Vegan Designed Sponge Cake

I am wildly inspired by The Squeaky Mixer's designed sponge cakes -

wildly.

But applying Maddison Koutrouba's formula and techniques to a plant-based batter was no small task. After failing to veganize conventional recipes, I conducted a review of vegan sponge cakes seeking the ideal consistency for creating these arresting desserts. (I know, boohoo, I had to eat cake!)

Actually, some attempts were pretty sad:

Which recipe worked?

Bianca Zapatka's Perfect Vegan Vanilla Sponge Cake was the most promising formula. Indeed, my own recipe is a close adaption of hers. thank you, Bianca!

Easy-As Cake...

...comparatively. Even with boxed mixes, cakes are projects. Yet if I had to recommend one decorating technique (beyond frosting fundamentals), I would recommend this one:

• Only basic equipment and ingredients are needed (parchment paper, nonstick cake pans, professional food coloring gels, piping bags...)
• Designs may be specific; if you can trace it - and pipe it - you can make it

Moreover, baking is closer to the last than first step of making a decorated cake. The final product, therefore, is fresher than cakes destined for frosting and/or fondant which need to be baked, chilled, and crumb-coated before anything else.

but the best part, parents? Nobody fights over the 🤬 rose. It's easier to enforce, "You get what you get, and you don't get upset," when every piece has the same amount of frosting!

Basic Equipment and Ingredients

Equipment

• thick and dark pencil
• nonstick pan(s)
• piping bags

The following 3 thoughts were discouraged via experience:

1. I'll just use a regular pencil...

This thought works until you grease your nonstick pan and drop your drawing on top. Since regular pencil lines are roughly the same color as nonstick pans, you'll barely be able to see what you need to trace. Find yourself a thick and dark pencil!

Maddison Koutrouba (the aforementioned blogger behind The Squeaky Mixer) recommends Jewem edible markers. If you have to make a purchase, you may wish to follow her lead. Using a thick and dark pencil personally allowed me to avoid buying anything besides professional food coloring gel (more on that later).

2. I'll use a glass pan next time...

Glass would surely allow you to see any lines! But after you pipe your design, you have to freeze it; shortly after you freeze it, you have to bake it...and putting frozen glass into a hot oven will cause it to shatter.

3. I use zip-top bags to pipe all the time...

For putting frosting on cupcakes, zip-top bags are great! But that's not what you're doing here.

Because they're seamless (or virtually seamless), piping bags produce cylindrical lines. The rigid seams on the bottom and sides of zip-top bags, however, translate into ovoid lines.

Think of tracing with a calligraphy pen versus a rounded writing tool: Unless you're constantly shifting the angle of your grip, your vertical lines will be narrower than your horizontal ones with a calligraphy pen. Piping with a zip-top bag presents a similar challenge.

Thankfully, disposable piping bags can be cheaper per piece than zip-top bags. There are too many comparable brands to link one here.

Ingredients

Two ingredients are non-negotiable:

• soy or almond milk
• professional food coloring gel

Soy or Almond Milk

Only soy or almond milk will put the "sponge" in "vegan sponge cake". My recipe begins with vegan buttermilk which is created by thickening (or, more specifically, curdling) a non-dairy milk with an acid.

A variety of acids will curdle: apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, lemon juice, etc. However, only 2 non-dairy milks will be curdled: soy and almond. The protein in other "milks" just doesn't react.

Professional Food Coloring Gel

not McCormick. With love and respect for McCormick, their food coloring gel is not intense enough for this application. Almost every time I use it, I empty an entire tube desperately trying to achieve the depth I want. But I never do - and then my dessert tastes like food coloring.

I make no money when I suggest spending money, and I never suggest spending money lightly. That said, professional food coloring gel is worth purchasing. The vibrancy of just one drop is incredible!

Even if you are making this type of cake for the first time, plan a monochromatic design and buy one tube. I guarantee you'll be amazed! (I currently have this professional food coloring gel set from Ann Clark in my pantry, but other brands like US Cake Supply and Chefmaster are just as reputable.)

Step-by-Step Overview with Pictures

Please peruse my recipe; the following guide is merely an introduction:

1. Fit and transfer design to measured parchment.

2. Make vanilla sponge cake batter (below), then portion-out and dye batter according to number and amount of color(s) needed.

3. Pipe design upside-down inside a greased pan. Freeze pan 10 minutes, then add remaining batter.

4. Bake and flip immediately.

5. If desired, assemble once cool.