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| Crowd-pleasing egg & butter-free vegetarian cake that's actually frugal 'Very, very good!' 'gosh, it was good; the coffee tempered the sweetness' |
photo 26/4/18
Darkly flavoured, heavy-crumbed and not overly moist, this surprisingly good Vegetarian cake is achieved without eggs or butter (except in the icing). The Coffee & Walnut flavours have lovely 'bite'. The sponge is dense rather than airy, more gingerbread in texture than sponge but still splendid.
67 has been testing vegan and vegetarian cakes (see Notes Below) and this one is so tasty, it can pass for the conventional thing.
Originally based on a vegan recipe, 67 made several changes since the first test (not least of which is the substitution of organic milk for plant milk) and can now be considered a 67 recipe.
The vegan option will increase costs.
Cost: £2.50 (without icing) + £1 for icing
Makes: 1 8x11.5inch/20x30xcm rectangle (or 9in/23cm round or18 cupcakes)
Ingredients:
220gm/7.75oz plain flour
175gm/6.1oz sugar +
20gm/3/4oz ground almonds
OR 200gm/7oz sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
240ml dairy or plant milk less 1 tablespoon
1 tbsp instant coffee in 1 tbsp boiling water
2 tsp vanilla
80ml light veg oil
15ml (1 tbsp) white wine vinegar
Icing
50gm butter or vegetable substitute, at room temperature
50gm icing sugar
25 finely chopped nuts
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180c/350f
- Line an 8x11.5inch/20x30cm rectangular pan with greaseproof paper
- Whisk all dry ingred in a large bowl until thoroughly combined
- Mix liquid ingred in a jug, blending well; pour into flour
- Blend using electric beaters or a table top mixer - 2-3 mins; don't overbeat but make sure everything is well blended
- Pour into pan, use a spatula to level the surface
- Bake 30 mins or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean
- Cool completely on a cooling rack; place cooling rack on top of the tin and invert it. Remove paper. Invert back onto a serving platter.
- Icing: whip butter until creamy; add icing sugar gradually; stir in nuts or scatter nuts over once cake is iced
- Spread a thin layer over the cake
'I wasn't impressed the day it was made but it was very, very good on the day after.' Political Agent
'Gosh this was good, and the coffee tempered the sweetness.' Retired writer
Tips:
- for a circular cake use a 9inch/23cm springform pan, line the base with greaseproof paper and generously brush the sides with vegetable oil
- the flavours might be a bit strong for kids; they'll love chocolate shortbread - a doodle to prepare - instead
- for cupcakes, reduce cooking time to 20 mins; a toothpick stuck in the centre will come out clean when it's done
- some may prefer to make 1.5 times the icing recipe
Notes:
67 adapted this recipe from a vegan blogsite after experimenting with vegan ingredients and techniques. Some of the results have been surprisingly good though nearly all the products have high levels of sugar. Many are quick and easy to put together.
But there's no doubt about it: some Vegan cakes can be...well, a teensy bit odd, in texture and in aftertaste. And the recipes call for ingredients which 67 hesitates to use. Coconut oil (dairy-free) is high in saturated fat and is currently on the American Heart Association's forbidden list. Nearly all plant milks contain added sugar, oil or other products and those that don't have eye-watering prices. (Hemp milk is £4/litre.) (Note Nov 2018: plant milks without sweeteners, oils & fillers are now available in some supermarkets.)
Cooking without eggs and butter isn't a problem - in fact it's a money-saver - but this blog prefers to replace non-dairy milks with skimmed organic milk and coconut oil with light vegetable oil.
More Vegetarian/Vegan on NavBar:Recipes II
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This recipe has been developed by B Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.
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