My family was never one to buy cakes for birthdays and get togethers. I mean, maybe, when we were little and wanted Ninja Turtles or Barbies or whatever as the frosting design, but not in recent memory. Generally, we relied on the old stand by: yellow cake from a box mix and chocolate frosting from the package. I’d like to think my taste for sweets have matured a bit since, but in reality, I’ve really missed box cake mix since I went vegan. So for my friend’s birthday, I attempted my own yellow cake. This one has strawberry filling* and topping, so I call it strawberry blond. Clever, huh?
This is the closet I have come to box yellow cake yet, but I think there’s still room for improvement. If there’s anyone out there in internetland, do you have a trick for the perfect vegan yellow cake? Cardamom, maybe? Ginger? Let a girl know. Either way, this was really tasty.
Yellow Cake
2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 cup vegan sugar
1/4 cup water
4 oz. tub applesauce
3/4 cup soy milk
3 tbsp. oil
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cooking spray inside two 8″ cake pans and set aside. Whisk or sift your dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a separate medium bowl, combine all other ingredients and mix well. Whisk in your dry ingredients slowly until well combined. Don’t over mix! Pour the cake batter evenly into each cake pan. Place in the oven and bake for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Chocolate Frosting
3/4 cup vegan sugar
5 tbsp. corn starch
3 tbp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup water
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 tbsp. melted non-dairy butter
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond
In a medium saucepan, combine the first five ingredients. Whisk to combine the ingredients well. Heat the mixture over medium heat, whisking continuously until the frosting comes to a boil. After your mixture has reached a thick, whipped consistency, remove from heat and add oil, butter and extracts. Continue to whip until combined. Let the frosting cool completely before spreading onto the cake.
*The filling was a store bought strawberry glaze. I know, I know. But you can’t make everything from scratch all the time!
isn’t all sugar vegan ?
Actually, no. Some sugar is refined using “bone char,” which is made from the bones of cows. Weird, right?
http://www.vegfamily.com/articles/sugar.htm