Cake

This is the best vegan banana bread ever—super moist and deliciously sweet from the dates.

So simple, yet so perfect. These cupcakes are topped with a chocolate buttercream frosting made with no butter, no cream—but it’s rich, chocolaty, and creamy nonetheless! This frosting will frost 12 cupcakes if you’re piping it, more if you’re just spreading the frosting. If you have leftover frosting, it will keep for weeks tightly covered in the fridge. Just let it come to room temperature and whip it up again. For added panache, dress these cupcakes up with sprinkles for kids’ birthday parties, or top them with Rice Milk Chocolate Ganache (page 104).

The perfect birthday cupcake, these vanilla beauties can be decorated any way you like. Top them with confetti, decorating sugar, sugared violets, edible flowers . . . the possibilities are endless. My husband says they taste like a vegan Twinkie. I take that as a compliment.

Of all the cupcakes in this book, these are my favorite. When I baked up a dozen, I personally consumed nine out of twelve. I even ate the one I had set aside for my husband. Yup, it’s true. They’re that good.

These look like Hostess Sno Balls but are much healthier. They taste sublime, and are so very, very pretty.

These could just as easily be called “Allergen-Free Heaven.” Need I say more?

Maple syrup is a great way to sweeten chocolate treats in place of refined sugar. I prefer to use Grade B maple syrup, which is richer in flavor, higher in nutrients, but lighter on the wallet than Grade A.

SunButter is truly a gift from the gods for kids with peanut and tree nut allergies. These cupcakes are delicious and nutritious. Top them with SunButter Buttercream or with Rice Milk Chocolate Ganache for a refined sugar–free treat. Or go for broke, and pipe the tops with SunButter Buttercream, and then drizzle with Rice Milk Chocolate Ganache!

This is the ultimate chocolate birthday cake. It keeps well for days, covered or wrapped in the fridge, staying moist and rich. My friend Erika, who can eat wheat, dairy, and eggs, marveled at how delicious this cake is; her husband (who never eats frosting) loved this one so much he ate all the frosting first, then ate the cake part. When people who have no dietary restrictions eat my recipes simply because they desire them, not out of necessity, then I know I’ve done my job.

Classic, timeless, and so versatile. Dress this lovely up with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (page 91), Dark Chocolate Frosting (page 107), or Vanilla Frosting (page 93), as suits your mood.

These lightly floral, agave-sweetened gems are a multipurpose cupcake. Pair them with any frosting you like.

My French friend Christèle was kind enough to share her recipe for gâteau au yaourt. I have adapted it here to be allergen-free, but it doesn’t suffer one bit. The beauty of this recipe is in its simplicity. It is easy, fast, and clean. You use the yogurt container (called “measure” in the recipe) as a measuring tool. Feel free to experiment with adding additional flavors to this cake, such as lemon or orange zest, or more rum, brandy, or cardamom. It’s a great basic template to play with.

Tender, moist, and so easy to make, this cake is great as an after-school snack or at teatime, but it also makes a fabulous easy breakfast. It reminds me of Sara Lee Banana Cake, which my mom used to keep in the freezer for those times she wasn’t baking. I was always sneaking a sliver.

My whole family goes crazy for red velvet cake. It’s so gorgeous and festive and sounds so luxe. This old-fashioned Southern favorite can be made even healthier by using Seelect Natural Food Coloring, which I order online (see Resources, page 177). That way, you can let them eat cake without the slightest tinge of guilt.

This fabulous low-fat teacake is a favorite with kids and grown-ups alike. My sons like it for breakfast with a glass of rice milk, I prefer it in the afternoon with a nice cup of tea, and my husband eats his with a scoop of Vanilla Rice Dream for dessert. Make it a day in advance so the flavors meld.

This rich and highly nutritious cake is loaded with vitamin C and vitamin A. It’s moist and keeps well for days.

I learned from my mother that the easiest dessert to bake for a dinner party is a simple spongecake. It takes almost no time and can be dressed up to look quite fancy. This not-too-sweet cake can be served with fresh berries or compote and topped with a dollop of Vegan Whipped Topping (page 113) for a light finish to any meal.

This is a sophisticated cake that also gets “two thumbs up!” from my kids. I’ve been told it tastes like pound cake, but because it’s made with canola oil, not butter, it’s really a vegan chiffon cake. Chiffon cakes are very moist, and do not tend to harden or dry out as much as cakes made with butter or shortening, because the oil stays liquid, even at cooler temperatures. Chiffon cakes are traditionally served with flavorful sauces or other accompaniments, such as chocolate or fruit fillings.

I take this cake to meetings at my sons’ school and wow the teachers. It’s a conference room favorite. Nobody can believe it’s vegan and gluten-free. It’s straight-up classic coffee cake—moist and buttery, with a scrumptious crumb topping.

This moist, buttery coffee cake with its crisp, cinnamon-sugar topping is based on an old fashioned recipe from the 1950s, called Blueberry Boy Bait, a coffee cake named for the effect it had on teenage boys. My boys aren’t teens yet, but this bait works for them. They’ll gobble it up in one day—with not a crumb left over.