Vegan Funfetti Cake

Funfetti cake is popular among kids and adults. Funfetti cake is a simple vanilla cake with sprinkles that melt and make the cake colorful. I can't even keep track of how many funfetti cakes I would have baked over the years. Of course, things are a lot different now, especially, after becoming a vegan and also trying to make healthy choices. Ever since, I turned vegan, I stopped using cake box mixes (always felt guilty using them, so this was a good reason to stop) and have baked my cakes from scratch prior to which I used to only bake cookies and quick breads.

My daughter's b'day was approaching and I wanted to bake a cake for her.  I couldn't think of baking any other cake for a 1 yr old and also this is the first cake she would be tasting as well. The first time I made the cake I followed the recipe and decorated with pink buttercream frosting with pink crystal sprinkles (its a girl's 1st b'day after all...pink rulz!!). She was excited to cut the cake and was happy about everyone singing her Happy B'day. Little did she know that we planned a bigger celebration that following weekend. 

I was in a hurry to bake her b'day cake and wanted it to be flawless. The original recipe was super moist and had the melt in your mouth texture.She thoroughly enjoyed her cake and kept coming back for more :) This time, I tweaked the recipe to make a smaller cake, with lot less fat and a tad bit healthy but equally delicious. Now, you don't need a reason to bake a cake, do ya???

Adapted from Girl who bakes

Ingredients:

For Funfetti cake:

3/4 cup powdered raw sugar 
1 cup almond milk, unsweetened (I use Almond Breeze)
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp oil
2 tbsp cornstarch
3 - 3 1/2 tbsp rainbow sprinkles
1 - 2 tbsp confetti sprinkles, for decoration

For vanilla glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp almond milk (or water)
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a small bowl, whisk the milk and vinegar. Set aside until the mixture curdles.

Sift the whole wheat pastry flour (sifting the flour makes the cake lighter), cornstarch, salt, baking powder, baking soda. Add sugar (increase to 1 cup, if you like it sweeter) and rainbow sprinkles.

In a mixing bowl, whisk oil and vanilla extract with wet ingredients (milk-vinegar mix and applesauce). 

Note: I actually forgot to add the applesauce to the wet ingredients and the cake turned out slightly moist but adding applesauce makes the cake more moist.

Now, mix the dry ingredients with wet. Grease a bundt cake pan (or any other pan) with cooking spray, pour the cake batter and bake for 35 mins. 

Insert a toothpick to check if its baked all the way through. Allow to cool completely before using a glaze (otherwise the glaze melts away).

  

The cake on its own was not very sweet but the glaze balances out the sweetness.

Note: If you don't like using vinegar, you can use 1 1/2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice but make sure to add it to the cake batter after adding all ingredients, mix quickly (the batter will slightly foam up) and immediately transfer to the cake pan to bake. 

For glaze:

In a small bowl, add the powdered sugar, salt, almond milk (or water) and vanilla extract. Mix well until the glaze is smooth and slightly thick.

Using a spoon, liberally drizzle the glaze on the cake. Add the confetti sprinkles on top of the glaze so that it sticks well. 

Makes 10-12 servings.

Adai with Peanut Chutney

Adai (mixed dal/pulses) is a variety of dosa (crepe prepared from fermented batter made using rice and broken black gram) found in Southern India. It comprises of various pulses which makes it protein packed and satisfying breakfast/dinner. Every once in a while, I make them especially when I run out of the idli/dosa batter and grow a bit tired of eating the usuals. The use of asafoetida and ginger adds a nice flavor to these crepes as well as aids in digesting the different pulses.  

Adai is generally thicker than the regular dosa and not as crispy. In some places in southern india, it is served with avial (kerala-based dish made with vegetables in a mildly spicy yogurt-coconut gravy). Since, it tends to be a bit dense and flavorful on its own, you really don't need any accompaniment but coconut or peanut chutney works well. This dish brings back memories from my school days...every time mom made them, I used to enjoy them with chill-garlic sauce. No wonder I still like spicy and flavorful food..who doesn't???

Ingredients:

For Adai:

1/4 cup split & peeled mung/moong beans (broken green gram/moong dal)
1/4 cup whole mung/moong beans (whole green gram)
1/4 cup urad dal (broken black gram)
1/4 cup toor dal (red gram)
1/4 cup channa dal (bengal gram)
1/4 cup masoor dal (red lentils)
3-4 green chillies
4-5 dry red chillies
Few curry leaves
1/8 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp black  peppercorns
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Salt, to taste
1/2 inch peeled fresh ginger (optional)

For Peanut Chutney:

2/3 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts
2 green chillies
2-3 tbsp fresh or frozen grated coconut
1/2 tsp tamarind paste (adjust to taste)
Salt, to taste

For tempering:

1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
Few Curry leaves

Method:

For the Adai:

In a large bowl, soak all the pulses together overnight.

In a blender/mixer, take half the batch of soaked pulses, add 2 green and 2 red chillies,  little asafoetida, curry leaves, 1/4 tsp each of peppercorns and cumin seeds, 1/4 inch ginger and salt. Grind well into a medium coarse paste. 

Repeat the same for the remaining batch of pulses.

Note: Unlike the usual idli/dosa batter, this batter does not require any fermentation and can be used immediately.

On medium-high heat, in a flat pan (or tawa), take a ladle full of the batter and spread evenly into a circle and drizzle some oil on it.

Cook the dosa for few mins until it starts to turn slightly golden brown, flip to the other side and let it cook for 1-2 mins.  Remove from pan. 

Serve hot with peanut/coconut chutney or sambar.

For a variation, you can add chopped cilantro and some chopped red onions (raw or sautéed)  to the batter.

For Peanut Chutney:

In a blender, add the dry roasted peanuts, green chillies, grated coconut, tamarind paste and salt. Dry grind the ingredients and add  little water at a time and grind to a fine paste (might require up to 1/4 cup water..adjust based on the consistency). Add more salt or tamarind paste, if required. Pour the chutney into a serving bowl.

In a small tempering pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.  After the mustard seeds start to splutter and urad dal turns slightly golden brown, turn it off. Pour the tempering over the chutney. Mix well and serve.

Makes 8-9 dosas. 

Strawberry Lemonade

For the past couple weeks, the weather has been a bit unpredictable in the East coast. Sometimes, it gets crazy hot and super sunny which has you thirsty throughout the day. After debating whether to use the strawberries (that I had lying in my refrigerator for a while) in desserts or not, my mind kept leaning towards beverage of some sort. Mostly, I make fruit smoothie with berries and banana but wanted to keep it simple yet refreshing for a hot sunny day. So, here's a strawberry lemonade recipe to add to your list of summer drinks...

Ingredients:

1 cup strawberry pureé
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (adjust to taste)
4 - 4 1/2 tbsp raw sugar (adjust to taste)
3 1/2 cups chilled water

Method:

Prepare a pureé of the strawberries and strain it to filter the seeds from the pureé.

Squeeze some fresh lemon juice and add it to the strawberry pureé along with sugar and mix well.

Add the chilled water and stir well until the sugar dissolves. Store the prepared strawberry lemonade in the refrigerator and serve cold. Enjoy!!  

For a variation, you can add lemon lime soda for a frizzy strawberry lemonade.

Makes 4 1/2 cups.