Tofu for Two

We made this cake for a birthday party on Saturday. The batter recipe is a slightly adapted version of a recipe from Post Punk Kitchen. The cake was moist and had a very nice texture, one of those creations that make everyone ask “How can this be vegan?”. Someone even declared how he’d have a total lactose-intolerance attack while cutting a big slice of this cake to himself. He was pleasantly surprised to hear that it wouldn’t happen with our cake – vegan cakes are actually much more inclusive than regular lactose-attack-inducing cakes.

The original recipe suggested using a 9-inch spring form pan, but we only had an 8 1/2 inch (22 cm) wide pan, which worked just fine. The cake came out slightly thicker, so we had to almost double the baking time.

Chocolate cake:

Dry ingredients:

• 1 1/2 dl wheat flour
• 2 1/2 dl spelt flour
• 1/2 dl ground almond
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Heat and mix:

• 2,5 dl plain soy milk
• 2 dl cocoa powder

Wet mix:

• 1,2 dl canola oil
  
• 2 teaspoons egg replacer mixed with 3 tablespoons water
• 3 dl dark syrup
• 1/2 dl granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon rum extract

• semolina and vegetable margarine to coat the pan

First, I mixed together all the dry ingredients, wheat flour through baking soda.

Heikki heated the soy milk until bubbling, added the cocoa powder and whisked until it was dissolved. Then we combined the ingredients from canola oil through rum extract in a bowl and whisked well, and then added the cocoa powder and soy milk mixture. Now, we combined this wet mixture with the dry mixture and whisked for a little while until there were no lumps left in the batter.

I poured the batter into the greased and floured pan, and baked the cake at 175 degrees Celsius for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center came out clean. I then let the cake cool completely before frosting.

Rum chocolate frosting:

• 130 g vegan chocolate
• 1,5 dl vegan whippable cream (we had GoGreen Vispi)
• 2 tablespoons vegan margarine
• 1 dl (or more) confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
• pinch of cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg

First, I melted the chocolate in a water bath, and mixed it with cinnamon, nutmeg, and rum extract. Then, I mixed the margarine with the confectioner’s sugar, until a crumbly consistency resulted – I think I had to add a little more sugar to make this happen. Now, I mixed this with the vegan cream. Meanwhile, the melted chocolate had cooled down, and could be added to the other ingredients. I beat the frosting with a hand held mixer for about 5 minutes, until it had a very fluffy consistency.

Caramelized cashews and walnuts:

• 1 dl cashew nuts
• 1 dl walnuts
• 1 tablespoon dark syrup
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon water

First, I toasted the nuts on a small non-stick pan until a little browned. Then I mixed the rest of the ingredients together, and poured this in the hot pan, stirring its contents all the time. When all the moisture had evaporated and the nuts were coated with shiny caramelized sugar, I spread them on aluminium foil, and let them cool down.

Drizzle on top:

• confectioner’s sugar
• cocoa powder
• soy milk

First, I sifted equal parts confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl. I probably used about 1/2 dl each. Then I mixed that with a little bit of soy milk, one drop at a time, until I had a consistency similar to melted chocolate.

To assemble:

I just spread the frosting on the cake with a butter knife, then distributed the caramelized nuts over the frosting, and finally drizzled the last topping with a spoon on top of it all.