An exceptional yet simple layered Vegan Cake with subtle Earl Grey fragrance & fluffy, buttery, lemony frosting. It can be made as a 3 layer cake, a 2 layer cake or even 6 muffins. You will find full instructions for all 3!
THIS RECIPE IS SPONSORED BY MAIA MING DESIGNS
I haven't published a cake recipe since my Maple Walnut Cake on A Virtual Vegan's first birthday in 2016. My plan was to make a tradition of creating a decadent vegan cake recipe to mark that occasion every year. That didn't happen on AVV's second birthday because I ended up in the hospital, so I decided to make one for my own birthday this year. We happened to be on vacation for that, so this rather exquisite Earl Grey Vegan Cake with Lemon Frosting is coming at you one week later. It really is worth the wait though!
It might look extravagant, but this cake isn't much more difficult than making a quick bread, except that you need to quickly whip up some frosting too. And I know it's pretty big (try getting your mouth around one of those 3-layered slices!), but I have also included instructions to adapt it to make a 2 layer cake or even 6 muffins for those of you who aren't super-duper greedy or who don't have the 5 thousand to feed.
I've certainly been keeping the neighbours happy while I've been testing this recipe. They will probably be disappointed to hear that I will no longer be turning up on their doorstep every day with a slab of cake on a plate!
There are just a few simple steps to making this vegan cake. First you need to make some very strong Earl Grey tea.
I had the the pleasure of working with this wonderful Eva Tea Set from Maia Ming Designs when making this Earl Grey Vegan Cake.
The Eva Tea Set is absolutely beautiful, but also functional and versatile. I drink tea everyday so the tea pot has been getting lots of use, but we are also big coffee lovers. We treated ourselves to a Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine in a sale a few months ago and the Eva tea cups are the absolute perfect size for a double shot of espresso with just the right amount of hot water. The platter is roomy and perfect for serving up small baked goods alongside your tea, but also could be used alone for serving cakes, muffins or other treats when you have guests over.
We tend to drink our tea and coffee black, but the milk pitcher has been used for serving maple syrup on our pancakes. You will see it featured in the photos of my next recipe!
Drippy pourers are a pet hate of mine and I have owned many. It's always the first thing I take note of when I use new tea pots, pitchers or jugs. The pouring quality of a lot of them isn't great, but with the Eva tea pot and pitcher, thought has not only gone into the look, but also the functionality. They pour absolutely perfectly!
There are just a few simple steps to making this vegan cake. First you need to make some very strong Earl Grey tea.
After making the tea, let it cool slightly then get on with the baking!
Much like non - vegan cake, you start by whipping the vegan butter and sugar. Then gradually add the aquafaba (my ingredient of the moment. I seem to have used it a lot recently!
WHAT IS AQUAFABA?
In case you aren't familiar, aquafaba is the liquid from a can of chickpeas. It might sound very odd but it is the perfect egg replacement in vegan cake and muffins. It gives such tender, soft results, much better than flax eggs or chia eggs so please don't consider subbing it for one of those. And if you need a way to use up the chickpeas you will find many recipes using them in my recipe index. Just type 'chickpeas' into the search bar!
Next you add the dry ingredients, followed by the liquid which is a mixture of the Earl Grey tea and some plant-based milk. Stir gently, pour into pans and you're done!
This is what you've got to look forward to ---->
AFTERNOON TEA?
So perfect. So decadent. Amazingly yummy. The sponge is light, soft and fragrant. Taste testers had absolutely no idea this was a vegan cake! It would make the perfect vegan celebration cake.
The Earl Grey flavour is subtle and the buttery lemon frosting compliments it perfectly. I chose to split an Earl Grey tea bag and mix it into my frosting as I think it looks really pretty, but after running a poll on my Instagram it seems not everyone agrees. It is purely optional so add the tea leaves only if you want to. They don't really add any flavour, it is just for aesthetics. Don't worry about the texture. You can't detect them at all.
This Earl Grey Vegan Cake is perfect served with a cup of tea alongside. As I am British, perhaps I should be recommending you make it and serve it as part of a decadent Afternoon Tea. Truth be told, the only afternoon tea I have ever had was here in Canada for my 40th birthday.
