We enjoyed this cake with a store-bought vegan whipped topping, but I am sure that vanilla ice cream would be just as good. I tend to choose full-fat whipped toppings on the rare occasion when I buy commercial ones – they’re not quite as artificial-tasting as the lighter versions. My favorite right now is GoGreen Vispi, an oat-based product that is available at least in Finland and Sweden.

The Wet:

• 2 dl plain soy yoghurt
• 1 large lime, juiced and zested (1/2 dl juice, 1 tablespoon zest)
• 1/2 dl canola oil

The Dry:

• 2 dl almonds, ground into 3 dl almond meal
• 1 dl white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 dl gram (chick pea flour)
• 2 dl sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• pinch of salt

The Topping:

• 1 dl slivered almonds
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy milk
• pinch of salt

To Serve:

• vegan whipped topping (we had GoGreen Vispi)
• 1/2 vanilla bean

The batter was as straightforwards as can be – I mixed the wet and the dry separately and then combined, stirring with a fork. I also stirred the topping ingredients gently together (I didn’t want to mash the slivers), then poured the batter in the baking pan and sprinkled with the topping. For an even coating, you might want to double the amount of topping.

Then I baked the cake for 25 minutes in 200 degrees Celsius, until the edges were nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake came out with just a few crumbs. I let the cake cool to room temperature, and served with vanilla whipped cream. For the cream, I just scraped the seeds from half a vanilla bean with the tip of a sharp knife, and added that to the commercial vegan whipping cream as I was whipping it.

This spread thickens a bit in the fridge, and is wonderful with the Finnish hapankorppu - very thin and very sour rye bread that has been dried. For extra smooth results, the almonds could be soaked overnight, or even cooked in a little bit of water.

• 100 g almonds, lightly toasted
• 1 medium carrot, sliced
• 1 big clove garlic, sliced
• 3-4 tablespoons plain soy yoghurt
• 4 large sage leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste

I started by toasting the almonds until they were just a little brown, and set them aside to cool. Then I placed the carrot slices and the garlic in a small cooking pot, added just enough water to cover them, and cooked until the carrots were very soft. Then I placed the carrots and the garlic in a fine sieve and rinsed them with cold water to cool them down a little bit.

Now, I placed the carrots and the garlic, almonds, sage leaves, salt, and 3 tablespoons of soy yoghurt in our mini food processor, and processed them for about 5 minutes. I checked the spread and decided it needed a bit more soy yoghurt, so I added one tablespoon more of it, and continued processing until the spread was very very smooth and light orange in color. It might need even more soy yoghurt if the texture is still grainy at this point.

This is how my almonds looked after toasting.

I made this recipe into 6 cupcakes, but there was a little bit too much tosca topping, and the batter rose a lot on the oven, so this batch would probably be enough for 7 small cakes too. With a little too much topping on a little too high cupcakes, I experienced a little spilling of the topping while it was baking, and that’s a problem because when it cools, it hardens, and it becomes tricky to loosen the cupcakes from the cupcake pan. So, when I took the cakes out of the oven, I immediately grabbed a butter knife and tidied up the edges of each cake.

The Cake Batter:

I made 6 cupcakes with this, but I think it’d be better to make 7. Before starting with the batter, I preheated the oven to 175 degrees Celsius, and greased and floured 6 cups in my muffin tin.

Dry Mix:

• 1 and 1/2 dl wheat flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Wet Mix:

• 1 dl plain, unsweetened soy milk
• 2/3 dl plain soy yogurt
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 dl canola oil

I whisked the wet mix in a mixing bowl, then stirred together the dry mix, and combined the two with a fork until only small lumps remained. Now, I poured the batter in the 6 prepared cups in my muffin tin, and baked for about 14 minutes, until a little brown on the sides but very pale on the tops. While the cakes were baking, I prepared the topping.

The Tosca Topping:

• 2 tablespoons margarine, melted
• 2 tablespoons plain soy milk
• 1/2 dl sugar
• 1 tablespoon wheat flour
• 50 g slivered almonds

I placed everything else but the almonds in a small cooking pot, and then heated on medium heat until the mixture started to boil gently. It took about 5 minutes to reach that stage. Then I turned down the heat, let the mixture simmer for about a minute more, and then removed it from heat. I mixed in the slivered almonds, and the topping was ready.

When the cakes were done prebaking, I spread about a tablespoon of the topping over each cake, and then popped them in the uppermost rack of our oven for 12 more minutes, until the topping started to get brown. Then I took the cakes out of the oven and carefully tidied up the edges of each cup before the topping started to harden. Then I let them cool in the tin for about 20 minutes until removing.

Yogurt Sauce:

• 1,2 dl plain soy yogurt
• 4 tablespoons finely ground almonds, toasted
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
• 1/2 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small clove garlic, crushed
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Tomato Mint Relish:

• 2 medium tomatoes, finely cubed
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (or other hot chili sauce)
• 1 teaspoon dried mint

I thoroughly combined the ingredients for each dish and served immediately.