You guys, baking vegan is not difficult…at all…until you need to bake a vanilla cake. I can’t tell you how many recipes I’ve tested and they’ve ALL failed. I finally thought I figured one out using chickpea water or aquafaba and the flavour was beautiful…but the consistently was so temperamental. It crumbled, it became too soggy, too dense…other times it was perfect. For the amount of vanilla cakes that are requested. This just wasn’t going to cut it. And my goodness the amount of chickpeas I was going through was CRAZY! And I’m not gonna lie. I have a slight (I’m being kind to myself here) intolerance to chickpeas. I mean it’s BAD. It causes me to bloat like no body’s business as well. My husband was not too appreciative of this little fact. Neither was I to be honest…or the kids. Let’s just say the WHOLE family have been much more thankful for the lack of chickpeas in my life 💨😬🙈 oh the absolute shame!!
I found the perfect vegan vanilla recipe, and to be honest…my non vegan customers…only ones to ever complain. And not all obviously, majority have come back with amazing feedback. And it’s simple. It’s because this recipe is ridiculously moist, and to be honest. I think people are so used to dry cakes, that I’ve been told a couple of times that the cake is underbaked 🙄 It ruffles my feathers guys. Not gonna lie. I’ve been baking for over 10 years. I bake in 2 tins per cake. Each cake is cooled, turned out, and then split horizontally….if it were underbaked do you HONESTLY think it would even leave my house? Absolutely not. So I torte the cakes, fill with jam and buttercream and refrigerate. I don’t even need to add any simple syrup, because it’s that moist. A customer actually sent me this photo of the inside of her cake to say it was raw and inedible…guys I was like ‘YAS Queeeen! Look at that lusciousness…no plant milk needed here to wash that down!’
Vegan vanilla cake absolutely does tend to go a wee bit dense, this particular recipe can actually be frozen, others not so much because they DO get denser …but not gummy, or heavy…it actually keeps that fluffy texture. I for one, love the flavour and texture. My good friend and her family (non vegans) agree that it’s a delicious recipe, and trust me…Kerry is the most honest person I know and she always keeps me grounded and I know for a fact that she would hundred percent let me know if my cake didn’t taste amazing! I was so so upset by this accusation that I sent this picture to another local vegan baker and she said the same thing ‘that looks exactly how mine look! Not dry at all and completely baked’
Soooo if you want a dry cake…this is just not the recipe for you. It’s not. This isn’t a Pound Cake, or a Madeira, it’s a lusciously moist cake that’s made with cake flour, and soya milk (the protein in soya milk is what creates the perfect balance of a stable cake when eggs aren’t being used). I’ve included pictures of what the cake looks like once out the oven, once cooled and sliced prior being filled, and also once cut in to. It’s beautiful. My all time favourite vegan vanilla cake that I will not change because a few people don’t understand good cake. Because I take this shit personally. I DON’T UNDERBAKE MY DAMN CAKES! I legit forgot to put baking powder in the last cake I baked and you can bet your ass it will not be leaving this house. Because it’s definitely not up to standard!
Anyhow, I’ve been upping my game completely on my Donut Eat Bakery business. I’m being really good about working on it every day. Even if it’s only a bit of research, and then applying that knowledge to get the most out of my day/product etc.
My favourite candle designs and one of my customer’s favourites too is Birthday Cake! (Which you can buy here) And because I’m photographing all my products, I’m needing props..so the best prop for this fragrance is Birthday Cake of course 🙂 so I’m sharing with you my PERFECT vegan cake recipe. In the next few weeks I’ll bring to you all my other favourite recipes, like Blueberry Cheesecake, Banana Nut Muffins, Red Velvet Cupcakes, Chocolate cake…and even a Jammie Dodger shortbread bar 🥰
So here’s the very straight forward cake recipe!
Vegan Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
- 510 g Granulated Sugar
- 250 g Flora Plant Butter
- 80 g Trex or white vegetable fat
- 2 Tbs Vanilla Extract
- 360 grams Cake Flour HAS to be cake flour
- 750 ml Soy Milk Soy milk is by far the best plant milk to use because of the protein content. This will make for a fluffier cake as well. You can substitute for oat milk, but the results will vary slighlty in texture.
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda (Bicarbonate of Soda)
- 2 tsp Cider Vinegar
Instructions
- Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature or even slightly warmer if possible. Measure out the Soya milk and Cider Vinegar. Give it a whisk and set aside to curdle.
- In your mixing bowl with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar, plant butter, vanilla extract and mix for no more than 2 minutes until the mixture is light in colour and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl sift together the cake flour, bicarb, baking powder, and salt. Add half the flour mixture to the mixing bowl with the butter and sugar.
- While mixing slowly add the soya milk and vinegar making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the rest of the flour mixture and mix until all the flour is incorporated. Don’t overmix or your cake will become too dense and gummy.
- Pour into 2 8inch cake pans. The beauty of this recipe is that you don’t even need to prepare the pans. The cakes do not stick to the tins!
