We celebrated our youngest daughter's 2nd birthday this weekend. I tested out this new Coconut Cream Cake - I took a bit of a chance because it was my first test run on both the cake and the frosting, but it did not disappoint!Not only did our birthday girl hoover the cake, but my sister and her family loved it too. We just had a small get together with sis, her hubby and their son, because at 2 years old... well, that's enough excitement for our girl!
Here is a slice of the cake, it was very moist with a creamy, mallowy frosting. I very rarely make sugary/buttery frostings. Simply because I want to eat these frostings, but I feel gross (tired/sick) after eating more than a few bites. And for me, cake is ALL about the frosting - I like lots, and so I don't want to stop at a couple of bites. So, pile on the creamy, less-sweet frostings... that's right up my street!Our older daughter ate a little cake, but unlike our 2 year old (and me), she has more of a 'salty tooth'. After a few bites of cake, she dug into a 'recipe' she recently created - and I must add - is extremely proud of. It involves grapes, Goddess Dressing, and nutritional yeast ("parmesan" to her). It goes as follows: (1) mix the Goddess Dressing with the "parmesan" (2) roll the grape in the mixture (3) pop in mouth and say 'mmmmm'.
Do you have a hankering for that now? Yeah, probably not. Though, I must admit that I do actually like the 1st step - nutritional yeast and Goddess Dressing actually taste pretty fine together. It's the grape part - but then, as my sister pointed out, how many of us put raisins or cranberries or something else that's sweet in a salad and then drizzle on the Goddess Dressing? Our munchkin might be on to something after all...
21 comments:
That cake looks so cool. I've never made a layered, frosted, decorated cake at home, but this really inspires me to try.
Happy birthday to your daughter! And how inspiring that she's coming up with recipes at TWO years old? She's going to give us all a run for our money soon!
Looks delicious to me but I'm a HUGE fan of coconut. I've never had much luck with a 2 layer cake though (and you know, with it just being Marty and me, it's probably for the best!).
She's a little guru!
I am fascinated by your mention of 'mallow' frosting and just how gorgeous and smooth it looks. This book! <3
Oh Dreena, how you tease us!! You know that after seeing this and reading about that we now have no choice but to immediately buy the new book as soon as it's ready. Sneaky, sneaky! :)
But seriously, the cake looks amaaaazing!
Oh yum yum yum. I could never make that cake..Billy hates coconut, and I would be stuck eating it all by myself!
That cake looks wonderful. I'm really starting to get into coconut. I like really creamy, thick frostings, too, rather than sugary ones.
Your daughter's recipe sounds... interesting. I like to keep sweet and savory things very seperate, so I don't even like salads with cranberries or anything in it. You're lucky she doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, though. I wish I could say the same.
I'm a fan of Goddess dressing, and I had grapes in a salad once and was pleasantly surprised. So maybe...
That cake is quite gorgeous--if it were here, I'd probably taste it even though I know I've never liked coconut, just because you've decorated it so elegantly! I'm sure it will be a hit for all the coconut lovers. :)
Happy birthday to your little girl!
My name is Urban Vegan, and I'm a cocoholic. This wil definitely not help.
I once made a potato salad with grapes in it...they went so well!
OMG Dreena! If you couldn't post about chocolate, this is the next best thing. I love coconut and coconut cakes are a favorite of mine. I'm with you on the frosting. I don't want to eat sugary, gross, sicky sweet stuff, I want flavour! I'm intrigued by the "mallow". Too bad your new book won't be out by my birthday. I would make this for me! Unless of course you want me to TEST this recipe for you. *hint, hint*. You have my e-mail address. I'll leave it in your hands. :o)
I just made a coconut cream pie yesterday...great minds think alike!
Wow the presentation of this cake is amazing. I'm glad that your little one really enjoyed this. I send a Belated Happy Birthday to her! I bet I could fool my family with this cake, and get them to be more open to veganism.
Oh and I love the invention of your older daughter. Kids know what they like- and no one should tell them any differently. It's great that she's making her own creations.
-Teresa
... I hope the "done" pile is getting bigger and bigger for the cookbook!
This looks amazing! So elegant looking.
Happy birthday to your daughter! The cake is beautiful and SO big!! Lol! It looks fluffy and...perfect!! :P
Thanks Bazu... it wasn't too hard. I don't use a mixer for any of my cakes/cookies, so all you need is a bowl and spoon in hand! Oh, and it's our older daughter (5 1/2) that came up with the 'recipe' - yes, I'd be very impressed if it was our 2yr old as well - I'd be boasting quite a bit on the blog about it!! :)
Savanna, oh shtop it! Actually, no don't - goddess works for me esp when I'm diaper changing - ha! You absolutely can make the chocolate cake in TEV into cupcakes, in fact I mention so in the recipe. I sometimes make the cupcakes high and then pipe in some of the icing... but, feel free to make smaller cupcakes, filling more muffin liners in the cupcake pans and then putting lots of icing on top! If you use w/w pastry flour, your cake will be heavier and grainier, just because the flour is. I would recommend if you are going with w/w pastry to try 1/2 white flour and 1/2 w/w pastry first to see what you think. Spelt should be okay, but you may need to add another few tablespoons of flour to the mix, I often find spelt needs a tiny more to equate with white wheat flour. Good luck! :)
Vivacious, we sometimes find the same thing because even though we have our 2 girls, they don't eat *a lot* of cake, so it's best for me to test them when we have company - but then, that's NOT the best time to test out cakes really!
