Lemon-Coconut Cake!

I don't usually post recipes that came directly from somewhere else, but I think the whole world should know about this cake.  I forget that the authors of Veganomicon are so good at desserts, but after making this cake, I think I should get my hands on one of their newer books: Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.  Because this cake is superb, and easy!  I think that baking with coconut milk is magic: your item is instantly moister, richer, and more flavorful--sort of like the very-high-test version of baking with applesauce?  The lemon juice also curdles the soymilk, which further contributes to the moist-creamy thing.  Lemon juice and lemon zest, coconut, and coconut milk combine to make this cake flavorful--if anything, I may have skimped on lemon zest and would put in more next time.  The recipe called for a Bundt pan, which I don't have, so I used a 9x13 rectangular pan.  The amount of batter (12 c) is still right, but the cook time needs to be decreased (from an hour to 40-45 min).  Finally, I was puzzled by the original instructions, which called for mixing the wet ingredients together, then sifting each dry ingredient, one at a time, directly into the wet batter.  What's the advantage of doing this, other than only having one bowl to wash?  I have to confess I'm a rather sloppy/lazy baker when it comes to sifting, exact measuring, etc.  I could never work in a fancy bakery.

Except I did, once! albeit in the front-of-house.  And it was there that I learned this powdered-sugar technique:

This allows you to meter out the sugar more carefully and evenly distribute it, rendering your cake prettier.  But don't put it on until you are serving the piece; it doesn't look so good the next day.

 

 

Lemon-Coconut Cake

(from Veganomicon)

Ingredients

1 2/3 c sugar

2/3 c canola oil

1 (14-oz) can coconut milk

1/4 c soy or rice milk

1/4 c lemon juice

3 TB lemon zest

2 tsp vanilla

3 c flour

2 tsp baking pwder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 c shredded unsweetened coconut

powdered sugar for top

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350*.  Lightly grease 8- or 10-in Bundt pan OR 9-x-13 rectangular pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil coconut milk, soymilk, lemon juice and zest, and vanilla.  Stir.
3. Mix dry ingredients (except coconut) separately and add to wet mixture.  Fold in coconut.
4. Spread batter in pan.  Bake 40-50 min for a rectangular cake, about 1 hour for a Bundt cake (in any case, cake is done when a wooden chopstick inserted in the middle comes out clean).
5. Remove from oven and cool.  When serving, sprinkle powdered sugar over the top.  Garnishing with a bit more lemon zest would be a nice addition as well.