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Easy Tiered Almond Cake

Almond Cake with Vanilla Meringue Buttercream
Almond Cake with Vanilla Meringue Buttercream

Cake: A spongy-flavorful dessert that we get to treat ourselves with during the holidays, gatherings, and of course- Birthdays! We all have our go-to cake or cupcake, and this Almond Cake with a Vanilla Meringue Buttercream is surely mine. To make the imaged cake, you will need to double this recipe and if you are looking to make two 8-inch rounds, this cake is perfect for that too! Even though I baked this cake without the use of diary and eggs, it is still moist, spongy, and does the job. What’s better than an organic cake made by yourself in the comfort of your own home? I hope that this recipe brings you, your family and friends a lot of good memories and birthday cheer!

Almond Cake

Yields 45 servings for 6 and 7-inch or 60 servings 6,7, and 8-inch cakes

Ingredients

Cake (double recipe for tiered style):

3-1/4 cups King Arthur organic flour

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1-3/4 cups organic sugar

2-1/2 cup buttermilk (2-1/4 cup plain almond milk+ 1/4 cup lemon juice, mixed)

2-1/2 Tbsp. almond extract

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. Vitacost Himalayan Fine Pink Salt

Frosting:

2-1/4 cup organic cane sugar

3/4 cup filtered water

1 cup concentrated aquafaba (chickpea liquid)- Two 8 oz. cans garbanzo beans

1 cup butter of choice, cubed

1 cup vegetable shortening, cubed

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

Cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a stand mixer, beat together the sugar and oil until light in color. Add the almond extract and buttermilk.
  3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and powder. Add the salt and combine the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, a little bit at a time.
  4. Beat until flour is well combined and cake batter consistency is achieved.
  5. Cut out parchment rounds to fit the bottom of the cake pans. Be sure to grease the parchment also, this will help your cakes not stick.
  6. Using two 8-inch round cake pan, distribute the batter between the two as listed below. If you are using a 6 and 8-inch pan for a 3 tier cake, you will need to triple the recipe and fill the cake pans up as provided below:
    • 6-inch: 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes; 3 cups batter
      7-inch: 350 degrees F for 40-42 minutes; 4 cups batter, optional
      8-inch: 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes; 5 cups batter
  7. Bake cakes for 40-45 minutes (rotating half way through) or until a toothpick comes out clean and cake edges are slightly browned and pulls away from pan.
  8. Place onto a wire rack to cool until bottom of the pan is cool to touch.
  9. Flip the cakes out of the pan onto the rack and allow to completely cool (roughly 1-1/2 hours).
  10. Using a knife, level the cakes so they are all even. Slice cakes in half, wrap in plastic individually, and place in fridge or freezer until ready to frost or leave out if you are making it that day.

Aquafaba Concentrate:

  1. In sauce pan over medium-high heat, pour in both cans chickpea liquid AKA aquafaba (save chickpeas for my hummus recipe). Reduce liquid until 1 cup remains. Pour liquid into container and cool in refrigerator overnight (this step is very important).

Meringue Buttercream:

  1. In your Kitchen-aid standing mixer, whip the concentrated chickpea liquid for 10-15 minutes until a medium peak has formed.
  2. In the meantime, melt the sugar and water in a medium sauce pan on high-heat, 2-3 minutes. Once rolling boil starts, remove from heat and pour into the mixer with chickpea liquid. Make sure to turn the speed down when pouring. 
  3. Turn the speed back up to high and whip together for another 8 minutes until meringue -like consistency forms.
  4. Once completely cool, add the butter and shortening slowly a little bit at a time until completely mixed. If for any reason it separates, place more fat into the meringue. If it still doesn’t hold, place in the fridge for a couple minutes and re mix or heat the bowl if it appears “curdled”.
  5. Add the vanilla and give a good mix. Once frosting has thickened and is a good consistency, you are ready to frost the cake.
Almond Cake with Vanilla Meringue Buttercream

Assembling:

