Results 1 to 34 of 34

Thread: Vegan cakes - help :o)

  1. #1
    Earth mama Lentil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Hampshire, UK
    Posts
    22

    Cool Vegan cakes - help :o)

    I haven't posted on here for *ages*! Still, in that time, I'm steadily heading vegan-ward and enjoying it all more and more. The coffee+milk issue was quite a bit one for me (noticed a thread going about that too so I guess it's not just a stumbling block for me!) but I've finally adjusted my taste buds to black coffee

    The biggest problem I have at the moment is cakes/biscuits. I've got a definate weak spot for cookery books and have shelves of the damn things - so heading towards being a vegan has given me the perfect excuse to buy dozens more! Yey!! Trouble is though, I tried that delicious looking chocolate cake off the front of a Leah Leneman book and it was AWFUL In fact I didn't know whether to be sick or just laugh - it was totally bitter and the layers of cake all slid off one another!!

    Attempt two was slightly better - an orange sponge cake. Again though, it was quite bitter. It was edible this time but let's just say I didn't go back for seconds.

    Any ideas? Where on earth am I going wrong? Could it be becuase they were both made with wholemeal flour?

    Are there any really good tried and tested recipes out there please? I'd really appreciate it!
    Vegan at last .. woo hoo!!

  2. #2
    DancingWillow's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    648

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Hi Lentil,

    Sorry about your bitter cake. Sometimes it takes a bit of experimenting to find a recipe that you really like. You can browse through the sweets folder on the forum; it has many recipes for lots of delicious vegan desserts

    Btw, have you tried almond milk in your coffee? It's delicious!
    You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
    ~John Wooden

  3. #3
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Quote Lentil
    Are there any really good tried and tested recipes out there please? I'd really appreciate it!
    So would I. My cakes are quite awful. Not at all light and fluffy but more like lumps of cement

  4. #4
    DancingWillow's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    648

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Quote Maisiepaisie
    So would I. My cakes are quite awful. Not at all light and fluffy but more like lumps of cement
    What flour do you use and what egg replacer? Organic all-purpose flour works well for me (I use Arrowhead Mills). I think that would help with the fluffiness. I tried to make pancakes with a different flour and they were quite flat, hard, and did not taste good.
    You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
    ~John Wooden

  5. #5
    fortified twinkle's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Midlands, UK
    Posts
    1,763

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    I never use wholemeal flour in cakes, as (like you) I find the result does tend towards bitterness. Also, you might like to cut down the amount of baking powder - if it calls for more than a flat tablespoon I generally don't follow that recipe (actually, nowadays I just use self raising flour and skip baking powder at all).

    It is important to not skip the sieving of flour or the beating of margarine and sugar as these both help with the lightness.

    Good luck. I'm sure there are a lot of tried and tested cake recipes on here - have you tried a search?

  6. #6
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Quote DancingWillow
    What flour do you use and what egg replacer? Organic all-purpose flour works well for me (I use Arrowhead Mills). I think that would help with the fluffiness. I tried to make pancakes with a different flour and they were quite flat, hard, and did not taste good.
    I use organic self raising flour and Allergycare egg replacer. Someone recommended Ener G which I just got but I haven't tried yet

  7. #7
    DancingWillow's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    648

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    I've heard good things about EnerG too, though I haven't tried it either. I use one small/medium mashed banana for each egg in a recipe. The banana flavor is prominent, but I like it very much, so it works well for me (for desserts)!

    Hmm, the flour you use should work, so I'm not sure why it isn't...
    You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
    ~John Wooden

  8. #8
    ♥♥♥ Tigerlily's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Atlantic Canada
    Posts
    3,920

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Quote twinkle
    I never use wholemeal flour in cakes, as (like you) I find the result does tend towards bitterness. Also, you might like to cut down the amount of baking powder - if it calls for more than a flat tablespoon I generally don't follow that recipe (actually, nowadays I just use self raising flour and skip baking powder at all).