You must give this Earl Grey Vegan Cake with Lemon Frosting a try! And if you want to be extra decadent, may I suggest adding a spread of Vegan Lemon Curd between each layer? Or switching the lemon frosting for vegan cream cheese frosting? So good!!!
And if you love the elegant, whimsical style of Maia Ming Designs, be sure to follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
As with all of my baking recipes where precision is key to excellent results, I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients, rather than using cup measurements. I love this one because it is very reasonably priced and it has a tare function which is really handy. It means you can place any bowl on the scale and reset to zero so it doesn't include the weight in it's calculation, plus you can reset to zero when adding multiple ingredients to the same bowl which saves on washing up!
Recipe
Earl Grey Vegan Cake with Lemon Frosting
Author:Ingredients
FOR A 3 LAYER CAKE
- 9 Earl Grey tea bags , I like to use Earl Grey tea that is flavoured with pure bergamont oil rather than natural flavouring.
- 540mls / 2¼ cups boiling water
- 120g / ¾ packed cup vegan butter , cold & hard straight from the fridge. I use my own recipe which I link to here, but have also tested with Earth Balance which worked just as well. I don't recommend using Becel Vegan or any other vegan butter that tends to be really soft straight from the fridge.
- 300g / 1½ cup sugar , light coloured cane sugar is best. Don't use brown sugar or coconut sugar.
- 9 tablespoon aquafaba , the liquid from a can of chickpeas. I do not recommend subbing this for any other vegan egg substitute. Aquafaba works way better and gives much softer, lighter results.
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 360mls / 1½ cups plant-based milk , unsweetened
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar , or any white vinegar
- 1½ teaspoons salt , finely ground
- 615g / 4½ cups unbleached all purpose flour , or cake flour. In the UK use plain flour. If using cup measurements, spoon your flour into the cups with a spoon then gently level off with the back of a knife. DO NOT scoop up the flour.
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
FOR A 2 LAYER CAKE
- 6 Earl Grey tea bags
- 360mls / 1½ cups boiling water
- 80g / ½ packed cup vegan butter , cold & hard straight from the fridge. I use my own recipe which I link to here, but have also tested with Earth Balance which worked just as well. I don't recommend using Becel Vegan or any other vegan butter that tends to be really soft straight from the fridge.
- 200g / 1 cup sugar , light coloured cane sugar is best. Don't use brown sugar or coconut sugar.
- 6 tablespoons aquafaba , the liquid from a can of chickpeas. I do not recommend subbing this for any other vegan egg substitute. Aquafaba works way better and gives much softer, lighter results.
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 240mls / 1 cup plant-based milk , unsweetened
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar , or any white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt , finely ground
- 410g / 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour , or cake flour. In the UK use plain flour. If using cup measurements, spoon your flour into the cups with a spoon then gently level off with the back of a knife. DO NOT scoop up the flour.
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
FOR 6 MUFFINS OR 1 LAYER CAKE
- 3 Earl Grey tea bags
- 180mls / ¾ boiling water
- 40g / ¼ packed cup vegan butter , cold & hard straight from the fridge. I use my own recipe which I link to here, but have also tested with Earth Balance which worked just as well. I don't recommend using Becel Vegan or any other vegan butter that tends to be really soft straight from the fridge.
- 100g / ½ cup sugar , light coloured cane sugar is best. Don't use brown sugar or coconut sugar.
- 3 tablepoons aquafaba , the liquid from a can of chickpeas. I do not recommend subbing this for any other vegan egg substitute. Aquafaba works way better and gives much softer, lighter results.
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 120mls / ½ cup plant-based milk , unsweetened
- 1 tablespoon vinegar , or any white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt , finely ground
- 205g / 1½ cups unbleached all purpose flour , or cake flour. In the UK use plain flour. If using cup measurements, spoon your flour into the cups with a spoon then gently level off with the back of a knife. DO NOT scoop up the flour.
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
FROSTING FOR 3 LAYERED CAKE
- 460g / 4 cups powdered sugar , I use Wholesome Sweeteners brand which is certified vegan but any organic variety will be vegan
- 160g / 1 packed cup vegan butter , cold & hard straight from the fridge. I use my own recipe which I link to here, but have also tested with Earth Balance which worked just as well. I don't recommend using Becel Vegan or any other vegan butter that tends to be really soft straight from the fridge.
