Fresh Currants Vegan Yeasted Cake
At the crossroads of cake and bread, you’ll find yourself making a vegan yeasted cake- this one is peppered with fresh currants and topped with a sweet and tart lemon glaze. Share a slice with friends, for breakfast, as an afternoon treat, or for dessert. This vegan yeasted cake will have you imagining what other delicious cake possibilities can be made with yeast!
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Yeasted Cake or Sweet Bread?
If you’re expecting a typical cake flavor, you might be a little surprised when you bite into this cake. That’s because it’s not totally a cake- it’s sort of a cross between bread and a cake. Most cakes use baking soda or powder as a rising agent. When done correctly, the baking soda is balanced in the cake with acids, which will neutralize the flavor (if you’ve ever tasted baking soda, you’ll know the flavor is not something you want to try). Yeast, on the other hand, does have a flavor and you can taste it in a finished product. It’s hard to describe- sort of malty and aromatic- you know it when you smell or taste it. While most of the ingredients in this cake are typical, the yeast is not. I found my first bite or two of this cake left me a little confused- was I eating bread? The soft texture felt more like cake, as did the sweetness, but that yeast flavor just sends your brain to do a little mental gymnastics to categorize what you’re eating. After the first bite or two, my mind relaxed. This is cake, with the added complexity of the yeasted flavor. And it’s beautiful. Those malted notes with the sweet vanilla batter, alongside the zing of the currants and the lemon glaze are a match made in heaven, and is definitely not bread.
Looking for Vegan Cake Recipes? Try one of these!
- No-Cook Vegan Pawpaw Cheesecake Recipe
- Vegan Chai Mulberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Vegan Kumquat Cake with Chocolate Ganache
- Simple Vegan Lemon Cake with Coconut and Almonds
- Chocolate Wedding Cake
- Walnut and Cinnamon Vegan Coffee Cake
- Easy Vegan German Apple Cake
- Pumpkin, Pecan and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Got Yeast? Try one of these Yeasted Vegan Recipes
- Garlic Yeasted Savory Zucchini Bread
- Vegan Apple Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch
- Vegan Black Trumpet Mushroom and Leek Pizza
- Golden Sweet Steamed Buns with Raisins and Pecans
- Maple Cream Filled Fried Vegan Doughnuts
- Simple Buckwheat Pizza Dough
- Mushroom Bao
- Garlic and Herb Vegan Nettle Breadsticks (Urtica dioica)
- Vegan Santa Lucia Buns with Saffron and Cardamom
- Golden Milk Turmeric Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
How to Make Vegan Yeasted Cake
You’re going to want a stand mixer for this one, or much stronger arms than I have. For starters, activate the yeast in some warm vegan milk and a little sugar. While that gets going, you can start by creaming your vegan butter and sugar in your stand mixer. After that, the wet ingredients go in, followed by the dry. Here things are going to get a little unusual- normally we would work to avoid over-mixing our batter, so that the gluten doesn’t develop. In this case, we are going to want to develop that gluten, as the strength of those bonds are what’s going to help to hold in the air released by the yeast. So let your stand mixer beat the batter for a few minutes, to help you develop those bonds. Your should have a sticky dough, that’s almost more of a batter. While your stand mixer does the work, you can get your currants ready. Give them a quick rinse, and pat them dry. Remove them from the stems, and measure out about a cups worth (you may want to save a few strands of the currants to put on top for decoration). I’m not sure that it actually works, but one thing I sometimes do is dust the fruit in a little flour, to keep it from all sinking to the bottom. Once your dough is mixed, gently fold in the currants. I found the best motion for this was actually more of a stretching the dough up, and folding it over type motion. Once the currants are well dispersed, transfer the dough to a pre-greased cake dish. I found the best option to be a high-sided springform pan, since it releases the cake easy, and doesn’t let the rising dough climb over the edges as it bakes. But before it goes in the oven, you’re going to want to let your dough sit at room temperature for at least an hour, ideally an hour and a half. And then into the oven it goes!
After your cake is cooked and cooled, make a quick lemon glaze for the top. This is made simply with lemon juice, vanilla, and powdered sugar, all whisked together. Over the cake it goes, and if you wait a few minutes it will harden and become less sticky. Cut yourself a slice, and enjoy. Make sure you have another slice an hour or so later, because cake tastes best the day it’s made!
Fresh Currants Vegan Yeasted Cake
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ tsp. instant yeast
- ½ cup soymilk, or other plant-based milk
- ½ cup granulated sugar (divided)
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- ¼ cup vegan yogurt
- 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 cup fresh currants, washed, dried, and removed from the stems
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ lemon, juiced
Instructions
- Grease a 9-inch springform cake pan with high sides, and set aside. Heat your vegan milk so that it’s warm, but not too hot (around 100°F or 40°C). Add your yeast, and about 1 tbsp of sugar. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, for the yeast to activate.
- While that happens, combine the vegan butter and the remaining sugar in your stand mixer. Beat until fluffy. Add the activated yeast and milk, along with the vegan yogurt and vanilla extract. Mix to combine. Add the all-purpose flour and salt, and mix. Once the flour is combined, turn the mixer higher and beat well, letting the mixer run for 3-5 minutes. Turn off the mixers and add the currants. Gently fold the currants into the dough, not pressing too hard so the currants don’t burst.
- Transfer the batter to your prepared cake tin and gently spread it out. Cover with a clean dish cloth, and set aside for between 1hr15m-1hr-30m to rise.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and let cool for a few minutes. Remove from the pan, and let continue to cool on a cooling rack.
- Once the cake is cooled, place the powdered sugar in a bowl. Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice, and whisk together. Add more lemon juice or a little water if needed so it is a pourable texture. Pour the glaze over the cake, and enjoy.
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