Hoping I could work some extract and 'milk into a frosting recipe, too, w/o making soup.

any tips would be appreciated! :)

(btw, thanks for the mandolin info ... I purchased about an hour before your post b/c I needed to order so it would arrive by christmas ... I ended up going with a swiss-something-brand (v blade) ... I'd been eyeing the kyocera, too, so if this one's a dud, that'll be my second choice! :)

http://www.frontiercoop.com/products.php?ct=ssbfbf&cn=Coconut+Flavor

I use some extract coconut powder (now available in health food stores) or solid block Asian coconut creme for more flavor.
http://www.silvercloudestates.com/viewproduct.aspx?id=210

BRYANNA’S LOWER-FAT VEGAN WHITE COCONUT CAKE
Makes 3/ 8” round layers or 2/ 9” round layers or 18 cupcakes

If you make this EXACTLY as directed (timing of the mixing is especially important, since you don't want to develop the gluten too much, or it will be tough-- ordinarily, the fat in cake batter coats and tenderizes the gluten, but this is a low-fat cake), you’ll have a lovely, tender white with a fine crumb and a buttery taste that belies the fact that it contains half the fat (at least) of most recipes for this type of cake. Light-colored cake pans are best for this delicate cake (dark pans may brown the outside too much).

DRY MIX:
3 c. white cake flour (spoon it into the measuring cup and level the top with a knife)
NOTE: You can get unbleached cake and pastry flour in health food stores (sometimes organic)
1 T. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

BLENDED MIX:
1 and 1/2 c. regular or lite coconut milk
1/4 c. PLUS 2 T. extra-firm SILKEN tofu crumbled
1 and 1/2 T. soymilk powder (bulk is okay)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons coconut powder (available now in health food stores) OR 1/2 tsp. natural coconut extract

SUGAR/”BUTTER” MIX:
6 T. vegan margarine, such as Earth Balance OR solid coconut oil
1 and 1/2 c. white beet sugar OR very light-colored, finely-granulated organic unbleached sugar (grind in a dry blender to make it finer, if necessary

FROSTING:
Vegan Coconut Mock Buttercream Frosting (recipe below)
unsweetened shredded coconut to cover frosting, lightly toasted if desired (the larger flakes of coconut look nice)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour the appropriate pans. Use light-colored pans and line the bottoms with waxed paper or parchment or oiled brown paper.

Sift the Dry Mix ingredients into a medium bowl, mixing well.

Place the Blended Mix ingredients in a blender and blend about 1 minute, or until perfectly smooth.

In a smaller bowl, beat the margarine and sugar with an electric hand-held mixer for about 2 minutes. Whiz the Blended Mix for a few seconds and then add it to the bowl with the Sugar/shortening mixture. Beat it with the electric mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute, increasing it to high speed after 30 seconds. When nice and frothy, make a well in the center of the Dry Mix and pour in the liquids. Stir the mixture just until you can’t see flour anymore, then beat it with the electric mixer for about 5 seconds, no more. You want a smooth batter, but you want to beat it as little as possible so that it will be tender.

Divide the batter gently and evenly between the pans and smooth the batter gently with a rubber spatula so that it is a little higher on the sides than in the middle—this is so it will not rise into a “hump” in the middle.

Place gently onto the center rack of the oven and bake the cake for 25 minutes; cupcakes about 15-20 minutes. Do not open the oven before the minimum time. Test with a cake tester. Do not over-bake. Remove from oven to racks and cool in pans 10 minutes before removing carefully from pans. Cool completely before frosting with Vegan Coconut Mock Buttercream Frosting (recipe below), then coat with shredded unsweetened coconut (lightly toasted, if desired).

BRYANNA’S VEGAN COCONUT MOCK BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Enough for a 2 layer/ 8” cake or a 9 x13” sheet cake.

1 c. coconut milk or lite coconut milk
6 T. white unbleached flour
3 to 6 T. vegan margarine, such as Earth Balance OR solid coconut oil
1 c. white beet sugar or very light granulated organic unbleached sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt

Whisk milk into flour in small saucepan until smooth. Heat and stir until it boils and thickens. Cool thoroughly (place in a small bowl inside of a larger bowl of cold water).

With an electric mixer beat the margarine, sugar, vanilla and salt until light and fluffy—- several minutes. Beat in the cooled flour paste with the electric beaters and mix until smooth and fluffy. IMPORTANT! Chill thoroughly before frosting. Use to frost any cooled cake. IMPORTANT! Keep the frosted cake refrigerated until serving time.

BRYANNA'S VEGAN LIME-COCONUT “BUTTER”CAKE
Makes two 9" round or 8” square layers (5 c. batter)

2 and 1/2 c. plus 2 T. pastry or cake flour (this should be white flour, organic if possible) NOTE: To measure the flour, stir the flour in the bag or container, then spoon it out into the cup measure and level off with a knife. Do not sift or pack down.

