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Dairy-free cake recipes
The most basic of cakes without any dairy butter is called a Whisked Fatless Sponge (not a very appetising name), which is basically a Victoria Sponge without the butter. It's good for people cutting down on fat, and for those with allergies. Its one disadvantage is that, because of the lack of fat, it has poor keeping qualities – that is, it goes stale very quickly and should be eaten on the day it is baked.
If you're not worried about calories – or about baking a cake that's slightly more involved (but not difficult) – there are dozens of recipes for delicious cakes using various oils instead of butter. The most well-known is carrot cake, but I've also tried an olive oil and almond cake (which I know sounds weird but is delicious).
To start with, though, here's the basic whisked sponge. You can flavour it with lemon or vanilla as you choose:
3 eggs
75g caster sugar
zest and juice of half a lemon (or ½ tsp vanilla essence)
75g plain flour, sifted
– tsp baking powder
caster sugar for dusting and decorating
jam to sandwich the sponges and decorate the top (or a lemon icing made from
lemon juice and icing sugar)
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Lightly grease two 7-inch cake tins and line with greased baking parchment.
- Separate the eggs into two large bowls. Add the sugar to the yolks and whisk (preferably with an electric whisk) until the mixture has doubled in size and is pale and fluffy. Add the lemon zest and juice (or the vanilla essence, if using).
- Wash and dry the whisk then whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Using a large metal spoon, begin folding a spoonful of the whites into the yolk mixture, alternating with the sifted flour and baking powder, and ending with the whites. Do this gently so as not to lose valuable air.
- Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for 20–25 minutes. When done, they should be golden on top, springy in the centre and come away from the sides.
- Cool in the tins for a couple of minutes. Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on a work surface and sprinkle with sugar. Turn the cakes upside down on to this and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Sandwich together with jam or lemon icing and decorate the top accordingly. Eat as fresh as possible.
Good luck,
Terry
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