DICKCEMBER 2018: VEGAN PEPPERMINT CAKE

We're kicking off the holiday season with something festive and fantastic here on Delectables with Dan. There will be a few more festive baking treats to follow. Due to work obligations, Dickcember won't be as involved as it was last year or the year before with the baking every day. I really can't do it because I don't have the time. Sorry guys! There will be more Delectables with Dan instalments scattered throughout the new year, so fear not! There will be tonnes of amazing things you can chow down on in the upcoming year! We're going to be making a vegan peppermint cake today!

1/2 cup vegan butter or margarine (softened)

1c sugar (I used stevia to cut down on the sugar, but it's a personal choice)

Egg replacer for 4 eggs

1 3/8 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup soy milk or almond milk

1 tsp vanilla essence 

1- 1/2 c. holiday coloured sprinkles

Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add in the egg replacer and vanilla essence and mix well. Gradually add in the flour and baking powder, then your soy milk. Blend together until smooth and well mixed. 

Add the sprinkles into the cake batter and give it a few gentle swirls.
Pour batter into two well greased square shaped cake baking tins. Put into bake at 325F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Take out to cool. Allow the cake to fully cool before moving on to the next step. While that's happening you can take the time to whip up the icing that we're going to be using. When the cakes are finished baking put them into the icebox to cool them before icing. 

ICING 

1c room temperature any brand of vegan butter

3c. icing sugar 

2 teaspoons almond milk or any other milk sub you like 

2/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/3 tsp of pure peppermint extract

1-2 tsp food dye (red and green, not together though!) 

6-7 mini candy canes 

Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl except the food dye and candy canes. Start with a portion of the icing sugar, 1/3 and gradually add it in as you mix the ingredients together with an electric hand mixer. Your icing should turn thick and fluffy (just like Chubb's thighs) when it reaches this level of thickness, divide the icing into two separate bowls. 1/3 to one bowl and add the green food colouring, mix well. Place the other 2/3 of the icing into another bowl and add the red food colouring. You want the icings to be a poppy pink and pale, vibrant green colour. Smash the candy canes up into small pieces (not all of them) and insert into the icing. You want the flavour bursts to come from the candy canes, rather than the extract in the icing. That way it's not too minty, but you get a nice crunch of it when you chew. 

Remove the cakes from the icebox and trim them so that they are evenly level. Place one cake in the middle of a serving platter and ice the top with the pink icing. Allow it to sit for a second or two before placing the second cake on top. Ice the entire cake with the green peppermint icing. You need to be careful with the icing because of the little peppermint chunks in it; you don't want to shred the cake with it! 

Once you've iced the entire cake with the pink icing, allow it to sit for a few minutes before doing the border icing with a small start tip we're going to ice two different patterns on the top and bottom of the cake. For the top, make little short bursts with the start tip all the way around the edge of the top layer of the cake. For the bottom layer of the cake simply place the tip on its side and ice what I like to call a sea wave pattern; you hold the pressure on the icing tool moving up and down in the slightest movement to create the pattern. Once you've done that, on the top layer take the crushed candy canes with the biggest chunks and sprinkle them around the top of the cake. You may wish to add more crushed candy canes for a powdery and chunk effect.

Now that I'm looking at this, it kinda reminds me of the Happee Birthday, Harry cake that Hagrid gave to Harry for his 11th birthday. You know the colour scheme and all that. I can't with myself sometimes. It's a great addition to any office or family party that everyone can enjoy! You can make a non-vegan version of the cake with the same recipe or by using a box cake and store-bought icing.

**vegan ones can be expensive and sometimes hard to find, but do your best!