Procedure1 Preheat oven to 350F. Oil and flour cake pans. I used one 8-inch round pan and baked the remaining batter in a muffin tin for cupcakes. Got 6 of them.

2 In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.

3 In a blender/food processor blend together the warm water and EnerG and blend it until it’s frothy. To this add the soy milk and blend it for another 30 seconds and set it aside.

4 In another bowl beat the margarine with an electric mixer until softened. Add sugar and vanilla to the margarine and cream together thoroughly.

5 Add 1/2 of the soy milk mixture to the margarine/sugar mixture and beat for a minute.

6 Add 1/2 of the flour to the margarine and beat for a minute.

7 Now add the remaining soy milk mixture and flour mixture alternately and beat together for a minute after each addition.

8 Pour the cake batter into prepared pans.

9 Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

10 Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire cooling rack.

TasteThis cake was good, but I think I felt the presence of soy milk when I ate the cake without the icing. Luckily my husband and others didn’t feel it. So next time I’ll be trying some other non-dairy milk instead. It did have a nice texture, especially the cupcakes. Together with the frosting it tasted no different than any other cake.

My Notes1 I used sweetened soy beverage so I reduced the quantity of sugar to 1 cup and it was perfect because it also got the sweetness from the frosting.

2 For the margarine, I used Fleischman’s No Salt Added soft tub margarine.

3 If you don’t have cake flour it’s ok. Instead use this substitute which is widely used. Place 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in a 1 cup measuring cup and then fill the rest (until the top of the cup) with all purpose flour
and level it off.

Procedure1 Preheat oven to 350F/180C for metal pans and 325F for dark non-stick pans. Line an 8-inch cake pan and a muffin tin with parchment paper and paper liners.

2 In a large bowl blend cake mix, yogurt, milk and oil at low speed until moistened.

3 Beat at medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl. Continue beating at medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Pour batter into the prepared pans.

4 Bake according to the instructions give in the pack. Mine was done in 25 minutes. The cupcakes even sooner. Cake is one when toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.

5 Cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely before frosting.

Taste The cake came out very good but I felt that it was very sweet. It had a nice airy texture. Since the cake was very sweet, I reduced the quantity of sugar while preparing the buttercream icing. The cake was perfect together with the icing.

Has my search ended for the best egg free vanilla cake? No. This cake was good, especially very easy to put together and simple procedure. Still, I’m going to keep looking.

Procedure1 Preheat oven to 350F for 15 minutes. Grease a 8 inch square baking dish. In a small bowl combine the almonds, brown sugar and cinnamon; set aside. The butter can be melted on stove top or microwave oven or even in the oven while it’s preheating.

2 Combine together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.

3 Measure the buttermilk in a liquid measuring cup (or any other bowl). To that add the melted butter, vinegar, extracts and applesauce. Whisk until well blended. If you add the butter while its still hot, the mixture will look curdled, but its okay.

4 Stir the wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in 2/3 cup blueberries. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw before adding to batter, because the color will bleed.

5 Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Top with remaining blueberries. Sprinkle the almond mixture on top. Tap the pan lightly a couple times so that the topped blueberries and almonds sticks to the batter.

6 Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool the pan on a wire rack.

7 Remove the cake from the pan after 10 minutes and transfer the cake directly to the wire rack. The cake is quite light, so you will have to be very careful while tilting the pan. A couple of almonds will fall down.

Taste I have baked a lot in the past one year but this blueberry coffee cake will definitely make it to the Top 5 if I prepare such a list. I’m not exaggerating here but it was unbelievably good. So good that my husband asked for seconds and had it too! This has never happened before. I didn’t have almond extract, I think it would have tasted even better with it.

This cake doesn’t rise much, around 1/2-3/4th inch only. As for the texture, it was very lighty and fluffy, unusual for an egg less cake. I think the vinegar did the trick. The sweetness was perfect, the addition of almonds gave a nice crunch to the cake. The only thing to look for while baking this cake is that it’s very light and has to be handled very carefully while removing from the pan.

My Notes1 The original recipe had mentioned 2/3 cup buttermilk, which is what I did for the first batch and as I have mentioned earlier, the cake was so fluffy that I felt that it would fall apart while removing from the pan. I had to be very careful. So while preparing the next batch (yes we liked it so much that I baked it again the next day to share it with my new friends here) I reduced the quantity of buttermilk to 1/2 cup and this time it was quite manageable.

The cake is very light (just like a cake with eggs) when kept at room temperature. It hardens up a little when stored in the refrigerator. So I was thinking that the next time I bake it, I would cool it in the fridge itself, so that removing it from the pan will be easy.

