Vegan cake with no oil

[Digital Ghost]

I was wondering if anyone has a vegan cake recipe that doesnt use oil.

I'm as yet unsure if I would prefer a chocolate cake or vanilla cake but nothing super healthy.

Its for a birthday cake - I would ideally like it to be suitable for non vegan fans to get the 'wow thats vegan' sort of reaction.

I have tried a few recipes but so far they have all resulted in disaster or strange tasting.

Does anyone have one they have actually made that has been super yummy?

[Mr Flibble]

No oil or no fat at all?

[Digital Ghost]

No oil as in - no sunflower oil, canola oil or rapeseed oil. (liquid types)

[Tigerlily]

To be perfectly honest, I don't think you can make a yummy cake without any oil.

[Mr Flibble]

May I ask whether there is there a particular reason? Must it be 100% fat (as obviously vegan margerine and shortning are made from oil) free?

[Digital Ghost]

I think margarine would be ok - except the last one I tried making with pure margarine ended up dry on top and not underneath somehow.

My friend wont eat anything that is made with oil that is a liquid in.

[cookey]

Try here:
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/desserts/desserts.shtml

I've made both fat free carrot cake and gingerbread from the recipes here and they were great!

[fiamma]

My friend wont eat anything that is made with oil that is a liquid in.

Can I ask why?

(feel free not to answer).

Of course margarine does become liquid at high temperatures...
And is a more processed product than vegetable oil, so from a health point of view margarine is no better than oil (someoen correct me if I'm wrong)...

You can make a cake with no fat or oil provided you use eggs. But if you're not using eggs then I don't see how you can omit the fat.

I made a great cake today - chocolate sponge with chocolate ganache frosting. Took it to a party and it went down a storm. But it had oil in it...

[thecatspajamas1]

What about avocados? Maybe find a recipe that requires soft margarine and use ripe (soft) avocados instead? I bet people think this sounds weird, but I think it would be delicious, if it works.

[harpy]

I think a recipe without any fat added might turn out more like a bread than a cake, e.g.

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/04...ana-bread.html

Sounds pretty nice though!

A lot of recipes do seem to have marge rather than (liquid) oil, if that will keep your friend happy.

[tipsy]

My friend wont eat anything that is made with oil that is a liquid in.

thats wierd, all ive ever heard about people being picky about oils are exactly the oppisite. that solid oils solidify in the body making them stick to artery walls and collect.... but thats not true cause at body temp they are liquid anyways...

it would be interesting to know why he/she doesnt do liquid oils....

[Mr Flibble]

someoen correct me if I'm wrong

Other than your spelling the theory seems correct to me . For clarity's sake I'll today make a chocolate cake with melted margerine, but just using oil itself is both cheaper and less processed.

According to McGee "A cake is a web of flour, eggs, sugar, butter (shortening), a delicate structure that readily disintegrates in the mouth and fills it with easeful flavor. Cakes often contain more sugar and fat than they do flour! ..... A cake's structure is created mainly by the flour starch and by egg proteins. The tender, melt in the mouth texture comes from gas bubbles, which subdivide the batter into fragile sheets, and from the sugar and fat, which interfere with gluten formation and egg protein coagulation, and intercept the network of gelated starch"

I disagree with the requirement of eggs - it is perfectly possible to create exceptional cakes without them, provided you have enough binding agents (fat), raising agents (bicarb/tartar) and moisture (water/other liquid).

As harpy said; without fat you're making sweet bread. Sweet bread can be fantastic, but it isn't sponge cake. You can try to substitute the fat with things that act a bit like it (such as fruit puree), but i've yet to see a good (or passable if your aim is to impress a non-vegan) fat free sponge substitute.

[alisont]

Ive made vegan sponges with pure margerine which have worked out fine some better than using an oil. Ive never been that keen on using oil in cakes but the last choc one i made was fine.

A lot of the time when ive used oil they have turned out much heavier than Id of liked, but then a lot of vegan cakes you buy out tend to be heavy cakes but still yummy

[fiamma]

I disagree with the requirement of eggs.

Before I was vegan I used to make fat free sponges where you beat eggs and sugar together 'til they're foamy and fold in the flour. It makes for a very light cake. So if you're using fat in a cake then I agree with you Mr F. A cake containing fat has no need for eggs. But if you don't want to use fat I think the texture would be more like a bread than a cake as harpy says, and I doubt would get that "wow" reaction from omnis that the original poster was looking for.

[Digital Ghost]

I'm going to try this one

http://www.fatfreevegan.com/desserts/no-fat.shtml

and if it goes ok I will make it for the birthday cake

If it doesnt hopefully I will still have something edible for dinner!

[cookey]

DG - The carrot cake I made is this one:
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/desserts/carrot_cake.shtml

Same website but different recipe, this doesn't call for egg replacer. It came out very well. I made it for a meeting at work (Bristol City Council) it was wolfed down by my non vegan colleagues.

It's perfectly possible to make cake without fat or eggs, there are quite few recipes on the fat free vegan website that don't use either. They usually use some kind of fruit or vegetable so I think the straight up sponge that people might be thinking of would be unlikely.
I also have a recipe for gluten free banana cake from a recipe book with no added fat. I've made quite a few no fat cakes recently and have been really happy with them.

[absentmindedfan]

I've made cakes without oil by substituting applesauce or silken tofu for the oil. It makes a chewier consistency but still tastes nice.

[Mr Flibble]

For clarity's sake I'll today make a chocolate cake with melted margerine

well, it worked. It's asthetically fine, but at first I thought I could taste baking powder, which is odd as I used the same amount. The taste in my mouth now I realise is margerine. I've made a large margerine cake

[eco]

I've made cakes with egg replacer http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-...sect/FCIE.html and soya milk rather than using oil/marge and they were ok but not quite as light as the cakes with them and they didn't rise quite as well.

[Digital Ghost]

Well in conclusion I have made 3 cakes! (hey its an experiment I can use it as an excuse)

http://www.fatfreevegan.com/desserts/no-fat.shtml
Worked ok bit dense in texture but seemed better with frosting or custard.

http://www.fatfreevegan.com/desserts/carrot_cake.shtml
Tasted good no complaints but thought I would try another recipe - as it sounded interesting and I felt I would prefer a more traditional birthday stylish cake.

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/02...late-cake.html
This seemed rather interesting. I made it and iced it with some butter icing made with vegan margarine.
It tasted lovely and I have tried it on a non vegan who wouldnt believe me when I told her what I put in it.
Its perfect and I love it.

Thanks for everyones help - you guys are the best!

[cookey]

Glad it worked out for you DG!