Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hello everyone. Welcome to this baking class, where you will learn how to make this rich chocolate cake frosted with white chocolate
peppermint ganache. This cake is not only vegan, but it's also gluten-free. So if you're someone with
allergies or a business owner who wants to cater to people
with special dietary needs, then this class would
be perfect for you. Forget eggs and butter. We are going to use wholesome and environmentally
friendly ingredients to make this cake. We'll first talk about
how and why things work and discuss how to
enrich the cake flavor. Because we're not going to
compromise with the taste. You'll also get to
learn how to make ganache that looks like
a regular butter cream, but tastes even better
than dairy-based frosting. And finally, you'll learn how to assemble and simply
decorate the cake. This class offers more than
a how-to step-by-step guide. It'd be a building block towards your journey in vegan
and gluten-free baking. At the end of the class, I'm sure you'll feel
confident to create this scrumptious treat at the comfort of your own kitchen. So join me in this
class if you're ready to dive right into
deliciousness. See you in class.
2. The Basics: Hi everyone. This is Winny, welcome back to my class here on Skillshare. Before we start the class, I want to quickly
share with you why I created this class and how
this class can help you. So I have personally
switched to a vegan diet since 2017 because
of an illness. After the shift, it was
very challenging for me to find a cake that
doesn't only taste good, but also using the best
ingredients possible. Many cakes that are
labeled vegan out there actually contain ingredients
that I tried to avoid, such as white sugar, bleached white flour,
hydrogenated fat, or trans fat, and even artificial
butter flavoring, which by the way is
linked to Alzheimer. That's why I've been
experimenting with vegan and gluten-free baking
myself since 2018. At first, everything
was very confusing. I just couldn't
really understand why I couldn't get
the right structure, texture and good taste. We'll talk about
this in a moment. But now I've become
so much better at it. And I'm here to help you
understand the basics. Wouldn't it be great if we
can bake our own treats? Because this way we can control
what goes into our body. First of all, let me briefly
explain to you about the three main
ingredients that are essential in regular
cake baking. They are dairy,
eggs, and gluten. There are several things
that eggs do in a cake, but mainly it's to provide
structure and stability. While variety of dairy products
in a cake, such as milk, butter, or sour cream, have many different
roles in cake baking. For example, hydrating
the dry ingredients, giving a rich taste, and also coating the gluten
to create softer crumbs. Gluten is a group of protein
in some types of grains, most commonly found in wheat. It has viscoelastic and
adhesive properties, which gives its elasticity, helping it rise,
keeping its shape, and leaving the final product, such as a bread with a
springy and chewy texture. Gluten molecules are activated
when flour is moistened and normally we want to
develop gluten by kneading the dough in bread baking
or mixing cake batter. This is a picture of what we
call the window pane test. The presence of gluten is
the reason you can stretch out a piece of dough without
it breaking or tearing. But in regular cakes
and cookies baking, usually it is suggested
to use flour with a lower content of gluten and also not to overmix the batter. Otherwise, you'll be
developing too much gluten and making the cakes or
cookies unpleasantly gummy. I guess the bottom line
here is that there's nothing can really
replace gluten. Maybe there will be future inventions that could
replicate gluten. But at least for now, the best that we can do is
combining several types of ingredients to mimic
gluten properties. We're going to continue to the substitutions for
these ingredients. But before that, please take a quick screenshot of this page. It covers troubleshooting
tips for some of the most common issues in vegan and gluten-free cake baking. So this is the baking
temperature and time guideline which worked
for me for this cake. I personally use
an electric oven with both top and
bottom heat source. It might be different
for you depending on what type of
oven that you use. And here's a bonus. This is an alternative method If you don't have
an oven at home. I have successfully used a
large pot to steam the cake. And it turned out
really, really well. If you're using this method, don’t forget to wrap the
pot lid with a kitchen towel so the water is not going to drip onto your cake
while it's steaming.