2 If you leave the cake in the pan itself for much longer time, the bottom of the cake will become soggy from the heat and the condensation. It happened to my first batch and I had to blot it with paper towel.

3 I think this recipe without the blueberries would make a perfect eggless white cake.

Procedure1 Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 13×9 inch baking pan. Since I used a glass pan, I preheated the oven at 325F.

2 In a large bowl, combine together the flour, granulated sugar, 1/3 cup cocoa and baking powder.

3 Stir in milk and applesauce to the dry ingredients until just moistened.

4 Fold in the cherries and nuts. The cake batter is very thick at this stage.

5 Spoon into the greased pan.

6 Mix the brown sugar, hot water and 1/4 cup cocoa in the same large bowl, until smooth; pour over batter.

7 Bake for 35-40 minutes or until set (cake will have a pudding like texture). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Taste

As the name suggests, this is a pudding cake. There is pudding in the bottom and cake on top. Frankly the three of us did not like it. The chocolate cake alone was very good, especially for a fat free one it was quite tasty, but we did not like the combination of pudding and a cake. First you bite into a firm cake then follows this ooey gooey pudding. To be more specific, it’s kozha kozha (non Tamilians please excuse me. I had to use this word to be very clear at least for Tamilians.) So if you have already tasted a pudding cake and like it you can go ahead and try this low fat version.

But what did we do with such a big cake, when we didn’t like it? That’s when a light bulb flashed and I put the cake (of course with the pan) in the freezer. I thought that it would taste like an ice cream cake and I was right. Yay! Freeze it for a couple of hours and remove it from the freezer and leave it on the kitchen counter for 15-25 minutes before serving, so that the pudding layer would soften up a little bit making it easy to eat (but not ooey gooey at all). Then cut them into slices and enjoy. Refreeze the rest of the cake.

My Notes1 I reduced the quantity of sugar by 1/2 cup and we felt that the sweetness was just right enough. If you have been following my recipes you know by now that we don’t eat very sweet baked stuff. So if you like it sweeter go with the original recipe by adding another 1/4 of white sugar and 1/4 of dark brown sugar.

2 While using a glass baking pan it is suggested to reduce the oven temperature by 25F or to bake 5-10 minutes less than the specified time. I have used a glass baking pan and so baked the cake at 325F. If you are using any other pan set the oven at 350F.

3 While reading the recipe I was not sure if the quantity of baking powder (3 tablespoons) was correct. I proceeded anyhow and was relieved that the cake did not have the after taste of baking powder.

4 Measure the 3 cups of boiling water in a liquid measuring mug. While pouring it over the cake batter it may look like that it’s a lot, but don’t worry the cake will turn out fine.

Cake Procedure 1 Preheat the oven to 325F. Lightly grease an 8-inch round cake pan and dust it with cocoa powder.

2 Grate the bottlegourd/zucchini, if using. After grating I also coarsely chopped it with a knife. Measure 1 cup and transfer it to a bowl. Let the water secrete from the gratings. If using the water you may omit the 1/4 cup of milk later.

3 In a large bowl sift together the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and sugar. Make a well.

4 Add all the wet ingredients one by one.

5 With an electric mixer, beat the mixture on low speed for 2-3 minutes until the dry and wet ingredients are well combined. Do not over beat it.

6 Add the grated bottle gourd/zucchini, if using. Mix together.

7 Pour the batter in the prepared pan. Tap the pan a couple of times so the batter is spread evenly and there are no air bubbles.

8 My cake was ready only around 38 minutes. I think it took longer because it was a dense batter with the whole wheat flour, applesauce and the bottle gourd. So start checking from about 20 minutes, depending upon the ingredients you are using. Toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake should come clean.

9 Once out of the oven, transfer the pan to a wiring rack to cool. After about an hour remove the cake from the pan and let the cake cool completely before frosting.

1 I think my cake had too much moisture content because of the milk, hot coffee and the water from the bottlegourd. I think that’s also one of the reasons it took so much time to bake. Also when I removed the cake from the pan I found that it was very wet. I had to use a couple of kitchen paper towels to blot the water. So I also refrigerated the cake for a couple of hours before frosting it. That’s the reason I have mentioned to omit milk if using grated bottle gourd or zucchini.

Frosting 1 In a medium size bowl add the margarine, ovaltine (powdered sugar) and cocoa powder. Start beating with an electric mixer on low speed. At this stage it may seem to be very dry. Don’t panic. Wait until you add the milk.

2 Add milk little by little and continue beating the mixture till you get a nice spreadable consistency. I used around 3 tablespoons of milk.

