Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Walnut Cake with Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting

I made this cake for Mother's Day for my mom.  She doesn't really have a sweet tooth, so I knew I had to create something that wasn't overpowering.  This turned out really well.  It is moist and has a texture that was appealing to everyone.  I used ingredients I had on hand (meaning I didn't have an inordinate amount of powdered sugar), so the frosting came out differently than my normal ones, but I really like it.  It comes off as seemingly too thin at first, but it sets up well, especially if you chill it for about ten minutes after spreading.  I also forgot to cream the sugar and margarine together, as is normally the custom - I whisked the sugar in with the dry ingredients instead.  Realizing my goof, I just added a bit of oil to the wet, and all turned out well.  In fact, I kept this "mistake" in my directions.  (I also used Trader Joe's vegan cream cheese instead of Tofutti, so the frosting isn't very white.)  Hope you and yours enjoy this, my latest original recipe.  

Walnut Cake with Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting
(unfortunately on a plain cake carrier for traveling)

Slice of that wonderful cake
(on a nice plate :-) )

Walnut Cake with Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

Cake:

Non-stick spray
Flour for dusting
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup vegan or raw sugar
3 cups almond milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts, that have been chopped small

Frosting:

1 - 8oz. pkg. vegan cream cheese, room temperature
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 and 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup finely ground walnuts

 Directions:

 For the cake:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray two round cake pans with non-stick spray and lightly dust them with flour.  Set aside.  Whisk together in a large bowl the flour through the sugar.  Add the almond milk through the vanilla extract.  Blend with a hand mixer on medium low speed until well mixed, about three minutes or so. Stir in the walnuts.  Divide batter between the two cake pans.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.  Set on cooling racks for fifteen minutes.  Remove cakes from pans, and continue cooling on racks until completely cooled.

For the frosting:  In a medium bowl, cream the cream cheese and vanilla extract with a hand mixer on low speed.  Add the powdered sugar and continue blending.  When well blended fold in the walnuts with a spatula.  Spread a generous amount of frosting on the top of one cake.  Add the second cake on top, and finish frosting.  It's easiest if you frost the top first, then take a non-serrated butter knife or a narrow spatula to spread the sides.  This frosting seem a tad runny at first, but chilling the cake for a few minutes after the frosting has been spread will help it set up.  This is very good and different.  Feeds five hungry vegans and a couple of grandparents with leftovers to boot.

16 comments:

  1. I was so close to having all of the ingredients necessary to make this cake. I threw out my almond milk because I just thought it was the most awful tasting thing. The cake looks like heaven.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nellie, so close! Well, you can certainly use whatever vegan milk you have on hand. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would love this! It looks so moist, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my! You had me with the picture! I don't care for overly sweet, so I bet this would be a very dangerous cake to have in my house. :) I'll have to make it, and take it somewhere to share! Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow! That looks so delicious! The frosting is just jumping off the page! MMMM!! Thanks for the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Molly, it was very moist! :-)

    Ingrid, this was not oversweet. It was perfect for my mom, so you might like it too.

    GFHT, thank you...and you're welcome!

    ReplyDelete
  7. BM I am drooling on this end...it looks scrumptious.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The cake texture looks especially appealing, though I would have to pick out the walnuts. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Millie, thank you. :-)

    Andrea, thanks. You don't like walnuts? Allergy?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love walnuts, just not in baked things. For some weird reason I can't stand to eat nuts in baked goods or ice cream. I can eat them in salads, though!

      Delete
  10. I could see myself making this, but I would have to eat the whole thing myself. Just regular self rising flour? Not cake flour?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Andrea, ah, that's...weird. I mean, no, I totally understand!

    SV, just regular ol' all-purpose flour. You will add the leavening ingredients. I'll make the change to the ingredients list.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Not being a walnut person, could pecans be used in place of the walnuts?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Jenny, thanks!

    Lynette, I'm sure they could.

    Don, thank you. :-)

    ReplyDelete