3. Ingredients Explained: In this chapter, I'm
going to explain a lot of details and it's going
to be a long one. So please bear with
me as I go on. So here is our ingredients
list and just a heads up, We're going to weigh each ingredient instead of
using cups measurement. Because weighing the
ingredients will give us a much more
consistent result. Let's start with the
dry ingredients. As you can see here, we're using several
types of flour. In my opinion, every Baker has their own preference for
gluten-free flour mix. And from my experience, gluten-free flour mix would give a better texture compared to if you're just using
one type of flour. It's not impossible to use
only one type of flour. I've seen other bakers do that, but I find that
sometimes it could result in a more
gummy or denser cake. The reason I'm not using the readily available
gluten-free flour mix is because there are
too many brands out there that may not be
available in some countries. So with this recipe, you can see each ingredient. And I believe it should be
available wherever you are. And also it's just so
much cheaper to mix your own gluten-free flour mix if you want to replace any
of the ingredient here, for example, brown rice flour, you could replace it
with something similar, such as sorghum flour. But if you replace it with, let's say, coconut flour, you won't get the
same desired texture. For the cocoa powder, I'm using the Dutch-
process cocoa powder, which is basically
natural cocoa treated with an alkalizing agent
to lessen its acidity. This process makes “Dutched” cocoa smoother tasting and
darker in color too. Okay, so our main
leavening agents here is obviously baking
powder and baking soda. And just so you know, I'm using double acting baking powder and the agar-agar
powder here is to help strengthen our
cake structure. I don't use gum in my baking because there are people
who can't have gum and agar-agar powder makes
an excellent substitution to xanthan and guar gum. Moving on to the
liquid ingredients, we have coconut oil as
the substitution to butter and would be the main
fat source in this cake. Feel free to replace it with
other types of neutral oil, such as sunflower
or rapeseed oil. And then we have soy milk, strong coffee, and
vanilla extract. These are the key ingredients needed to enrich
our cake flavor. I like to use organic
and non-GMO soy milk to add some creaminess but, if you can't have soy, you can replace it with other
types of plant-based milk. Such as almond or oat milk. Now the coffee and
vanilla extract will work together to improve the
chocolatey flavor even more. So use the best vanilla
extract that you can get. You won’t really taste a strong coffee flavor
in the final cake. However, if you
cannot have coffee, you can replace it with water. But coffee is
definitely preferable. The main sweetener in this
cake is sorghum sugar. I like to use it
very much because the character is quite
similar to white table sugar. And it doesn't taste very strong and overpowering,
unlike coconut sugar, the color is also lighter
than coconut sugar, and it also contains
a small amount of minerals such as
calcium and potassium. If you can't get
it in your area, I'd recommend to use
raw cane sugar instead. I won't particularly recommend Erythritol, because it has a distinctive aftertaste. And I find that Erythritol
usually absorbs more moisture. So you might want to adjust the liquid ingredients
if using it. For the next ingredient. So we have pumpkin puree, ground flax seed
and psyllium husk. You might have guessed
that these three are the substitutions to
eggs and you're correct. While there are many
other substitutions to eggs in vegan baking, such as applesauce. bananas, tofu. I use these three
because they work really great in this
recipe as a binder. And lastly, we have
sea salt to round out and deepen the taste
of our chocolate cake. One last note for
the dry ingredients. I just want to say, even though you don't
have gluten sensitivity, I think by combining
several types of flour, it's going to be
nutritionally better compared to the regular
all-purpose flour. And of course,
don't get me wrong. Cake is not a good
nutrition source. But, you know, we
can actually get creative and
incorporate more fiber and other nutrients
into our cake by adding more varieties and
choosing better ingredients. So for the ganache,
it's very simple. Ganache is basically just
a mixture of chocolate, whipping or double cream
plus any flavoring such as vanilla or in this
case, peppermint extract. I know that there are dairy-free whipping
cream options out there, but I prefer not to use
it because first of all, usually it contains
hydrogenated fat, stabilizer, emulsifier
and food colorings. And I prefer to bake without additives as much as possible. And secondly, most of
non-dairy whipping cream that's available in my
country contains palm oil. And we are facing constant
deforestation and forest fire issues linked
to palm oil production. I try not to use it in my
daily cooking and baking. Instead, I'm using a mixture of soy milk and coconut cream
for this ganache recipe. The milk is to balance or neutralize the strong
coconut flavor, and lighten the thick
coconut cream. But again, if you
can't have soy milk, you can replace it with any other neutral tasting
plant-based milk. And don't worry
about the taste of soy or coconut in
the final ganache, I promise you won't even
notice them if you're using the best pure
peppermint extract. Last but not least, to decorate the cake, I'm using freeze-dried
raspberries because it's healthy and the red pinkish color is a great contrast
to the white ganache. But of course, you
can definitely use whatever decoration you like.
