Vanilla Cake with Coconut Cream, Peaches & Berries is a delicious, fluffy & moist dessert for any occasion. And you don’t have to be a pastry chef to make it.
Tomorrow is the 1st day of AUTUMN and I barely made it posting this Vanilla Cake. I should have posted sooner since it is one of my last days of summer recipes. Oh well, I have never been very good with deadlines! Nevertheless, it is a very basic recipe and it can be easily transformed into a cake for a different occasion. For example Thanksgiving, or Christmas.
For example, you can add cinnamon instead of vanilla and decorate it with apples or pears. You can even caramelize the fruit as I did in some of my autumn recipes. To find out more, please visit FRENCH MINI APPLE TARTS or AUTUMN WAFFLES WITH PEAR MILLE FEUILLE. However, if you are looking for fall festive recipes, I have a few more on my DESSERT page.
Also, some of you may know that I am always trying to make healthier dessert recipes. Therefore I am always experimenting with different sweeteners and flour, whether whole grain or gluten-free. As I mentioned before, I realized that whole grain spelt which is normally my favorite is too dense and heavy for pastries. For that reason, I have been using a gluten-free mix. From my experience, the best one on the market is Cut Cooking Inc. But I have to admit, it is a little bit too pricey, so mostly I use Bob’s Red Mill, which is my second choice. They both contain highly nutritious whole-grain sorghum flour and you can learn more about it HERE.
At last, I would like to mention my favorite Swerve Sweetener, which I already used in my previous recipe, the LEMON TARTS. I absolutely love it and I highly recommend you try it. Although you may read this ARTICLE first because not everyone can easily digest it. However, Swerve may be better in this regard, since my daughter had problems with Xylitol and Erythritol, but she is fine with Swerve. This sweetener tastes and measures just like regular sugar so you could use regular sugar if you must, although I do not recommend it for health reasons. Raw coconut sugar is a healthier option too, yet I find it also too dense for this type of pastry.
I am sure most of you already know about the negative aspects of refined sugar, nevertheless, reading this insightful ARTICLE may help. Personally, I never had a problem with sugar, but I realized how many people do! Ever since I moved to Canada, I learned that everything contains way more sugar than in Europe. This is truly alarming and I feel that I need to do something to help. As an ethical vegan, I care for animals and people equally. Thank you for visiting and if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me anytime.
VANILLA CAKE
Equipment
- standing mixer or electric hand mixer, 8inch diameter cake pan, parchment paper, brush
Ingredients
- 1 cup of plain almond milk or plant-based milk of your choice
- 1/4 cup of maple syrup
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup of plant-based butter room temperature, I use organic Earth Balance
- 3/4 cups of granular Swerve sweetener or sweetener of your choice
- 1/3 cup apple sauce no sugar added
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ cup gluten free mix I use Bob’s Red mill
- 1 cup almond flour
- TO DECORATE
- 1 can of chilled coconut cream only the thick part
- ¼ cup of confectioners Swerve sweetener
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- Blend well and place into refrigerator.
- 1 peach sliced
- Handful berries of your choice.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F (175C)
- Make buttermilk buy blending dairy free milk with maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract and set aside.
- In a large bowl, start blending gradually sweetener in with butter, then whisk with electric hand mixer until it turns to a foam.
- Add apple sauce and blend little longer.
- Gradually start adding gluten free mix, almond flour and butter milk while whisking until you get smooth batter.
- Brush your pan with oil, line with parchment paper and slowly pour in cake batter.
- Bake for 35minutes, or until toothpick coms clean.
- When ready, let in cool until you can touch the pan and remove the cake.
- Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool on cooling rack for couple hours.
- Apply the coconut cream with spatula and top with fruits. You may also dust with confectioners Swerve sweetener.
