Ingredients
Scale
Equipment:
- Food scale https://amzn.to/3Of8Kj1
- 1 ½ inch – circle cookie cutter
- 8x8-inch – square pan
- Standard loaf pan https://amzn.to/3hpmsEw
- Parchment paper
- Measuring spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Rubber spatula
- Wire Cooling Rack
Ornament Cake:
- 120g (½ cup) – vegan eggnog, I used my recipe
- 2 tablespoons – non-dairy milk, I used soy
- 1 teaspoon – white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon – vanilla extract
- 50g (¼ cup) – vegetable oil, or any neutral oil
- 75g (⅓ cup) – granulated or cane sugar
- ¼ teaspoon – salt
- 1 teaspoon – baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon – baking soda
- 1 cup (125g) – all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon – cornstarch
- Red & green gel food coloring, used Americolor (do not use liquid, see notes)
Red: https://amzn.to/3BEqIXN
Green: https://amzn.to/3FWYSsk
Loaf Cake:
- 240ml (1 cup) – vegan eggnog, I used my recipe
- 4 tablespoons – non-dairy milk, I used soy
- 2 teaspoons – vinegar
- 1 teaspoon – vanilla powder
- 100g (½ cup) – vegetable oil, or any neutral oil
- 150g (¾ cup) – granulated or cane sugar
- ½ teaspoon – salt
- 1 teaspoon – baking powder
- ½ teaspoon – baking soda
- 2 cups (250g) – all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons – cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
Ornament Cakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Lightly grease and line an 8×8-inch square pan with parchment paper, and set aside until ready to use.
- In a bowl, combine all the wet ingredients: vegan eggnog, soy milk (if using), vinegar, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and granulated sugar (yes this is a wet ingredient). Mix until well combined and the sugar has been dissolved.
- In another bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch. Mix until well combined.
- Pour half of the dry ingredients into the bowl of the wet ingredients, and whisk until just combined. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and continue to whisk until you get a relatively smooth batter.
- Divide the batter in half. Add red food coloring to one half and green batter to the other half. Fold until all the color has been evenly distributed in both batters.
- Spoon the red batter into different areas of the prepared square pan, and fill in the gaps with the green batter. Take a chopstick or butter knife to create your swirls. Do not overdo it, otherwise, the colors will start mixing.
- Bake the cake for 10-12 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow it to cool completely before moving on to the next steps. If you are low on time, you store this in the fridge with saran wrap and finish the cake the next day.
- When the cakes are cool, take a 1 ½-inch round cookie cutter and cut out as much as you can. Save the remaining scraps for snacking or you can make some cake pops! Set the ornament cakes aside.
Loaf cake & assembly:
- Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit (if it isn’t already on). Lightly grease, and line a standard loaf pan with a long piece of parchment paper. You want it long enough so it hangs over the sides of the pan, as they will act as handles to pull the cake out later on. set aside until ready to use.
- In a bowl, combine all the wet ingredients: vegan eggnog, soy milk (if using), vinegar, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and granulated sugar (yes this is a wet ingredient). Mix until well combined and the sugar has been dissolved.
- In another bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch. Mix until well combined.
- Add ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until combined. Add another ⅔ and repeat. Finally, add in the remaining ⅓ and mix until the batter is very smooth.
- Evenly spread a bit of batter onto the bottom of the loaf pan, you want about ¼-inch thickness. Then place the ornament cakes into it neatly in a row. Leave space in the front and back of the row of cakes. And you want to make sure that the cakes are pressed into that batter.
- Gently spoon or pipe the remaining cake batter around and on top of the ornaments, making sure they are covered.
- Place the loaf onto the middle rack of the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the loaf cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Then with the parchment paper, carefully pull it out and transfer it to a wire rack. Allow the cake to cool fully before serving!
Notes
- Measure your flour properly. I test my recipes, 100% in grams. A common reason baked goods fail is incorrectly measured flour. I always recommend using a scale for accuracy when baking. This greatly improves your chance for success and lessens room for error.
- If you’re measuring by cups, avoid scooping the measuring cup directly into the flour. This tends to pack the flour into the cup, resulting in too much flour and a very dense or gummy finished product. Instead, aerate your flour (fluff it with a fork or spoon) and then spoon it into your measuring cups, leveling it with your finger or the back of a butter knife. Keep in mind though, that this method is not guaranteed to be accurate.
- Vegan eggnog – For this recipe, I made my own vegan eggnog recipe, but you can use your favorite store-bought eggnog!
- Vanilla Bean Powder – Made from vanilla beans, vanilla powder has a more intense vanilla flavor than vanilla extract and can be used not only in baking recipes but as a natural sweetener. The best brand I’ve used is Story Heart and Harvest Pure Madagascar Vanilla Bean Powder. You can use my code FLOUREDFRAME for 15% off!
- Cornstarch – When added to cake, cornstarch helps create a crumbly and tender dessert-like texture. So don’t skip this!
- How long does this vegan eggnog loaf cake last? Wrap this loaf cake in plastic wrap or a large zipped bag and store it at room temperature for up to 2 days or 1 week in the fridge.
- Can I freeze it? Yes! It’s best to slice it up and wrap each slice individually. Then store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Why did my ornament cake move? There could be a couple of reasons why that happened. Either you had too much batter on the bottom of your pan, you didn’t firmly stick the ornament cakes to the bottom, or you weren’t gentle as you poured the cake batter around it.
- Can I make this gluten-free? I have not tried baking gluten-free bread, so I can’t say it’ll work out the same.
- What if I can’t find vanilla bean powder? You can sub it out for a vanilla extract
- Gel food coloring – Unlike liquid food colors, gel food colors bring a more vibrant and clarity of color without the addition of a lot of unnecessary liquid. Use a vegan-friendly brand, I like using Americolor!
- You can make the ornament cake the day before. While this recipe is simple to make, it takes time to make. So, I suggest I make the ornament cake the day before or even a couple of days ahead. Just store the whole cake in the fridge in a zipped bag or saran wrap. When you are ready, you can cut them out and bake the rest of the cake!
- Adding the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in batches instead of all at once. By doing this, it ensures that the dry ingredients have thoroughly been absorbed into the batter.
Keywords: vegan, vegan eggnog loaf cake, surprise cake, eggnog
