Cake – How to veganize and improve this cake recipe

cakesubstitutionsvegan

I have the Build-a-bear cake pan from Williams-Sonoma. The cake recipe is as follows:

  • 3 cups (470g) all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 16 tbs (250g) unsalted butter
  • 2 cups (500g) sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups milk
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Sift together dry ingredients; cream butter, sugar, eggs; combine milk+vanilla; add flour to butter mixture alternating with the milk. Bake at 325F for 45-55 mins.

This cake made in a cake pan with two wells. Each well is a vertical half of the seated teddy-bear. When it is done you trim the cake with a knife then glue the halves together with icing. This recipe makes a basic vanilla flavoured cake which is a bit on the dry side. When it's slathered in mocha icing the dryness is ok but when I use fondant icing to decorate it's too dry overall.

This year I want to make a bear cake again, however there are two changes I need to make. First, I'd like to make the cake moister without sacrificing its physical durability (it needs to be able to sit up without crumbling apart). Second, I need to replace the milk, eggs, and butter with non-dairy/non-eggs because my new son is allergic to milk and eggs. I'd ask two separate questions but I think they both need to be addressed at the same time.

How can I make this cake better tasting AND vegan?

Best Answer

To make it vegan is simple:

  • Replace the milk with any other kind of milk (soy, rice, hemp, etc.)
  • Replace butter with some kind of margarine (I recommend Earth Balance, but just pick anything that doesn't have trans fats)
  • Replace eggs with either commercial egg replacer, or apple sauce

As for making it moister, I have no idea.