Vegan Cherry Lime Cake

I had so much luck with my last vegan cake, that I had to go for it again.

This time, I baked a single 8-inch vanilla cake that I spiked lime juice. After baking, I split it into three layers and filled them with a homemade sour cherry conserve.

The frosting is a vegan "buttercream" made by whipping Earth Balance brand vegan "butter" with some soy milk, vanilla, almond extract and powdered sugar. It's delicious!

Once again, this is a winning cake that just happens to be vegan.

Here's the recipe:

Cake:
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons lime zest (optional)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (Braggs is my preferred brand)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Grease and line the bottom of an 8-inch cake pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the water, lime juice, zest, vanilla, soy milk, apple cider vinegar, sugar and canola oil. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and beat together until no lumps remain.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and cool completely before filling and frosting.

The cake after baking.

Sour Cherry Conserve:
2 cups frozen sour cherries, thawed and pureed
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon almond extract

In a medium saucepan combine all of the ingredients. Heat over medium high heat, whisking constantly until it comes to a simmer and thickens. Transfer conserve to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature before using.

Frozen sour cherries.

Vegan Buttercream:
1 1/3 cups vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)
1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 tablespoons vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Whip together all of the ingredients until smooth and creamy. Start the mixer on low at first because the soy milk will want to spray out of the bowl. Just know that this takes a good 7 to 10 minutes. The mixture will look terrible and lumpy at first but don't worry, it will come together. Just be patient, keep whipping, gradually increase the speed, and whip it good!

The vegan buttercream after 2 minutes of whipping. I know it looks terrible but you just have to keep whipping it.

After 5 minutes of whipping,  it's looking better but still needs more.

After 8 minutes, the buttercream came fully together and is smooth and light.

To Assemble:
Split the cooled cake into three layers. Place one layer cut side up and top with half of the cherry conserve, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the cake so it doesn't squish out too much. Place the second layer cut side up and top with the remaining conserve. Top with the final layer cut side down.

Frost the entire cake with the vegan buttercream. Keep the cake chilled and set it at room temperature about 30-minutes before you are ready to serve. Enjoy!

Adding half of the cherry conserve to the bottom layer.

The stacked and filled cake is ready to be iced.

All done! The cake looks pretty unassuming and your guests won't have an idea of what deliciousness awaits them until you start slicing.

Sour Cherry Cupcakes

These Sour Cherry Cupcakes are fresh tasting, not too sweet and even better when topped with a very light cream cheese buttercream.

I made the cupcakes by whipping up my favorite buttermilk cake recipe and adding a splash of almond extract and three cups of sour cherries that I cooked down with a bit of sugar and cornstarch.

When it comes to the frosting, I'm almost too embarrassed to share my recipe because it's so basic and takes just a few minutes to make. It's only cream cheese whipped with unsalted butter, a bit of powdered sugar and vanilla —  and I hope proves that difficulty doesn't correspond with deliciousness. There really is no need to ever use sickly sweet frosting from a can.

Here are the recipes:
Sour Cherry Cupcakes
(makes 30 to 36) 
3 cups frozen or fresh pie cherries
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs plus 2 egg yolks, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature

In a saucepan combine the cherries, 1/3 cup sugar and cornstarch. Heat the mixture over medium high heat until simmering and the juices exude and thicken. Use a potato masher or back of a spoon to break apart the cherries as they cook. This takes a good 5 to 7 minutes.

The cherry mixture after cooking.

Let the mixture cool completely to room temperature.

Now for the cupcake batter — Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with papers.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy, about 6 minutes.

Beat in the eggs plus egg yolks, one at a time, until combined. Beat in the vanilla and almond extract.

In another large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. With mixer on low, add a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating to combine. Beat in 3/4 cup buttermilk, another third of the flour mixture, another 3/4 cup buttermilk, and remaining flour mixture until just combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Once the batter is mixed, add the cooled cherries.

