Vanilla & Orange Blossom Cake with Seasonal Fruit
This cake was adapted from a vanilla cake I created for Amal’s 2nd birthday, two and a half years ago. My how time flies. I had searched high and low for a vanilla cake recipe with minimally refined and simple ingredients that didn’t call for a flour I didn’t usually use or keep on hand. I wanted simple, but all the simple vanilla cakes used cake flour and white sugar, which are fine on the rare occasion I have a dessert in a restaurant or pastry shop. But cake flour and white sugar are not ingredients I ever keep in the pantry. So, I set out to create my own recipe. One week, four trials and far too much cake consumed later, and I had a vanilla cake I was ecstatic about. It was also a huge hit at the party. I made a cake and mini cupcakes that both the little ones and the grown ups devoured by the handfuls.
A couple of months ago, when strawberry season rolled around, I decided to make a variation of that cake, with a few additions and adjustments and it was so delicious that I made it 4 more times in the span of a month. It was a big hit with Amal and Alessandro, who said it tastes like it came from a pastry shop.
This cake is light and fluffy yet moist, with the intoxicating aroma of orange blossom water which pairs beautifully with fresh strawberries, as pictured here, but also works wonderfully with peaches, nectarines, apricots, or raspberries, so go ahead and swap out the fruit based on what you have on hand and what’s in season.
Strawberry, Vanilla & Orange Blossom Cake
Author Nissrine Boufawaz @ HolisticNiss.com
- Time 60 minutes
- Difficulty Easy
- Diet vegan, refined sugar free
- Category Dessert
Ingredients:
- 250 G Light Spelt Flour
- 2 Tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1/8 Tsp Fine Sea Salt
- Zest of 1 Organic Untreated Lemon
- 70 G (1/3 C) Coconut Oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 78 ml (1/3 C) Maple Syrup
- 118 ml (1/2 C) Oat Milk
- 3 Tbsp Filtered Water
- 1/2 - 1 Tsp Orange Blossom Water
- 1 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- Fresh Strawberries or Other Fruit of Choice for the top
- Edible Flowers for decorating (I used sage flours here and the aroma was intoxicating)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180 °C and grease a cake pan with coconut oil
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk together the oil, maple syrup, oat milk, filtered water and orange blossom water in a separate mixing bowl, then add the premixed dry ingredients and fold to combine, until you have a smooth batter without any visible bits of flour. Do not overmix though, or it will toughen the cake.
- Fold in apple cider vinegar, then pour the batter into the pan and top it with sliced strawberries or other fruit.
- Bake on the center rack for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake or your cake will dry out. Watch it carefully and if it starts to brown too much check on it with a toothpick. If it needs more time, cover it losely with a piece of alluminum foil and continue baking.
- Remove from the oven and let cool to the touch before removing it from the cake pan.
- Let it cool completely, on the counter top, before slicing and serving.
