# is there a such thing as a FLUFFY vegan cake?



## MelMel (Nov 9, 2002)

nak

I am trying to make most of the food at my childrens b-day party vegan (a joint party in 2 days) I bought my dd's cake at a VERY nice bakery that she loves loves....so thats definetely not vegan, its probably not even vegetarian (theres gotta be lard in there somewhere







)

and I am serving a punkin pie I have in the freezer that i made a few weeks ago that has eggs, but no dairy. and everything else i am making vegan, so all the families/children coming will have equal access to yum yums.

its not a stretch, our family eats a lil bit of everything, but I do tend to cook/bake without alot of animal products (I avoid dairy) and even make most things without eggs, since we dont always have them, i try to only buy certain eggs, and we dont always have the money or time to get them.

I have thrown out one batch of brownies and 2, TWO, T-W-O whole cakes that were pasty, oily, and had hard skins on them. what am i doing wrong....besides wasting enormous amounts of food?

i am not a terrible baker, and used to be quite good...i admit the last few years i have been a bit 'off'...and my dd (will be 4) has been 'helping' so things might of been beaten too long or too much flour/soy milk ratio during blending, etc...could all that really make that much of a difference? all the ingredients are pre-measured, i just may of added them at the wrong time, etc...since i have the baby (will be 1) in the sling grabbing stuff, and my dd trying to put too much punkin in (am making a punkin spice cake)

so why are none of the cakes light and fluffy? one was the consistancy of pudding AFTER baking and the other was like a punkin bread, but with a harder 'skin'.

i am using soy margarine and applesauce/flax for the eggs....and the batch of brownies i used too much oil in place of the eggs and they were hard yet oily.

i am running out of time and money. i still want to make my sons punkin cake vegan, but how can i get it the right texture?? i am so done i wanna go out and buy a box cake mix, but you still have to add eggs. And what the heck is wrong with eggs, anyway? the chickens are running around, happy, they dont care if we eat those eggs...they arent fertilized and wont be lil chickens ever anyway














: i think i have reached the end of my tolerance level looking at my dd's beautiful, fluffy, choc cake and the nasty, heavy, hard cakes i keep throwing away.


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## courtenay_e (Sep 1, 2005)

Oh, I have the BEST recipe! It's for a VANILLA cake, but I add 1tsp each cinnamon and nutmeg and people ask me all the time whether it's a pumpkin cake!

1 1/3 cup unbleached flour
2/3 cup white whole wheat flour (I use king arthur brand...we get it at kroger or Meijer)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup pure olive oil
1 cup pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

put all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and whisk together. Put all wet ingredients into separate mixing bowl and whisk together. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir just until combined, take care not to overmix.

pour batter into either 9" cake pan that's been greased, had parchment added to bottom, and greased and floured, or into a greased and floured 9" springform pan. I often, for a layer cake, simply double the recipe and pour into two cake pans, in this case, I use the regular ones, as I only have one spring form! Bake for about 25 minutes (for one recipe), or until the center "feels" done and a toothpick comes out clean. Set the pan on a rack to cool.

This cake is like any cake you'd get at the bakery. It's very moist, fluffy, and SOOOO good. Nobody believes it's vegan, healthy, everybody asks for the recipe!

Enjoy...I hope you try it. Oh, I usually make cream cheese icing to go on it. I know that there's a soy version of the cream cheese that you could use instead if you want, or the recipe also has a warm plum sauce that goes with it...I find that a little grown up for my kids' birthday parties, though!


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## MelMel (Nov 9, 2002)

I do have all those ingredients on hand. so I will grudgingly try it.







:

I dont even care that its not punkin. I am making this cake:

http://sugarrocket.com/halloween/vegan-pumpkin-cake.php

and i will just make the vanilla cake you posted and decorate it with jacks face.

i think what kept making it pastey was the punkin. oh, and the no eggs thing.


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## MelMel (Nov 9, 2002)

okay, i made it. Its really yummy and light and fluffy. thanks so much.

I was worried about the olive oil, thinking I should use canola instead, and the batter had a slight aftertaste that I thought was olive-y (but I super hate olives) I tried a sliver of the finished cake and it doesnt have it.

I used a springform pan, though, and its a bit too thin...it wont look 'cakey' enough, more like a cornbread size....so I am gunna make it a layer cake. next time i will use an 8 inch round or double the recipe for a higher single cake.

have you ever doubled it? did you get as good of results? have you used canola instead of olive oil? I am more concerned with an extra yummy cake right now rather than a healthy one, since i want the allergic/vegan kids to have something as fun and tastey as the other people, who will have a double decker chocolate cake....and its a birthday cake!! all the other snacks are 'healthy', lol.

what I like best about it is that is doesnt use any ingredients i dont normally have lying around. no special margarines or palm shortening or expensive substitutes. very inexpensive! one of these only costs maybe $3-4 in ingredients, while my dd's cake was $25. I bet i could add some cocoa and this would be a great chocolate cake (perhaps remove the spices, too)

i may just try to double it now and relent to my dd who is dying to eat some of the first one i made (and me too, lol)...that way i can be sure it really is good














:

thanks again, this recipe is a keeper and will make the best cupcakes too I bet.


