A votre santé: Vegan Mocha Valencia Cake w/ Grand Marnier Chocolate Mousse Filling

My beautiful friend Lisa celebrated her "16th Part Deux" birthday party yesterday.  She and her husband Cody are fantastic cooks and know how to throw a party.  I wanted to make her a cake that looked more feminine to keep with the Sweet 16 theme, but with a more sophisticated flavor.

Chocolate and orange is one of my favorite flavor combinations and I'm surprised I haven't done it in a cake yet.  I get excited as holiday season approaches because I know I'm going to see those chocolate orange balls that you whack and break into delicious segments.  Developing the recipe was quite simple since all that was needed was to add orange flavor into the chocolate cake.  But to give it an air of sophistication complementing the lovely Lisa, I turned to my bottle of Grand Marnier to spike a silky chocolate mousse filling thereby adding another layer of chocolate orange divinity.  A simple coffee buttercream ties all the flavors together into one harmonious symphony of taste.

The cake turned out to be quite moist with a nice hint of orange and cognac.  Because of the pungent flavors of the coffee and liqueur, the cake wasn't very sweet and is perfect for the adult crowd.  Lisa thought it was my prettiest cake yet and everyone raved about this recipe.

Vegan Mocha Valencia Cake

Dry Ingredients: 2 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour 3/4 cup Cocoa Powder 2 tbs Corn Starch 2 tsp Baking Soda 1 tsp Baking Powder 1 tsp Salt

Wet Ingredients:  1/4 cup Soy Milk + 1 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar 3 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer + 4 tbs Water 4 tbs Earth Balance 1 3/4 cup Sugar 2/3 cup Canola Oil 1 3/4 cup Water 1/4 cup Orange Juice, freshly squeezed 1/4 cup Apple Sauce 2 tsp Vanilla Extract  Zest of 1 Orange, finely grated

Preheat oven to 320ºF.  Add vinegar to soy milk and reserve.  Stir egg replacer and 4 tbs water, reserve.  Sift together dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl.

Using an electric hand mixer, cream margarine in a large bowl.  Mix in sugar and oil to margarine.  Add egg replacer mixture, water, orange juice, apple sauce, vanilla, and orange zest to combine until smooth.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Lastly, fold in soy milk and vinegar mixture.  Pour into two 9-inch cake pans and bake for 27-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow cakes to cool.  

Chocolate Grand Marnier Mousse Filling

1/2 box Firm Silken Tofu
5 oz Vegan Chocolate Chips, melted in double boiler
1 tbs Agave Nectar

1/4 cup Grand Marnier liqueur

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Pour into a medium sized bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Chill in the refrigerator until set (1-2 hours).  After chilling, beat with an electric mixer to loosen and to fluff until paler in color (4-5 minutes). 

Coffee Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup Earth Balance Vegan Margarine

1/2 cup Earth Balance Natural Shortening

3 cups Powdered Sugar

3 tbs Water

1 tbs Instant Coffee Granules

1 tsp Vanilla

Stir coffee granules in water to dissolve, reserve.  Using an electric hand mixer, cream margarine and shortening until light and fluffy.  Add powdered sugar in stages.  Lastly, mix in coffee and vanilla.