Ingredients
Method
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.