kate's spice cake

i like to make cake. i have friends who like to eat cake. life is good.

kate over at lost in place wanted a spice cake for her birthday and kate gets what kate wants. it was good, so good! i took a basic white cake recipe and did what i do best ~ throw caution to the wind! the result was this yummy, sweet and spicy cake with a wonderful aroma that stays with your taste buds when you're finished. it also happens to be the most sturdy and firm vegan cake i've ever made. it has a great crumb to it too. kate wanted mocha frosting and that was good, but i'm going to make it with cream cheese frosting from now on. (tofutti cream cheese, that is).

for anyone not familiar with my current obsession with coconut: i used coconut milk beverage and some coconut oil in this cake and will most likely continue to do so, but plain soy milk and all canola oil would be fine instead. the coconut milk comes in a milk carton and is not the same thing as canned coconut milk. you could try canned coconut milk, but i don't know what it would do to the texture of the cake. it would probably make it taste like a coconut spice cake though, whereas the drinking beverage does not. let me know what happens if you try it.

kate's spice cake

ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of original so delicious coconut milk beverage (or plain soy milk)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup (liquid measure) of vanilla soy or coconut yogurt
1 tsp lemon zest
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup coconut oil (or more canola oil)
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract (or more vanilla)
2 1/2 cups of unbleached, all purpose flour
1 tbsp natural processed cocoa powder
2 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp arrowroot powder
1 tsp double acting baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground mace
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp ginger

preheat your oven to 350F. lightly oil and flour two round cake pans so they're ready when you are.
mix the coconut milk with the vinegar and let them sit and make out for a minute to curdle the milk...what, wouldn't you curdle too?
in a large bowl, mix until uniformly smooth: the milk and vinegar mixture with the yogurt, lemon zest, canola and coconut oils, brown sugar, vanilla and almond extracts.
in a smaller bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, corn starch, arrowroot, baking soda and baking powder, salt and all of the spices.
mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by halves or thirds until there are no large lumps. pour equal amounts into the two cake pans.
bake at 350F for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.


let the cakes cool for about 30 minutes before removing from the pans and let them cool completely before frosting.

i made a mocha frosting, but will try the cream cheese frosting from vegan cupcakes take over the world next time.


here's my mocha frosting if you want to try it. the reason i did this on the stove was because i didn't have any powdered sugar so i figured i'd melt regular sugar instead of making gritty frosting. if you have powdered sugar, you can leave the cornstarch out and just mix the whole thing together, leaving the stove out completely. you may need more powdered sugar to get it thick enough though.

1/2 cup margarine
2 cups white sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
1/4-1/3 cup plain coconut milk beverage
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp of sifted cocoa powder
1/4 cup sifted instant coffee
1 oz kahlua
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup of non-hydrogenated shortening

melt the margarine, corn starch, coconut milk and 1 cup of the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.
when it's fully incorporated, add the remaining sugar, the cocoa and the instant coffee. stir over medium heat for about 3 minutes and make sure there are no lumps.
remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and the kahlua. let it sit and cool, stirring occasionally until it's warm to the touch.
transfer to the refrigerator till completely cooled.
when the mixture is cooled, mix on high for about 5 minutes with the shortening.