[Pride In Horror Month] - Babadook's Fruity Cake Recipe (Vegan, Gluten Free, and it doesn't suck!)

Ingredients

For the cakes:

• 2 cups non-dairy milk (about 500ml)
• 1 TBSP cider vinegar
• ⅔ cups canola oil (about 175ml)
• 4 tsp real vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• 4 TBSP Ground Flax Seed
• 1 ½ cups white sugar (365 gr)
• ⅔ cup maseca corn flour (NOT cornmeal!) (about 230gr)
• 2 ½ cups Gluten-Free Flour blend such as King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 (about 365 gr)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• Citrus zest from one orange and one lemon (about 22gr)
• ½ cup rainbow sprinkles, divided into two ¼ cup servings

For the filling:

• ½ cup apricot jam

For the buttercream:

• 1 cup (16 TBSP) of vegan shortening or vegan butter (Miyokos brand works best here!), softened at room temperature
• 32 oz powdered sugar
• 6 TBSP non-dairy milk
• 3 TBSP Golden or Spiced Rum
• 3 TBSP Triple Sec
• 2 to 4 tsp of real vanilla extract

Directions

To make the buttercream:
In a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer or electric stand mixer (you really,really don’t want to whip buttercream by hand...ask me how I know LOL!)  add your room temperature butter and 1 to 2 cups of powdered sugar.  Bring the mixer to low speed until it just starts to incorporate and then increase the speed to medium.  Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, alternating with adding the rest of the liquid ingredients until they’re all used up (rum, triple sec, non-dairy milk, vanilla extract.)  Chill the frosting until you’re ready to use! Let it soften up a few minutes just before you're ready to frost so it's easier to spread.

To make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350º.

In a medium bowl combine the corn flour, gluten free flour blend, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside for now.

In a large mixing bowl combine the 2 cups of non-dairy milk and the vinegar and allow to curdle slightly for a few minutes.  Then add the canola oil, sugar, and vanilla extra. Mix with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer until the mixture is slightly foamy.  Add the flax seed and citrus zest and mix well.

Sift in the flour, then mix  on medium speed for about 2 to 3 minutes.  Make sure the mix is well-combined! The good news here is that there is no fear of overdeveloping the gluten and making a tough cake. Gluten free flour does not have this problem!

Line two 9 inch cake pans with parchment on the bottom, cut just to fit the bottom not the sides.  Spray non-stick spray or wipe with a little canola oil and then lightly dust with flour.  Pour half of the cake batter into each pan and mix in ¼ cup of sprinkles in each pan of batter and stir lightly with a spatula to incorporate.  This is a very thick, heavy batter so don’t be alarmed if it isn’t the consistency you’d expect with a box mix cake.

Bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool completely and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight before frosting them!

To make a half-confetti and half-rainbow cake:
Pour ¼ of the cake batter into each cake tin and mix in the sprinkles.

With the remaining batter in the mixing bowl, put about ⅓ to ⅔ cup into small bowls for as many colours as you’d like to have. 

Mix a few drops of food colouring into each small bowl of cake mix.

Drop each colour on top of the regular cake batter in the tins a spoonful at a time, and gently swirl the colours in a zig-zag pattern into the white. 

Stir the colours in sparingly or you’ll wind up with a gross puke-coloured cake and that’s not really what you want to cut into LOL (or maybe it is, I guess I shouldn’t judge!)

When the cakes are cooled completely and have chilled for at least a few hours, apply the apricot jam to the top of one of the cakes and place the remaining cake on top of it. Set it back in the fridge to chill again for another couple of hours, then cover with buttercream and chill again.  If your buttercream becomes too soft while you’re frosting or starts to melt or run, place the cake and frosting bowl back in the fridge for a little while until it’s stiff yet pliable, and continue icing the rest of the way. Decorate to your liking and serve!  Let the cake come to room temperature before serving!

Recipe and Photography by Ellen Avigliano
Twitter: @imaginariumcs
Instagram: @imaginariumarts @thejackalopes.warren
Website: www.imaginariumarts.com