Vegan Coconut, Orange, and Chocolate Birthday Cake
Vegan coconut cake with orange & a coconut milk chocolate ganache. Perfect for holidays & birthdays, with shredded coconut, coconut oil, and coconut milk.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Vegan
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Setting Time 4 hourshours
Total Time 45 minutesminutes
Ingredients
Vegan Coconut Cake with Orange
300grams/ 2 1/2 cups light spelt flour
150grams/ 1 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
1tablespoonarrowroot powder
3teaspoonsbaking powder
1teaspoonbaking soda
½teaspoonsea salt
½teaspoonvanilla powder*
250ml/ 1 cup coconut milk
250ml/ 1 cup orange juice**
125ml/ 1/2 cup maple syrup***
140grams/ 1/2 cup coconut oilmelted
Zest of 4 organic oranges
Chocolate Orange Whipped Ganache
500ml/ 2 cups coconut creamfrom the top of a can of full-fat coconut milk
150grams1 1/2 bars dark chocolate, 70% cocoa or higher
½teaspoonvanilla powder
Zest of an organic orange
Pinchsalt
Instructions
Vegan Coconut Cake with Orange
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F and grease two 20cm / 8 inch springform pans with coconut oil. In a large bowl, sift together* the spelt flour, arrowroot powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla powder. Stir in the shredded coconut and make a well in the centre.
In another bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, orange juice, maple syrup, and orange zest. Slowly add the coconut oil in a steady stream, whisking, until incorporated. Doing this keeps the coconut oil from solidifying into large chunks as it's added.
Pour the orange juice mixture into the dry ingredients and gently whisk until just combined. Don't over mix. Pour half of the batter into one prepared pan and the other half into the second pan. Shake gently to level the batter and then bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are golden and pulling away from the edges of the pans. If you're not sure, do a toothpick test.
Place the cakes onto a cooling rack and cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing the sides. Cool for another 30 minutes before carefully flipping and removing the base of the pan. Cool completely before placing into a sealed container to keep before icing and serving.
Chocolate Orange Whipped Ganache
Chop the chocolate and place it in a heatproof bowl, then set aside. Heat the coconut milk in a small saucepan over medium to a simmer. Pour the milk over the chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds, then whisk to combine. Add the vanilla, orange zest, and salt, then whisk again. Cool in the refrigerator overnight or for at least four hours.
When you're ready to assemble the cake, take the ganache out of the fridge. Use a hand-mixer to whip on high for 2-3 minutes or until fluffy. It will seem too hard at first but the beaters will manage. Place one cake onto your serving dish or board, add about 1/3 of the ganache, and spread it out in an even layer. Place the second cake on top and use the remaining ganache to coat the top and sides of the cake. Top with melted chocolate (I chose dark orange chocolate), orange zest, and some shaved or grated chocolate. Serve immediately. The cake keeps well in the fridge for up to three days, but it will have a denser texture after being refrigerated.
Notes
• There's a good chance that regular cake pans would work, but I haven't tried it. • Spelt flour tends to be a bit lumpy, so sifting is quite important. I just use a fine sieve and bang on the side to get it to go through. • If you let it sit the icing will become more solid instead of retaining the fluffy texture, so it's best to eat it right away if you can. * You can use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract in place of the vanilla powder in the cake. Just add it to the wet ingredients. ** I squeezed the four oranges I used for the zest and it was exactly a cup (lucky!) and I recommend using fresh juice if you can. If your oranges aren't very juicy then top it off with juice from the fridge. *** I have tested this with runny honey and it works as well. I personally find it a bit too sweet with honey but it's a fine substitution.