Happy Birthday to Me Cake!

Yes, it's my birthday today- a celebration of the 38 years of being alive in this world. But for my blog, I'd like to call this my 5th birthday, as it is a celebration of 5 years being vegan! 5 years of having a clear conscience, better health, and a worthy cause that inspires me to share.

My life in a nutshell? ... a nearly (nearly?) middle-aged DJ, who stays "hip" by scratchin' and playing the top "hits" but secretly loves the 80's (Hall & Oates, The Go-Go's- yeah!), loves her doggies like children because let's face it, they ARE- has a crazy obsession with cooking and blogging about it, constantly looking to make some good "food porn" with a dinky digital camera- loves the fact that her husband went almost vegan for her (couldn't give up the sushi though), and appreciates her best friend, housemates, and DJ crew for doing the same without complaints of meat deprivation- and is hopeful for her mother who has had cancer for 5 years, which was the trigger that led her to veganism... and this blog.

So... what does a person like this want to do on her birthday? Well, besides writing run-on sentences and talking about herself in the third-person... EAT CAKE, of course!

There are no vegan bakeries here in Davis (boo!), so I had to make this one myself- although I have been assured that there are one or more cakes to come this week, made by my family & friends. Yes, I'm a lucky, lucky girl!

After a little thought, I decided to make a coconut cake- because I LOVE coconut and we just bought a batch of coconut milk. And, I made a rich coconut frosting to go with it. It was a bit rich for me, but I got complements like "perfect" and "da bomb!" from everyone else. I only frosted between the layers before running out (but that was enough frosting for me). If you want to frost the whole thing inside and out, I would double it - but be prepared to take a long nap afterwards! zzzzz

Makes one four-layer cake (2 round cake pans)

Ingredients:

Cake
1 C. soy milk
1 C. coconut milk
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2/3 C. canola oil
1 T. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 C. sugar
2 1/2 C. all purpose flour
1/4 C. corn starch
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Frosting:
1/2 C. vegan margarine (I used Earth balance buttery sticks)
1/4 C. coconut butter
1/2 package of Mori-Nu firm silken tofu
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 C. powdered sugar
1 C. reduced fat unsweetened coconut flakes (regular is ok too)

Spinz:

Prepare the frosting first by throwing everything except the coconut into a blender or processor until smooth. Add the coconut flakes and pulse a few times to combine. Note: if you're using the regular (not reduced fat) coconut, it would be a great idea to toast it a little first. Unfortunately, the reduced fat one does not toast well and gets overly tough and chewy. Put the mixture into the fridge to cool.

Pour the soy & coconut milk into a large bowl and add the vinegar. Let stand a few minutes. Add the oil, vanilla, almond extract, and sugar and mix well. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and beat until lumps are gone (I used an electric mixer). Pour into two greased round cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool down before carefully popping them out onto plates and slicing each into halves. Spread the cooled frosting between the layers and chill in the fridge until ready to eat.