Vegan Mandarin Orange & Fig Carrot Cake with Cashew Frosting (also refined-sugar free!)

So... it's February 2020. My last post was 29 December 2019. Hi, everyone. Sorry for the delay on updating this space. 2020 really started off being pretty overwhelming. Around the world, many events have been happening at the same time, such as bushfires in Australia (breaks my heart), floods in certain countries (also breaks my heart), the new coronavirus which is now dubbed Covid-19, etc. In fact, my country is one of those affected by this new virus, making life a whole lot busier, especially at school (where I work) as everyone is taking added precautionary measures. Hence, personally, it has just been wave after wave of busyness, leaving me very tired, with very little time for rest and much less time for baking and blogging. And if I do find some time to bake something, I would usually just bake the cookie dough balls I had stashed away in the freezer since last Christmas (which have, sadly, been demolished just over the past weekend, every single last one of them).

Yet in spite of all these things, there have been many good things as well, for which I give thanks. For one, in spite of this virus going around, my family and I are safe, and opportunities have even arisen for me to reach out to and encourage the people around me who are more directly affected by the situation (such as healthcare workers). Also, I have been busy preparing some new and good things that would come soon the future (more on that next time, perhaps). So yes, it has been busy-busy-busy, but I am eternally grateful to God for all that has happened so far in the year.

This is actually my first vegan cake. Prior to this cake, I had never made any vegan dessert before, so this was new and exciting territory for me. I made this cake last month in celebration of the Lunar New Year and my mum's birthday (which coincided with the first day of the Lunar New Year). I made the cake vegan not because my mum is vegan, but because I had initially thought that my cousin was vegan. It turned out that he's actually vegetarian. Nevertheless, I'm glad I made it a vegan carrot cake! To be honest though, I was so worried while I was transporting the cake to my aunt's house that day because the cashew frosting was melting very rapidly (it was an incredibly hot day and let me just clarify and say that coconut oil is not solid at 30°C room temperature). Thankfully, the cake made it in one piece, much to my relief.

That night, we gathered around the table after having a home-cooked Lunar New Year dinner; and, having sung the birthday song in English and Mandarin, we cut into the cake and thoroughly enjoyed eating it.

Hope you try making this cake and let me know if you bake it! Happy baking!

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Vegan Mandarin Orange & Fig Carrot Cake with Cashew Frosting

Makes one three layer 6-inch cake

Adapted from Minimalist Baker

Ingredients

For the cashew frosting:

• 180 g (1 1/2 cups) raw cashews, soaked in hot water 1 hour

• 120 ml (1/2 cup or 105 g) full-fat coconut cream

• 45-60 ml (3 to 4 Tbs) maple syrup

• 60 ml (1/4 cup) melted coconut oil

• 1/4 tsp lemon zest

• 15-30 ml (1 to 2 Tbs) lemon juice

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

For the cake:

• 235 g (1 cup) mandarin orange puree

• 3 batches chia eggs (3 Tbsp chia seed + 7 ½ Tbsp water)

• 80 ml (1/3 cup or 70 g) melted coconut oil

• 60 ml (1/4 cup) maple syrup

• 150 g (3/4 cup) coconut sugar

• 3/4 tsp sea salt

• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 180 ml (3/4 cup) plain unsweetened almond milk (or other non-dairy unsweetened milk)

• 170 g (1 1/2 cup) loosely packed grated carrot

• 168 g (1 1/2 cup) almond flour

• 150 g (1 1/2 cup) spelt flour

• 100 g dried figs, roughly chopped

Method

Make the cashew frosting:

1. Soak cashews in very hot water for 1 hour. Drain thoroughly and add the cashews to a blender. Add remaining ingredients into the blender.

2. Blend until creamy and very smooth, scraping down sides as needed.

3. Taste and adjust flavor as needed (e.g. add more maple syrup if you want it sweeter, or more lemon zest if you want it tangier).

4. Transfer frosting to a medium mixing bowl and cover with cling wrap. Place in the freezer and chill for 45 minutes. Then remove from freezer and whisk with a whisk or hand mixer. Freeze for another 1 hour and whisk again. Then leave in the freezer until semi-firm to the touc, about 2 to 4 hours. Use a hand mixer to blend until creamy and smooth.

5. You can now use your frosting. Set aside in the fridge until you are ready to frost the cake. The frosting can be stored in the fridge up to 5-7 days, or in the freezer one month.

Make the cake:

1. You would want to make the mandarin orange puree first. Place about 3 medium sized mandarin oranges in a large pot and cover with water. Cook for about 1 hour until the oranges have become soft. Set them aside to cool completely or place them in a bowl of ice water so that they would cool down more quickly. Once the oranges have cooled, slide them and remove all the seeds. The oranges will be very soft so the seeds will be easy to remove. Place the oranges in a blender and blend until a puree.

