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7 November, 2014

An Elmo themed vanilla birthday cake (whole wheat, eggless, natural colors)

Comments : 35 Posted in : eggless cakes on by : apsara Tags: , , , , , ,

 

What’s special about this cake? Not just that it is for a cute little munchkin, a friend’s kid who loves Elmo.

This is my first vanilla-flavored birthday cake. I was able to decorate it with no synthetic food colors, just homemade plant-based colors!  Using natural colors was not a criterion, but I wanted to see if it could be worked out. My friend only wanted a non-chocolate cake, and so I took this opportunity to optimize a recipe for a basic vanilla whole wheat cake.

DSC02359

 

Till yesterday, I did not think it was possible to get a bright red color in frosting. Tried boiled cranberries, but it did not work. I have used natural pink color from beets before, and read on the internet that it can make red too. It was time to test that! I juiced a beet and reduced the juice by boiling, and voila! There it was, a nice red frosting with the humble beet.

What about Elmo’s orange color nose? Surely carrots would work, wouldn’t they? Yes, they did. 🙂 And they both taste delicious!

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Wait, what about the black? Any amount of chocolate yields only brown. And guess what came to my rescue, while I was frantically searching for a natural black color… black-strap molasses! This discovery really made me giddy with joy. 🙂

This white cake can be easily made vegan by substituting regular yogurt with soy yogurt.

Folks at Fiesta Friday #41 party, there’s one more cake that we can party with, as guilt-free as I could make it. Hope Angie and co-hosts Nancy and Loretta like it as much as we do!

Elmo themed vanilla cake

Ingredients: 

For basic 8″ square vanilla cake:

dry:

whole wheat pastry flour- 2 cup

sugar- 3/4 cup

baking powder- 1  1/2 tsp.

baking soda- 1/2 tsp.

wet:

yogurt- 1 cup (2% or fat free)

canola oil- 1/2 cup

vanilla- 1 1/2 tsp.

Method:

* Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.

* Mix wet ingredients in another bowl, add dry to wet in portions.

* Bake at 350 °F for 35 minutes or till a knife inserted in the middle comes clean.

Ingredients for frosting:

organic Spectrum shortening- 2 cups

powdered sugar- about 2 lb.

water- as needed

colors:

red – beet juice concentrate

orange- carrot juice concentrate

black- melted dark chocolate and black-strap molasses

brown- cocoa powder

 

35s COMMENTS

35 thoughts on : An Elmo themed vanilla birthday cake (whole wheat, eggless, natural colors)

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  • November 7, 2014 at 11:05 pm

    What a lovely cake and love the fact that you used all healthful ingredients too! Awesome job Apsara! I am sure your friend’s kid would have loved the cute Elmo theme! 🙂

    • November 8, 2014 at 10:20 pm

      thank you, Indu. Yes, all the kids liked it!

    • November 8, 2014 at 10:20 pm

      thanks, Nell. Glad you like it!

    • November 8, 2014 at 10:22 pm

      It was fun to make! 🙂

    • November 8, 2014 at 10:23 pm

      thanks, Swetha.

  • November 8, 2014 at 3:47 am

    Wow stunning Apsara. … what a fabulous cake and love the use of natural colours there and that sounds terrific. … kudos to you lady. …

    • November 8, 2014 at 10:24 pm

      Very happy that you like it, Chitra!

  • November 8, 2014 at 6:37 am

    Love that you make it all natural and healthy!

    • November 8, 2014 at 10:27 pm

      I did rack my brains in the experiments, but I’m glad it worked out!

  • November 8, 2014 at 7:14 am

    Just amazing Apsara, you never cease to impress

    • November 8, 2014 at 10:28 pm

      you’re very generous, Naina.

    • November 8, 2014 at 10:28 pm

      thanks, Julie!

  • November 8, 2014 at 12:24 pm

    I thought for sure you had used beets to make the red icing…but nope! You surprised me again by using cranberries! And then you use carrots and molasses too. Fabulous idea…your creativeness never ceases to amaze me. 🙂 Adorable cake…Elmo looks fabulous all dressed in his beautiful colors! Thanks for sharing your unique ideas with the Fiesta Friday party goers! <3

    • November 8, 2014 at 10:29 pm

      thank you so much for your generous words, Nancy. You’re a great co-host for our party!

  • November 8, 2014 at 3:41 pm

    Wow! Clever and creative you!! It seems you were out to just use plant based ingredients and you were very very successful. Love Elmo, you did such a super job. Bravo!

    • November 8, 2014 at 10:30 pm

      thanks, Loretta!

  • November 8, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    So cute!! I love Elmo, by the way. I made Elmo cupcakes for my daughter’s 2nd birthday- lots of candy for the decorations- and red food coloring. You did such an impressive job getting a perfect red without it!

    • November 8, 2014 at 10:32 pm

      Yes, Josette, it is very hard to avoid synthetic colors. I do not think I could have made many cupcakes with this natural color though, that would take a lot of beets and time too!

  • November 9, 2014 at 1:14 pm

    This cake is so cute! I’m very impressed with how vibrant you got those natural colours, I know it’s not easy! I bet his mum was happy not to have kids hyped up on artificial colourings!

    • November 9, 2014 at 11:16 pm

      Thank you for the nice comment, Michelle! Yes, everyone was happy and I felt all the effort was worth it.

  • November 10, 2014 at 1:30 am

    Apsara, I could see your excitement in the post and the fun you had while baking this cake…looks awesome!

    • November 10, 2014 at 9:32 am

      thank you, Divya. You missed it, but maybe next time!

  • November 10, 2014 at 1:27 pm

    Looks beautiful and healthy ingredients I like it.

    • November 11, 2014 at 7:45 pm

      Hi Vidya, you’re back. I missed you! thank you!

  • November 11, 2014 at 10:36 pm

    Colours made from the humble kitchen is amazing and Elmo seems like enjoying it. Good job, Apsara!

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  • March 30, 2015 at 9:40 am

    what a delightful cake again!! you are too good 🙂

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