Vegan Gluten-Free Funfetti Birthday Cake

• Canned Goods

  • 1 1/4 cups (326 g "lite" coconut milk, lite

• Condiments

  • 2 1/4 cups Maple syrup, pure

• Baking & Spices

  • 1 1/2 cups Almond flour
  • 4 tsp Double-acting baking powder
  • 3/4 cup Potato starch
  • 8 tbsp Powdered sugar, vegan
  • 1 tsp Sea salt, fine
  • 2 2/3 tbsp Vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups White rice flour

• Dairy

  • 6 tbsp Cashew butter, raw
  • 1 cup Plant milk

• Other

  • 6 tablespoons (72 g vegan sprinkles (I used this brand , they are gorgeous!

Found on thevegan8.com

Description

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (168 g) blanched almond flour (See below NOTE)
• 1 1/2 cups (240 g) white rice flour, I use Bobs Red Mill (brown rice flour does not work here, the white is crucial for structure and taste)
• 3/4 cup (144 g) potato starch, not potato flour
• 4 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 1/4 cups (440 g) pure maple syrup
• 1 1/4 cups (326 g) lite coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract (30 ml)
• 6 tablespoons (72 g) vegan sprinkles (I used this brand , they are gorgeous!)
• 2 cups (460 g)melted liquid coconut butter (this is simply pureed coconut)I highly recommend buying this from the store instead of making your own, as the storebought is much smoother. I recommend Maranatha brand or Dastony from Whole Foods. Make sure the only ingredient is coconut. The end frosting result is milder in coconut flavor too.)
• 1 cup plant milk (I used lite coconut milk)
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 6 tablespoons (96 g) raw cashew butter
• 8 tablespoons (60 g) vegan powdered sugar (I use Wholesome Sweeteners brand)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla powder (I use a white powder instead of extract to keep the frosting as white as possible. I LOVE this brand , it has no weird aftertaste, just heavenly)

Directions

• This cake is best made the day of the party so it is moist and has the best structure, so plan to make it the morning of. The frosting however can be made the day before, just remove it from the fridge an hour or so before needing to frost the cake. As always, use a scale for accuracy. This is so crucial when using gluten-free flours. So, do yourself a favor and get a scale. I use this one and have for 2 years and love it. We all measure with cups differently, so following my weight measurements will yield what I shared above.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray two 8 inch round cake pans (with 2 inch tall sides) and line with a round piece of parchment paper just on the bottoms. I used coconut oil nonstick spray.
• To a very large bowl, weigh each flour (zeroing out in between) and add to the bowl the almond flour, rice flour and potato starch. If you absolutely must use measuring cups, scoop the flours out with the cup and lightly pat down each flour making sure there are no gaps, then level off. Add the baking powder and salt and whisk really well to break up any lumps. It should be light and smooth.
• To the same bowl, pour in the syrup, milk and vanilla. Whisk again for at least a minute until it becomes completely smooth and thickens a bit. It will seem too runny at first, whisk a full minute or so. Stir in the sprinkles. Pour the batter evenly among the 2 pans. Give it a jiggle to smooth out.
• Bake both cakes on the same rack with a couple inches in between them for best results for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out totally clean. Each trial I did was perfect at exactly 25 minutes each time. You dont want any wet batter. Should be clean, a couple of DRY crumbs are ok. Leave in the pan for 30 minutes, no exceptions, or it can crack if removed too early. Place a piece of parchment paper on a cooling rack and invert it over the cake pan and flip the cake over and release. Leave to fully cool 1 full hour. Crucial to let it finish cooking a full hour before frosting.
• For the frosting, I use a straight icing spatula and my dough scraper for easy spreading and smoothing. Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature. If the milk or syrup is cold, it will cause the coconut butter to harden upon contact and ruin your icing and then you will be crying. Coconut butter is finicky and once it seizes up, its very hard to get it back. If your coconut butter is hardened, it is crucial to melt it to a complete runny liquid, it should basically look like oil when pouring it. Simply heat it in the microwave for 15-30 seconds and stir to get it thoroughly mixed and smooth, be very careful not to burn it. If you did not measure the weight of it already, then you must measure out 2 full cups (460 g) of the melted butter. Add it to the food processor and quickly add the remaining ingredients. Process until completely smooth and a nut butter consistency. Pour into a bowl, making sure to scrape out all that yummy icing. Place in the freezer for 20-30 mins until its firm enough to whip. If it gets too hard, just let it sit at room temperature until it softens back up. If it is too stiff, it will not spread easily on your cake and can tear your cake. Whip just a few minutes until fluffy. Spread a layer onto the bottom cake, place the next cake on top (with the rounded dome top facing up) and start to frost the cake. The best way to frost a cake is to add a super thin layer on first to smooth out any crumbs, then add a bunch of frosting on the top of the cake and begin to spread it out to the edges, letting it slightly hand over and pulling it down, continuing to add more as needed. Once you are ready to smooth the sides, it is best to go into one continuous direction, spinning your cake stand around as you gently drag the icing spatula along. Dont drag it back and forth or it will create a mess and can pull crumbs into the icing. Keep repeating until your cake is fully covered. Once youve iced the whole cake, if you drag the edge of the icing spatula very gently across the top and then sides, you can create a very smooth, clean look. A dough scraper edge helps too. It can take practice to get it down. Decorate with extra sprinkles and devour! When slicing the cake, use a very sharp smooth knife for clean slices, as a rough jagged knife will tear the cake more, making a messier slice.
• While I usually suggest storing leftover cake at room temp, I found with my trials that this cake is delicious stored at both room temp and in the fridge. However, I would suggest storing your cake in a cake dome or on a large plate covered tightly with foil at room temp, to keep it more moist this way. The frosting does soften a bit the longer it sits at room temp, especially if you live in a hot climate. If you store the cake in the fridge, the frosting will harden and the cake can dry out a bit quicker, but it was still really delicious the day after and I liked it cold. Whatever your preference.