Pumpkin Chai Cake

I made this cake for Christmas but am just getting around to posting it! As usual I spent Christmas at home with my parents and this was the first year I did the Christmas day cooking instead of my mom. I woke up at dawn to make this cake, then cooked some savory dishes for a Christmas lunch, and by 2 pm after lunch I was ready to curl up in bed like a potato. I realized Christmas was probably a cause of great stress for my mom, who cooked all the food, bought all the presents, and decorated our house. I’m not sure how she did it all by herself when I was a small child and pretty useless (or worse causing trouble somewhere). Since mother’s day is coming up, I was reminded of posting this cake. You can make it for your mom for mother’s day 🙂

This cake is dairy-free so that it is Spork friendly, but the frosting tastes on the heavier side because margarine is used so essentially this will taste like a buttercream cake. But if you would prefer a lighter tasting version and you are able to eat dairy, you can make a whipped cream frosting instead. To create a whipped cream frosting, can add 1 quart (4 cups) heavy whipping cream to your stand mixer and whip it till stiff peaks form. While whipping the cream, add in a pre-made stabilizer (2 teaspoon gelatin mixed in 3 tablespoons cold water first, then 4 tablespoons hot water to dissolve) and the spice mix below.

Pumpkin Chai Cake

Recipe makes one 9 inch diameter, 2 layer, pumpkin cake with chai flavored frosting

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Servings 12 people

Ingredients

  

Cake, Dry ingredients

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 and /3 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pice
• 1 and 1/3 teaspoon salt

Cake, Wet ingredients

• 4 eggs room temp eggs
• 1 and 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 and 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 and 1/3 cup pumpkin puree (use 1 standard can)

Frosting

• 1 and 1/3 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
• 1 cup vegan margarine (Earth balance)
• 3 tablespoons soy milk
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons chai spice mix
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chai spice mix

• 2.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cardamon
• 1/3 teaspoon ground allspice

Candied orange slices

• 10 slices thinly sliced orange
• 3 tablespoons sugar

Instructions

 

Cake

• Preheat oven to 325F, lightly spread thin layer of vegan margarine or use oil spray on two non-stick 9" baking pans, and then dust with flour. Cut parchment rounds to fit the bottom of the pan, then grease and dust with flour the parchment rounds too to extra make sure you cake doesn't stick to either the parchment or the pan.
• Start by making the cake layers, this can be done the day or two prior and keep tin the fridge, or one month prior and frozen down after baking (slow thaw before use in fridge for 24 hrs). Mix wet ingredients in one bowl, dry in another. Add wet to dry and mix. When just combined, stop mixing.
• Wet and slide baking belts on the pans, and pour in batter. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 60 min. The purpose of the baking belts is for more even baking and gives a flatter cake layer that doesn't make a bump in the middle.
• Let cake cool completely, I prefer overnight.
• Level the cake with cake leveler to cut it very flat on top.
• Make frosting by cream vegan margarine and butter, then add powdered sugar and soymilk till smooth, then the spices. Mix till smooth. Spices are to taste, adjust if you like cinnamon more, etc.

Candied orange slices

• Roll orange slices in sugar, then bake at 250F on a piece of foil about 1 hr till the slices are totally dehydrated.

Decorate Cake

• Put a cake board on cake turn table, add a little frosting and then your first cake layer. Fill with frosting on top and add second cake layer. Apply frosting to the remainder of the cake including top. Use wilton 1M size tip to create the tuffs of frosting, then decorate with candied oranges and rosemary, and cranberries dipped in water and rolled in sugar for that snowy look.

For pumpkin flavored cakes of the past see: Pumpkin Chocolate Cake, Caramel Pumpkin cake