25.11.

2018

Yields 9 inch cake or 12 cupcakes

Dreamy Vanilla Vegan Gluten-Free

Cake
This amazing 8 ingredient cake has a wonderful, intense vanilla flavor, as a vanilla cake should. It is light and
moist and incredibly easy to make.

15 min 30 min 45 min

Prep Time Cook Time Total Time

Ingredients
MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING POTATO STARCH, NOT POTATO FLOUR! Some have incorrectly used
that and the cake doesn't work!
2 cups (224g) blanched almond flour (Do not use regular almond meal (with the skins), it is not light enough
and will not produce the same results, make sure to measure accurately 224 g. See NOTE below)
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (100g) potato starch (this is the exact starch that makes the cake so fluffy, other
starches will NOT work the same)
1/2 teaspoon (3g) fine sea salt
2 teaspoons (aluminum-free double-acting baking powder (9.6 g)
1/2 cup + 2 (200g) tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/2 cup (120g) applesauce
1/2 teaspoon (2g) apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon (15g) real vanilla extract
1/4 cup (60g) aquafaba (the liquid at the bottom of a chickpea can)
I topped this cake with my Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Ganache/Glaze Or you can make it with the Strawberry
Frosting or my Chocolate Espresso Truffle Frosting !
Note: It is crucial to not sub these ingredients for best results. It's necessary to use blanched almond flour
because it is what makes the cake so moist and light. DO NOT use Bob's Red Mill blanched almond flour for
this cake. It is never finely ground enough and there is always little bits of almond still left and it doesn't
produce as light, fluffy results. I love all of his other flours, but unfortunately the almond flour doesn't work well.
I highly recommend King Arthur Flour or Honeyville or if you are in Texas, use the HEB brand, it's perfect. Don't
say I didn't warn you if you try subbing.
Also, with baking, I cannot recommend enough the importance of weighing your ingredients so that the cake
turns out right.

Instructions
You want to make sure to make this cake the day of the event, not the day before, because it will be freshest
and the most moist the day of. It comes together so quickly, that it's easy to throw together the day of. I
recommend baking it at least 2 hours before your event to make sure it has completely cooled. Baked goods
with starch tend to still slightly "cook" and fluff up for a couple of hours after removing them from the oven.
They are a tad too moist to eat immediately.
Line a 9 inch round metal pan with a piece of round parchment paper on the bottom and along the sides. It
helps to lightly spray the inside of the pan first so the paper adheres. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. OR
you can make cupcakes and line a pan with 10 liners.
Make sure to weigh all your ingredients for accurate results. Fluff your almond flour with a whisk first to break
up any lumps. If unable to use a scale, then scoop your cups into the dry ingredients, lightly pat down to make
sure there are no gaps and then level off. Add the almond flour, potato starch, salt and baking powder to a
large bowl and whisk everything together really well until there are no lumps remaining.
In a separate small bowl, add the syrup, applesauce, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and aquafaba and whisk until
smooth. Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and beat with a handheld mixer for about a minute to
incorporate some air and make it really smooth. It should be a very smooth, pour-able batter. Now, try not to
eat all the batter now. I know, it's so dang good.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes, until it has risen with a
light golden top, a toothpick comes out completely clean from the center. If making cupcakes, using an ice
cream scoop makes for nice rounded tops. Cupcakes should be done around 25 minutes, but check for a clean
toothpick in the center. Your time may slightly vary depending on your oven and may take longer to bake. Let
cool 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Then turn it over, so the flat side is facing up on a cooling rack.

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Cool completely before icing, at least an hour. Or, you can flip it back over and frost the dome top if you prefer
that look.
I recommend topping it with my Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Ganache/Glaze ! For additional decoration, I added
some curled white chocolate. I used Milkless Polar Dream brand ordered from Amazon, it's vegan and the only
vegan white chocolate I've found. To make the curls, just warm up half a bar just for about 20 seconds in the
microwave, just long enough to slightly soften it, not melt it! Then take a peeler and just peel the sides,
dropping off pieces of chocolate all over the top. Store it in the fridge and it will remain amazingly moist, it will
just get a bit firmer.
If you want a traditional buttercream icing, use the one from my Maple Vanilla Cupcakes .

Notes
Nutrition per slice: 276 calories, 14 g fat, 6 g protein, 35.2 carbs, 18.8 g sugars, 3.1 g fiber, 312.4 mg sodium
The nutrition does not include the aquafaba since there is no nutritional info that I could find online. But it's such a
small amount, it wouldn't make much a difference anyways.

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I hope you all really love this recipe! Be sure to leave feedback below. Share your remakes on Instagram and tag me
@thevegan8 and be sure to use my tag #thevegan8 or share them on my Facebook page!

The Vegan 8

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