Eggless maple pecan cake

As you may have realised, there’s been a spate of vegetarian recipes on this blog. Not that I’ve suddenly decided to turn into a herbivore- god knows I could never give up my deep fried chicken or grilled prawns- but it’s Thaipusam next week and I’ve begun  my vegetarian fast for it. Thus all my recent attempts in the kitchen have been eggless and meatless.

I came across this recipe on Shammi’s blog a few months back and dutifully scribbled it into my recipe book, vowing to try it out soon. I even bought an entire bottle of pure maple syrup just for it. Well finally, I got down to it last night. 

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Remember my research into eggless cakes last year? One of the things I noticed was that alot of the recipes called for buttermilk, cos the fermented milk makes the cakes soft and spongy, and gives it abit of lift, which traditionally comes from eggs. Shammi’s recipe asked for milk and lemon juice, presumably to create soured milk, akin to buttermilk. Since I had some Greek yogurt, I substituted the milk and lemon mixture with equal portions of yogurt and milk i.e. 1/4 cup Greek yogurt + 1/4 cup milk for 1/2 cup milk + juice of 1/2 a lemon. My theory worked I guess, cos the cake was fluffy and soft, nobody would have guessed it to be vegetarian. Following this logic, I think it’d be safe to substitute the milk and lemon even with 1/2 cup of buttermilk or with equal portions of milk and regular yogurt.     

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Other than that, I have to point out that this has been one of my most successful forays in eggless cakes. Everything turned out great, the cake rose beautifully, filled the house with the most beautiful scents while it baked, did not peak, tasted great and was so so simple to put together. Best of all, it was yummy enough that I didn’t have to do anything more than dust it with some icing sugar before serving. Of course, if you want to make it alot more decadent, a maple buttercream sprinkled with pecan praline would make it the perfect vegetarian party cake.

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Maple Pecan Cake

(from Shammi)

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1 1/2 cups cake flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp caster sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 tbsp pure maple syrup  

1/2 cup milk + juice of half a lemon

OR

1/4 cup yogurt (Greek or regular) + 1/4 cup milk

OR

1/2 cup buttermilk 

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Stir in sugar and chopped pecans.

2. Mix together oil, maple syrup, milk and lemon juice (or any of the substitutes).

3. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ones with a large spoon until everything is just combined. Do not overmix.

4. Pour into a 8″ square tin, greased and bottom lined with greaseproof paper. Bake at 350 degree F for 40 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

5. Cool in tin for ten minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar or frost with your favorite buttercream recipe before serving.  

A perfectly golden brown crust for the perfect eggless cake