Thanks Jess, yes she's either going to love to cook because she sees me in the kitchen so much - OR, be totally turned off it because she sees me in the kitchen so much. :)
Ha, thanks hyphen_helena! I'll try to post more bland stuff - some sprouts and wheatgrass perhaps... that's what we vegans eat all the time anyhow, right?! :)
Melissa, I have the same trouble - hubby is NOT a fan of coconut. Normally when I test coconut recipes, I give them to my sister and her crew, b/c they LOVE coconut. But this cake hubby actually enjoyed - well, not as much as chocolate cake - but he liked it... I didn't overdo the amount of coconut in it, that might be why - oh yeah, and he had it with a big scoop of choc ice cream!
Kris, I'm very big on coconut flavor more than coconut texture. I don't always like chewing through a lot of coconut flakes, but I do love the flavor/essence of coconut! and yes, I'd benefit from less of a sweet tooth also!!
Thanks Laura, she *was* one happy camper digging into that cake! Do you like coconut flavor at all and just not like the flakes so much - or do you dislike coconut - flavor and all - completely?
Welcome, urban vegan... we are here to help! Funny, coconut seems to be one of those love/hate things. Well, I know where your emotions run now...!
Melissa, you're the 2nd now to mention grapes in salad! I've never done that, but then the famous waldorf salad is sometimes made with grapes (and apples), and then we often see mandarin oranges in salads, or pears, etc. Not that much of a stretch really!
Carrie, you're signed up!! When's your bday?? I will need to test-run the cake once more to ensure I'm including all the ingredients you need, and then it's yours to test, my dear! (and thanks) :)
Indeed, Judy! :) Now I'm thinking about banana cream pie... must get off this dessert track of mind!
Hi Teresa, thank you. :) It seems that most people love vegan desserts, not knowing any different (unless it's a very "healthy" dessert using lots of grainy flours, not much sweetener, etc)! Thanks for the bday wishes... she is 2 going on 4 though I think!! :)
Thanks Leslie... I don't always do 'elegant' too well with desserts - decorating and pretty touches are not my strong points! Not much patience for it, but I guess I pulled it off *okay* for this one!!
Hi Candi - thanks... it was a pretty big and fluffy/moist cake - I like to get carried away with the frosting - actually, yeah, I would be happy to literally get carried away with the frosting!! :)
Woo-Hoo!!! I'm so excited now. My b'day is April 8, so I can test, gorge, give you feedback all long before publication. YES!! Thanks Dreena. You're da bomb!
Perfect, Carrie, that will give me time to do another test run or two on the cake myself - you certainly are thinking ahead for your birthday - good for you! :)
Wow, Savanna, you lucked out on that! Isn't it divine?! I have been eating far too much of it. Then, the only store that is carrying it here - they increased their price on the pint - from 4.79 (I think), now to GASP $5.69!! Can you believe that? I was going to stock up up on a few more and when I saw the price I put them back. This is Cdn $, but still, at 5.69 that's still about $5 US - isn't that ridiculous? So, you are very lucky to get it at $2 - buy it up, girl! Oh, yes, you can use cornstarch in that sauce. Just know to bring it to a boil to thicken, but don't let it boil for a long time because cornstarch can break down if the mixture boils a while. So, once it is bubbling, let it go several seconds and then remove it from the heat. Hope you enjoy...! :)
What an amazing creation! I enjoy the great presentation your creations always have. Around the holiday time we always get inspired to notch-up our cooking :)
Beautiful! Ofcourse, you can go wrong with anything Coconut in my mind!
That treat of your daughters doesn't sound too bad, actually!
Savanna, even your 'regular' price on that ice-cream is a bargain for us here!! Hope you like those brownies... enjoy your Thanksgiving celebrations :)
Wow, thanks Raylon... I never look at my meals/desserts as having particularly nice presentations, so that's most lovely to hear. Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Hi Julie!! I may have a little group of people now rolling grapes in a slurry of Goddess Dressing and nutritional yeast - just out of curiosity! :) Hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving!
Does this cake have tofu, xantham gum, cream of tartar, and vegetable shortening? I had the most wonderful White coconut cake recipe once and my dear hubby made it for me for mother's day, bless his heart, and lost the recipe. I've searched everywhere and cannot find it again. All the vgan coconut cake recipes I find are really yellow cake. But mine was a true white cake because of the vegetable shortening. This picture looks like a true white cake. Can you tell me if it has these ingredients and thus is my beloved missing favorite recipe?
-b.
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