    It is important to not skip the sieving of flour or the beating of margarine and sugar as these both help with the lightness.

    Good luck. I'm sure there are a lot of tried and tested cake recipes on here - have you tried a search?
    The baking powder thing makes sense. I made a cake this past summer and it called for some baking powder (like 2 tablespoons I think), and it was horribly bitter and metallic.
    Peace, love, and happiness.

  9. #9
    Earth mama Lentil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Hampshire, UK
    Posts
    22

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Thanks for that - glad it's not just me The thought of no more cakes and puddings just isn't good! I'll have a look through the recipes, etc and see what I can see. I haven't tried using anything like egg replacers, etc in "normal" recipes yet, only using vegan recipes.

    What type of fat do most of you use? I had one recipe which called for vegetable oil but in the other I used Pure and it was too soft I think?
    Vegan at last .. woo hoo!!

  10. #10
    ♥♥♥ Tigerlily's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Atlantic Canada
    Posts
    3,920

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    I don't bake much at all (too discouraged) but I normally use vegan margarine or vegetable oil if the recipe calls for an oil.
    Peace, love, and happiness.

  11. #11
    Earth mama Lentil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Hampshire, UK
    Posts
    22

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    I've found a few recipes in the "sweet" section on here so I'll give them a go and post the verdict

    I've been thinking about flapjacks and wondering it they would work with vegan margerine? I know the shop-bought vegan ones are usually made with oil but I can't find any recipes for oil ones.
    Vegan at last .. woo hoo!!

  12. #12

    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Wales
    Posts
    130

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    If you don't mind adding to your book collection I can heartily recommend Vegan Feasts by Rose Elliot. It is the best vegan cookery book ever.

    The recipe for sponge cake actually works and is delicious, and the recipe for mayonnaise is fab. I make it all the time and it's so simple.

    You can get it from the vegan society or amazon.
    http://www.vegansociety.com/catalog/...products_id=42
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...245717-6234320

  13. #13
    told me to Mr Flibble's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Warwickshire, UK
    Posts
    2,639

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Quote Lentil
    Trouble is though, I tried that delicious looking chocolate cake off the front of a Leah Leneman book and it was AWFUL In fact I didn't know whether to be sick or just laugh - it was totally bitter and the layers of cake all slid off one another!!
    I described this book on my book review site as:

    "What drugs has this women been taking? If you're an aspiring cookery author but don't know the difference between a tsp and 3 tbsps then write to harpercollins, they may well publish you. You're having a laugh love. This book gets a prestigious 1 star. My thoughts just go to the people who have a clue and write good recipes but never get published."

    The cake was the first thing i tried from the book and it was a disaster waiting to happen.

    Quote Lentil
    Could it be becuase they were both made with wholemeal flour?
    It's not just that, but it doesn't help. A lot of vegans are obsessed with healthy eating as opposed to junk addicts who did so for animal rights reasons. You could be forgiven for thinking after doing a random survey of books in whsmith that vegan food cannot contain processed flour, refined sugar etc, but that's just not the case. I think part of the reason is that publishers know that part of their market is non vegans who want a dietting fad. Many people combine the 2, but veganism itself is only about cutting out animal ingredients not healthy eating. I'm personally not adverse to healthy eating in any way, but I don't see the point of trying to make something which by it's very nature is a combination of sugar, wheat and fat slightly more healthy at the major compromise of taste, texture and sanity. Of course, some cakes can be made with wholewheat, but in sponges it's just wrong.