The cupcake batter and the cooled cherries are ready to be combined.

Pour the cherries into the batter.

Fold the cherries into the batter just until they are combined.

Gently fold in the cooled cherry mixture. Don't over mix.

Fill the cupcake papers 3/4 full.  Bake for 18 to 22 minutes in a 350-degree oven or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Before baking.

After baking.

Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Easy Cream Cheese Buttercream
12 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and whip again.

Frost the cupcakes after they have cooled completely. I used a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip to add the frosting but you could also just plop on a few spoonfuls and spread it with a table knife. 

Cherry Almond Cream Cake

This cherry almond cream cake is pretty and elegant which is why it's perfect for my friend Linda's birthday.

The flavors of cherry and almond go so well together and are enhanced even more by the creamy vanilla buttercream.

The buttercream is piped in a rose pattern and is a simple design element that adds lots of texture and interest.  I added the tiniest drop of pink coloring to tint the frosting and and added a few fresh ripe cherries to decorate the top of the cake.

Almond Cake
(makes 3 layers)
3/4 cup butter, unsalted
2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease, flour and line with parchment paper three round 8 -inch cake pans.

Greasing and flouring the cake pans as well as adding a parchment round to the bottoms will ensure that your cakes won't stick.

Beat the butter with the almond extract. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, milk and yogurt or sour cream.

Add the baking powder and salt and mix. Finally, add the flour and beat until thoroughly combined.

Pour the batter evenly into the three cake pans and bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until done and toothpick inserted comes out clean.


Cherry Filling
1 pound (16 ounces) bag frozen cherries
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Heat the frozen cherries, sugar and almond extract in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Use a potato masher to smash them and break them apart. Keep a watch over them and periodically give them a stir.

In a small bowl whisk together the cream and cornstarch. When the cherry  mixture is simmering, add the cream mixture and whisk constantly over medium heat for two to three minutes until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and let cool completely before using.

Remove the filling from the heat and let it cool completely before using.

Vanilla Cream Buttercream
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons vanilla
3 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
one tiny drop of pink coloring


*Note: The frosting base can be made a day in advance since it needs to cool to room temperature before the butter is added.

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the milk and half of the sugar until simmering.

In the meantime, in a small bowl combine the cream, the other half of the sugar and cornstarch. Mix well with a whisk.

When the milk is simmering,  pour about half of it into the cream mixture and whisk well. Add it back to the milk in the saucepan and heat, stirring constantly until the mixture becomes very thick.

Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla. Put the mixture into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the mixture cool completely.

When the buttercream base is cool, transfer it to a mixer and whip until smooth, add the butter a tablespoon at a time and whip until light and fluffy.  Add the tiny drop of pink coloring and whip again.

Just a tiny drop of pink food coloring is all you need.

To Assemble:
Place one cooled cake layer on a cake plate. Top with 1/2 of the cherry filling. Add a layer of buttercream.

Add the second cooled cake layer and top with the remaining cherry filling and another layer of buttercream.

The second layer just needs a coating of buttercream before it's ready for the final cake layer.

Add the final layer and add a thin coat of buttercream to the entire cake to seal in the cherry filling.
This coat is called a crumb coat and won't look pretty, but don't worry. Put the cake in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes to firm up before adding more buttercream.

The first layer of buttercream isn't so pretty but it seals in the cherry filling.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator and add another thin coat of buttercream to the entire cake to better cover where the cherry filling is showing through.

Looking much better after a second coat of buttercream. Now it's ready for the roses.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a #30 Wilton star tip with buttercream and pipe roses over the entire cake starting at the bottom and working up to the top of the cake. Don't overfill your piping bag. It's better to just refill it a few times.

To form a rose just go around in a circle to form the rose and end in the center. It's surprisingly easy.

Go around the cake and fill in any open spaces with buttercream.

There's a blank spot on the top edge of the cake.

Filled in and looking much better.

Top your cake with a few stemmed fresh cherries.