Hello, my name is Jhames

Vegan desserts. Those two words don’t exactly conjure images of delectable treats that make you want to reach for a plate and fork. The problem with a lot of vegan desserts is that people look for ways to make them healthy in addition to tasting good. For example, a local bakery offering cakes made with garbanzo bean flour: they weigh more than a newborn baby and taste like a very dry garbanzo bean dish with a lot of sugar. Another bakery, not local, offers a cupcake made with agave nectar, coconut oil, and three different flours. This cupcake tastes great when it’s consumed immediately from the oven, but wait for that cake to cool and you are eating a very dry, very heavy dessert. If I eat a dessert, it damn well better not be good for me. Same rule applies for vegan desserts: healthy choices be damned.

I like cake. I also like pie but this post is about cake. I don’t have any wheat allergies so I don’t need to figure out fancy ways to replace the glutenous properties of wheat flour. I also don’t care if my cake is made with bleached white flour, devoid of any and all nutrition. That’s why I take a daily multivitamin. In my pursuit of a vegan cake recipe that didn’t require an insane amount of (often times expensive) ingredients I discovered a chocolate cake recipe that uses baking soda and vinegar for leavening. Once I mastered this recipe I set out to create its vanilla counterpart. You will never need another vanilla cake recipe again, trust.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups bleached white flour
• 1 cup dehydrated cane juice or vegan sugar
• 1/3 cup almond meal
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup oil (I like using canola)
• 1 cup cold water
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F
2. Mix together all the ingredients except the vinegar
3. Add the vinegar and quickly mix into the batter
4. Pour the batter into a cake pan and bake for 25 minutes

Tips

• You will increase the glutenous properties of the flour as you mix the batter, so take care whilst mixing.
• White vinegar is fine for the recipe if you don’t have apple cider vinegar.
• Use 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp almond extract if you want your cake to have a more pronounced almond flavor.
• If a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, you’ve got yourself a fully baked cake.

If you want the chocolate cake version, the ingredients are almost completely identical—just a few changes:

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa in place of almond meal
• 1 cup cold brewed coffee in place of water
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar in place of apple cider (or white) vinegar

Using coffee and balsamic vinegar in the recipe will add a deeper flavor profile to your cake.