2. Preheat the oven to 176°C. Grease, line and flour three 6-inch round cake pans.

3. Prepare chia eggs in a large mixing bowl. To chia eggs, add oil and maple syrup and whisk to combine.

4. Add orange puree, coconut sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon and whisk to combine.

5. Stir in the almond milk and grated carrot. Then add almond flour and gluten-free flour blend and stir. Stir in the dried figs.

6. Divide the batter evenly among the cake pans. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

7. Remove from the oven and let rest in the pans for 15 minutes. Then carefully run a knife along the edges and gently invert onto cooling racks to let cool completely. The cakes, once completely cool, freeze well. If you are making the cake in advance, wrap the cooled cakes well in cling wrap and aluminium foil. Freeze for up to one month.

Assemble the cake:

1. Fit a piping bag with a french star piping tip. Fill the piping bag with cashew frosting.

2. Place a cake board on a cake turntable. Put the first cake layer onto the cake board. Pipe the cashew frosting onto the cake layer, starting from the edge of the cake and working inwards until the entire layer is covered with the frosting. Stack the second cake layer on top and repeat the piping process. Stack the final cake layer and repeat the piping process.

3. Decorate the cake with slices of mandarin oranges. Serve and enjoy!

#vegan #carrotcake #dessert #cake #refinedsugarfree

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Vanilla Mascarpone Buttercream

2020 is fast-approaching and I have fallen very behind in posting the recipe for these gingerbread cupcakes. Even though Christmas is over, it's never too late for gingerbread cupcakes, right?

I've been meaning to post about the recipe for these gingerbread cupcakes with vanilla mascarpone buttercream before Christmas, but I've been pretty busy the past 2 weeks baking and spending quality time with family and friends. I'm not complaining though; it has been incredibly fruitful and my heart has been full.

Anyway, I've always wondered why Christmas desserts often contain a lot of spices (especially ginger and cinnamon). I'm not complaining though; I love spices, with cinnamon and nutmeg being my top two favourites. It's just something that has always puzzled me. However, one day my dad casually remarked (in mandarin), "Ginger has some 'heat'. Eating it would definitely make you feel warmer inside." Then it clicked within me. It made so much sense! For some countries in the world, especially if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, Christmastime can get very cold. This is true even for me. Even though I live near the Equator (precisely 1.3521°N of the Equator) and therefore do not experience the four seasons, it has been a very stormy December, with temperatures dropping to 23°C on some days (which to us locals is considered rare, precious and comfortably chilly weather). It's no wonder when Christmas rolls around, gingerbread and ginger molasses cookies and hot chocolate and spiced lattes and spiced citrus cakes etc etc (I could go on, but you get my drift) start popping up everywhere. People just want to keep warm! Also, spice is delicious. Enough said.

So this December, I jumped at the opportunity to make something spicy. In particular, I took it upon myself to make gingerbread desserts.

Can you believe that this is my first time making gingerbread cookies and anything gingerbread for that matter? I've never really gotten down to it because my family aren't huge fans of gingerbread (don't get me wrong; they would eat it, but it's not the first thing they would prefer). Yet I just wanted to try it out and taste it for myself, you know?

I'm happy to report that I have no regrets making these gingerbread cupcakes. Most of them I gave away to friends and kept some for my family and myself. The cake itself is tender and wonderfully flavourful and spiced, definitely reminiscent of Christmas. The vanilla mascarpone buttercream is like a cloud, its sweetness and creaminess pairing perfectly with the cupcake. To finish it off, I decorated each cupcake with gingerbread cookies from Sally's Baking Blog.

This would probably be my last post for 2019, so here's wishing all of you a great 2020 ahead! See you in the new year!

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Gingerbread Cupcakes with Vanilla Mascarpone Buttercream

Makes 22 to 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

For gingerbread cookies (an optional but cute addition to the cupcakes)

• I used the recipe from here.

