The Cold, Crisp Taste: Vegan Cola Cake

My cousin Christopher celebrated his birthday last month.  Coming up with a cake flavor for him wasn’t difficult, since Toofy has only one vice—cola drinks.  I searched online for a recipe, but could only find ways of using cola to produce a low-fat cake, or chocolate-cola recipes.  There were no cakes highlighting the flavor of cola itself.  Using my trusty vegan vanilla recipe, I made the necessary substitutions to produce a cola flavored cake.  Or so I thought.  The cake was nice and moist, but the cola flavor didn’t shine through. 

 

I had one more pass at the recipe this week for my cousin Michael’s birthday, another cola junkie.  This time, I figured out a couple techniques to impart more cola flavor.  Honestly, I think it’s a strange flavor for a cake, but it sure made the cola addicts happy.

Vegan Cola 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: 1/4 cup Soy Milk + 2 tsp Raw Apple Cider Vinegar 2/3 cup Canola Oil 1 1/2 cup Sugar 1 3/4 cup Cola Drink 2 tsp Vanilla Extract

 

Preheat oven to 320ºF.  Add vinegar to soy milk and reserve.  Sift together dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl.

Pour oil and sugar into a large bowl and beat with a wire whisk until well incorporated.  Whisk in cola and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Lastly, fold in soy milk and vinegar mixture.  Pour into two 9-inch cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow cakes to cool.   Poke holes into cake at 1 inch intervals with a toothpick.

 

Cola Syrup

 

Pour 1 cup cola into a small saucepan over low heat.  Slowly bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half (around 10 minutes).  Allow to cool to room temperature.  Reserve 3 tbs for frosting.  When cooled, brush syrup over cooled cake layers with a pastry brush until absorbed. 

 

Cola Buttercream Frosting

 

1/2 cup Earth Balance Vegan Margarine

1/2 cup Earth Balance Natural Shortening

3 cups Powdered Sugar

3 tbs reserved Cola Syrup

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Using an electric hand mixer, cream margarine and shortening until light and fluffy.  Add powdered sugar in stages.  Lastly, mix in cola syrup and vanilla.