begoodorganics. I love seeing you bring more plants into your kitchen – it truly means the world to me.

PS – this recipe was proudly created in collaboration with Nuzest. Thank you for supporting the brands who support me, to help keep Be Good Organics alive as a free resource for everyone.

Vanilla Almond Cake

Presenting the most PERFECT vanilla cake you'll ever try. Fluffy, sweet, vegan, oil-free, protein-packed, & with a life-changing white choc ganache.
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Servings 12
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
To assemble 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

Dry

  • 1 ½ c wholemeal spelt flour
  • ½ c almond meal
  • ½ c Nuzest vanilla protein powder
  • ½ c coconut sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp sea salt

Wet

  • 1 ½ c plant-based milk
  • 1 apple chopped
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

White Choc Ganache

  • ¾ c cashews
  • c water + 1 tbsp
  • 3 tbsp cacao butter melted
  • 1 ½ tbsp liquid sweetener e.g. brown rice syrup
  • 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch sea salt

To Top

  • ½ c chopped almonds
  • flowers

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 160°C (320° F) regular bake and line or lightly grease the base of a 19 cm (7 ½ in) cake tin.
  • Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl.
  • Blend milk and vinegar in a blender and let sit for a few minutes (so the milk curdles and goes slightly tangy). Then add apple and vanilla and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour wet into dry and fold gently just until the flour specks are gone. Pour into tin. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out almost dry.
  • To make the ganache, blend cashews to a flour, then add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy. Put in the fridge to firm up.
  • Remove cake, let cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then invert onto a plate to cool completely. Slice through the middle, and spread with ganache in the middle, top, and sides. Top with chopped almonds, and flowers if desired. Store in the fridge for 5 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.

Recipe Notes

  • Gluten free: Swap spelt flour with ½ cup brown rice + ½ cup buckwheat + ½ c tapioca flour. Or ¾ c brown rice + ¾ c buckwheat + 1 tsp guar gum.
  • Nut free: Replace almonds and cashews with hemp seeds.
  • Sugar free: Replace the coconut sugar with 1 cup dates in the wet ingredients, reduce the milk by 1/2 cup
  • You can also use 1 small ripe banana instead of the apple – delicious, but does give a slight banana taste.
  • This recipe makes a single cake using a 19 cm cake tin that you can slice in half for a 2 tier cake. If you want to make a 4 tier one like I did in the pictures, simply double the recipe of the cake and ganache, and bake the two cakes one after the other, or at the same time if you have two tins the same size. I’ve tried both ways, and they’re both perfect!