For gingerbread cupcakes

• 340g (2 2/3 cup) all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp baking soda

• 3 tsp ground ginger

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

• 170 g unsalted butter, room temperature

• 300 g dark brown sugar or dark muscovado sugar

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 4 large eggs

• 54g oil

• 170 g (1/2 cup) unsulfured molasses

• 1 Tbs vanilla extract

• 125 g (1/2 cup) Greek yogurt or buttermilk

For vanilla mascarpone buttercream

• 35 g (about 1/4 cup) all-purpose flour

• 150 g white granulated sugar (about 3/4 cup)

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 250 g (1 cup) whole milk

• 226 g unsalted butter, room temperature

• 170 g mascarpone, room temperature

• 1 Tbs vanilla extract

Method

Step 1: Make the gingerbread cookies (if using to decorate the cupcakes) - follow the steps on Sally's Baking Blog

Step 2: Make the gingerbread cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C and line regular cupcake pans with cupcake liners.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. In another large bowl, whip butter, sugar and salt together using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

3. Into the large bowl with the butter-sugar mixture, add in the eggs one at a time, whipping to ensure that each egg is incorporated before adding the next one. Then, slowly drizzle in the oil, molasses and vanilla. Whip to combine.

4. Using a spatula, fold one-third of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Stir in the Greek yogurt or buttermilk. Then, fold in the remaining flour mixture until everything is just combined and there are no lumps of flour.

5. Using a spoon or ice cream scoop, divide the batter into cupcake liners, filling the liners up to two-thirds full. Bake the cupcakes for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are puffed up and golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Once the cupcakes have baked, remove them from the pan and set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 3: Make the buttercream

1. Add flour, sugar and salt in a large pot or saucepan and whisk to combine.

2. Pour the milk into the pot with the dry ingredients and whisk together.

3. Set the pot on a medium heat, whisking gently all the time, until the mixture begins to bubble gently. Continue to cook the mixture until it has thickened to a pudding-like consistency – it should be able to hold its shape a little bit.

4. Remove the pot from the heat. Pass the pudding mixture through a sieve into a bowl to get rid of any lumps. Press clip wrap onto of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Set the pudding aside to cool completely. The pudding will continue to thicken as it cools. (You can make the pudding a day in advance. Store in it in the refrigerator.)

5. Once the pudding has cooled completely, whip the butter in a large bowl using stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand-held mixer. Whip until pale and fluffy. Then, whip in the mascarpone a spoonful at a time until it is well-combined with the butter.

6. Add the pudding into the whipped butter-mascarpone mixture a spoonful at a time as the mixer continues whipping. Scrape down the bowl occasionally to ensure that all the pudding mixture has incorporated into the butter.

7. Add in the vanilla and whip to combine. You should now have a fluffy, silky buttercream.

Step 4: Assemble!

1. Put the buttercream into a large piping fitted with a star piping tip (I used Wilton 1M). Starting from the middle of the cupcake, apply pressure to the piping bag and move the piping bag outwards in a circular motion to form a buttercream swirl.

2. Place a gingerbread cookie on top to decorate, if desired. Share the cute little cupcakes with family and friends, and enjoy!

#christmas #gingerbread #cupcakes #cookies

Amazingly Rich Chocolate Cake with Salted Chocolate German Buttercream

This is for all of you who are chocolate lovers! I know I certainly am one. Whenever I want dessert, I always gravitate towards chocolate.

In particular, I absolutely LOVE a rich, decadent chocolate cake. It is just so satisfying.

This cake in particular is really rich, and it is my favourite chocolate cake to date. It consists of moist, rich dark chocolate cake slathered with salted chocolate German buttercream (aka the best buttercream you will ever eat).

I find that chocolate is perfect for any occasion. Celebrating a birthday? Make this chocolate cake. An anniversary for two? Halve the recipe and make a smaller but still decadent chocolate cake. Or how about Christmas, my favourite time of the year, which is in a week's time (I thus decorated the cake with sugared cranberries and rosemary to make it look more festive)? If you make this cake (and I urge you to do so), everyone will thank you because it will be incredibly delicious.

Furthermore, this chocolate cake is elevated by using salted chocolate German buttercream instead of just regular chocolate buttercream. I think this buttercream deserves special mention because it is so. good. Seriously. Imagine making a delectable sea salt chocolate pastry cream and then whipping it with more butter, thereby yielding the silkiest, creamiest, and most flavourful buttercream. Honestly, I had to restrain myself from eating the buttercream by the spoonful! Although it requires a bit more effort to make than traditional chocolate buttercream, I assure you that it will be well worth the effort, especially when you see and taste the final cake!

A few notes when making this cake:

• Do plan ahead so that you won't stress yourself out! The good thing about this recipe is that you can make certain parts of it ahead of time and assemble the cake on the day you are planning to serve it. For me, I made the chocolate pastry cream (to be made into German buttercream later) the day before as pastry cream needs time to chill in the fridge. Then, on the day itself, I made the cake layers, the buttercream, and assembled the cake. You could even make the cake layers ahead of time, double wrap the cooled cake layers in plastic wrap and aluminium foil, and place them in the freezer (for up to 2 months!), and then make the buttercream on the day you want to assemble the cake.