  1. Smear a small amount of frosting on the bottom your cake boards and place the leveled cake on it.
  2. Place one 8-inch round layer down on the plate and add 2 ice cream scoops of the meringue buttercream in a smooth layer. Place the other 8-inch layer on top and use more meringue buttercream. Coat the outside as well for a crumb coat (light layer of frosting to keep crumbs from showing up in the final frosting layer). Place into the fridge to chill while you do the same process with the 6-inch round cakes.
  3. Remove from fridge and add buttercream to the outside of the cakes for a final coat.
  4. Put three wooden dowels into the bottom layer. Put the 6-inch cake on top and put another wooden dowel in the middle, smearing frosting to cover the hole. Frost the gaps and cracks once you are finished securing the cake.
  5. Top with choice of fruit, frosting design, sprinkles, or any other toppings you’d like.

Chef’s tip: If you would like to make a three tiered cake, you will need to triple the recipe.

Rhino’s Pumpkin Roll

Pumpkin Roll

Pumpkin Roll

Have you ever tried making a thin pumpkin cake, only to later roll it around in a white plant-based cream cheese filling and topped with dusted powdered sugar? If you haven’t then you are in for a real treat! This simple pumpkin roll will not only wow all of your family and friends, but you will surely impress yourself with this restaurant-style dessert made in the comfort of your own home. The best part about any Swiss roll cake is that you can keep it in the freezer for any surprise guests that drop by or you can take it to a gathering or give it as a tasty gift during the holiday season. This recipe is so good that you may need to make two at a time!

Pumpkin RollPumpkin Roll

Yields 1 cake; around 10 slices

Ingredients

Cake:

1 cup granulated sugar

4 Tbsp. Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer + 8 Tbsp. Water, (in 2 batches)

1 cup homemade pumpkin purée

1 cup King Arthur all-purpose organic flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. Vitacost ground cinnamon

1 Tbsp. pumpkin spice seasoning

1/2 tsp. Vitacost Fine Himalayan Pink Salt

1/8 cup Vitacost powder sugar, for dusting

1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Cream cheese frosting:

4 Tbsp. Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks, room temperature

8 oz. Kite Hill Cream Cheese

1 cup Vitacost powdered sugar

1 Tbsp. Vitacost pure maple syrup

Directions

Cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease with cooking spray or vegan butter.
  3. In a stand mixer, beat the already combined egg replacer and water with the sugar for 1-2 minutes or until it thickens. Add the pumpkin puree; mix till combined.
  4. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, salt, and baking powder into the batter. Mix together until flour is combined and switch to using a spatula. This way you can get a few more stirs in without over mixing the batter.
  5. Pour the batter onto the 10×15 baking sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes or until the cake springs back after you touch it. Prepare your dish towel while it bakes by dusting it heavily with powdered sugar. This will prevent the cake from sticking.
  6. Once the cake springs back after toughing it, remove it from the oven and immediately (and carefully) flip the cake pan on top of the towel and remove the parchment paper slowly (there will be a massive cloud of powder sugar so prepare yourself).
  7. Begin to roll the towel with the cake into a log shape and allow to cool on a cooling rack until room temperature. Make sure that you do not let the cake cool for more than an hour, or it can cause the cake to crack when you go to unroll it.

Buttercream:

  1. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese for 2-3 minutes on a medium speed until well combined.
  2. Then add the powdered sugar and maple syrup (or flavoring) and mix; set aside.

Pumpkin Roll

Assembly:

  1. Carefully unroll the log and spread the frosting in a single layer. Cover the frosting with the walnuts at this time (optional).
  2. Re-roll the cake back up into a log shape..
  3. Place into the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to allow cake and frosting to firm up a bit (set overnight for best results).
  4. Remove from the fridge and dust top with powdered sugar.
  5. Serve and enjoy.

Chef’s tip: Move quickly when cooling this cake, or it will crack and break when you go to roll it. You can also use pecans instead of walnuts.