Christian celebrated his birthday last Friday in proper style. I developed the theme and recipe for his cake months ago, and held onto it as a surprise. Christian is a total James Bond fanatic. In his youth, Christian was devouring the Ian Fleming novels while most of us were trying to get through Encyclopedia Brown. He can name every Bond girl in order of appearance by character name and the actress. And although he may be self-professed tone deaf, Christian can sing every Bond tune pitch perfect. No one can beat him in the James Bond edition of Scene It, and many don't even try.
I know that James Bond is known for his martinis, but there was no way I would bake a gin flavored cake. So I had to think up the most glamorous flavor I could conceive yet still be edible. I did a search for champagne flavored cake and found, although popular in the 1950s, it has been growing in popularity the past few years. Perfect. I had enough information to start veganizing.
The real challenge was going to be the decorating. I knew I wanted to portray the gun barrel shot from many a 007 opening sequence, but the question was should I pipe it, cut it out of fondant, or order an edible transfer? I nixed the edible transfer idea because I'm not fond of how they look like iron-on t-shirt transfers. Fondant would’ve been tedious, plus I wanted to frost with a champagne buttercream. As for piping, I’m just not good enough an artist to pull it off. So I decided on a technique I've implemented in the past: a stencil and edible spray paint.
After painting the cake gold and allowing it to dry, I began painting on the stencil. The color was faint and I realized it was going to take a few layers. Patiently, I sprayed the necessary layers allowing each pass to dry completely. When I carefully lifted the stencil, it was a wreck! The paint had bled through and I had a black and gold mess. Luckily, it came off quite easily, so I grabbed a paint brush and salvaged what I could.
Not my best work by far, but each cake seems to teach me a new lesson about baking. Christian was excited to see his 007-themed cake and that’s really all that matters. It might not have appeared as nicely as intended, but it tasted delicious.
I know that James Bond is known for his martinis, but there was no way I would bake a gin flavored cake. So I had to think up the most glamorous flavor I could conceive yet still be edible. I did a search for champagne flavored cake and found, although popular in the 1950s, it has been growing in popularity the past few years. Perfect. I had enough information to start veganizing.
The real challenge was going to be the decorating. I knew I wanted to portray the gun barrel shot from many a 007 opening sequence, but the question was should I pipe it, cut it out of fondant, or order an edible transfer? I nixed the edible transfer idea because I'm not fond of how they look like iron-on t-shirt transfers. Fondant would’ve been tedious, plus I wanted to frost with a champagne buttercream. As for piping, I’m just not good enough an artist to pull it off. So I decided on a technique I've implemented in the past: a stencil and edible spray paint.
After painting the cake gold and allowing it to dry, I began painting on the stencil. The color was faint and I realized it was going to take a few layers. Patiently, I sprayed the necessary layers allowing each pass to dry completely. When I carefully lifted the stencil, it was a wreck! The paint had bled through and I had a black and gold mess. Luckily, it came off quite easily, so I grabbed a paint brush and salvaged what I could.
Not my best work by far, but each cake seems to teach me a new lesson about baking. Christian was excited to see his 007-themed cake and that’s really all that matters. It might not have appeared as nicely as intended, but it tasted delicious.
Vegan Champagne Cake
Dry Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups Unbleached Pastry Flour 4 tbs Corn Starch 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder 1 tsp Baking Soda 1 tsp Sea Salt | Wet Ingredients: 3 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer + 4 tbs Water 6 tbs Earth Balance Margarine 1/3 cup Canola Oil 1 1/2 cup Sugar 1 1/2 cup Champagne 1/4 cup Applesauce 2 tsp Vanilla Extract |
Preheat oven to 320ºF. Stir egg replacer and 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, champagne, apple sauce, and vanilla to combine until smooth. Fold in dry ingredients. Pour into a 9-inch cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool.
Champagne Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup Earth Balance Vegan Margarine
1/2 cup Earth Balance Natural Shortening
3 cups Powdered Sugar
3 tbs Champagne
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Champagne Extract (optional)
Using an electric hand mixer, cream margarine and shortening until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar in stages. Lastly, mix in champagne, vanilla and champagne extract if using.
