Birthday cake - dairy free

Finally a cake bowl I can lick clean...

Didn't get the best sleep last night due to the rain and gale force winds. It was still raining this morning, but i had to look on the positive side.  I'd picked a perfect day to stay in and bake my nieces birthday cake.  My youngest niece is on a dairy free exclusion diet at the moment to see if it helps her tummy problems.

There's a tradition at her school, where the children's family send a cake to school.  This way the kids can celebrate there birthday with there friends.  Since Iv yet too see a dairy free cake in the shops, I offered to bake one for her. 

Her mum then asked if I could make a cake that looked like a castle!!!!  Unfortunately being a fan of Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss, does not make me an expert on cake decoration.  The baking part no problem, that I could do.  Her mum would have to decorate it herself.

Once I sat down and thought about it, I came up with a solution.  I have 2 different sized square baking tins, that I could use for the main part of the cake.


While 4 cupcakes would make perfect castle turrets, sorted.....



I e-mailed her a dairy free frosting recipe.  Iv baked the cake early so I can keep it in the freezer.  Giving her mum plenty of time too defrost it, before decorating.

Sponge cakes and cupcakes freeze OK, as long as you don't frost them.  The frosting makes the cake soggy when it defrosts. 

My niece only needed a dairy free cake, so Iv adapted a normal sponge recipe by using vegan Butter.  I always make sure any eggs I use are Free Range - yes I do check the small print.

Just in case you need to make a large quantity of cake, here's the recipe.

Dairy free Sponge Cake

12 oz Caster Sugar

12 oz Dairy free Butter or margarine

12 oz Self Raising flour

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tbsp Soya milk

6 Free Range Egg's

1 tsp Vanilla extract - optional

- Pre-heat your oven too 180 Celsius

- Look out 2  baking tins, and a muffin pan.  ( I used an 8" inch & a 9" inch square tin. Round tin's would work just as well )

- Place your large cake tins on grease proof paper and draw round the base with a pencil.  Grease your tins and line with the pre- measured baking paper.

- Measure out your sugar and butter and place in a large bowl.  Cream them together till the mix turns pale and fluffy. 

- Add and mix in one egg at a time, along with a table spoon of your flour.  This stops the batter from curdling.  (I break my egg into a clean bowl, before pouring into the cake bowl.  That way I can catch any egg shell that might get in)

- Once all the egg's are added, slowly add the rest of the flour and your 1 tbsp of Soya milk

- Place 4 cupcake liners into your muffin tin, then spoon in some bake batter.  Divide the rest of the batter between the 2 large cake tins. 

- Place the muffin tin and the smaller cake tin on the top shelf, and the large cake tin on the middle shelf. 

- The cooking times will be longer than normal, since your baking more than one cake at once.   The ones on the top shelf  will bake first.  

- Check the cakes on the top shelf after 15 Min's. If they don't spring back when you gently touch the middle of the sponge, leave in for another 5 Min's.  Once there cooked, move the larger cake to the top shelf

- You can always double check, by using a cocktail stick as a skewer.  The larger cake will take roughly 30 too 40 Min's to bake. 

 

TOP TIP: Place a clean dry tea towel on your wire cake racks.  This way when you place the cake on it too cool, it wont get bar marks from the wire rack.

It's now snowing, the weather at the moment has more mood swings than I do.......