- 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt , finely ground
- 1 Earl Grey tea bag (the contents of) , optional - only use if you don't mind the dark coloured flecks in your frosting. You could use lemon zest instead or just omit completely.
FROSTING FOR 2 LAYERED CAKE
- 306g / 2 & ⅔ cup powdered sugar , I use Wholesome Sweeteners brand which is certified vegan but any organic variety will be vegan
- 106g / ⅔ packed cup vegan butter , cold & hard straight from the fridge. I use my own recipe which I link to here, but have also tested with Earth Balance which worked just as well. I don't recommend using Becel Vegan or any other vegan butter that tends to be really soft straight from the fridge.
- 2½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon salt , finely ground
- about ⅔ Earl Grey tea bag (the contents of) , optional - only use if you don't mind the dark coloured flecks in your frosting. You could use lemon zest instead or just omit completely.
FROSTING FOR 1 LAYER OR MUFFINS
- 153g / 1⅓ cup powdered sugar , I use Wholesome Sweeteners brand which is certified vegan but any organic variety will be vegan
- 53g / ⅓ cup vegan butter , cold & hard straight from the fridge. I use my own recipe which I link to here, but have also tested with Earth Balance which worked just as well. I don't recommend using Becel Vegan or any other vegan butter that tends to be really soft straight from the fridge.
- 1¼ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt , finely ground
- about ⅓ Earl Grey tea bag (the contents of) , optional - only use if you don't mind the dark coloured flecks in your frosting. You could use lemon zest instead or just omit completely.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Begin by making the tea. Put the tea bags into a small jug and cover with boiling water. Press the bags with the back of a spoon a few times to squeeze all of that flavour out then let it steep for about 15 mins. Remove the tea bags then measure the tea. You need 1½ cups (360mls) of tea for the 3 layer cake, 1 cup (240ml) of tea for the 2 layer cake and ½ cup (120mls) of tea for the 1 layer cake or 6 muffins. You should have almost exactly that once you remove the bags and measure. They tend to absorb all of the extra water but if it's a bit over, discard the extra or if it's a little less, top it up with a drop more water.
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Grease the required number of 8 inch cake pans then cut a circle of parchment paper and put it into the bottom of each pan. This makes the cake removal once baked super easy. You can place the pan ( or the loose bottom insert) on the parchment paper and draw around it then cut to fit. If making muffins line your tin with muffin liners.
- Put the brewed tea (it doesn't matter if it's still warm), the milk, the vanilla extract and the vinegar into a large jug and stir to combine.
- Sift the flour (not essential but it does make the cake slightly lighter) into a bowl and whisk in the salt, baking soda and baking powder.
- Beat the vegan butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. I used my stand mixer but an electric hand mixer would work well or you can do it by hand.
- Once fluffy, gradually add the aquafaba while mixing. If the mixture splits a little bit don't worry as it will make no difference to the end result.
- While mixing on a very low speed, or gently by hand, add the flour mixture to the fluffy sugary butter mixture in 3 three additions, alternating with the milky tea mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not overmix the batter. Just continue until there is no dry flour visible and most of the lumps are out. A few small ones are fine. The batter should be velvety, and slightly thick.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the cake pans. If you have a kitchen scale you can weigh each tin so they are exactly the same. If not add the same amount of scoops to each tin so that they will all cook for the same amount of time.
- Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 32-37 mins or until baked through. To test, insert a toothpick into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. If making muffins bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Leave the cakes in the pans on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes then remove, peel the baking parchment off the bottoms and return to the cooling rack until completely cool. Do not attempt to frost or assemble if they are even the slightest bit warm.
TO MAKE FROSTING
- Beat the powdered sugar, butter, salt, lemon juice and the tea leaves (if using) together until soft, fluffy and well combined. Add the powdered sugar gradually to avoid it poofing up into a cloud and scattering everywhere! Once done place in the fridge to firm up before trying to pipe with it and if it gets too soft during piping, return the bowl and the piping bag to the fridge for 10 mins or so to firm up again.
