Vegan tropical celebration cake – with Tesco {Ad}

{ This is a paid advertorial with Tesco } Surprise your mum with this beautiful vegan tropical celebration cake this Mother’s Day! Filled with vegan mango curd, passion fruit flavoured frosting and topped with a spectacular mango ‘rose’, it looks impressive yet is really easy to create.

After the all too brief ‘snowmaggedon’ last week, I can feel the spring vibes in the air, and not a moment too soon! Much as I loved the snow, I am longing for springtime, for flowers and warmer weather to come and stay.

After all we are in March and Mothering Sunday is just around the corner – this always takes me by surprise, by the way. And Mother’s Day is a perfect occasion to bake this rather showy vegan tropical celebration cake,who’s with me?

More and more people are adopting a fully vegan lifestyle and even more are embracing more plant based meals as part of their diet. Tesco Real Food has a range of savoury and sweet plant-based recipes on their site, which is where I came across this vegan birthday cake recipe.

This is a really easy cake recipe – all the ingredients get blitzed together in a food processor or blender to make the batter. The recipe called for 3x20cm (8in) cake tins, but I baked mine in four smaller 15cm (6in) tins to create a taller cake.

I brushed my sponge layers with a little lime syrup to add extra flavour and keep them moist. The cake recipe calls for mango slices to be added between the layers, but I was really curious to try creating a vegan mango curd and I am pleased to report it was both super easy and super delicious.

If you decide to make the vegan mango curd, it would be best to make a day ahead so that it has time to chill and set properly in the fridge overnight. The cake layers can also be made a day ahead and kept at room temperature until needed.

The vegan ‘buttercream’ frosting is made with dairy-free spread and icing sugar. A little passion fruit syrup adds colour and flavour, but don’t be tempted to add too much or your frosting might split.

Sandwich your cake layers with the frosting and mango curd and then frost the entire cake with a thin layer of buttercream – your crumb coat. Here it would be best to chill the cake in the freezer for 30 minutes so that the final coating of frosting will be smooth and crumb-free.

I always prefer the slightly rustic look of naked cakes, where the sponge is still visible through the frosting. I say ‘prefer’ but the real reason is that I am too impatient to achieve a perfectly frosted look!

I topped my vegan tropical celebration cake with a mango ‘rose’ which is simply mango ribbons arranged in a concentric circle so that they resemble a blooming rose. You could simply top with mango slices and a passion fruit seeds or coconut shavings and edible flowers instead. Take a look at the video below to see how it’s done!

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Vegan tropical celebration cake

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Total Time

50 mins

 

This beautiful vegan tropical celebration cake is filled with vegan mango curd, passion fruit flavoured frosting and topped with a spectacular mango ‘rose’. Impressive and yet easy to create.

Course: Cake

Servings: 8

Author: Lucy Parissi

Ingredients

For the cake

• 225 g 8oz dairy-free spread
• 400 ml 14oz can coconut milk, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 200 g | 7oz caster sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 425 g 15oz self-raising flour (or see notes)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 lime finely grated zest only

For the vegan mango curd

• 1 large mango peeled and cubed
• 400 ml 14oz can coconut milk
• 4 tbsp agave syrup
• 3 tbsp arrowroot powder or cornflour
• Juice of 2 limes

For the icing and decoration

• 225 g 8oz dairy-free spread
• 450 g 16oz icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tbsp strained passion fruit juice
• 1 tsp vanilla or coconut extract
• 1 firm mango to decorate
• Lime zest to decorate

For the lime syrup

• 120 g 4oz sugar
• Juice of 2 limes
• Water

Instructions

1. Make the mango curd: put all the ingredients in a high-power blender and blitz until smooth. Taste and stir in more agave syrup or more lime juice, to taste.
2. Strain the pulp into a saucepan over a fine sieve and discard any solids.
3. Cook over low heat, stirring with a balloon whisk, until the curd thickens. Transfer to a jar and leave to cool completely. Seal the jar and chill in the fridge overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Spray four 15 (6 in) cake tins with cake release (or grease with vegan spread) and line the bottoms with baking paper.

5. Mix the coconut milk and vinegar and leave to stand for ten minutes. Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together in a bowl.

6. Add all the ingredients, into a food processor or blender and process until the batter is completely smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the processor midway to ensure all the ingredients are well blended.

7. Divide the batter between the prepared tins and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are springy to the touch and coming away from the sides of the tins. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean.

8. Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 10 minutes the carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool. 

9. Add the lime juice in a measuring jar and top with enough water to make up 120ml (1/2 cup) liquid. Add to a saucepan together with the sugar and cook over low heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and mixture almost comes to a simmer. Transfer to a jar to cool (leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to a week).

10. Brush a little of the syrup over the cakes and then cover loosely with cling film.
11. Add the vegan spread and icing sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to combine then increase the speed, gradually adding the strained passion fruit juice, until frosting is smooth. Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a plain round tip.

12. Transfer the mango curd to a piping bag, snipping a small hole on the tip.

13. Sandwich the cakes with the frosting and mango curd, piping a ring of frosting on the perimeter of the cakes to encase the curd.
14. Add a thin layer of frosting over the top and sides of the cake and smooth using a side scraper. Place the cake in the freezer for 30 minutes.
15. Add another layer of frosting over the chilled cake, smoothing as before.

16. Peel ribbons off a ripe but firm mango, using a potato peeler. Arrange the ribbons in a concentric circle so that they resemble a blooming rose.

17. Sprinkle the cake with lime zest and add a few edible flowers as decoration.

Recipe Notes

Best eaten soon after assembled but it will keep for a day in the fridge for up to a day.
Instead of self-raising flour, you can use plain (all purpose) flour and add 5 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp bicarbonate (baking) soda. Make sure your flour and raising agents are still fresh, otherwise you may end up with a dense bake.

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