Vegan Lemon and Raspberry Cake

It's naked!

This is a vegan lemon cake with a lemon icing and a raspberry jam filling. The first time I made this, I made my own jam, and I can honestly say, fuck all that noise. It was a burning, sticky, alarming roller coaster, and while the end result may have been worth it, it was not by enough to mitigate the stress and terror of trying to contain boiling fruit. Plus it made like five times as much as I needed. I used this recipe, in case you want to give it a shot: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018845-berry-jam?action=click&module=Collection%20Page%20Recipe%20Card&region=Jam%20Recipes&pgType=collection&rank=1. Pro tip, wear gloves and welding goggles. This cake recipe has been adapted from Chef Ani’s blog (https://chefani.com/vegan-lemon-raspberry-cake/). Ani’s recipe has a bit of a chemical taste, especially in the icing, because it relies too much on lemon extract instead of fresh lemon. The lemon flavour was also not very strong, so I have altered that to bring it out. Plus her instructions suck. This recipe can be made using one bowl.

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 1/3 cups/325g plant milk I used soy milk

1/3 cup/60g freshly squeezed lemon juice c.2.5 lemons

1 Tbsp freshly grated lemon zest c.2 lemons

2/3 cup/145g vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp apple sauce

½ tsp lemon extract

2 1/2 cups/300g plain flour

5/8 cup/125g caster sugar

4 tsp baking powder

½ tsp cardamom

Pinch of salt

Icing:

Just shy of 1 cup/200g vegan margarine.

I used vitalite the first time and it tasted like shit, so I would recommend naturli

1 Tbsp freshly grated lemon zest

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups/250g icing sugar

Raspberry jam for filling the layers

Instructions:

For the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350˚F/180˚C.

Grease and flour 3 6 inch cake pans using a vegan spread.

Measure out the soy milk, and add the lemon juice in a large bowl and let stand c.5 minutes.

The lemon juice will cause the soy milk to curdle, this is what you want.

Add the lemon zest, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, apple sauce and lemon extract and whisk until combined.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom and salt into the wet ingredients and whisk until combined. It will not look smooth, don't worry.

Divide the batter among the pans and bake 20-25 minutes until they pass the ‘clean knife test’, or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely.

For the Icing:

With a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the margarine until light and fluffy, c.10 minutes. You can also use a handheld mixer.

While the mixer is running, sift the icing sugar into another bowl.

Beat the lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract into the margarine.

Slowly beat in the icing sugar a spoonful at a time.

A pouring shield here really helps to reduce mess.

Beat a further two minutes or so until light and fluffy.

Assembly:

Pipe a dam around the first layer, and spread a layer of jam inside.

Repeat with the second layer.

Spread a thin coat around the cake, and refrigerate c.20 minutes to lock in crumbs.

I find this cake looks appealing as a naked cake, but feel free to ice however you want.