- Feel free to cut each of the cakes perfectly level before frosting if you like. I personally don't as I don't like to waste anything. If you do level them, I recommend not levelling the top layer if you are decorating it like me as the slightly domed shape helps the height of the frosting towards the middle of the design.
- Decorate the cakes with the frosting as desired. I used a large open star piping tip to get the pattern on the top and around the edges between the layers. I spread the frosting between each layer with a spatula then piped just around the outside edge before putting the layer of cake on top. On the top I started at the outside and piped all around, gradually moving inwards. Towards the middle I increased the height of the frosting by piping slightly more each time and made the swirls a few layers high. If you don't want to pipe it, just spread it all over evenly with a spatula. You could decorate it with a scattering of lemon zest to add some interest in place of frosting swirls!
NOTES
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NUTRITION
This Earl Grey Vegan Cake recipe is sponsored by Maia Ming Designs. Thank you for continuing to support the brands who help make this site possible.
Krystal says
I was wondering what the measurements would be if I used two 9in pans instead. Thank you in advance!
A Virtual Vegan says
An 8×2 inch pan holds about 6 cups (1.4 litres) and a 9×2 inch pan holds about 8 cups (1.9 litres), so you'd need to scale the recipe up by about 1.3 to keep the sponge layers the same thickness.
You could just leave it the same though and just accept the sponge layers will be thinner (and will cook quicker because they are thinner).
I can't advise on baking times for either option though as I haven't tried it. You'll just have to use your judgment and test with a toothpick or skewer.
Hope that helps!
Josephine says
This recipe is amazing! I used it to make a 3 tier 4” cake and it worked so well. I wanted a not stronger of an earl grey flavor so I used loose leaf tea and blended it very fine in a food processor, brewed the tea and didn’t bother to strain out the tea leaves. I couldn’t feel the tea leaves in the cake but they added a nice look to the inside of the cake and it tasted amazing. I used a lemon curd filling and lemon meringue frosting made with aquafaba. I will definitely be using this recipe again and recommending it to everyone I know who loves to bake.
Josephine says
Oops, a lot stronger*
A Virtual Vegan says
So pleased you enjoyed it, Josephine!
Sian says
The flavour is great but my muffins were completely raw on the inside....
I used the correct oven temperature and even baked them for a little longer the specified. Any idea what happened?
A Virtual Vegan says
All ovens are different and the pan you use makes a difference to bake time. This means that with cakes and muffins the times given can never be exact. Just bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. As long as the recipe was followed exactly there's no other reason they wouldn't bake through. With regards pans, if you used silicone that can take substantially longer than a metal pan to bake because you don't have the heat you do with metal. I hope that helps!
Cody Cant says
Hello, just attempted this recipe and hopefully it turns out okay. But when I made it, it was super thin. I weighed out everything. Any ideas?
A Virtual Vegan says
As in the cake was thin or the batter was thin? If the cake itself was thin was the cake pan the right size? If the batter was thin, did you measure out the brewed tea after making it as per the directions? The initial amount of water is just for brewing and the whole lot isn't used in the cake. Getting that wrong is the only thing I can think of that would make the batter thin.
Cody Cant says
It was the batter that was thin. You were correct it was the amount of tea. After fixing it everything worked like a charm and it tasted delicious! Thank you
Whack says
Can the cake / white flour be exchanged with Chickpea flour? Will that work?
Thanks in advance
---Whack
A Virtual Vegan says
Definitely not. The recipe wouldn't work and would taste really bad.
Whack says
Thank you so much.... I'm using the kitchen as a chemistry set and would prefer not to have to many failures....
I was trying to figure out how to make this GF... I've a friend that is GF not by choice...
Any Ideas?
Thanks in advance
---Whack
A Virtual Vegan says
I would imagine a good 1 for 1 GF flour would be ok. Like Bob's Red Mill 1 for 1. But I haven't tried it so can't guarantee.
I did just post a gluten-free sweet potato bread recipe. You could fancy it up with frosting! https://avirtualvegan.com/gluten-free-sweet-potato-bread/
Lakshmi Sundar says
I made this cake today for my sister’s birthday and it came out so well.
Thanks for the recipe
A Virtual Vegan says
You're welcome. I'm really pleased you enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a review. It's much appreciated!
