Vegan Vanilla Cake & Chocolate "Buttercream" Icing

Little ole Surrey has overdone itself on the heat front as of late (right on par with Memphis, but lacking in mugginess...& skeeters...which I can gladly live without!).

Sticking with the fresh fruit theme, this recipe stepped through my kitchen twice in the last couple of weeks.

Ingredients

Vanilla Cake:

(Makes enough for a Small Double Layer Cake)

200ml Soy Milk

1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

160g Sugar

170g Plain Flour

1 1/2 tbsp Cornstarch

1 tbsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Pinch-o-Salt

100g Veg Butter

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 tsp Almond Extract

Chocolate "Buttercream" Topping:

80g Veg Butter

80g Veg Shortening

80g Cocoa Powder

160g Powdered Sugar

2 tbsp Soy Milk

150g Fresh Berries (your choice!)

For the Vanilla Cake Base:

In a small bowl, whisk together the Apple Cider Vinegar & Soy Milk and set aside to curdle.

In a separate bowl, sift together the Sugar, Flour, Cornstarch, Baking Powder, Baking Soda & Salt. Next, blend in the Veg Butter until your mixture becomes pebbly. Slowly add your Soy Milk mixture to this dry mixture, blending until smooth. Lastly, blend in your Vanilla & Almond Extracts.

Evenly pour your mixture into two well-greased cake tins and pop into the oven at 180C for 25min. The cakes should be a tasty lookin' golden brown when finished.

Thoroughly cool before frosting.

For the Chocolate "Buttercream" Topping:

While your cakes are in the oven, cream together your Veg Butter & Veg Shortening. Slowly add in your Cocoa Powder followed by the Powdered Sugar. Splash in the Soy Milk between each Powder addition, to ensure that everything blends smoothly.

Pop in the fridge to cool.

Assembling It All:

Making sure your cakes are thoroughly cooled (because you don't want a melty "Buttercream" disaster)...

Spread a thin layer of Chocolate "Buttercream" onto one of your cakes. Stack the second cake on top to form your second layer...then spread the "Buttercream" on again! Voila!

You can get all fancy with the Fruit - thinly slice Strawberries and place them inbetween your cake stacks for an extra burst of freshness. Or simply garnish the top layer of your cake for a wonderful pop of colour.

Refrigerate before eating!

The only bad thing about this recipe is that it does not last on your plate very long!!

Until next time...

Hearts.