    Assuming it's being used as a binding agent, I've yet (in over 6 years of baking regularly) to find a practical use for egg replacer. A well designed and executed cake recipe doesn't need it and can produce much better results with a good set of ingrediants and technique instead. Simple is generally better. I haven't published my sponge recipe yet, but the best online I've found and made several times is this one.
    "Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock

  14. #14
    Cake Fairy Cherry's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Rugby. In the middle.
    Posts
    1,554

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Thanks Mr Flibble

  15. #15
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    I printed it off and will try it later. Thanks

  16. #16
    baffled harpy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    6,655

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Quote Lentil
    I've been thinking about flapjacks and wondering it they would work with vegan margerine? I know the shop-bought vegan ones are usually made with oil but I can't find any recipes for oil ones.
    I imagine so - I've seen commercial ones that are made with "vegetable margarine".

    Vegan cakes have a tendency to be dry in my experience - the ones you sometimes get in restaurants are usually slathered with icing or icecream to make up for it.

    I'm no baker but I have the impression that compared with, say, sponge cakes, it's easier to make fruit cakes or fruit-based cakes that are vegan (perhaps because the fruit keeps them moist and they don't have to rise much?). My mother makes a vegan Christmas cake every year, not bothering with egg replacer, and it's fine. I have got a banana cake recipe somewhere that seems fairly foolproof - I'll try and dig it out.

  17. #17
    Knolishing Pob's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Sittingbourne
    Posts
    1,523

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    A friend suggested this using this recipe:

    http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbreci...p?RecipeID=124

    Make two of those and then:

    Put 4 ounces of margerine in a bowl, soften with a fork then gradually add 12 ounces of sieved icing sugar, mix well then add 1 ounce of melted chocolate and mix. Spread a little between the 2 layers and smother the rest of the cake with it.

    Tastes great using spelt flour instead of wholewheat flour, too.

    Note - I assume the cup measure is the US size - 8 fluid oz.
    "Danger" could be my middle name … but it's "John"

  18. #18
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Mr Flibbles cake recipe is the best one I ever made. My 2 boys loved it too! I'm going to take some round to my mums later. Thanks Mr Flibble

  19. #19
    told me to Mr Flibble's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Warwickshire, UK
    Posts
    2,639

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    I'm just the messenger, it's Cherry's recipe
    "Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock

  20. #20
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    I didn't realise it was Cherry from this forum. Awsome site ...thanks Cherry

  21. #21
    Cake Fairy Cherry's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Rugby. In the middle.
    Posts
    1,554

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)


  22. #22
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Sussex, UK
    Posts
    3,925

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    if you can get hold of a copy of a little booklet called The Cake Scoffer, it's got some great recipes in it. i think Animal Aid sell it. the fruit cake is lovely

    Simple Treats is another good vegan baking book and you can buy it from the Dr Hadwen Trust or the Vegan Society i think.

  23. #23

    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    39

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    I have made the Vegan Chocolate cake and Triple Layer Cake from this site www.veganmania.com and they are phenomenal.

  24. #24
    Earth mama Lentil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Hampshire, UK
    Posts
    22

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Quote celtic rose
    If you don't mind adding to your book collection I can heartily recommend Vegan Feasts by Rose Elliot. It is the best vegan cookery book ever.
    LOL, I'm always happy to have "any" excuse to add to my collection I like Rose Elliot, I have a couple of her vegetarian books which are good (and contain lots of vegan bits).

    Thanks for all the recipes & thoughts all - I feel quite spurred on

    Cherry, I've looked through your site quite alot over the past few weeks - it's excellent!
    Vegan at last .. woo hoo!!

  25. #25
    Wanda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Wisconsin.
    Posts
    117

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    My favorite cookbooks for desserts are:
    - 'Great Good Desserts' by Fran Costigan
    - 'Simple Treats' by Ellen Abraham

    I also like 'The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook' by Lorna Sass.
    This book doesn't have a lot of desserts in it, but I really like her nut pie crust (use it for almost all my pies), pumpkin pie and oatmeal raisin cookies.

    I have some sample recipes from these cookbooks on my website.
    You should definitely try the 'Double Fudge Pecan Brownies' from Simple Treats. I actually won a brownie contest with them (even though I don't eat chocolate myself ).