3 Now transfer the cake to a plate and start frosting it. I’m very lousy at it. Somehow managed to cover the cake with the frosting. But it was easier this time when compared to my first attempt. The frosting was in the correct consistency.

4 I saw this technique of using the back of a spoon to create swirls on the frosting. Tried it and I think it looked somewhat close. Create an indentation on the frosting with the back of a spoon close to each other.

1 The recipe for the frosting is from 1001 Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes. The original recipe requires margarine or butter. I didn’t have both. So I used the Promise blend which we have it on our toast. I was worried if it would work or not, but was so excited to see that the frosting came out beautifully.

2 There are 2 types of Ovaltine available. I used the Ovaltine which is fortified with 8 vitamins and minerals. I used Ovaltine because I didn’t have confectioner’s sugar at home, but in a way it worked out for the best. 4 tablespoons of Ovaltine (ie) 1/4 cup has 15gms sugar whereas the sugar content in 1/4 cup of confectioner’s sugar is 29gms. I checked it in the grocery store. So I think this frosting is even better and healthier than the original one. Even though Ovaltine has lesser sugar content than confectioner’s sugar, I found the frosting was a bit too sweet for my taste. Then imagine how it would have been had I used powdered sugar.

3 If you are going to try the ovaltine frosting, I would recommend decreasing the quantity of sugar in the cake to even 1/2 cup. I think this cake is a pretty healthy cake but for it’s sugar content.

Procedure 1 Preheat the oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Grease/line a muffin tin or grease a 9 inch loaf pan.

2 In a large bowl combine together the flour, baking soda and sugar.

3 In another bowl, mix the oil, vinegar and vanilla. I pureed the strawberries in a blender, because I was not sure if my son would like to bite of chunks of strawberry in the muffin. Add the pureed strawberry also to the oil mixture and stir to combine.

4 Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Stir together but do not overstir.

5 Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins. I got exactly 12 muffins.

6 Bake for about 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If baking a loaf bake it for 40-45 minutes and check for the doneness.

7 Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When cool, frost the cupcakes and top each with a whole strawberry.

My Notes 1 The original recipe had 1 cup of sugar, but I felt that it was very sweet for us. So I have made it as 3/4 to 1 cup.

2 Also the time mentioned in the recipe for muffins was 30 minutes, but mine was done around 22 minutes itself. The time mentioned for the loaf was 1 hour, but I have reduced it to 40-45 minutes. I have tried a couple of recipes from this book, they all turn out good, but there is some difference in the time it bakes. Mine always bakes at least 8-10 minutes earlier than the time mentioned in the recipe. Maybe it’s my oven! Anyway just watch out.

3 The top of the cupcake was slightly crispy than soft. I think that’s because of the sugar. Since we are not creaming the sugar in this recipe, I think the sugar tends to be in a semi-crystal state, forming a crust like thing. But in the blueberry muffin recipe also I did not cream the sugar, but it did not have the crusty top. It was so good and light. I can’t wait to post that recipe here.

4 I used a food processor to puree the strawberries. It was a wide base 1 cup mini bowl. I didn’t have to add water at all. If you use a blender I think adding little water would be necessary and I’m sure that it would not affect the result in any way.

Cake Procedure 1 Preheat the oven at 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Lightly oil the cake pan you are using.

2 Stir together all the dry ingredients (flour to cocoa powder) and create a well in the center.

3 To the well add all the wet ingredients one by one. Mix until just combined. Don’t overmix. It’s ok to have some lumps.

4 Pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Mine was done by 24 minutes. If baking cupcakes, check around 13-15th minute.

5 Cool completely on a wire rack. I left it for an hour.

6 To remove the cake from the pan, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake.

7 Cool completely before frosting. Actually frosting is not even necessary for this moist cake. You may simply dust with confectioner’s sugar and top with fresh raspberries.

My Notes 1 I read that apple cider vinegar is better than white distilled vinegar when it comes to baking, because you will not even have that very mild smell or after taste I was referring earlier.

Pudding Mix Frosting Ingredients:

Procedure:

1 Pour milk into a large bowl. Add the pudding mix. Beat until fluffy for 2 minutes.

2 Blend in the thawed Cool Whip thoroughly.

3 Frost the cake/cupcakes and refrigerate it at least for 3-4 hours before serving.

My Notes:

1 This frosting is not very sweet, but it was perfect with the cake and for us. We don’t like overly sweet cakes and frosting.

2 This measurement will be right for a 13×9 inch cake or a layer cake. I had at least a cup of frosting left over, which I intend to serve in ice cream cones for my son.

Procedure 1 Preheat oven at 350F for 15 minutes. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish.

2 In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Since the quantity of butter is very less, the creamed mixture was dry and resembled coarse crumbs.

