Vegan Orange and Toasted Coconut Cake ♥
Delicious, so fluffy, covered with a super creamy frosting (the once every now and then kind of deal, hihi), and with a nice crunchy touch thanks to the toasted coconut… yummy!
I love this cake because the balance of flavors is really pleasant! The freshness of the orange, the nutty flavor of the coconut, the gentle touch of vanilla from the frosting… woah! I think I might go back to the kitchen and make another cake after I finish this entry!
I also made a video of this recipe just to clarify the procedure a little bit more. Besides, I show you how I decorated the cake so that the orange slices look as if they were hiding inside the frosting. But you know, you can decorate it however you like or however it’s easier for you.
Vegan Orange and Toasted Coconut Cake Alternatives
Even if you just want to make an orange pound cake, without the frosting, it’s also a super good option! Just pour the mixture into a pound cake pan and double check the baking time, as it may slightly increase or decrease depending on the size of the pan.
Also, if you don’t want to make a 4-tier cake (I use are 7″ cake pans), you can make a 2-tier cake using 2 larger pans (9″), just like the pound cake idea, just double check the baking time so that the cake doesn’t dry out or end up a little raw in the center.
Without further ado, let’s dive into the recipe! I hope you like it ♥
Vegan Orange and Toasted Coconut Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 600 ml soy milk (or any other plant milk)
- 1½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 500 g all purpose flour
- 55 g corn starch
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp salt
- 120 ml fresh orange juice
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 420 g sugar
- 220 ml melted margarine or vegan butter (equals 190 g solid margarine)
Frosting
- 213 g margarine or vegan butter room temperature
- 213 g vegetable shortening
- 550 g icing sugar previously sieved
- 2½ tbsp vanilla extract (to get a fully white frosting, use clear vanilla extract)
- ¼ tsp salt
Others
- 100 g shredded coconut, toasted
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Prepare four 7" cake pans by greasing and flouring them. Reserve.
- In a medium bowl, add soy milk, apple cider vinegar and whisk until foamy. Let it rest for 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl sieve flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Reserve.
- Bring back the bowl with the milk and apple cider vinegar, and add orange juice, orange zest, vanilla, and give it a mix. Add sugar and stir. Finally, add melted margarine/vegan butter (lukewarm) and mix.
- Add the previous mix to the dry ingredients and mix until no flour lumps are visible. Don't overmix, otherwise it could affect the cake texture.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 4 cake molds and bake for 30-34 minutes or until you insert a toothpick in the center of the cake and it comes out clean. I bake two pans at a time due to my oven model, but if you can pop all of them in at once, go for it. Just double check the baking time.
- Once they're cooked, remove from the oven and let them cool down for 15 minutes (still in the cake pans). Afterwards, tap the pans a little bit and flip them over (you can use a cooling rack to help yourself flipping the pans).
Frosting
- While the cake tiers are cooling down, make the frosting by beating the margarine until creamy and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes).
- Add the vegetable shortening and keep beating until well combined.
- Add half of the icing sugar, and beat until combined. Add the other half and beat 2 minutes.
- Finally, add vanilla, salt and beat for another 2 more minutes. Reserve.
Cake assembling
- To assemble the cake, place one layer of cake on a plate or cake base. Spread some frosting on top (about three ice cream scoops of frosting). Add 50 g toasted coconut and continue adding up the rest of the layers: cake, frosting, coconut, cake, frosting, coconut, cake (place the flat part upwards). Cover all the gaps with the rest of the frosting and some more on top of the last tier.
- Decorate the rest of the cake to your liking.
Hi Annie,
This inspired me so much! I will be preparing a cake this weekend and this is my inspiration. Can I ask, why are you using the apple cider vinegar in the milk? Is it to have a bitter sweat taste or to activate the milk and the dry ingredients? Or something else? Thanks! 🙂
Be safe,
Valentina
Hi Valentina!! Aye! Hope the cake turned out great! And the apple cider vinegar makes the milk curdle which acts kind of as an egg :)! Don’t worry about the taste, it doesn’t affect the cake’s taste at all :)!
Hi ,I would love to try this cake for my allergy kid.What can I use to substitute corn starch?
You cake look amazing! Thank you for sharing💕
Hi Tanya! You can substitute it for arrowroot powder, potato starch or tapioca starch 😉 If you’re not able to find any of those (or don’t feel like going to the store :P), you can just use more all-purpose flour 😉