Today I tried my hand at baking again, I used to be quite good at it back in the day but ever since changing to my Gluten Free Vegan Lifestyle I just cannot get it right. As you may have seen, I've tried making Brownies which wouldn't hold together. In previous years I've tried a few Deliciously Ella recipes, some donuts from Pinterest and some others. None of them have come out all that well. I mean, the Brownies tasted amazing, it just isn't ideal to need to eat them with a spoon!
My Mum however is a genius at Becki Friendly baking. She's made me Almond Blondies, Flapjacks, a Birthday cake etc. Her's always taste light and fluffy like a cake should, unfortunately the website she got all of the recipes from has shut down. So I'm hoping she will be able to find another whilst I keep on my adventure to adapt recipes.
The problem I have with making cakes from Deliciously Ella and similar recipes books are the amount of ingredients. I understand that there will be more and generally I am ok with that. However when you go to a supermarket and you can't find all of them because they are so widely unknown or it's going to cost a months salary to buy them, that's when I find it difficult. Medjool dates, Coconut sugar, so many different types of flours it makes my head spin. I long for the days of Flour, Butter, Eggs and Sugar just without the pain of my intolerances!
Anyway today I made almost a Victoria Sponge Cake. I'll share how I did it but I don't want anyone to make it, because although it tastes ok. It isn't great and I want to perfect a cake before I let it loose on my recipe page!
So I started with my dream team of ingredients, a free from Victoria Sponge packet mix from Asda, Chia Seeds, Vitalite Dairy Free Spread, Icing Sugar and Strawberry Jam. In my head, there was nothing that could go wrong with those helping me out.
Now I have some Egg replacer in my cupboard that I could have used today. However, the last two times I have used it the mixture hasn't come together properly and it can have quite a chalky texture. So today I decided to go the more natural route, I made Chia eggs. All that consists of is 2 tbsp of Chia seeds and 5 tbsp of water, mixed and left for about 10 minutes. It goes into a gloopy mixture that is like a glue for a cake mix, the plus side also being that Chia seeds are very good for you and who doesn't want a guilt free cake?!
So I added the Cake mix, the Chia seeds, the Dairy free spread and a little water, mixed it like my life depended on it. (I am a very weak person so always proud when I can mix a cake without a machine.) The mix itself didn't actually look that bad, it looked like a cake mix with poppyseeds mixed through. Although, that probably should have given me a sign that perhaps it was going to be a dense heavy mix that maybe wouldn't rise...
As you can see, pretty jam packed (pun intended) of Chia seeds! Anyway, I put it in the cake tin then into the oven and waited... 20 minutes, not done. 25, not done. 32, not done. Finally at around 37 minutes it was ready to come out. Another sign that it wasn't going to be great as the mix should have taken half of that time to cook!
As I took it out, I realised it couldn't have risen more than half a centimetre. Which was quite disappointing but at the same time, not surprising as a lot of my Gluten Free Vegan cakes don't rise. Being determined to have cake today, I was undeterred. I cracked on with making some icing for it, even if it wasn't going to be a sandwich cake anymore, it still could be a version of one.
I started mixing up some Buttercream, a little unsuccessfully again although it was one of the better tasting Vegan Buttercreams I have made. The problem was that it has split a little when I added a splash of Almond Milk. As there's no danger there, I carried on and prepared the Jam to top the cake. I always find the hardest part of making a cake is waiting for it to cool down. I am very impatient, sadly this meant a few spoonfuls of Buttercream were sacrificed to my stomach in this time.
When it was cool enough, on went a thin layer of Jam and a thin but generous layer of Buttercream. I thought I'd add a swirl to make it a little more edible looking! To me it looks like a half a Scone, a bit of Jam and some "Cream".
It wasn't impressive by any amount to look at, yet I still had some level of hope for it! After all, the phrase we learn as children comes to mind in situations like these. "Don't judge a book by its cover."
The cake itself was ok, pretty mediocre and rather odd at the same time. Due to the chia seeds, there was some level of crunch to the cake when you came across a seed that hadn't quite absorbed the water, therefore was more seed than gel. The taste itself was alright, it tasted like a cake albeit a very thin one. More of a dense, very much less fluffy Pancake. Or a Scone with a slight cake consistency. The Buttercream and Jam definitely saved it, I think it was the swirl that did it.
I have definitely learnt what not to use today, I may try the same mix with the Egg replacer next time. I just don't want to use so many artificial ingredients in the mixture yet rising and fluffiness is sorely missed. I'll have to make a decision as to which is more important, or simply find a recipe that works, be more adventurous and hope it rises a little more!
That just leaves me to say, thank you for sticking with me through this emotional cake rollercoaster. I hope one day soon to be able to make some deliciously light and fluffy cakes, until then I'll focus on making more everyday food. Sadly, it's frowned upon to eat cakes for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and I'm pretty sure my stomach would have a lot to say if I tried!
Anyone out there in the same boat, don't give up. I'm sure there are easier ways to make cake than what I'm showing you, plus packet mixes really aren't the be all and end all in the cake making game. They are there to make it easier and cheaper, for us that just might not be the route to take! Extra skills are hard work, so I'm willing to put the effort in if it means tastier food down the line!
Happy/Sad Veganuary Day 14!