3 In a blender/food processor blend together Ener-G, water, soy milk and vanilla extract until nice and foamy.

4 Add the Ener-G mixture to the creamed butter/sugar and beat everything together with the hand mixer until thoroughly combined. This mixture looks creamy like a white sauce.

5 In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg (if using). Add this to the wet ingredients. The batter will be thick.

6 Stir in apples and nuts. Mix it thoroughly.

7 Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with just a few crumbs. Mine was done around 38 minutes. You can also see that the cake starts pulling from the edges.

8 This cake can be sliced directly from the pan while its still warm, so no need to wait for the pan to cool to invert it and then slice it.

My Notes 1 The original recipe mentioned only 3 tablespoons butter. Since I had only 4 tablespoons (1/2 a stick) remaining from a stick, I used it entirely. Did not want to keep the balance 1 tablespoon in the fridge. I think that extra tablespoon of butter helped to get the amazing texture for the cake.

2 The apples were required to be diced, but I grated it because I was not sure if my son would eat the cake if it had chunks of apples in it. He usually eats all fruits and especially apples and pears are his favorite. But I can never guess him. The apples were really invisible, so if you have a picky eater sneak the apples by grating.

3 I was wondering what to do about the sweetness. If it’s not sweet enough you can always sprinkle some powdered sugar, have it with vanilla ice cream etc. But how to reduce the sweetness. Then I got this idea of coating the cake with unsweetened chocolate so that the bitterness would offset the sweetness. I wanted to try it immediately but did not have it at home. Sent my husband immediately to the grocery store and he got the Baker’s unsweetened baking chocolate. It’s a pack of 8 individually wrapped squares of plain chocolate. I wanted to test very little first. So melted 3 squares in the microwave oven. Cooled it a little bit. I decided to shaped the cake into small balls and dip it in the melted chocolate so that it would resemble truffles. Since the cake was slightly warm and moist I was able to proceed with the idea and shaped them into small balls. Dipped the cake quickly into the melted chocolate and placed it in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I had a perfect slice of cake as well. My husband dipped 3 sides of the cake in the chocolate. I placed the baking sheet in the fridge for the chocolate to set. I couldn’t contain my excitement to taste it. Managed to wait until the next day morning. The chocolate had set perfectly and I took a bite of the apple cake truffle and was literally doing the happy dance. It tasted so good! The bitterness of the unsweetened chocolate took care of the sweetness perfectly. The taste was phenomenal. I’m very glad that I tried this apple cake recipe.

Procedure 1 Preheat oven to 360F/180c for 15 minutes.

2 Grease and flour a 9 inch spring-form pan. You can use cocoa instead of flour.

3 In a large mixing bowl sift together the flour,cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

4 In a small blender/processor blend together the Ener-G and water until it’s nice and fluffy like beaten eggs. I used my Magic Bullet blender. I pulsed it a couple of times.

5 In a medium bowl add oil, applesauce, sugars, vanilla extract and coffee powder. Using a hand mixer beat the mixture in medium speed for 3-5 minutes.

6 Add the egg replacer liquid in 3 additions beating it after every addition. Now also add the milk and beat until well combined.

7 Reserving half a cup of the flour mixture, add slowly the remaining flour to the wet ingredients, while beating it in low speed. Combine well the grated zucchini, chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of flour. Add this to the batter and mix it well. Note that the batter is thick at this stage. So don’t worry.

8 Pour the batter in the prepared cake pan and smooth it out using a spatula. While using a spring-form pan it’s advisable to place the pan on a baking sheet, so that the batter or baked cake does not fall down if the pan is not locked properly.

9 Prepare the topping by mixing the brown sugar and pistachios. Sprinkle this mixture evenly on the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Mine was done in 45 minutes.

My Notes 1 The key in using Ener-G is processing it with the water in a blender until it’s nice and fluffy. Simply whisking it with a fork does not give desirable results. If you pour this immediately in a liquid measuring cup, you will see that it measures exactly 3/4 th of a cup, which is perfect because we usually replace every egg with 1/4 cup of any egg substitute. But by the time I was ready to add this mixture to the rest of the wet ingredients, I saw that it had reduced to 1/2 a cup. So to replace the 1/4 cup of liquid missing I used unsweetened soy milk. You could use any milk or even some fruit juice which you think would go with the flavors you are baking.

2 You can also use an 8 inch or 9 inch round cake pan instead of a spring form pan. But I think you cannot do the topping because, while inverting the pan to unmould the cake the toppings may fall down.

3 Zucchini can be grated without peeling. After grating I felt that the strands were very big, so I chopped them coarsely.