Chocolate Orange Cake With No Eggs or Dairy
Who wants some birthday cupcakes?
Last week, there was another family birthday. Hooray! And it gave me a reason to try out a new recipe I’d been saving.
My go-to cake recipe has been the family favorite we call Homestead Cake for years. But I’m working on expanding my vegan baking skills—yes, it’s still chocolate.
This recipe made 12 nicely sized cupcakes but could be baked in two 8-inch round cake pans. I used paper liners in the cupcake pan. I’d suggest cutting parchment paper in the cake pan-sized rounds and greasing the top side with plant-based butter.
Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes in a 350-degree oven, and check for doneness. You want them to be firm and springy. I overcooked my batch at 25 minutes which made them a bit dry.
Ingredients:
Four large fresh oranges. Zest all the oranges and then squeeze the oranges. Three tablespoons of zest will go in the cake and one in the icing.
You’ll need one cup of juice for the cake and a couple of tablespoons for the icing.
Cake
1 and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Sift all the dry ingredients together and stir in 3 tablespoons of orange zest. Set these ingredients aside.
In a separate bowl or measuring cup, combine:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup orange juice, fresh is best
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir just until mixed. Divide among the cupcake wrappers or the two cake pans.
See note on baking time above. Allow the cupcakes to cool slightly, then remove them from the pan to cool completely before frosting them.
Chocolate Orange Icing
This recipe made just the right amount for 12 cupcakes. I would double these amounts if I wanted to make a layer cake fully frosted on all sides.
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons orange zest
1 tablespoon orange juice or a bit more to create a spreadable consistency
¼ tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup plant-based butter, softened if hard
Combine all the ingredients and stir by hand until smooth. I always hesitate to give exact amounts for icing because some people like more on their cake than others. So adjust the quantities to make as much yummy icing as you want.
Place the cupcakes or cake on a plate and refrigerate until the icing is firm. Then cover them for freshness.
The verdict? Delicious! And the leftovers were even better the next day. Enjoy!