This cake is a first for me. What I mean is, this is the first time I have made a cake from scratch. Those of you who visit me here at my vegetarian cafe, have more than likely noticed there are no baked sweets here – NO desserts. I love to browse all my baker friends blogs and admire their creativity. Honestly, this is my first attempt in this field. Boxed cakes, sure, many times. The problem for me now though is the use of eggs and dairy products. I try to stay away from them due to health reasons. High cholesterol being one of them.
My daughter and son-in-law went to a vegan restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale called the Sublime, she even took some photos for me of their appetizers and meals. They raved about the vegan coconut cake. I went on line to the restaurant’s web site and found they offered a cookbook. Yep, I bought another cookbook. Totally Vegan!
Considering my lack of experience this came out pretty darn good. A bit sweet though. The other thing was the amount of vegan butter used in the cake and the frosting. Total was 20 tablespoons, isn’t that a lot? Also each cake layer was only about 5/8 of an inch thick. I am sure I will need to try this again but I would like to make it chocolate and am not really sure how to go about that. You see why I don’t bake. Give me some veggies and I can kick @$#.
Just a note about the egg replacer – it isn’t egg whites. It actually comes in a powder form and is made from potato starch and tapioca flour. You can purchase this at the health food store. Now I can make some good ole Florida corn bread, with real corn.
Happy Memorial Weekend!!!
Recipe from Sublime Restaurant Cookbook
For the cake
1 3/4 cups sugar
10 tablespoons vegan margarine
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vegan egg replacer
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup plain soy milk (I used almond)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup water
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9 inch cake pans with cooking spray. Combine the sugar with the margarine and beat for about 2 minutes. Sift together the dry ingredients and add half the flour mixture to the sugar and blend. Beat in the soy milk and the vanilla extract and once combined add in the rest of the flour mixture and mix. Add the water and and beat until all is blended.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake for 20 minutes. With my oven I had to bake about 28 minutes. Remove pans and cool.
For the frosting
5 tablespoons vegetable shortening
5 tablespoons vegan margarine
1/4 cup plain soy
1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine the shortening with the margarine and soy milk and beat on high speed with an electric mixer. Add the sugar and continue beating for about 3 minutes. Add the coconut and vanilla and blend another 2 minutes.
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This looks great. I am going to have to make this for my Dad who loves coconut cake. I love making vegan desserts for non-vegans and then having them ooh and aah over them!
This one looks lovely . One of my friend who claims herself vegan but sometimes drink regular milk asked me to make vegan cake. I don’t buy cook books but I can get some idea from your recipe and various others.
Your comment went in spam and I never knew it was there until you said you submitted it.
What a stellar first attempt at baking a cake! I think you did an awesome job and the photo is just gorgeous! I love coconut anything, so this cake would be devoured by me fairly quickly. :-)
Thanks Maggie. I want to make achocolate cake with the egg replacer but haven’t quite figured that one out yet. Any suggestions?
Pat yourself on the back, your first attempt was a good one. Looking forward to more baked goods.
:o I can’t believe you never made a cake from scratch before? Colour me shocked… especially when you churn this out on your first attempt? Nice one! I’m totally digging all that coconut all over the top… makes it look very inviting :)
wow, your cake looks amazing! i can’t believe how moist it looks!
I can’t believe this is your first cake! It came out so perfectly! Well done!
I know, I know where have I been. So glad that I found an egg replacement, I’ll be baking up a storm. Thanks!
Congrats on your first cake from scratch. There are tons of excellent vegan cake recipes so I hope you find the one you like the best :-)
Thanks CJ. I am working on a corn muffin right now. I think I may post it tomorrow, LOL.
I just love coconut!! Great looking cake and I m sure tastes really good too!
Thanks you, it tasted pretty good for a first try.
This is fantastic Suzi! No one would believe its your first time! That frosting sounds to die for! :)
Thank you. The cake part seemed a little doughy sort of like a pancake but the frosting was killer.
Wow, this cake looks fantastic! I have never had a coconut cake, but I LOVE coconut. To-do list: +1 item. Sigh. I don’t think I’ll ever get to the end of this list
WAY TO GO, Suzi!!! This looks magnificent! I’m a huge coconut fan and am ready to eat a big slab of your cake. Hope this is not the last “from scatch” cake you’ll feature :)
Wow Suzi, this looks fantastic!!! It looks luscious and moist. I love coconut and for your first cake… you made a perfect choice!! Well done!! Have a wonderful day! :)
How pretty and delicious is this cake? So light and airy looking.
High cholesterol is also a issue for me though not that high up. I too stay away from rich food but looks like your coconut cake will be a great fit for my need. Coconut is also my fav too. I am admiring this gorgeous cake you made.
Love coconut and this looks absolutely delectable.
Thanks Angie, I am still working on the batter, it should rise a little bit higher than it did.
This cake looks absolutely sttunning my friend, a slice of heaven (fluffy heaveN :D)
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
All your recipes look amazing ! thanks for the lovely blog ;-) … and your recipes are great inspiration !!!!
thought You might like this http://purevegetarianbites.wordpress.com/
This is amazing. I am a huge coconut fan so this is right up my alley. Looks so moist and delicious.
Hey thanks girl. Did you ever find the e-mail??
I just did a search under your email and your name and can’t find it. If you still have it in your sent box resend it to me and I’ll hit you back tonight. I set aside a couple of hours to go through emails tonight. xx
Just sent you a new e-mail – the other one flew into space when I tried to send it again. smharr@comcast.net is my e-mail
Got it and just sent one back. Talk later. Off to the barn. Moi
When it comes to coconut cake, the flavor is all I am looking for. Be it vegan, gluten free-it does not really matter to me.! The best part of this recipe is that it does not skimp on the coconut-yum! Hope you are enjoying the weekend!
The cake looks amazing for the first time :) I want to try that healthy frosting YuM :)
Thank you Ridwan, the frosting really was killer, I was amazed.
Holy smokes! This cake looks to DIE for. I also want to thank you for nominating me for the food stories award. It means a lot. Have a wonderful, long weekend :)