4. White Chocolate Peppermint Ganache: The first step to
make this cake is making our white chocolate
peppermint ganache. Start with chopping the
vegan white chocolate. And I'm placing them in my
kitchenaid mixing bowl. If you're not using
a standing mixer, make sure to use a
bowl that is large enough because we're going
to whip this ganache later. Next, mix the coconut cream
and soy milk on a pan. We want to heat the soy milk and coconut cream into a simmer. And please make sure
it's not boiling. And then pour the
hot mixture over the chopped white chocolate and slowly incorporate the
cream into the chocolate. If the cream is too hot, it will ruin the chocolate. So don't overheat. Break any bigger chunks
until it's all melted. I'm using Nielsen Massey pure peppermint extract because this is the best
brand I can get here. Keep stirring until
everything is combined. And the final consistency
should resembles condensed milk. With
a plastic wrap, cover the surface, touching the ganache and then let
it set in the fridge overnight or for
at least six hours in an air-conditioned room.
5. Dry Ingredients: For the dry ingredients We’re just going to
combine everything in a bowl and then mix
them with a whisk.
6. Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, combine ground flax seed, psyllium husk, and warm coffee. Let them soak for about five
minutes to thicken. And then add the pumpkin puree and the rest of the
wet ingredients, mix everything with
a whisk and just keep mixing until everything is
well combined and lump-free.
7. Mixing The Ingredients: Sift the dry into
the wet ingredients in two or three additions. This way, we can avoid creating
big lumps in the batter. Combine everything
with a spatula or mix with a
paddle attachment, if using a standing mixer. it is necessary to mix
gluten-free batter in a longer period of time to
help strengthen the structure. So mix this batter vigorously
for a good five minutes. It's a really good
workout for your arm. The final consistency for this batter should be quite thick. Cover the bowl with a kitchen
towel and let it rest for 30 minutes to allow the flour
to soak in the moisture. Don't forget to preheat
your oven during this time. You also want to prepare
the baking pans and cut the parchment paper to cover the bottom and the
sides of the pans.
8. Dividing And Baking The Batter: Use a kitchen scale to divide the batter equally into the prepared baking pans. Baking with two shallow
pans like this is much better compared to baking
in one taller pan. Because usually
gluten-free flour is denser than regular flour, they could sink
to the bottom and making it more
difficult to rise, thus creating a dense cake. If you choose to
use one taller pan, you can try rising
the temperature at the first 15 to 20
minutes and then lower the temperature for
the rest of the baking time. But please know that
it will also take a longer baking time if
you're using one taller pan. Since this batter
is quite thick, I'm using an offset spatula
to smoothen the surface. I'm using my old trusty
electric oven here. And as the oven is preheating, I had placed a pan
filled with hot water on the bottom rack and
it will generate steam that is going to
help moisten our cake. The batter is now ready to be baked. Don't forget to use oven gloves, because what I do here
with my bare hands is kind of dangerous and I don't
want you to get oven burn. Finally, here's our
baked chocolate cake. Let them cool in the pan for
at least 30 minutes before removing and wrapping them with plastic wrap and
chill overnight.
