Vanilla date vegan cake

by Andrea Gámez

This vanilla date vegan cake is such a beauty. Dates are one of those ingredients that are used a lot for vegan recipes of all kind. This is because they are naturally sweet on their own, plus, they have a sticky texture, which makes them great for all sorts of vegan sweets and dessert recipes in general, not only vegan ones.

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Vegan dates cake recipe

Dates, combined with vanilla taste great. It is a simple combination that will surprise you. Our cake has vanilla cake layers, filled with a date paste and a vegan pastry cream, with sweet dates as a topping, which is really delicious.

Dates cake recipe

This cake is soft and fluffy. It has the softness of the cake, with the dates’ richness, and the dates and cream’s sweetness. It is spectacular. I bet if someone doesn’t know is vegan, they will not likely be able to tell it is vegan, because it doesn’t seem like it. This cake will for sure amaze you.

To give this cake that fluffiness we normally get by beating egg whites, in this recipe we are using aquafaba. Aquafaba is the liquid that comes in the canned cooked chickpeas (or other legumes) (or in a glass container for that matter). Is that somewhat transparent colored liquid that is a bit sticky. We beat this liquid to simulate the beaten egg whites.

How to make a vegan vanilla cake

Now, the texture of a non-vegan cake and a vegan cake are different, that’s just the way it is, but this cake, using the aquafaba is just as good, because it gets that fluffiness we are all looking for when eating a piece of cake.

If you like this recipe, or you want to see more vegan dessert recipes, you have to go see our raw vegan chocolate and cookie bars, you will love them.

Vanilla date vegan cake

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Dessert, sweets
Cuisine American
Servings 12

Ingredients
  

For the cake:

  • 1 1/4 C (10.14 fl oz) (300 ml) vegetable milk (almond, soy, etc.)
  • 1 1/2 tsp (0.25 fl oz) (7.5 ml) apple vinegar
  • 2 3/4 C (12.62 oz) (358 gr) all purpouse flour
  • 3 tsp (0.62 oz) (17.5 gr) baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp (0.12 oz) (3.5 gr) baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp (0.12 oz) (3.5 gr) salt
  • 1/2 C (4 fl oz) (120 ml) aquafaba (water where chickpeas where cooked. It can be the liquid where cooked canned chickpeas come in)
  • 3/4 C (6 oz)m (170 gr) margarine, at room temperature
  • 1/4 C (2 fl oz) (60 ml) vegetable oil, soft flavored (sunflower or similar)
  • 1 1/2 C (10.58 oz) (300 gr) granulated white sugar
  • 1 tbsp (0.50 fl oz) (15 ml) vanilla extract

For the dates cream:

  • 15 pieces dates, seedless
  • Enough boiling water
  • 3/4 C chopped nuts

For the pastry cream:

  • 2 C (16.20 fl oz) (480 ml) vegetable milk (almond, soy, etc.)
  • The seeds of a vanilla bean
  • 3/4 C (5.30 oz) (150 gr) granulated white sugar
  • 1/4 tsp (0.06 oz) (1.7 gr) salt
  • 1/2 C (74 gr) corn starch
  • 3 tbsp (2.60 oz) (45 gr) unsalted margarine

For the topping:

  • 12 seenless dates
  • 3 tbsp (1.60 oz) (45 gr) brown sugar
  • 1 C (8.11 fl oz) (240 ml) water
  • 2 tbsp (0.54 oz) (16 gr) corn starch

Instructions
 

For the cake:

  • Preheat the oven to 375º F (180º C). Line two round cake pans of about 8.26 inches (21 cm) in diameter with parchment paper.
  • In a medium bowl, mix in the vegetable milk and apple vinegar and let it rest until needed. Plus, in a different bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  • In a big dry bowl, put the aquafaba and beat using an electric mixer for 3 to 4 minutes until you get a white fluffy mixture, as if they were egg whites. Pour this mixture into a different bowl.
  • Now, using the same electric mixer bowl that before, cream together the margarine, oil and sugar for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture turn lighter in color and is fluffier.
  • Add in the vanilla extract and beat until fully integrated. Mix in the aquafaba in three separate additions, beating for 30 seconds after each addition.
  • Add the flour mixture in three separate additions alternating with the vagetable milk, beating after each addition. Beat for 30 seconds more until you get a soft and smooth batter.
  • Divide the mixture into the two cake pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes aprox. until a wooden stick comes out clean when inserted.
  • Once ready, let them sit for 10 minutes and place them on a cooling rack to cool down completely.

For the dates paste:

  • Place the dates in a heat ressistant bowl, add the boiling water until the dates are submerged and let them rest for 30 to 40 minutes until they are really soft.
  • Once soft, place the dates in a blender or food processor with some of the water and blend until you get a smooth thick paste that spreads easily.
  • Put the paste in the same bowl where they were before and mix in the nuts. Let it sit until it cools down.

For the pastry cream:

  • With a sharp knife, cut open the vanilla bean lenghtwise and carefully scrap all the seeds out.
  • In a pot on the stove over medium heat, pour 3/4 parts of the vegetable milk along with half of the sugar and the vanilla seeds. Let it cook for 2 minutes, making sure it doesn't boil, while whisking with a hand whisk.
  • In a different small bowl, using a fork, mix the rest of the milk along with the sugar, salt and corn starch.
  • Pour this mixture into the milk and cook over low medium heat for 4 minutes, whisking non-stop, until a thicker cream forms. It is important not to stop beating and doing it carefully for the cream to be smooth.
  • Remove the crem from the heat, add in the margarine and mix well. Pour the cream in a different bowl and cover it with plastic kitchen wrap (it should touch the surface of the cream for it not to form a curd or "crust") and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For the topping and to assemble the cake:

  • In a medium size pan over medium heat on the stove, put the dates, sugar and half the water. Let it cook, mixing non-stop with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes until the dates soften up. a little.
  • In a small bowl, mix the rest of the water and the corn starch, add this into the pan with the dates and cook for about 3 minutes, mixing non-stop, until a syrup forms. Remove from the heat and let the dates cool down completely.
  • To assemble the cake, cut the cakes in half, to get 4 round pieces of cake. Place one of the cakes on the plate (where we want to present the cake). Spread1/4 of the cream and 1/3 of the dates cream on top.
  • Repeat the process until you use all the cakes and end up with a layer of pastry cream. The cake is a "naked" cake, which means it will not have any frosting on the sides.
  • To finish, decorate the cake with the whole dates and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Vanilla date vegan cake

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