Vanilla-Orange Cake (Vegan)

No eggs, milk, butter, or refined sugar. It’s not that I have anything against eggs in a cake (organic eggs are a great source of vitamin D and other minerals), but I made this cake a couple of days ago as a Mothers’ Day treat, and Mothers’ Day happens to fall during lent this year (Mothers’ Day in the Middle East is celebrated on the 21st of March, with the spring equinox). And since Orthodox lent is traditionally a time for veganism, I decided to bake an all-vegan cake for my mother and mother-in-law (.

The cake is quite pleasant, with a nice zesty orange-y aroma, blending in well with the vanilla spiciness. A mouthful of this stuff is fluffy, moist, and goes really well with a hot cup of rooibos tea!

The basic recipe for this cake is quite simple, but you can turn it into a celebration multi-layered cake and fill in the layers with some jam and vegan frosting, while coating the cake with sugarpaste fondant (not healthy, but just for the purpose of decorating and creating a “festive” look. Plus, you don’t have to eat the fondant coating or the filling–it’s just there for the looks)!

Also, the color of the cake here is brownish, which I would attribute to the date syrup and the wholewheat flour. If you want a white version of this cake, use white refined flour and white sugar instead. But then you’ll have to make some minor nutritional sacrifices for the sake of the color! But then again, it all depends on the occasion and personal preference 🙂

I would also like to mention that I’ve done a few modifications from a really great birthday cake recipe I found on http://thegreenforks.com/vegan-birthday-cake/  while I was searching for some inspiration!

All you need for the basic cake recipe is the following:

• 1¼ cups whole wheat flour (I use chapati aata)
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1 cup date syrup or Sucanat (evaporated, non-refined cane sugar)
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups cold water
• ¾ cup canola oil (organic)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• grated zest of 1 orange

To prepare:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

2. Put all the dry ingredients in a container, and whisk until well-mixed.

3. Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Pour into the cake pan.

4. Bake for around 35 minutes. To make sure the cake has been baked through, pierce with a toothpick and check if it comes out clean.

Tip: In order to create layers like the slice in the picture, you will need to double the ingredients and divide them into two cake pans. Then after cooling the cakes, slice each one in half (using a bread knife or a cake leveler), filling the space with strawberry  jam or orange marmalade.

Enjoy!

Roula 🙂