Vegan Biscoff Cake

This Biscoff cake is moist, fluffy, absolutely loaded with Biscoff flavor, & topped off with a creamy, decadent Biscoff buttercream – with no eggs, milk, or dairy (not that you can tell!).

What is Biscoff?

Lotus Biscoff is the brand behind Biscoff cookies, a type of speculoos cookie, and Biscoff cookie butter spread (like peanut butter, but made from the cookies!). The caramelized biscuit has a warm, caramel, cinnamon-spiced flavor, and is perfect for spreading over toast or adding to vegan blondies, brownies, cakes, cheesecake, and more!

Decadent and Delicious Lotus Biscoff Cake

Having recently shared a simple recipe for vegan funfetti cupcakes, perfect for birthdays and special occasions, we had to follow it up with our top favorite show-stopping cake – this Lotus Biscoff cake recipe!

This vegan Biscoff birthday cake is everything a Biscoff lover could want from a cake and more. It’s made up of two layers of fluffy biscoff swirled cake studded with crumbled biscoff cookies, filled and covered with a creamy, decadent Biscoff buttercream, and decorated with even more biscoff biscuits and optional Biscoff cookie butter ‘drip.’

Not only is the Biscoff layer cake a crowd-pleasing dessert worthy of any special occasion, but it’s also naturally egg, milk, and dairy-free – and you’d never be able to tell! It’s so moist, fluffy, creamy, and delicious that you can easily serve this to vegans and non-vegans, catering to multiple dietary requirements with practically guaranteed compliments and empty plates.

Best of all, there are several ways to adapt the recipe, too, listed below. Whether that’s turning it gluten-free, using a portion of whole wheat flour, unrefined sugars, or adding to the flavor with decadent mix-ins like vegann chocolate chunks, crushed nuts, banana, and more!

The Ingredients

• Vegan buttermilk: Use a combination of plant-based milk (soy milk works best, though almond milk is fine, too) and apple cider vinegar or white vinegar to make a simple vegan buttermilk replacement.
• Oil: Use a neutral oil like vegetable/canola oil for a moist cake with a tender crumb.
• Applesauce: Unsweetened applesauce replaces binding eggs in this eggless Biscoff cake.
• Biscoff: For plenty of Biscoff flavor in this Biscoff cookie cake recipe, you’ll need creamy Biscoff cookie butter (or similar vegan cookie butter) and a package of Biscoff cookies.
• Flour: Use all-purpose flour or cake flour for the lightest cake. A 50/50 combination of AP and whole wheat will work, too, for a slightly denser cake.
• Sugar: Brown sugar perfectly complements the caramelized brown sugar flavor of biscoff. For a less refined option, try coconut sugar.
• Vanilla extract: Use pure, natural vanilla extract (or paste) for the best flavor.
• Leavening agents: Combining baking powder and baking soda helps make a lighter, fluffier vegan Lotus Biscoff cake.
• Salt: Just a little perfectly balances and enhances the various flavors.
• Biscoff frosting: We used a batch of our homemade biscoff buttercream.

Recipe Variations

• Vegan chocolate: Sprinkle some of your favorite dairy-free chocolate chips or chunks (white chocolate, milk, or dark chocolate) into the batter for extra decadence.  
• Chopped nuts: Like pecans, almonds, or walnuts – to add crunch.
• Cinnamon: A little cinnamon enhances the warmth from the speculoos cookie flavor in this vanilla Biscoff cake.
• Dairy-free chocolate biscoff cake: Replace about ½ cup of flour with dark cocoa powder.
• Banana: Make a delicious banana biscoff cake by replacing the applesauce with mashed banana, and optionally adding extra chunks to the batter.
• Caramel sauce: Use your favorite vegan caramel sauce to drip down the cake.
• Vegan caramel extract: Another way to make a delicious Biscoff caramel cake is with ½-1 tsp caramel extract in the cake.
• Strawberry Biscoff cake: Replace the Biscoff buttercream with strawberry buttercream and optional compote. Also, decorate the cake with fresh strawberries.

How to Make Vegan Biscoff Cake

• 1) First, preheat the oven to 350F/175C and line two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper (or grease them with oil/vegan butter). Set them aside.
• 2) Then, in a small bowl, mix the plant-based milk and vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes to curdle into a buttermilk alternative.  

• 3) Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and whisk well.

• 4) In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients (the prepared vegan buttermilk, vanilla, applesauce, and oil) and mix well, then pour that into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated, but be careful not to over-mix.

• 5) Then, crush half the biscoff cookies into quarter-sized pieces and carefully fold them into the batter.

Be careful not to overwork the batter in steps 4 or 5, or you can end up with a dense, chewier textured cake.

• 6) Divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans. Then microwave the Biscoff cookie butter for 20-30 seconds, stir, and drizzle it between the two pans, swirling it into the batter with a knife, toothpick, or chopstick.

• 7) Bake the Biscoff cakes for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick/knife inserted into the center comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are fine).

• 8) When ready, allow the cakes to cool in the pans for at least 30 minutes before removing them and leaving them to fully cool on wire cooling racks.
• 9) While it cools, prepare the Biscoff buttercream. Once cool, frost the cake layers, sides, and top with the buttercream. Finally, crumble the remaining 5 Biscoff cookies to sprinkle over the top of the cake, and enjoy!

Optionally, microwave a little more Biscoff buttercream to create a Biscoff drip cake, pouring it over the top and towards the sides so it drips down the side of the cake.

FAQs

Pro Recipe Tips

• Measure the flour correctly: Fluff it up in its bag, spoon it into the measuring cup, and level it with the back of a knife (rather than scooping the cup into the bag) to avoid using too much and ending up with dense, dry cake.
• Use room temperature ingredients: This will help you avoid a gummy cake.  
• Don’t overmix the batter: Otherwise, you can end up with a dense, unrisen cake. Mix the batter just enough to incorporate the ingredients – a few small lumps are fine.
• Leave them to cool before decorating: Otherwise, the vegan buttercream will melt.

Storage Instructions

Store vegan Biscoff cake in a cake container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

You can also freeze the cake frosted or unfrosted (we prefer unfrosted), whole or sliced, for up to 3 months. If unfrosted, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then place in a Ziplock/Stasher bag. If frosted, flash freeze it on a tray until solid, then transfer it to a freezer-safe bag/container.

Leave it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature.

More Easy Vegan Cake and Cupcake Recipes

• Blackberry chocolate cupcakes
• Simple funfetti cupcakes
• Vegan vanilla cupcakes
• Pineapple walnut muffins
• Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake
• EASY Chocolate Depression Cake [Wacky Cake]

Photos by Alfonso Revilla