Orange Vanilla Snacking Cake

For a few months I will be living in Sarasota, Florida for an internship.  The weather has been amazing and I live in a very picturesque area.  I have been having amazing wildlife adventures too!  But I am from Portland, home of everything conveniently vegan, so even though I am enjoying so much, I have also been missing all the vegan food, bakeries and bars.  I haven't really found a place I can buy a good tasting vegan treat, so when the temperature dropped a little last week, I decided to bake something for myself.

I love cake, but didn't want to really deal with frosting.  I went to a local market and usually I use blended silken tofu for all my cakes since it gives them such a perfect texture.  This store did not have any, but I did find some soy yogurt and decided to give it a try as a replacement.

I shared one cake with my roommates and the other I brought to my internship.  I heard good reviews and even got a request for the recipe.  I call that a great success!

Orange Vanilla Snacking Cake

1 cups Organic Unrefined Cane Sugar
½ cup Earth Balance Margarine
½ cup Vanilla Soy Yogurt
1 ½ cups Non-dairy Milk (I used Almond Milk)
2 tsp Vanilla
2 ½ cups Unbleached White Flour
1 Tb Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
Zest of 1 Orange

Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans, or two loaf pans and set aside.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together the sugar and margarine until creamy.  Add the soy yogurt and mix until incorporated.  Slowly add in the non-dairy milk, then the vanilla and orange zest.  Do not be surprised if the mixture gets a little lumpy, this is normal.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Combine the dry into the wet ingredients until just combined. Spread evenly into the pans and bake for 25-30 minutes for the round pans and about 40 minutes for loaf pans. Cake will bounce back when lightly touched in the middle when done.  Allow the cake to cool some before turning them out for glazing.

I topped the cake with a simple orange glaze.  I juiced the one orange used for zesting and then slowly added it 2 cups powdered sugar.  Mix thoroughly with a fork or whisk.  You may not need to add all the orange juice, or use more, depending on the orange.  Glaze should not be super runny, but not too thick to easily spread over the cake.

When cakes are slightly cool, remove from baking pans and turn upside down.  Pour the glaze over the top, allowing it to go over the sides as well. Enjoy!

* For extra orange flavor, use orange juice instead of non-dairy milk in the cake recipe.

Coconut Almond Cake Balls

I was hosting a thank you dinner for people who helped me move recently, and I wanted to create the best possible menu. I heard about cake balls and decided I needed to make this for dessert and make my own recipe for doing so. I actually made two batches (one gluten free) and it took me a lot of time. When I finally got to try the results of my time in the kitchen, I decided it was definitely worth it! These were a major hit and it shouldn't take you as long since you will only be making one batch and have a recipe to follow.


Coconut Almond Cake Balls

Coconut Cake:
1 cups Organic Unrefined Cane Sugar
½ cup Earth Balance Margarine
½ cup Silken Tofu, blended
1 ½ cups Coconut Milk
2 tsp Vanilla.
2 ½ cups Unbleached White Flour
1 Tb Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
1 cup Shredded Coconut

Cream together the sugar and margarine. Beat in the tofu and then the coconut milk and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and blend until just combined. Add the coconut and combine it using a spatula, careful to not over mix. Spread into 2 greased 9-inch round baking pans and bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool.

*For gluten free, use 1 1/2 cups sorghum flour, 3/4 cup sweet white rice flour, 1/4 cup potato starch and 2 tsp guar gum instead of the white flour.

Almond Frosting:
2 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
2 – 4 Tb Coconut Milk
2 tsp Almond Extract
¼ cup Earth Balance Margarine

In a large bowl, blend together the sugar, almond extract and margarine. Add the coconut milk until the frosting is a consistency that is slightly softer than traditional frosting.

Chocolate Glaze:
2 cups Vegan Chocolate Chips
2 Tb Earth Balance Margarine
2 Tb Coconut Milk (or soymilk)
1 tsp Vanilla

Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and heat on medium heat. As the chocolate melts, combine the ingredients to a smooth consistency with a fork. Turn down heat to the lowest temperature. Allow to cool on the lower heat so the chocolate is not hot. A double broiler can also be used.

Creating the cake balls: Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. Set aside. Crumble the cakes into the frosting bowl. Combine the crumbs and the frosting with a spatula. Once the frosting is evenly distributed to the cake crumbs, form it into cake balls and place on the baking sheet. Refrigerate about 1 hour to harden slightly. Take one cake ball at a time from the sheet and dip it in the chocolate with a toothpick, allowing all but the bottom of the cake ball to be covered. Set on parchment paper and continue with the rest of the cake balls. Once all cake balls have been chocolate covered, return to the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. After 4 hours, store in a sealed container for up to 5 days.

This Year It's Pecan Cake!

It's my birthday again! Although friends are always quick to offer making cake for my birthday, at work we are responsible for bringing in our own treat to share with others (if we choose to do so). I like to bake, so I don't mind this at all. I started to think of flavors early on, and decided on a pecan cake with caramel frosting (and filling). I have made caramel sauce successfully many times, but some tweak I did this time made it so it didn't work out, so I quickly whipped up a basic vanilla frosting. Although I was sad for no caramel sauce and frosting, the results were still awesome! A week later I was still being told how much people enjoyed the cake.



Vegan Pecan Cake

1/2 cup Margarine, non dairy
1 1/2 cups Organic Raw Sugar
1/2 cup Silken Tofu, blended
1 1/2 cups Coconut Milk
2 tsp Vanilla
2 1/2 cups Unbleached White Flour
1 cup Pecans, ground
1 Tb Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt

Cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth. Add the tofu and vanilla and blend. Slowly add the coconut milk as the beaters continue mixing. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and blend until just mixed. Put in the pecans and stir in with a spatula until incorporated, careful not to over mix. Fill two greased 9-inch cake pans with equal amounts of the batter. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes. When cakes are done, the top should spring back when lightly touched.

Once cooled, assemble cake with frosting of choice between layers and all over the surface of the cake layers. Yum...