  26. #26

    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Wales
    Posts
    130

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Quote Lentil
    Cherry, I've looked through your site quite alot over the past few weeks - it's excellent!
    Just been taking a look myself and your recipes look straightforward and very appetizing. You should publish a book of them.

  27. #27
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    I've bookmarked the site and printed off a few recipes that I plan to try. I love to see pictures of what the food should look like so I have something to compare, most books don't have pictures.

    Cherry did you make up these recipes or are they ones you have tried and tested?

  28. #28
    Cake Fairy Cherry's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Rugby. In the middle.
    Posts
    1,554

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Thanks Lentil & Celtic Rose I'd like to do that at some point. I half heartedly had a go a year or so ago but they said there was 'no demand'

    Maybe I'll get myself together at some point and do one properly.

    Quote MaisiePaisie
    Cherry did you make up these recipes or are they ones you have tried and tested?
    Urm, well I made them up and then tried and tested them Once you get a feel for how things should be you can just do your own thing and throw things together. The hard bit is remembering to weigh things and write down the recipes I keep forgetting.

    Quite a few are my sisters' recipes (Rosie and Sue) but I've said which those are. Quite a few are veganised childhood favourites that my mum used to make, so a few things are Delia-esque! Some things like pastry are the ratios everybody uses, so I didn't really make those up I just wrote them down.

  29. #29
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Your very talented Cherry. You really should do a cookbook, I'm sure it would be very popular

  30. #30

    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    189

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Quote Gorilla
    if you can get hold of a copy of a little booklet called The Cake Scoffer, it's got some great recipes in it. i think Animal Aid sell it. the fruit cake is lovely
    I'd second that. The carrot cake and lemon explosion cake are particularly good, really moist and they don't fall to bits!. You can get the Vegan Cake Book from here too.
    http://www.animalaid.org.uk/shop/books.htm

  31. #31
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    I bought an electric handmixer yesterday. My second effort with the handmixer was even better than the first cake without. Well worth investing in for anyone who bakes and it was only £5.64 from Tesco.

  32. #32
    puffin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Cambridgeshire
    Posts
    1,193

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Quote Lentil
    I tried that delicious looking chocolate cake off the front of a Leah Leneman book and it was AWFUL In fact I didn't know whether to be sick or just laugh - it was totally bitter and the layers of cake all slid off one another!!
    I love that cake. You have to make sure that you dont mix it to much and put the ingredience in one at a time. I usually add an extra half of the ingredience so it looks more cake like. I find it better if you leave it in the fridge over night so the filling has time to set. It doesnt taste to good when it has just been cooked.

  33. #33

    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    66

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Coffee...have you tried soy creamer (I've heard good things about SILK) and turbinado sugar?

  34. #34
    catmogg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    443

    Default Re: Vegan cakes - help :o)

    Oh my oh my the screaming carrot carrot cake is Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Mmmm. Mmmmmmm. MMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Screamingly good.
    Its really moist, the sultanas are succulent, the icing is creamy...its to die for.
    My turn of mind is so given to taking things in the absurd point of view that it breaks out in spite of me every now and then.

    - Byron

Similar Threads

  1. Cakes from Ron Likes Cakes
    By Bowie in forum Desserts, sweets and cakes
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: Oct 2nd, 2010, 07:27 PM
  2. Mrs Marengo's and vegan cakes
    By veganatheist78 in forum UK
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: Mar 15th, 2010, 11:52 PM
  3. Vegan cakes?
    By hullabaloo in forum UK
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: Oct 6th, 2008, 02:11 PM
  4. Vegan Cakes & Pies!!!
    By veggiemaya in forum Desserts, sweets and cakes
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: Feb 26th, 2008, 09:31 PM
  5. vegan rock cakes
    By cedarblue in forum Desserts, sweets and cakes
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: Oct 2nd, 2005, 07:22 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •