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Eggless Whole Wheat Layer Cake
Are you like me, crazy about a cookbook? If you are interested in baking, want to include whole grains while doing so and also want the baked goods to be very tasty, then you will have to check King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking book and I’m sure you will become a fan like me. It is not just a book with recipes but talks in detail about the different types of whole grain flours, their characteristics and how to use them effectively so the result is very delicious baked goods. It’s a 600 pages cookbook, so you can understand the in-depth coverage of the subject matter. You have abundant choice with recipes for breakfast, quick breads, yeast breads, cookies, cakes, desserts etc. It’s like any other baking book when it comes to the huge collection of baking recipes but what makes it the best is that all these recipes are made with a variety of whole grain flours.
I had to bake a layer cake for for the final class of Course 1 of Wilton’s Cake Decorating series. I decided to go with one of the cake recipes in the King Arthur’s Whole Grain Baking book. Since I’m on the look out for a good egg free white cake recipe, I decided to try the butter cake recipe using whole wheat pastry flour. I made a couple of changes to that recipe to make it egg free and healthy.
Is this cake really healthy? The answer is both yes and no. Yes, because I have used trans fat free non hydrogenated margarine instead of butter in the original recipe, thereby reducing the fat and eliminating cholesterol. No, because I have frosted the cake and it is made with shortening. So if you really want a healthy cake either avoid frosting or make a simple vegan frosting or a low fat frosting.
We practiced the following in the final class:
- Roses (Please watch the video)
- Sweet Peas
- Bows
- Leaves
- Vines
| Eggless Whole Wheat Layer Cake Recipe |
- 2 and 1/4 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 cup Soft Tub Margarine
- 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
- 1/2 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Plain Yogurt, low fat
- Preheat the oven to 350F for 15 minutes. Grease and flour two 8-inch round pans or line with parchment paper. Nowadays I prefer lining the pan with parchment paper in the bottom as well as on the sides. The cake comes out of the pan perfectly each and every time.
- Whisk together the flours, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.
- Cream together the margarine, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add 1/4 cup of applesauce at a time, beating well after each addition and scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl once or twice. It curdles but don’t worry.
- Add 1/3rd of the flour mixture, mixing until incorporated.
- Measure 1 cup of yogurt in a liquid measuring mug. To that add the vanilla and vinegar and whisk together well.
- Add half of this mixture to the large bowl, again beating until the mixture is very fluffy. Meanwhile scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl also.
- Then add another 1/3rd of the flour and beat well. Next add the remaining yogurt mixture, then the remaining 1/3rd cup of flour, mixing well after each addition. Stop once or twice to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans. (It was not watery but more in a semi solid state). Bake the cake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine was done in about 32 minutes. The cake was in golden brown color and started to pull from the sides of the pan. If you are baking a 9×13 inch cake the baking time will vary, so do the toothpick test to find if the cake is done.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Then pull out the parchment paper from the side of the pan and invert the pan and the cake falls without sticking to the pan. Remove the parchment paper sticking to the bottom of the cake and transfer it to a cooling rack. The cake has to cool completely before frosting.
- In our house we have got used to whole wheat pastry flour in baked goods so much that we hardly notice any difference in taste or texture. It takes quite sometime to get accustomed to that taste, especially if you are using traditional whole wheat flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour. Together with the frosting the cake was awesome and we did not miss the white flour at all. It was not only us but I gave the cake to a couple of people and all of them loved it.
- I used Fleischman’s no salt added soft tub margarine instead of butter.
- If you don’t find whole wheat pastry flour then use equal portion of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. If you are using traditional whole wheat flour add 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice to reduce the bitterness and raw smell/taste. This is the tip given in the book, which I have not tried so far.
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can u pls teach me simple metjod of icing and basic things required for icying
Sheetal, type “cake decorating” in the search box and you will get a list of posts in the related topic. I have given a lot of information about icing and decorating in a couple of posts.
Hey Madhu
is whole wheat flour the same as the chapati flour we use to
make rotis? Also I have to bake a cake from my friend’s son’s birthday ,
which is tomorrow.. I will bake the cake tonight and decorate it tmrw..
I am planning to bake the vegan white cake from your blog, though
i will use normal milk and butter .. but i don’t have ener-g at hand
can i use yougurt instead.. or anything else if you can suggest?
Hey madhu
Is whole wheat flour the same as regular chapati flour we use
everyday? I have to bake a cake for my friend’s son’s birthday..
Planning to make the white vegan cake from you blog but will use
normal butter and milk, however i dont have enr-g at hand, can i
just use all baking powder, and how much in that case? or what else
can i use instead of ener-g and how much? planning to bake the cake
tonight and decorate it tmrw following your buttercream icing recipe
please let me know
Yojana, if the chapathi flour you are using is made from 100% whole wheat then it’s one and the same. Reg. the cake, I wouldn’t know if substituting EnerG with baking powder would work unless I try it myself. If I had to try it though, maybe I would use another teaspoon of baking powder.
hey Madhu
Wanted to post the feedback long back , but forgot..
I baked the white cake and used another teaspoon of baking powder
instead of ener-g.. The cake rose beautifully at first but then it flattened
also for the taste, it had an after taste of baking powder…
pl use common nd simple words so that we can also try.
Anuradha, please let me know which one you are not able to follow and I’ll be glad to clarify.
Hi Madhu
I am taking the Wilton course 1 and need to bake a cake for the 2nd class.
I am planning to use this recipe mentioned above, have a couple of questions..
1. can I use normal unsalted butter instead of soft tub margarine
2. I have sweetened apple sauce in my pantry , so do you think i should reduece
the sugar to 1/2 cup.
Also, about the low fat yogurt, doea it play any role or i can use
just the home made whole milk yogurt I have…
One more question Madhu,
I am planning to use equal proportions of whole wheat flour and
APF, so will use orange juice as mentioned by you, so is it just
additional 1/4 cup or i have to reduce the quantity of liquid in the recipe?
i mean will the batter have the right consistency with that additional 1/4
cup juice?
I would love to try this cake but unfortunately my microwave does not have a convection mode so could help me with the temperature settings.
I’m not proficient with baking in a microwave oven Deepali. Sorry!
I am very sorry to say but margarine is VERY toxic. Salted butter is okay. (So long as it’s organic and the cows have not been fed GMO alfalfa). When people ate butter and not margarie, we did not have all the heart disease we have now.
Margarine is solidified vegetable oil. Cockroaches won’t eat it. And cockroaches can eat axle grease.
More information at my website.