Mama Pea (Sarah Matheny) decided to make big changes in her life when her two daughters were born. She left her life as an attorney to be a stay-at-home mom. She gave up sodas, coffee, and meat for a healthy lifestyle. Her mission is to raise her daughters to appreciate the health benefits and the great tastes of vegetarianism. She’s not a vegan but has lots of vegan recipes. Here’s vegan White Chocolate Cranberry-Kissed Cake.
Ingredients
(8-10 slices)
For the Cake:
• 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 c. organic unbleached flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 t. ginger
• 1/2 c. vegan margarine (i.e. Earth Balance) or coconut oil
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. organic sugar
• 1/2 c. applesauce
• 1/2 c. non-dairy or organic milk
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 t. orange zest
• 1/2 c. dried cranberries, chopped
• 1/2 c. white chocolate chips
For the frosting:
• 1/2 c. non-dairy or organic cream cheese
• 2 T. vegan margarine (i.e. Earth Balance) or coconut oil
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 t. orange extract
• 1 ½ c. powdered sugar
• 1/4 c. white chocolate chips, melted
• 1-2 t. coconut oil
• 1/4 c. dried cranberries, chopped
Instructions
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ginger.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer and a medium bowl, cream together margarine or coconut oil, sugars, applesauce and non-dairy milk. vanilla and orange zest.
• Add flour mixture to wet ingredients, a little at a time, beating until incorporated.
• Fold in dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.
• Spray an 8×8 pan with cooking spray or lightly grease it with oil. Spread batter evenly in the baking pan.
• Bake for 22-25 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely.
• For the frosting, beat together cream cheese, margarine or oil, salt, orange extract and powdered sugar.
• Frost bars evenly.
• Sprinkle with remaining dried cranberries.
• And drizzle with melted white chocolate. (stir in 1-2 t. of coconut oil to make the chocolate pourable)
• If you want the cake to be a bit denser and the frosting to firm up, refrigerate for an hour or two before slicing and serving.