VEGAN COFFEE LAYER CAKE

This cake has been developed from a vegan recipe I always use that’s

by Dan Lepard, my go-to baking guru. I don’t like it

when vegan recipes are a poor relative of their rich dairy cousins, and this cake is a stand-alone champion. It deserves to be made not as a vegan version of a

cake, but simply as an amazing cake. The prunes, water and oil emulsify

together to create a solution that mimics the

properties that usually come from eggs, while also providing a healthy hit of

fibre and vitamins. The extra gluten in bread flour

also helps with the structure, sweet potato gives major moistness, and

the vinegar gives the raising agent a boost. Coffee is an earthy flavour and it goes well with the

nutty sweetness of the halva. Halva is a sesamebased sweet from the Middle East that manages to be both dense and fluffy.

It comes in lots of flavours – the nutty versions, as well

as honey and chocolate, would go perfectly with

this recipe.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes,

plus 50 minutes chilling

Serves four INGREDIENTS

10g instant coffee granules

100g prunes 150ml light olive oil

1 tsp red wine vinegar

10g malt extract

2 tsp vanilla extract

140g caster sugar 100g finely grated sweet potato 125g strong white bread flour 50g plain (all-purpose) flour 1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

(baking soda) 100g halva, plus extra to

decorate (optional)

For the icing:

1 tsp instant coffee granules, plus extra to decorate

100g silken tofu

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g icing sugar

METHOD

h In a heatproof jug, dissolve the instant coffee granules in 200ml boiling water, then add the prunes

and leave for five minutes. Grease and line three 20cm round cake tins and

preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5. h Put the prune mixture in

a blender with the oil, vinegar, malt extract and

vanilla, and blend until smooth. Pour the blender contents into a large mixing bowl and stir through the sugar and grated sweet

potato. Add the flours, cinnamon, baking powder

and bicarbonate of soda, and beat to a thick batter. Divide between the three tins and crumble the halva

evenly on top of them. h Bake for 20 minutes (or

until a skewer inserted in

the middle of the cake comes out clean), remove from the tin and transfer to

a wire rack to cool. h While the cake cools, make the icing. Add a few drops of boiling water to

the coffee granules in a bowl and stir just until they have dissolved. Blend this together with the silken

tofu and vanilla extract. Gently combine this with the icing sugar, cover and chill in the fridge for 30

minutes, then into the freezer for 20 minutes. If the icing is too thin, put back in the freezer until it reaches the desired

consistency. h Once the sponges are completely cooled, layer them together with the tofu

icing. Top with the icing, then sprinkle a few more coffee granules and more

halva, if desired.