As a college student, I often use my peers as guinea pigs. They get to try all my latest creations so I don't have to eat it all, and gain the 137 lbs I have lost, lol. A girl in my French class is Vegan and doesn't eat anything with sugar or gluten. I am determined to bake something that she can eat by the end of the semester! Has anyone else had experience doing cakes with the restrictions?

A couple weeks ago I had to make a gluten free birthday cake. I used the Betty Crocker mix, one layer yellow cake, the other devil's food. I was afraid to try it, but it tasted very good.
The ingredients for the yellow cake mix are:
Rice flour, sugar, potato starch, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), xanthan gum, salt. (May Contain Soy Ingredients.
You need to add to the mix: water, butter, vanilla, eggs
The ingredients for the devil's food cake mix are:
Sugar, Rice flour, potato starch, cocoa processed with alkali, tapioca starch, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), salt, guar gum. (May Contain Soy Ingredients)
You need to add to the mix: water, butter, eggs

Thanks for the reply, but I am looking for sugar-free and vegan-friendly(no eggs or dairy), too. I am glad the gluten-free mixes are good, though!

I found a recipe on youtube, of all places. It is from a lady in England. The cake looks really good, and she also has a frosting recipe!

You can do something like this but you are going to need to do some testing. Use canola oil instead of butter, and they make an egg replacement called Ener-G egg replacer (sold at whole foods or the likes). Bob's Red mill makes a flour that is gluten free that you can use as a replacement. Use Agave nectur instead of sugar.

There is also a cookbook/bakebook called Baby Cakes that has vegan friendly reicpes. I am not sure if there are any gluten free, sugar free in there as well, but have a look.

Thanks so much! I might just try that route, too!

I use ground flax seeds mixed with water to replace the eggs.

I would ask her about the sugar--does she mean just refined sugar-free, or truly sugar-free. Agave nectar is a sugar. Xylitol and stevia are both all-natural sugar substitutes which might be good options if she wants truly sugar-fee.

Bob's red mill's stuff is great--they have a whole line of stuff labeled gluten-free. You may need to add some xanthan gum to the flour as a binder (to replace the function of the gluten in a regular recipe--otherwise it may be very crumbly.)

Wonderful, I am going to go pick up some Bob's Red Mill flour at my local Kroger, I had never heard/seen it, but apparently they carry it.

Gums, where do I buy them at? I have been looking high and low for over a month now and never seem to find them.

TitiaM, do you know what the ratio is for ground flax seeds to egg? Thanks!

I made this cake for a child with allergies. She can eat a vegan cake. Turned out really good. You can buy vegan sugar instead of using regular sugar. Just ask your friend what brand of sugar she eats.

Hope this helps

Yield: One 9-inch layer cake or one 13×9-inch cake.

Dairy, Egg and Nut Free Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup dairy-free shortening (I use plain Crisco)

11/2 cups dairy-free buttermilk (Mix 1 1/2 cups soy milk with 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar)

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups cake flour

11/2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

11/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt



In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine shortening, buttermilk, water, and vanilla until thoroughly mixed. In a separate medium bowl, combine cake flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt with a wire whisk. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the shortening mixture, and beat on high speed 3 to 4 minutes, occasionally scraping sides with a rubber spatula.



Preheat oven to 350ºF, and spray two 9-inch round cake pans or a 13×9-inch glass baking dish with dairy-free baking spray. Pour batter into prepared pans, and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Creamy Dairy Free Chocolate Frosting

Yield: 2 cups


1 cup dairy-free margarine (I use Fleischmans Unsalted Margarine)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 cup soy or rice milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt


In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the margarine and cocoa powder until smooth. Add soy milk, vanilla, and salt, and mix thoroughly. Slowly add in the confectioners sugar, mixing on low for 1 minute. Increase speed to medium, and beat 4 to 6 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Bob's red mill makes xanthan gum--probably at a natural foods store if you have one. I can't remember where I got mine--Amazon carries it, or I got it at one of our local stores.

1 Tablespoon ground flax to 3 Tablespoons of water--mix together it should be about the consistency of egg whites. Apparently mashed banana also works as an egg sub.

there is another vegan baking cookbook called "my sweet vegan" by hannah kramski (that may be mis-spelled) it has everything including some substitution lists. she also has a blog called bittersweet; where she often offers free recipes. hope that helps and good luck!

I'm lucky, I live within driving distance of Bob's Red Mill. They sell their products on-line, including the Xanthan gum (which is $12 for 1/2 lb.) The advantage of living nearby is they sell a lot of things in bulk at their store, so I don't have to buy a whole bag of a particular thing.

I agree with TitiaM, find out what sugar-free means to your friend. For example, the Bob's Red Mill gluten-free chocolate cake mix uses evaporated cane juice as a sweetener. This is acceptable to a lot of people who are trying to cut processed sugar from their diet, but aren't necessarily worried about calories.

You could try getting babycakes out of the library, that is technically vegan, gluten free and sugar free. I dont recommend buying it, since the recipes have variable success!!

I have a few vegan recipes if your friend is willing for you to use vegan sugar, it is a great alternative to regular sugar and makes a recipe so much simpler to do. If you are interested PM me as i don't give them out often