Cakes!

I discovered Little Aiden has a sweet tooth, so to avoid spending too much money going to restaurants that caters to us vegans; I had to become quite creative in filling our home with healthy sweets. And as my eldest, Adrian says: A growing boy cannot live by granola alone.

You might notice I use brown sugar for a lot of these recipes. Please feel free to use whatever alternative(s) you want to.

Here are just a few of the recipes we have tried. Credit goes to:Vegetarian Times and Vegan Society

Deep Chocolate Vegan Cake

SERVES 8

Chocolate Cake

1 ½ cups unbleached white flour

⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 cup sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup cold water or chilled brewed coffee

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 Tbs. cider vinegar

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Frosting

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

¼ cup peanut butter

3 to 4 Tbs. water

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously oil 8-inch square or round baking pan. Dust with sifted cocoa, or line bottom of baking pan with parchment paper.

To make Chocolate Cake:

2. Sift flour, cocoa, soda, salt and sugar. In another bowl, combine oil, water or coffee and vanilla. Pour liquid into dry, and mix until smooth.

3. Add vinegar and stir briefly; baking soda will begin to react with vinegar, leaving pale swirls in batter. Without wasting time, pour batter into prepared pan.

4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve cake from pan, or, when cool, transfer to plate.

To make Chocolate-Peanut Butter Frosting:

5. In heavy saucepan, melt chocolate over medium heat. Beat together peanut butter, water and vanilla until smooth. Beat in confectioners’ sugar, and add melted chocolate, mixing until blended. Spread frosting on cooled cake.

German Chocolate Cake

230g unbleached plain flour

340g evaporated cane juice

75g cocoa powder, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon salt

240ml strong coffee, cooled

120ml vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

240ml soya milk and cider vinegar*

3 teaspoons egg replacer, whisked with 4 tablespoons warm water

*Pour 1 tablespoon cider vinegar into a measuring jug, then add the soya milk to equal 240ml.

German Chocolate Frosting

115g butter substitute

120ml soya milk

140g dried unsweetened shredded

coconut

115g shelled pecan nuts, chopped,

plus extra for decorating (optional)

85g evaporated cane juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Buttercream (below)

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and flour two 23cm round sandwich tins.

2. In a stand mixer, combine the flour, cane juice, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Stir to combine.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cooled coffee, oil, vanilla extract and soya milk/vinegar mixture. Turn the mixer onto a low speed and slowly pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix for 1 minute. Stop and scrape down the side and base of the bowl. Add the egg replacer and mix again for 1 minute. The cake mixture will be very thin. Divide it between the prepared cake tins.

4. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean. Cool in the tins on wire racks for 10 minutes, then flip the tins over to release the cakes. Leave to cool for 1 hour.

5. MEANWHILE, MAKE THE GERMAN CHOCOLATE FROSTING. In a saucepan, melt the butter substitute. Add the soya milk, coconut, pecans, cane juice and vanilla extract. Stir until combined, then heat for 2 minutes or until the mixture comes to the boil.

6. Place one cooled cake on a serving plate. Using an offset spatula, spread half of the German Chocolate Frosting on top, then add the second cake and spread the remaining frosting on top of that. Frost the side of the cake with the Chocolate Buttercream. If you like, decorate the top of the cake with piped Chocolate Buttercream and press some extra chopped pecans into the base of the cake side.

Chocolate Buttercream

225g butter substitute, softened

420g organic icing sugar

25g cocoa powder, sifted

2 tablespoons water

Using a mixer beat the butter substitute on a medium speed for about 20 seconds until smooth in texture. Stop and scrape down the side of the bowl. Add the icing sugar and cocoa powder and mix for 1 minute on a low speed. Add the water and mix on a medium speed until combined, then increase the speed to high and beat for a further 2 minutes until the buttercream is light and fluffy. Set aside

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

½ cup vegan margarine

½ cup brown sugar

One can pineapple slices

Maraschino cherries

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ⅓ cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup canola oil

1 cup soy milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a small pot melt the margarine and add the sugar.  Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves remove from the heat and set aside.

Grease and flour a 10” spring form pan very well. Pour the melted margarine and sugar mixture into the bottom of the spring form pan making sure to spread it evenly across the bottom.  Then place pineapple rings on top of the sugar mixture. Put a maraschino cherry inside the hole of each ring.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add the canola oil, soy milk, applesauce and vanilla extract.  Stir until all the ingredients are well combined.

Pour the cake batter over the pineapple slices. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.

Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Let the cake completely cool before removing the outer ring. Once you have removed the outer ring, gently invert onto a serving platter and remove the bottom of the spring form pan to reveal the pineapples.

Note: Some of the margarine may leak out of the spring form pan so place a piece of foil underneath and turn the edges up so If anything does leak out it will leak onto the foil and not onto the bottom of your oven. This can also be done in a round cake tin that has sides of at least 3” high.

I had to throw a carrot cake in there… somewhere…

Carrot Cake

Ingredients

4 cups grated carrot

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

1 ½ cups brown sugar

¾ cup raisins

½ cup chopped pecans

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup canola oil

Cream cheese icing

⅓ cup vegan margarine (softened)

⅓ cup vegan cream cheese

2 ⅓ cups icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together.

Add the applesauce, oil, carrots and raisins and mix until everything is well combined.

Pour into a greased 9”x 13” baking pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then gently flip it out onto a cooling rack. Let it cool completely before icing.

To make the icing, cream margarine and cream cheese together until combined. Add icing sugar ⅓ of a cup at a time and continue to beat until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla and mix again. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Note: Put a piece of parchment paper on the wire rack before placing the cake on the rack.

I hope you all will have some fun with it!