Easier than it looks, simple ingredients and healthier than usual cakes!

Okay it happened. I have made the best vegan cake ever! And I bake a lot… Honestly I’m still a little shook, haha. I’ve made this hazelnut coffee torte for my grandpa’s birthday, so my whole family had the chance to try it and give me feedback! What can I say?? They LOVED it. It’s a little heavy because of the hazelnuts, but that’s why the cake isn’t huge. I wasn’t sure if it would turn out good because I tried something really different and this was my first vegan cake with layers, a cream and all of that! I literally freaked out when I was looking at the finished product. Okay actually I already freaked out when I had taken the cake out of the oven. I cut it and saw how incredibly fluffy it was! The secret ingredient? Aquafaba! You might know it was the chickpeas water that you’ve been probably pouring away. I didn’t use a ton of cream, so the coffee taste wouldn’t be too intense.

I don’t have the professional baking equipment, so used a baking sheet and made  a template out of cardboard to cut the layers afterwards. If you have enough suitable baking forms, feel free to use these instead!

The excess cake can be used for cake pops for example!For the cream I decided to do a cream cheeze frosting with a touch of coffee!

One layer broke because it was sooo fluffy but the layering went well anyway!

You’re not an experienced pastry cook? Me neither. This cake is easier than you think and definitely worth a try!

Recipe

Ingredients

• 50 g plant oil ( preferably tasteless like sunflower/ rapeseed oil)
• 150 g coconut sugar ( or regular sugar, xylit ect. )
• 100 g plant milk
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• pinch of salt
• 1 flax egg ( 1tbsp flax seeds+ 3 tbsp water)
• 100 ml aquafaba ( ~ water from 1 can chickpeas)

• 200 g hazelnuts, grounded
• 200 g flour ( I used spelt flour, type 1050)
• 1 tsp baking soda ( Deutsch: Natron )
• 2 tsp baking powder

For the filling/ creme

• 150g cream cheese
• around 2 tbsp instant ( depending on your coffee love)  + 1 tbsp water, (alternatively 1 shot espresso/ strong coffee. Just make sure you don’t use too much liquid in total )
• 50g powdered sugar ( powdered xylit/sweetener)
• 40g vegan butter/ margarine
• pinch of salt
• 1 package of cream stiffener (8g)

Instructions

1. Prepare the flax egg in a small bowl/glass.

2. Add oil and sugar in a big bowl. Warm up the plant milk in a microwave or on the oven ( it doesn’t have to cook, but it should be a little warmer than room temperature!).

3. Add the plant milk to the sugar/oil mix and stir until the sugar vanished a bit. Put the bowl aside.

4. In a separate bowl roughly mix hazelnuts, flour, baking soda and baking powder.

5. Pour the aquafaba in a measuring cup/ slim container and use a hand mixer and whip until stiff.  ( it will work in a regular bowl too, but then it takes some more time)

6. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) , upper and lower heat.

7. Add the flax egg and flour mixture to the liquid mixture and use the hand mixer or kitchen machine to stir everything well together.

8. Carefully fold in the stiff aquafaba into the dough. It’s important that you take your time, so the cake will be nice and fluffy.

10. Spread the dough on an even baking sheet ( prepared with baking paper). It should be around between 2 and 3 cm.

11. Bake for 10-15 min, check with a small skewer if it’s ready. Really important: Let it cool down! My tip to keep it moist: cover it with a kitchen towel.

While the cake is in the oven/ cools down you can prepare the cream.

1. Whip cream cheeze, powdered sugar, vegan butter, salt until you get a creamy texture.
2. Add in the (instant) coffee ( try the cream to adjust the coffee amount or maybe also the sugar amount). Add in the cream stiffener and put the cream in the freezer.

Building the torte

1. Make your own a template out of cardboard ( 14-15cm ∅), take a cereal bowl or any other round object for help.
2. Cut 4 circles out of the cake and carefully take them off the baking paper. Take your time, so they won’t break. In case one breaks: don’t worry, that happened to me too but it can be fixed when you’re building the cake. Just make sure the edges are pretty uniformly.
3. Spread around 1 tbsp of cream on the first layer, put another cake layer on top and repeat the steps until you used all four cake layers. Use the rest of the cream to cover the cake. Take your time and use something like a spatula or a butter cream knife.
4. Optional: top the cake with some vegan (espresso) chocolate.
5. Store the cake in the fridge until serving 🙂

If you’re trying any of my recipes, make sure to tag me ( if you post it on instagram) so I won’t miss your creation and can share it in my story. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Hugs,

Gina