A sweet, decadent end to summer

This summer went by in a snap. It wasn't long ago when I welcomed summer with an end-of-winter cake. Before summer's official end, I had decided to indulge myself for the last time. So I made an over-the-top, decadent vegan coconut cake over Labor Day weekend.

Decadent, vegan coconut layered cake

As a coconut devotee, I love coconut cake. Unfortunately, most coconut cakes in the market are laden with thick, fatty buttercream frosting, of which I am hardly a fan. Vegan cakes provide a healthier alternative since the frosting is often made from silken tofu instead of dairy products. So I jumped at Canadian vegan cookbook author Dreena Burton's Coconut Cake recipe in her Eat, Drink & Be Vegan cookbook when I saw it.

Since I don't have a blender, it's difficult to make smooth, tofu-based frosting. That's why I was excited to pick up Nasoya's new Silken Creations, a pre-blended tofu dessert starter, from the grocery store. It's in pudding form originally, so I mixed some Earth Balance margarine into it to make it more spreadable as the frosting for the cake.

The cake turned out to be moist and flavorful although I cut down on the sugar and fat in the recipe significantly. The fragrant shredded coconut that I bought from Whole Foods really made a difference. I cut the cake into slices and stacked them one on another to form a three-layered cake. The tofu frosting, however, ended up being too runny. I spread some of it between the layers and poured the rest over the cake like a glaze. I didn't add any sugar to the frosting because the tofu already has it, but it was still way too sweet for me.

Next time when I make this cake, I'd either leave out the frosting or make it from scratch so I can control the sugar content. My attempt at layering the cake definitely made it look more sophisticated and less homespun though, so presentation does matter!

Bonus great find: I also bought Shady Maple Farms' Organic Stroopwafels (Dutch-style wafer cookies) with maple-flavored filling when I was at Whole Foods. They were exquisitely made and tasted amazing! Couldn't restrain myself from finishing them all at once...

Shady Maple Farms' Stroopwafels from Canada

Crunchy, chewy, and delicately sweet - all in one bite