Helen Diamond says
I made it, it turned out well, lovely and light but I couldn't really taste the Earl Grey, just vanilla. I used decaff Earl Grey, could that have been the problem? The only other snag was the topping, I can't bear things too sweet so I had to reduce the icing sugar which made it a bit soft but it was fine kept in the fridge.
BEEhf says
OK.. I'm not sure what happened.. Everything tasted delicious, I followed the recipe to the tee... The cake was too dense not fluffy.... What happened???? ? ?
A Virtual Vegan says
It's impossible to know for sure without having been there and without knowing what flour etc you used, but some common reasons for a cake being dense are:
- measuring with cups instead of weighing (cups are not accurate enough to weigh flour or flour-like ingredients)
- not measuring the baking powder an the baking soda with measuring spoons
- forgetting the baking powder or baking soda
- over-mixing (you activate the gluten in the flour and it makes the cake dense and sometimes a bit tough)
- baking powder not fresh
- using a different flour
- not sifting the flour
- over-baking (all ovens are different and all cake pans cook differently)
I hope that helps you work out what might have gone wrong!
BeeH says
thank you very much for your prompt response. Out of all the reasons you mentioned why the cake was dense, the only thing I can think of is that I over mixed.. all my ingredients were fresh and I measured everything as you indicated.. As I mentioned before I followed the recipe to the tee. But yes!. I used a handheld mixer and I mixed the batter on high at the end.. ?.. I also noticed that it was a if liquidy,velvety but not sticky.
I will definitely try it once again because you're curd on your frosting were amazing. I'm looking forward to succeed next time I will definitely do not overmix
BeeH says
Sorry. Typos.. Again, your curd and frosting were absolutely delicious..
Thanks again., I will try to make it again... Not over mixing!!!
Jane says
I had exactly the same experience - measured/weighed everything, bought cake flour especially, followed the instructions exactly, but cake was rubbery and gummy layer at the bottom. I too used a mixer (but on low, as instructed and kept it to an absolute minimum.) My batter was more liquid than expected. The chemistry for a vegan sponge is so tricky to get right! I'm a pretty experienced vegan baker so it was disappointing but I also know there's variables one cannot always explain so....will probably try it again!
Lydia says
Hi!
I just made these cupcakes and they tasted AMAZING!!
But for some reason, they clung to the cupcake liners and I'm losing about a third of each cupcake no matter how delicately I try to peel them off. Do you have any idea what I did wrong?
The taste and texture though was absolutely perfect!! ?
A Virtual Vegan says
Aaaww that's a shame. Baking them too long can cause this because they kind of get fused together. But also try another brand of liner. The really cheap papers ones that are common in grocery stores tend to stick terribly. Higher quality ones are much better. You can buy liners labelled "non-stick". You can also brush/spray the liners you have very lightly with some oil. And check out silicone liners. You can use them again and again and nothing ever sticks.
Lydia says
Thanks for getting back to me so soon!
I think it probably was a combination like you said. Thanks for your advice!! I can't wait to try this recipe again!
Denise says
I made this tonight. It turned out well but there were a couple of pockets of wet bubbly bits. Have you any idea what the cause of this is? I didn’t use tea, just water. I will still use the cake and cut out the weird bits. Going to fill it with Jam and fresh cream, now that we have Elmlea double cream in the UK. Hopefully no one will notice If they get extra cream!
A Virtual Vegan says
It sounds like maybe the batter wasn't mixed properly.
Arabella Watts says
Hey :)
I love the sound of your recipe!
Do you think it would work with gluten free flour?
x
Melanie McDonald says
Thank you. I have never tested it with gluten-free flour so I can't say for sure. It might need some tweaks depending on the flour used.
November says
Hello!
This looks amazing! But I don't do any kind of processed sugar or sweeteners! I generally stick to organic maple syrup or raw honey. Both the cake and the icing have regular and powdered sugar. Do you think it would work for either or hopefully both, to use maple syrup or something other than sugar?
