Michelle Darmody: Classic cakes — but without animal products

Handy recipes for vegan carrot cake and coffee cake 

Cakes that taste just as good as the original. 

There are many options when it comes to alternatives for traditional dairy milk: almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, oat milk, rice milk, cashew milk — and, more recently, potato milk. Most can be stored at ambient temperature in the cupboard rather than the fridge, before they are opened. Once opened they do need to be refrigerated and each carton will tell you how long it will last for.

A combination of a plant-based milk and cider vinegar creates a good buttermilk substitute. The acid in cider vinegar also helps to activate baking soda in vegan cake recipes and it helps light sponges to rise whilst adding a slight tang to the flavour.

As mentioned last week, substituting an animal-free alternative for eggs can be a bit tricky if they are the main ingredient in a recipe, as they are in a meringue for example. Generally, the more eggs needed in a recipe the more difficult it will be to mimic the same consistency and texture of the cake with a substitute. Bakes such as brownies or carrot cake, on the other hand, work well as the egg simply binds rather than adds lift. Flaxseed is used in the carrot cake recipe included here.

Vegan carrot cake

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

Carrot cake is made more delicious with vegan ingredients

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 20 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed, stirred into 6 tbs of cold water

• 250g plain flour

• 2 tbs baking powder, sieved

• 260g golden caster sugar

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp mixed cake spice

• Zest of 2 oranges

• 225mls sunflower oil

• 3 tbsp plant-based milk

• 300g carrots, coarsely grated

• 20g golden sultanas

• 20g chopped walnuts

• For the icing:

• 200g nut-based cream cheese

• 50g icing sugar

• 2 tbsp maple syrup

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C and line an 8-inch loose-base or spring-form tin with parchment.

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, zest, and spices together.

3. Mix the oil and milk together and add these to the dry ingredients until combined. Stir in the carrots and flaxseed until completely combined.

4. Scoop the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for approximately an hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Once cool enough to handle, remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

5. To make the icing whisk the cream cheese with the icing sugar, maple syrup and vanilla. Spread this on top of the cooled cake.

Vegan coffee cake

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

A classic for a reason, this cake is moist and delicious

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 50 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 375g plain flour, sieved

• 1 ½ tsp bread soda, sieved

• 270g light muscovado sugar

• 60mls strong espresso

• 310mls plant-based milk

• 1 ½ tbsp cider vinegar

• 180mls sunflower oil

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• For the icing:

• 50g plant-based butter

• 200g icing sugar

• 20mls strong espresso, cooled

• 2 tbsp almond milk

• a handful of walnuts to decorate

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C and line two 8-inch spring-form or loose-based round tins with parchment.

2. Mix the flour, bread soda, and sugar together and set aside.

3. Mix the espresso, almond milk, vinegar, oil, and vanilla together.

4. Combine the two mixtures until they form a smooth batter. Scoop this into the prepared tins. Bake for about 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Once cool enough to handle remove from the tin and place onto a wire rack to cool completely.

5. To make the icing: whisk the plant-based butter with the icing sugar until there is plenty of air. Add the cold espresso and whisk again. Add the milk as needed if the icing needs to be a little more spreadable.

6. Top one of the discs of cake with icing. Sit the other cake on top and then ice all over. Dot with walnuts.