Vegan Tequila-Lime Cake with Mango Jam Filling

Ingredients

Cake:

3/4 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid

1 ½ cup demerara sugar (or raw sugar)

Zest of two limes (save the juice)

1 ½ tablespoon cider vinegar

2 cups rice milk (warmed to room temperature)

¼ cup tequila (plus ~2/3 cup tequila to sprinkle on the cake later)

1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Mango jam:

Two mangoes, peeled, and finely chopped

1 cup demerara sugar (or raw sugar)

2 tablespoons lime juice (juice from 1/2 lime)

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

¼ cup tequila

½ cup water

Glaze:

1 cups demerara sugar (or raw sugar)

1/8 cup water

Juice of 1/2 lime

Zest of 1/2 lime

1/8 cup tequila

1 tablespoons Grand Marnier

(To make your shopping list a little easier: In total, you will need about 1 1/2 cups of tequila, 4 large limes, and 3 1/2 cups of sugar).

INSTRUCTIONS

Make the cake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans.

In a stand mixer (or with handheld mixer), cream together oil, sugar, and lime zest.  Add the cider vinegar, rice milk, 1/4 cup tequila, and vanilla.  Slowly add the salt, baking powder, and flour.  Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.  Do not overmix.

Divide the batter between the three cake pans. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Check for doneness at 30 minutes.

Allow to cool and remove from pans.

Make the mango jam:

While the cake layers are cooling, make the mango jam.  Put the finely chopped mango, sugar, lime juice, Grand Marnier, tequila, and water in a medium sized sauce pan and boil stirring occasionally.  Boil hard until the mixture reaches approximately 245 degrees Fahrenheit (about 30-40 minutes).  It will get quite thick and turn a dark amber color.

Assemble the cake:

Slice the top off of two of the cakes to create a flat surface to work with.

Sprinkle one of the layers that has had its top removed with 2 tablespoons of tequila and 1 tablespoon of lime juice.  (I put it in a spray bottle and just drenched it).  Spread half of the mango jam on the layer. 

Gently place the second decapitated layer on top of the jam covered first layer.  Spray (or sprinkle) the second layer with 2 tablespoons of tequila and 1 tablespoon of lime juice.  Spread remaining mango jam on the layer.

Stack the final layer on the cake.  Spray (or sprinkle) the final layer with 2 tablespoons of tequila and 1 tablespoon of lime juice. 

After the cake has been mostly assembled, prepare the glaze:

Place the sugar, water, and lime juice in a medium sauce pan. Heat on medium-high heat and gently stir to dissolve the sugar. Allow to boil until large bubbles form on the surface (230 degrees). Remove from heat and stir in lime zest. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes.  Add the tequila and Grand Marnier (it will bubble up a lot when you add the liquor). 

Pour the glaze over the cake.

Loosely based on a recipe by Rocco DiSpirito

http://www.roccodispirito.com/recipes/tequilalimecake

Gluten-free, Vegan Strawberry Preserve Filled Banana Cupcake Recipe

My vegan strawberry preserve filled banana cupcake recipe was so popular that I decided to make a gluten-free version.  For a first attempt at gluten-free baking, this turned out splendidly. 

Ingredients

4 ripe bananas

1/3 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid

3/4 cup demerara or raw sugar

1/4 cup rice milk

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup quinoa flour*

Approximately 1/3 cup of strawberry preserves

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin pan with 12 paper baking cups

Toss the bananas into a mixing bowl and mash them with a mixer.  Add the sugar and oil and mix well. Incorporate the rice milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract.

Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix well.  Add flour, taking care not to overmix.

Portion out the batter into the pre-lined muffin pan, filling each cup only one-quarter of the way full.

Scoop a spoonful of strawberry preserves into the center of each cupcake and fill the cups with the remaining batter.

Bake for 22-24 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out (relatively) clean.

I topped these delicious cupcakes with my own peanut butter frosting.  The recipe can be found here.




*Quinoa flour is an interesting beast.  It has a distinctly grassy flavor.  I have read that baking it at a low temperature for a couple of hours will help to get rid of the grassy taste.  Since this was my first time using quinoa flour, I decided not to bake it so I could see what it tastes like.  The taste didn't bother me for this recipe, but I can see how it might be unpleasant in other recipes.  I'll continue to experiment and keep you updated.


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Vegan Strawberry Preserve Filled Banana Cupcake Recipe

The name says it all.  It's a bit like a peanut butter, banana, and jelly sandwich, but it's a cupcake!

Ingredients

4 ripe bananas

1/3 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid

3/4 cup demerara or raw sugar

1/4 cup rice milk

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Approximately 1/3 cup of strawberry preserves

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin pan with 12 paper baking cups

Toss the bananas into a mixing bowl and mash them with a mixer.  Add the sugar and oil and mix well. Incorporate the rice milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract. 

Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix well.  Add the flours, taking care not to overmix.

Portion out the batter into the pre-lined muffin pan, filling each cup only one-quarter of the way full.

Scoop a spoonful of strawberry preserves into the center of each cupcake and fill the cups with the remaining batter.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out (relatively) clean.

I topped these delicious cupcakes with my own peanut butter frosting.  The recipe can be found here.

  

Vegan Lime Pudding Filled, Chili Spiced Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

I don't know where I got the idea for this pairing.  I think it came from the internet.  Aside from when it doesn't, the internet brings good ideas into our lives, so that's a pretty safe bet.


I developed my own recipe and filling.  It turned out pretty yummy. 


Cupcake Ingredients
3/4 cup demerara sugar
1/3 cup coconut oil (or veg oil)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup rice milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin pan with 9 paper baking cups.

Beat together the coconut oil and sugar. Mix in the rice milk, cider vinegar, and vanilla extract.

Mix in the cocoa powder, chili powder, and cayenne powder.

Add the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Combine well.

Slowly incorporate the flour taking care not to over mix.

Portion out the batter into the pre-lined muffin pan.

Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Makes 9 cupcakes.


Filling Ingredients
6 ounces Silken Tofu
4 ounces vegan cream cheese
1/2 small package Jell-O Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
4 tablespoons Rose's Sweetened Lime Juice


Preparation for Filling
Using a mixer, combine the tofu, vegan cream cheese, pudding mix, powdered sugar, Rose's Lime Juice, and vanilla extract.  Refrigerate.


Filling the cupcakes
Unless you have one of those fancy-scmancy pastry bags, filling cupcakes can be a little complicated.  Here's how I did it:

First, let the cupcakes cool before filling them or you will burn your fingers.

Cut a cone out of the top of the cupcake.

This a delicious, delicious cupcake cone.

Trim the bottom of the cone off so that you just have a disk of cupcake top.  What you do with the discarded cupcake innards is between you and the cabinets.  Also, remember that cupcake innards have no calories.  All of the calories are on the outside of the cupcake.

Fill the hole in the cupcake almost to the top with the tasty lime filling.  You can widen the hole to make more room for the pudding, if you want to.

    Place the cupcake top disk on top of the filling to conceal the deliciousness that hides inside.

You can frost the cupcake to hide the big hole or you can eat it as it is.