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## courtenay_e (Sep 1, 2005)

Oh! I am so glad that you tried it! Yes, on top of how quick and simple it is to make, I love that it is very convenient (no egg replacer needed!), and cheap to make.

Make sure you use PURE olive oil, and not virgin or extra virgin olive oil, and it should be fine...I actually have found canola oil to be a bit greasier and taste a little...er...corn-y. And, it's funny, I always taste the batter and worry about the very "whole-wheaty" aftertaste...then you can't even tell it's there in the finished product!

Oh, yes, you're right! They DO make really GREAT cupcakes. I often make an extra batch after I make the cake and put it in the oven. As soon as the cake comes out, I pop the cupcakes in...they usually only take about fifteen minutes at the most, by the way. Then I just freeze them to bring to parties when we go and know that there'll be cake that the kids can't eat (my kids have allergies, too!).

Careful using 8" pans, they take LONGER to bake. Of course, you knew that, but I forgot the first time and had a sorrowfully fallen cake!

Yes, I do double it, almost all of the time. I have nine inch round cake pans and just divide the batter into the two pans.

Huh. I never thought about the cocoa thing...my kids can't have chocolate, but maybe carob would taste good, too...good thinking!







you might want to do a little research about whether or not you should tweak the leaveners, then, though, as chocolate can change chemistry a bit...or, just try it just like it is, but w/cocoa, and see what happens!

You're more than welcome, I'm so glad that you like it...it's one of my favorites, and I always end up giving out the recipe when I make it for other people. When they see that it has no milk, butter, or eggs, they gasp, "Oh, but it's so GOOD!"


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## MelMel (Nov 9, 2002)

well, i made 2 8 inch rounds and they both are big and tall, they look great. I may ice them seperate, or else the cake will be too tall, lol. I used canola and now i am a bit worried it will be corn-y tasting. lol. I shouldnt of messed with it







it was fine. well, i'll know for next time.

that sucks your kids have to bring their own cakes to parties.


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## courtenay_e (Sep 1, 2005)

Yeah, sometimes it sucks, but we really have just looked at it that, thank god they're NOT allergic to wheat, or a bunch of other things...and thank god I can bake! These two things make them able to feel a lot more included when they go to parties. They really don't care WHICH cake they're eating, as long as they get to EAT CAKE!

I'm glad the 8"ers came out great. I'd frost em both and stack em up...it's a BIRTHDAY--make it fun!

They'll probably taste fine to you...it's just a _thing_ I have with baking with canola. Let me know what you think, though!


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## MelMel (Nov 9, 2002)

they were great, i forgot to take a pic or i'd post it.

thanks again, this is my favorite spice cake, now


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## courtenay_e (Sep 1, 2005)

Yay! I'm so glad that I could help. I was SO desperate when I was looking for a recipe like this for dd's first birthday. It was like a gift when I found the recipe, and I'm happy to share!


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## angelamclamb (Jul 31, 2003)

subbing


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## catchat (Apr 30, 2004)

hi there!
I was wondering what temp we should bake the vanilla spice cake at. we plan to try it for a birthday today.
thanks so much for posting the recipe


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## Doodlebugsmom (Aug 1, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *catchat* 
hi there!
I was wondering what temp we should bake the vanilla spice cake at. we plan to try it for a birthday today.
thanks so much for posting the recipe









Yes, please! What's the baking temp?

Oh, and how did it taste made with canola?


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## angelamclamb (Jul 31, 2003)

I baked mine at 350 until a toothpick came out clean. I doubled the recipe and to be honest I was REALLY surprised with the outcome. I was worried it would have much taste to it..BUT...it was WONDERFUL and I topped it with whip cream on some and homemade cream cheese on others...BTW I poured the batter in 5 ramkins dishes (6" I think is the size) and they were so yummy!


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## angelamclamb (Jul 31, 2003)

Just wanted to bring this back to the boards for others to see with X-Mas coming and everyone trying cake recipes. This by far is my fav on MDC!


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## zmom (Jun 29, 2005)

I don't have the recipe handy and will probably forget that I replied to this thread in about 5 minutes, but there's a GREAT vegan chocolate cake in the Moosewood Deserts cookbook. It uses baking soda and apple cider vinegar to make it rise. I always get RAVE comments when I make it and best of all, it's called "Six Minute Chocolate Cake" and that's literally how long it takes to make it. I'll subscribe to the thread and if anyone wants the recipe, I can PM it.


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