This is the perfect afternoon tea cake.
Makes 1 x 20 cm (8 inch) cake
Preparation 20 minutes
Cooking 55 minutes, plus a couple of hours cooling
INGREDIENTS
160 ml (51⁄4 fl oz) vegetable oil,
plus extra for oiling
250 g (9 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
180 ml soya yoghurt
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
100 g (31⁄2 oz) shelled pistachio nuts, finely ground, plus extra, crushed, to decorate
200 g (7 oz/11⁄3 cups) self-raising flour
30 g (1 oz/1⁄4 cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1⁄4 teaspoon fine sea salt
120 ml soya milk
For the icing (FROSTING)
100 g (31⁄2 oz) non-dairy butter, softened
200 g (7 oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted
1⁄2teaspoon orange blossom water
1⁄2teaspoon vanilla extract
1 squeeze lemon
METHOD
1 Heat the oven to 160°C (315°F/Gas 2–3). Oil a 20 cm (8 inch) cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
2 Beat the oil and sugar together until well combined. Add the yoghurt, orange blossom water, vanilla and orange zest and beat until incorporated. Set aside.
3 In a separate bowl, whisk together the ground pistachio nuts, the flours, baking powder, ground cardamom and salt. Gradually add the yoghurt mixture to the flour mixture, alternating with the milk and stirring between each addition until smooth. Be careful not to overbeat.
4 Pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the top starts to brown too much before the cake is cooked, loosely cover with foil. Let the cake stand in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
5 Meanwhile, beat together all the icing ingredients until smooth and creamy. Chill until needed but remove from the fridge 10 minutes before using. When the cake is completely cold, smooth the icing over the top and side and sprinkle with the crushed pistachio nuts.
Recipes and images from Easy Vegan by Sue Quinn, $39.99 available now.