This recipe has three steps: the cake, the blue frosting, and the flower frosting. You can skip the flowers and still create a lovely funfetti cake. However, the challenge of creating your own piped flowers can be just as rewarding as the tasty cake.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking bowder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1½ cups vegan butter, room temperature
- 1¾ cups granulated sugar
- 1¼ cups soft silken tofu
- 1½ cups unsweetened plant milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp clear vanilla can use standard vanilla extract
For the frosting
- 1½ cups vegan butter, room temperature
- A pinch of salt
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 5 tbsp coconut cream
- 1 tbsp clear vanilla
- Gel food coloring of your choice
Special vegan buttercream adaptation
- ⅔ cups water
- 4 tbsp meringue powder
- 12 cups powdered sugar
- 1¼ cups vegetable shortening
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp almond extract
- ½ tsp clear vanilla extract
Instructions
For the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Spray or oil the inside of both 9 inch pans. Line the bottom with a cut round of parchment paper. Spray or oil the parchment paper.
- In a blender, process the milk, tofu, and apple cider vinegar until the tofu is fully incorporated. Set aside. (Alternatively, you can whisk the tofu into the milk, but you need to make sure there are no clumps of any kind.)
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. You can run the dry ingredients through a sifter or fine mesh sieve; however, if you whisk well you can skip that step.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer beat the butter and sugar until fully incorporated. Scrape sides as needed to ensure all butter and sugar have been incorporate.
- Add milk and tofu mix to the sugar and butter, mix well. Add in the vanilla.
- Pour the wet mix into the dry and fold the dry mix in until the batter is smooth in consistency but not over worked.
- Fold the sprinkles in until equally distributed.
- Divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 40 minutes on the middle rack. An inserted toothpick or cake tester should come out clean. Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack.
- To remove the cake from the pan it is always best to run a knife or cake tester around the inside edge of the pan to remove any sticking. It is also helpful to spray a light layer of oil on the wire racks so that the cake removes better when transferring to the cake stand or freezer preparation.
- Allow cake layers to completely cool to room temperature prior to frosting.
To make the frosting
- In a large bowl, whisk together the room temperature butter and coconut cream. Add in the vanilla and pinch of salt. Whisk in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time.
- At 5 cups the frosting will be very smooth and easy to use, but potentially too wet. Add 1/2 cup of sugar at a time until desired consistency is achieved. You don't have to worry about over-mixing frosting.
- If using colors it is best to use a gel food coloring versus a liquid because the gel is more potent and does not add liquid which can offset your consistency. A little bit of gel goes a long way so start with just a toothpick dipped into the container, rather than pour it in.
How to frost the cake
- You can opt to make the cake layers a day ahead, wrap them in Saran Wrap, and then freeze them. A frozen cake is much easier to frost because it isn't as crumbly. If you take the layers out in the morning, frost the cake, then serve at least 4 hours later it will have had time to thaw.
- The one trick to freezing layers is to wrap them then place the individual layers on baking sheets to freeze. You want them to freeze flat.
- For frosting, place 2 to 3 tablespoons of frosting into the center of your cake stand then put the first layer down with the flat side down. That dollop of frosting helps to "glue" the cake to the stand.
- Spoon out roughly 3 cups of frosting on the layer and spread it out in an even layer but allow it to go off the edge by about half an inch.
- Spoon about a quarter inch high and 1 inch wide frosting on the outermost rim of the layer, but don't spread it out.
- Place the next layer on top of the frosted layer but flip it so the even flat bottom is the top of the cake. This way, you don't have to cut the cake flat.
- Use a frosting spatula and start spooning and spreading an even layer around the outside of the cake. Try to not dig into the cake to create crumbs though. This first layer can be fairly thin, it's called the crumb coat, because you'll be adding more in a bit.
- Spoon out 2 cups of frosting onto the top of the cake and spread it evenly across the top. Spread it so that it goes off the edge by about half an inch.
- Use the remaining frosting to coat the sides of the cake and add more to the top as needed.
- To get a smoother look pour boiling water into a bowl or drinking glass then tip your metal frosting spatula into the water and use the hot knife to smooth the frosting.
Special vegan buttercream adaptation
- This buttercream uses a meringue powder to add firmness and stability which is what’s needed for piping flowers. You can pipe regular buttercream but it won’t have the defined edges or shape. This frosting recipe can be halved or quartered depending on how you’ll be using it.
- You can use this just for flowers or you can use the whole recipe for both frosting the cake and some decorations. The benefit of this recipe over a standard buttercream is that the frosting will harden some which is ideal for piped flowers.
- Combine water and meringue powder and whip until a peak forms. Mix in the salt and extracts. Fold in 4 cups of sugar then alternate between shortening and sugar.
- Store frosting in an airtight container because it will harden as it is exposed to the air.
- If using this frosting for piped flowers, pipe your flowers on small squares of parchment paper then leave out overnight to dry. They won’t become hard, but they will be firm to the touch which makes cake assembly much easier.
Piping may seem intimidating and complex, but if you get yourself a frosting bag, a coupler, a flower nail, and Wilton’s tip #104, you can make a variety of flowers.
You can look up flower piping tutorials online if you're keen to learn something new.