• When assembling a layer cake, I like to work with cake layers that are chilled as the cake layers would be sturdier. You could wrap the cake layers well and place them in the freezer (see above point), and then take them out for assembly the following day.

I hope you enjoy making and eating this cake as much as I did! It's a winner for sure.

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Amazingly Rich Chocolate Cake with Salted Chocolate German Buttercream

Makes one 8-inch three-layer cake

Ingredients

For the salted chocolate German buttercream:

• 480 ml (490 g or 2 cups) whole milk

• 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

• 1 large egg

• 2 large egg yolks 

• 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

• 32 g cornstarch

• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt or sea salt

• 28 g (2 Tbs) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 200 g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa), chopped finely

• 430 g (approx. 2 cups minus 1 Tbs) unsalted butter, room temperature

For the chocolate cake:

• 256 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour

• 100 g (1 cup) dutch-processed cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 300 g (1 1/2 cups) brown sugar

• 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt

• 120 ml (113 g or 1/2 cup) vegetable oil or any other neutral-tasting oil

• 2 large eggs

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 250 g buttermilk or full-fall Greek yogurt

• 250 ml brewed coffee (1 cup water + 1 Tbs coffee granules), hot

Method

Part 1: Make the salted chocolate pastry cream

1. In a large sauce pan, bring the milk and vanilla bean paste or extract to a simmer over medium-low heat. Do not boil the milk.

2. In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together egg, egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt until smooth and there are no lumps.

3. Using a ladle, scoop out a little bit of the hot milk and whisk it into the egg mixture. Then, pour the rest of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking at the same time. What you are doing here is that you are tempering the egg mixture. This prevents the eggs from scrambling as you are introducing hot liquid slowly.

4. Transfer the egg/milk mixture back into the sauce pan. Continue to whisk over the medium heat until the mixture thickens and starts to bubble slowly. Cook it for another one minute to cook off the starchiness in the cornstarch.

5. Remove from the heat and stir in 28 g of room temperature unsalted butter until incorporated. Then stir in the dark chocolate. The residual heat will melt the dark chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is incorporated into the pastry cream.

6. Press the pastry cream through a sieve to get rid of any lumps and to ensure that your pastry cream is smooth. At this point, let the pastry cream cool completely at room temperature. Then, press plastic wrap on the surface of the pastry cream and put it in the fridge to let it chill for a few hours or overnight.

Part 2: Make the chocolate cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper and flour the sides of the pans.

2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Then, add sugars and salt. Stir to combine.

3. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, vanilla and buttermilk or yogurt. Whisk together until combined. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and stir to incorporate.

4. Slowly stream in the hot coffee and whisk until everything is just combined and lump-free. Do not over-mix.

5. Divide the chocolate cake batter equally among the cake pans. Bake the cake layers one at a time for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

6. Once the cake layers are baked, remove them from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then, unmold the cake layers and let them cool completely on a wire rack. To unmold the cake from the pan, using a cake spatula or small knife, gently run it along the edges to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Then, swiftly, in one motion, flip the pan over on to a wire rack. The cake should pop right out if you have greased and floured it well.

Part 3: Make the buttercream and assemble the cake!

1. Make the German buttercream once the pastry cream has cooled completely. Place 430 g of room temperature unsalted butter into a large bowl. Using a stand mixer or hand-held mixer, whip the butter on high speed until it is pale and fluffy, for about 3 to 5 minutes.

2. Add the chocolate pastry cream unto the butter a spoonful at a time as the mixer continues whipping. Continue until all the pastry cream has been incorporated. You now have a rich, silky, decadent salted chocolate German buttercream. Try not to eat it all. You need to assemble the cake.

3. To assemble the cake: Place a cake board or serving plate on a cake turntable. Place the first cake layer onto the cake board and put a dollop of buttercream onto the cake layer. Using an offset spatula, smooth out the buttercream until it is level. Then, put the next cake layer. Repeat until all three layers are stacked.

4. Apply a thin layer of buttercream all over the cake and place the whole cake in the freezer for 30 minutes. It doesn't have to be a perfectly smooth layer of buttercream. This is the crumb coat, which would ensure a smooth finish on the buttercream coat later on.

5. After 30 minutes, remove the cake from the freezer and decorate the cake using the remaining buttercream. You can pipe patterns using the buttercream, or do a simple rustic design like mine. You can even decorate it fruits (I used cranberries and rosemary for a Christmas vibe!) or leave it as it is. The important thing is, once you have finished assembling the cake, devour it and enjoy it with family and friends.

#chocolatecake #baking #germanbuttercream