This cake was our dessert on Christmas eve, along with a refreshing citrus fuit salad. The fragrance that came from the oven during baking was intoxicating, and the cake itself didn’t let us down; it was sweet and moist and delicious, with just enough spice and a decadent accent of cognac from the icing.

We had fresh dates for the cake, but they looked and tasted a lot like the regular dried dates. Maybe they weren’t quite as sweet, and probably a little moister, but I think the dried variety would work very well in this cake.

For the cake, I used:

• 300 g cranberry soy yogurt
• 100 g plain soy yogurt
• 1,5 dl dark syrup
• 100 g plum jam
• 2 dl vegan margarine, liquid or melted
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 4 dl wheat flour
• 150 g fresh dates, chopped

Icing:

• 1 tablespoon cognac
• 1 dl confectioner’s sugar

Decoration:

• a couple of fresh dates
• a pink peppercorn
• some cinnamon

To make the cake batter, I just mixed the liquid ingredients (soy yogurts through margarine) in one bowl, and the dry ingredients (cinnamon through wheat flour) in another. I combined the two, mixed just enough to create a smooth batter, and then folded in the chopped dates. Now, I poured the batter in a greased and floured, round cake pan, and baked the cake in 200 degress Celsius for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake came out clean.

I let the cake cool down for a few hours after baking, and then decorated it. I mixed the icing ingredients with a fork, and drizzled the icing over the cake. Then I chopped a few dates, and decorated the cake with them, forming a flower in the center with a pink pepper corn surrounded by date petals.

I’m not the biggest fan of peanut butter, and we only use it for cooking. Here, combined with the taste of my not very sweet plums, it adds complexity without being overwhelming. These muffins also had a perfectly moist and soft texture.

I started with the recipe for Peanut Butter Cupcakes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and this is what I ended up using:

Wet mix:

• 1 and 1/2 dl oat milk
• 1/2 dl plain soy yogurt
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 dl soft margarine
• 1/2 dl peanut butter
• 1 dl raw cane sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark syrup
• 3 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 2 teaspoons egg replacer mixed with 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons crushed flaxseed

Dry mix:

• 2 and 1/2 dl wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Also used:

• 2 and 1/2 dl cubed plums
• 1 plum, thinly sliced
• cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle

First, I mixed together the wet ingredients, oat milk through flaxseed. I whisked them until a smooth liquid resulted. Then I mixed the dry ingredients together in a small bowl, and added them to the wet ingredients, mixing just enough to combine. Then I folded in the plum cubes. Now, I poured the batter in a greased and floured muffin pan, placed two plum slices on top of each muffin, and then sprinkled with cane sugar and cinnamon.

Then I baked the muffins in 175 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes, keeping an eye on them the whole time.

A Note about Egg Replacing:

I am too lazy to ground flaxseed with water as an egg replacer, something the Post Punk Kitchen people do all the time, and I just use egg replacer powder instead. The brand we have is organic and completely natural, so I don’t mind using it, but it’s not found in every kitchen’s cupboard. Egg replacer can be replaced with potato or corn starch. I added some crushed flaxseed in this recipe just for fun, but in order to replace an egg, it should have been ground very finely, and mixed with water until it thickens.

The batter is sort of bread-like, I have never baked anything with both yeast and baking powder before. The inspiration came from the Pflaumenkuchen recipe at Vegalicious. My plums weren’t completely ripe, so I decided to coat them in ginger-sugar mixture before baking, which turned out to be a brilliant idea. We enjoyed the plum cake with oat vanilla sauce, but vanilla ice cream would probably be even better.

For the batter:

• 1 teaspoon dry yeast
• 3 dl oat milk
• 5 dl wheat flour
• 1 dl spelt flour
• 1 dl raw cane sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 5 tablespoons liquid or melted vegan margarine

Plum topping:

• 10-12 plums, cut in 6 wedges each
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons raw cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons dried ginger

Walnut topping:

• 1 tablespoon liquid or melted vegan margarine
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon spelt flour
• 1 dl walnuts, chopped

First, I heated the oat milk until a little bit warmer than my hand. Then, I mixed it with the yeast. Now, I mixed all the dry ingredients (wheat flour through vanilla sugar) in a big bowl, and then mixed this with the oat milk mixture and vegetable margarine.

For the plum topping, I heated the sugar, ginger, and water in a small frying pan until the sugar was dissolved, and then let it bubble and reduce for a minute or so. I added the plum wedges and let them cook in the sauce for a few minutes, while I was preparing the walnut topping.

While the plums were simmering, I mixed the chopped walnuts with other walnut topping ingredients, until a crumbly mixture resulted.

Now, I lined a baking dish with baking parchment, and poured the batter in the dish. Then I poured the plums over the batter, and sprinkled the walnuts on top.

I baked the cake for 30-40 minutes in 200 degrees Celsius, until it was browned and all done.