Have Your Cake and Vegan Too (4 page)

SELF-RISING FLOUR
Some cookbooks call for this white flour that has baking powder and salt added. It's hard to find unbleached self-rising flour, and in addition, there's no way of knowing how fresh the flour is and therefore how fresh the baking powder is. We don't want our cakes depending on questionable baking powder. Also, the baking powder used in most self-rising flour is double-acting, which means that it reacts initially when the liquid and dry ingredients make contact and again when exposed to the heat of the oven. It does this with the addition of aluminum, whereas regular baking powder made without aluminum is single-acting. Why do they want to put all of these chemicals in our cakes?!

Long story short, unbleached all-purpose flour is your friend. If you try your hand at some of the gluten-free recipes, you'll have a whole group of new buddies, too.

So, protein in flour (gluten) and protein from eggs traditionally provide baked goods with structure. And we're taking away the gluten and the eggs? Are we crazy? Absolutely not. Vegan, gluten-free baking may seem impossible, but rest assured that thanks to the boundless sea of grains in the world, a tasty gluten-free vegan cake is easy to make and even better to eat.

Gluten-free baking relies on flour blends, as using one flour alone is not entirely possible. The bulk section of your grocery store can often supply these grains, but they are also readily available online. Look for the Bob's Red Mill brand, which not only bakes well but also has very high standards for the quality of production for their gluten-free flours.

BROWN RICE FLOUR
This is a very common flour for gluten-free baking. It's light in texture and mild in flavor, exactly what we want in replacing all-purpose flour. It is also easily digestible.

SORGHUM FLOUR
Milled from an ancient grain that lends a pleasant mouth feel to gluten-free baked goods, this flour has a very mild flavor.

OAT FLOUR AND OATS
These grains can be used in gluten-free baking, but not all oats are created equal, so be sure the oat products you are buying are labeled gluten-free.

TAPIOCA STARCH OR TAPIOCA FLOUR
These are actually one and the same. Adding starch to our flour makes it lighter and more cake appropriate.

POTATO STARCH
Potato flour is dehydrated potato, essentially instant potatoes, but we want the starch. This is nice and mild and helps make things fluffy.

GUAR GUM AND XANTHAN GUM
These are common ingredients you may have noticed when reading labels. They're used as thickeners to help certain products (like nut milks) have a nicer consistency and mouth feel. In baking, they're used in tiny amounts to help replace the binding we would otherwise get from gluten. Guar gum is significantly less expensive than xanthan gum, but some people prefer one over the other. The amounts used are so tiny, that even a spendy bag of gum goes a long way.

OTHER GLUTINOUS SUBSTANCES
Some other items to verify gluten-free are your baking powder and vanilla.

FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS
Seems like a no-brainer, but it's easy to assume you know the next step in a recipe, and nothing is worse than realizing, too late, that you guessed wrong. Be sure to read through the whole recipe before starting out.

MIND THE TIME
The first time through a recipe, check your cake 5 minutes before you think it's supposed to be done. Variations in altitude and oven temperature, as well as the kind of pan, can affect the speed at which your cake bakes. This will help you learn the nuances of your unique kitchen set up.

AFTER CARE
Just because it's out of the oven doesn't mean it's done baking. Some cakes need to cool in the pan, and some cakes need to be inverted soon after exiting the oven so
they don't dry out. Again, make sure to read through the directions.

LEAVENING
Baking powder and baking soda are our friends, but they can be fickle. If you don't remember when you purchased your current containers of baking powder and baking soda, it's time for new ones. My general rule of thumb is every 6 months.

Baking soda
: More than just a freshener for your fridge, baking soda is a natural chemical that acts as a leavener when an acid is added to activate it. Once activated, it creates little air bubbles, which make our cakes nice and fluffy. Some examples of acids are vinegar, lemon juice, or cocoa powder.

Baking powder
: Baking powder actually contains baking soda and cream of tartar, which acts as a built-in acid. It also has anticaking agents, like cornstarch, to keep it from clumping. Baking powder creates a more mild reaction than a strong acid, like vinegar, does, and so sometimes an additional acid is used to help boost the leavening power of the cake batter. If you're out of baking powder, you can always use 1 part baking soda to 2 parts cream of tartar to replace. Also, be sure to look for aluminum-free baking powder. Avoid anything labeled double-acting, as it contains aluminum, and we just don't need that silliness.