1 and 1/2 c. granulated vegan white sugar (organic, if possible)
2 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 c. plus 2 T. Earth Balance
7/8 c. water
1/4 c. lime juice
grated zest of 3 small organic limes
3/4 c. coconut milk

TO ASSEMBLE:
Vegan Lime Curd (below)
One of the icings below
Toasted unsweetened coconut for dusting the finished cake with

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare the pans by greasing with Pan Coating Optional: Line the bottoms of the pans with cooking parchment cut to fit the bottom and grease the parchment paper with Pan Coating as well.

Mix the dry ingredients together with a whisk in a large mixing bowl. Add the margarine, water, zest and the juice and beat with an electric mixer for a minute. Add the coconut milk and beat one more minute. Divide equally between the cake pans. Bake 25 minutes, or until cakes test done.

Cool on racks for 10 minutes, then loosen cakes and remove from pans to finish cooling, otherwise it might crack and fall apart from being too warm. To remove from pans, first, run a thin knife to loosen the edge of the cake layer from the pan. Then, place a wire rack over the top of it and with a hand on each side of the baking pan and rack, quickly invert. Gently shake or tap the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon handle to help remove the cake layer . Carefully peel off the liner and turn cake layer right-side-up to cool on a wire cake rack.

BRYANNA’S VEGAN LIME CURD
Makes 2 c.
This makes a lovely cake filling—not too sweet, so it contrasts with the icing. It’s important to use freshly-squeezed orange juice in this recipe.

1 c. lime juice
1/2 c. water
1 and 1/2 c. granulated vegan white sugar (organic, if possible)
3 T. plus 1 tsp. cornstarch (you can get organic cornstarch now)
1/8 tsp. salt
grated zest of 2 small organic limes
6 T. full fat soymilk, nut milk , milk or organic nondairy creamer
2 T. Earth Balance

In a blend, whiz together the juice, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Pour into a heavy saucepan with the zest. Whisk over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to a full boil. Boil 1 minute, not stirring. ( OR microwave in a Pyrex bowl 2 minutes, whisk, then 2 minutes more.) It should be thickened and turning clear. Remove from heat. Add soymilk or alternate and Earth Balance. Blend well with the whisk. Cool the curd, then refrigerate in a covered container. It thickens as it cools.

BRYANNA’S VEGAN LIME-COCONUT MOCK BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Enough for a 2 layer/ 8” cake or a 9x13” sheet cake.

1 c. regular or lite coconut milk
6 T. white unbleached flour
3 to 6 T. vegan margarine, such as Earth Balance or Soy Garden Natural Buttery Spread OR solid coconut oil
1 c. white beet sugar or very light granulated organic unbleached sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Optional: 1/2 tsp. natural coconut extract
grated zest of 1 organic lime
1/8 tsp. salt

Whisk milk into flour in small saucepan until smooth. Heat and stir until it boils and thickens. Cool thoroughly (place in a small bowl inside of a larger bowl of cold water).

With an electric mixer beat the shortening or margarine, sugar, vanilla and salt until light and fluffy—- several minutes. Beat in the cooled flour paste with the electric beaters and mix until smooth and fluffy. IMPORTANT! Chill thoroughly before frosting. Use to frost any cooled cake. IMPORTANT! Keep the frosted cake refrigerated until serving time.

BRYANNA’S LIME- COCONUT BUTTERCREAM

1/4 c. Earth Balance
1/4 c. non-hydrogenated shortening OR solid coconut oil
3/4 lb. organic powdered sugar), sifted (have a bit more on hand in case the icing needs thickening-up)
3 T. coconut crème
2 T. lime juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
grated zest of one large organic lime

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the Earth Balance and shortening until smooth. Add 2 c. of the sugar and the remaining ingredients. Beat until creamy. It may look curdled—don’t worry! Add the remaining sugar, a little at a time, as you beat it, until it holds it shape well and you can see “trails” in it from the beaters. Refrigerate until using.

The frosting (never made the cooked flour frosting before and starting out, gosh, it looks like it'll never be edible, much less delicious!) is *amazing* ... and not too much work, like I was expecting. so glad I gave it a try.

the flavor and sweetness of both cake an frosting was good - just sweet enough and plenty coconutty.

the cake though, turned out really dense. i was super careful with the mixing/folding and i counted for 5 seconds for the electric mixing.

is dense the same as tough - did i develop the gluten? (i used cake flour and full-fat 'milk) ... did the small subs I made contribute to the heaviness?

thanks!

Stella

Cooking

Last Edited on 23-Jan-2009 10:00 PM