Vegan White Wedding Cake

Hoo boy. I bit off just about more than I thought I could chew with this one. but it turned out really well. I found the original recipe at Veganbaking.com  but I tweaked it a bit after the test cake turned out kind of, well, cornbread-like.  

The final cake was light, tasted good, sweet enough, and had a not-quite-white color. It has a texture that is like a dense sponge cake. My understanding is that if you are used to eating vegan foods, you’ll like this cake.  My son who is not vegan liked it and I liked it too after the tweaking.

Each of these three sets of ingredients must be combined separately first, then you add set 2 to set 1 and mix. Then add set 3 to the combined 1 and 2 and mix.

This recipe only makes 1 (ONE) 6 inch diameter, 2 inch deep cake. If you use an 8 inch pan like the original instructions calls for, it doesn’t really rise enough. So to make one 8 inch cake that is 2 inches deep you need two of these recipes.  For the wedding cake I made I used 12 of these.

*Prepare your pans by spraying with a product like Baker’s Joy (what I use) or grease with vegetable shortening (vegan!) and then flour the pan. Knock out the excess flour.  I cut a circle from parchment paper and lay inside the pan then spray it again.

*Preheat your oven to 325*F – the original instructions called for 359*F but I felt that it was too hot and that the higher heat may have been what was causing the cake to have that cornbread taste. It was. So the lower heat is what you want.

*Baking times will vary but a 6 inch cake took about 30 minutes, an 8 inch cake took about 40 minutes and a 10 inch cake took almost an hour.

*Test for done-ness by sliding a thin, sharp knife through the middle of the cake. If no batter comes out with the knife, its done

In your main mixing bowl, combine:
¾ cup + 1 Tablespoon non-dairy milk ( I used soy, you could use almond or rice)
2 teaspoon golden flax meal – Original recipe called for 1 teaspoon but one teaspoon wouldn’t get thick in the milk. This is what gives the cake the thickening quality like eggs and the yellow-ish color and probably the cornbread flavor)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar -( this helps thicken the milk but also conditions the flour and helps it be fluffier)

In a second bowl, combine:
¼ cup + 3 Tablespoons sugar –  I used white granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil – I used olive oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract – I used clear vanilla, original recipe called for 2 teaspoons
¼ teaspoon salt – sea salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract – also clear, original recipe called for 1/8 teaspoon.

In a third bowl, combine:
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour – I used cake flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder –  non-aluminum
½ teaspoon baking soda

Add the second ingredients to the first in the main mixing bowl. Mix well. 

Add the third ingredients to the main mixing bowl. Mix well on medium. Mix really well. Then mix on high until the little lumps are blended in.

Pour batter into your prepared pan and place in the pre-heated oven. Bake as instructed above. After the cake is done, let it cool on a wire rack in the pan for about 10 minutes.  At this point you can use a long, serrated knife to cut off any domed part on top of the cake, using the edges of the pan as your guide.

Let the cake cool completely.

I like to wrap wedding cakes in plastic and put them in the freezer for a few hours before icing. I think it helps make it easier. Also, I use seedless jam, that has had the chunks of fruit sieved out, in between layers of cake.

For this cake I used fondant that I colored and molded into little designs.