Thank you. Looking forward to trying many of your recipes. xx
A Virtual Vegan says
Sugar is important for structure, tenderness and moistness in sponges. If it's removed the cake won't be the same. Maple syrup might well work, but I haven't tested it so can't say for sure, and other ingredients would need to be adjusted too to make up for the extra liquid. As for the frosting, nothing else will work except powdered sugar or maybe an artificial sweetener kind of alternative but I have no experience of those because I never buy them. There are recipes out there for whole foods, plant-based frosting that might suit you better. To be completely honest though, if you don't eat sugar, this recipe probably isn't the best one for you. Hope that helps!
Sabrina says
This recipe is great and I use your butter recipe religiously! Ha. Unfortunately I always have an issue making buttercream and I am hoping for advice! My issue is that it always ends up becoming grainy to where I can taste the texture of the almond flour. It’s splits from the other ingredients and tastes extremely greasy as well. How can I avoid this? I’ve tried making buttercream with cold butter straight from the fridge as well as letting it get to a cool room temp. I keep trying to find answers but I figured it’s time to come to the source since it is your recipe!! Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm glad you are enjoying the cake recipe. With regards the frosting, if you are getting the texture of the almond flour when making the frosting, it sounds like the butter wasn't blended well enough to start with. It should have a completely smooth texture, just like store butter kind of texture. If it isn't, when you go on to make the frosting it will be slightly grainy. Maybe try blending the butter longer when you make it. I've never had frosting split before. When I make frosting, I always use cold butter and I usually use an electric hand mixer. It sounds like it might be getting too warm when you make it. Are you beating it for too long? It needs to stay cool and the longer you keep mixing, the warmer it will get. If it starts getting too soft, just pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes then try again. If it's really warm in your kitchen you can try having the bowl sitting inside another bowl that has ice in it to keep everything cold. You could try leaving the lemon juice out until later too. That might help. Mix it all up without it, and once the frosting is at the right consistency then add it gradually. And if it gets little soft then, add some more powdered sugar. Hope that helps!
Ruth says
I've just made this, my first attempt at a vegan cake! Whilst it looked amazing during the first half of baking, it then cracked quite badly. OK I thought, I'm covering the top with frosting. Upon removing the cakes from the tin, they proceeded to split from the centre so I was left with broken cakes that no amount of frosting would save!!! Any ideas what went wrong? I'm thinking something to do with the baking powder and soda still activating as I was watching the cakes slowly tear apart!!! Super light texture tho! Just need to know where I went wrong ...
A Virtual Vegan says
There are a few reasons this might have happened. First of all oven temperature is often a reason cakes cracks. If it's too hot. Was the oven definitely at 350f? Some ovens run hot. It's worth testing with an oven thermometer if you think this could be the case. Or did you cook it in the top half of the oven rather than the middle shelf? 2nd reason is opening the oven door before it's done. Is there a chance you peeked at it at some point during baking or thought it was ready when it wasn't then returned it to the oven or did you cook it in the top half of the oven rather than the middle shelf?
And thirdly too much leavener. The amounts I give are correct, but if you did not weigh your ingredients there is a chance the leavener to flour situation was off. I always recommend weighing cake ingredients rather than using cups.
Lastly, did you use exactly the same pan size? 8 inch. If not and it was deeper, this would increase the chances that the crust would form before the insides of the cake are even close to being cooked, then as they cook and rise it makes the crust crack.
Linh says
Can I use egg replacer powder? Thank you.
A Virtual Vegan says
It's not something I have ever used so I have no idea. I would highly recommend using the ingredients I list as that's how the cake has been tested. If you change them I can't guarantee results. Aquafaba would be very hard to beat in baked goods like this. It gives perfect, soft crumb results.
Laeh says
Is there a specific reason you say don't use coconut sugar
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes. There are a few reasons. Firstly coconut sugar changes the flavour. It works in some cakes but with this one, you go to the trouble of infusing the sponge with the subtle Earl Grey flavour and you don't want it covered up by rich caramel-y coconut or brown sugar. Cane sugar or white granulated sugar don't really add any flavor so are best for that reason. Different sugars affect the bake as well. As much as I love coconut sugar, cakes don't rise as much when you use it and the texture of the sponge isn't quite as good. You can see what I mean here if you have time to have a quick look: https://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/nutrition-101/same-cake-different-sugars Hope that helps!