9. Whipping The Ganache: After setting the
ganache for a few hours or overnight, Let's check if it's
ready to be whipped. If your ganache is straight
out of the fridge, bring the ganache to room temperature first
before whipping it. As you can see here, in a solid but also spreadable. This is the consistency
that we're aiming for. You can use this as it is
is to frost the cake. But I want to show you how whipping the ganache could really lighten the color and makes it look like a
regular buttercream. You can use a hand
mixer or like me, I'm using a Kitchenaid
mixer on a medium to medium high speed and whip it
until it doubled in volume, And the color turned pale. It will turn pale very quickly
as it incorporates air. Here's a real example of the
ganache turning too soft. Maybe because my
working environment was quite warm that day,
so this happened. It's not dripping, but
it's not firm either. If this occurred to you, just pop it in the fridge for about ten minutes
before we return it to the mixer. Look at that. It looks super
creamy, doesn't it? Popping it in the fridge
really did make a difference. Can you even tell that
this is dairy-free? Now we have this perfect
silky smooth ganache frosting ready to be used.
10. Filling And Crumb Coating The Cake: We're finally down to
the assembling step. The chocolate cake
is preferably cold, so it's not very crumbly
and easier to work with. Place one layer of cake
on your chosen cake board. I did not secure
it onto the board because I'm not delivering
this cake anywhere. But if you are, please secure the chocolate cake onto the board with a
dollop of ganache. Using an offset spatula, spread the cake filling, which is the whipped
ganache evenly. And then place another
layer of chocolate cake on top of it and gently
center and press the cake. For those of you who
is new to baking, this next step is
called crumb coating. The term is pretty
self-explanatory. We're basically coating,
covering or masking the cake with a thin layer of
ganache to seal the crumbs. Before we frost the cake with a final thicker
layer of ganache. It doesn't have to be very neat. And we're going to chill
this in the fridge for 15 minutes before we
do the final frosting.
11. Frosting The Cake: After we chilled the crumb
coated cake for 15 minutes, we want to frost the cake with
a thicker layer of ganache. If you want to learn more
about the decorating technique, you can check out my older
video on Skillshare. It's about how to work
with buttercream. So basically I just
frosted this cake evenly. Because this cake is suitable
for the holiday season. I thought I’d create this
matching snow-like texture by dabbing the
spatula all over the ganache. And if you don't have
an offset spatula, actually, a spoon could
also work just fine.
12. Finishing Touch: Well, this might feel like
a very trivial thing, but don't forget to
clean your cake board, grab a paper towel, dip it in warm water, and wipe away the grease
on the cake board. As I mentioned before, I'm using freeze-dried
raspberries for the topping. They kind of
resemble candy cane, but this is like the
healthy version. Have fun and decorate this
cake with anything you like. Maybe use some other fruits, nuts, sugar or
chocolate decorations. Fresh cut flower,
or even gold leaf for a fancier look.
13. Storage And Serving Suggestions: It's easier to cut this cake
while it's really cold. So ideally, you can
chill this cake overnight before you
cut and serve it. If you want to get a really clean slice
without any crumble, deep your knife in hot
water, and then wipe it before using this warm
knife to cut the cold cake. Repeat this step for
every slice you make. I'm sorry, I did not do
that in this video. I just wanted to quickly show you what the inside looks like. This cake would
be best consumed within five days. You can wrap the sliced
or unsliced cake with plastic wrap to prevent it drying out in the refrigerator.
14. Class Project And Thank You: Thank you so much for
joining me everyone. I hope you learned something
new from his class today. And now it's your turn to make this cake for the class project. Post your cake pictures here and share your baking
experience with all of us. If you have any question, feel free to ask me on
the discussions panel. And if you enjoyed
this class and feel that this class is helpful, please kindly give your review. That says for today everyone, I hope to see you
in other classes. Till then. Take care. Bye bye.
Winny, Creative Baker