THE TROUBLE WITH CAKES . . .
While it may be rare, sometimes, despite all your best intentions,
a cake doesn't turn out. Here's how to troubleshoot:

CAKE COSMETIC SURGERY: GOING AU NATUREL

You can't turn on your television without falling upon another cake decorating show. From fancy bakeries to meltdown-triggering competitions, cake decorating is an art form and sport unto itself. Yet, while the cakes are stunning, one thing that never comes up on these shows is the most important factor in the world of cakes: taste.

Think about the things people say about their favorite cake. “This cake is so moist!” or, “This frosting is so creamy!” No one says, “I love how chalky this rolled fondant tastes!” The competitive cake-baking craze has created an unrealistic idea that every cake, in order to be pretty, must be covered in smooth fondant. And while it does make a beautiful cake, no one craves eating it.

Below I have some tips to help you achieve smooth buttercream for cakes you want to appear more refined, as well as some helpful hints for simple, but pretty, cake decoration. I come from the school of thought that says if it's not tasty, it doesn't belong.

It doesn't require much to build a nice, small arsenal of cake decorating supplies. With just a couple of choice items, you'll have everything you need to make your cake look as great as it tastes.

OFFSET SPATULA
This spatula, which looks more like a butter knife on steroids than a spatula, is how bakers get uniform, smooth frosting on the top and sides of a cake. It takes only a little practice before you'll be smoothing with the best of them. Use it in long, slow strokes with even pressure. Also, be sure to read about the crumb coat (page 14) if you have problems with crumbs in your frosting.

FROSTING BAG AND TIPS
You might see fancy frosting bag sets with a million tips, and while they're fun, you can get by just fine with a couple of choice tips. Make a throw-away batch of buttercream frosting to play with and pipe away on a sheet of cardboard. It takes only a couple of rounds of practice to perfect some select shapes and designs that will make your cakes all the more lovely.

CAKE LEVELER
This device, which looks like a bow for the kitchen, has a metal base with a thin, metal string with an adjustable height. This is a choice tool if you need to trim a little cake off the top to flatten it for stacking layers or to split a thick cake into layers. While a knife works just
fine (and if you want to feel like a major badass, look up splitting cakes with dental floss online), a cake leveler ensures that you will get your cakes nice and level and split them evenly.

TEMPERATURE
This is the biggest tip for expert cake decorating. It's hard to resist when you know a slice of deliciousness awaits, but icing a warm cake leads to disaster (icing puddle), and trying to cream margarine or shortening that is too hard makes for serious lumps. Slow and steady wins the cake race.

1. Let the cake cool completely.
This is imperative, or your frosting will melt!

2. Do a crumb coat.
This means to apply a superthin layer of frosting to trap in all of the crumbs so they don't lift off and litter your frosting on the surface of the cake. This can be done with your offset spatula, by applying an ultrathin coating (you can usually still see the cake through it). After applying it, place the cake in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes to let it firm up. Skipping this step defeats the purpose of the crumb coat.

3. Slather on the bulk of your frosting.
Use an offset spatula to get it smooth. If your frosting is having problems spreading, it may need a splash of whatever milk you are using. If you have leftover frosting, scoop it into an icing bag and fancy up your cake with some piping!

Don't let layers intimidate you! It's really easy, I promise.

Begin by placing the bottom layer on a serving platter or cake plate. Then tear small pieces of waxed paper and arrange them around the bottom of the cake, effectively make a cake bib to catch any excess frosting or filling so the plate doesn't get messy.

From there, assess whether the bottom layer is flat on top. If it has a bump, you need to level it, which can be easily done with a knife or a cake leveler (inexpensive ones cost around $5). You can also level it Mafia-style with a piece of dental floss, looping it around the cake bump and pulling it toward you to slice the bump off. The best part of this process is that it makes cake scraps, so you don't have to wait until after dinner to get a taste. If it doesn't look pretty, that's okay because it will be covered up.