Vegan Orange Cake With Lemon Curd Frosting Recipe

My sister LOVES all things lemony — except when they’re paired with coconut. She wanted the lemon curd which I made with my coconut cake but not that cake, so I decided to go all out on the citrus and BOOM! I ended up with this cake! I also happened to have some homemade red bean paste with cooked red beans so stuffed them in as well. The combination was a godsend. I adapted the cake recipe from Cupful of Kale and the lemon curd recipe from School Night Vegan. Do check them out for mouthwatering and easy recipes!

• Prep Time: 40 min
• Bake Time: 45-55 min
• Serves: 8-10 small slices

Ingredients

For the Lemon Curd (This makes enough for 2 Cakes)

• 110g caster sugar
• 25g corn starch
• 115g coconut cream
• 115ml fresh lemon juice (~2 1/2 lemons)
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 60ml water
• A pinch of fine sea salt
• 25 g vegan butter

For the Cake

• 150g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 80g caster sugar
• 65ml rapeseed/canola oil
• 100ml plant-based milk
• Juice of 1 orange (~65ml)
• Zest of 1 orange (~1 1/2 tbsp)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method

To make the Lemon curd

1. Combine all the ingredients except the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium/low heat.
2. Using a whisk, whisk constantly while the temperature rises to prevent the mixture from curdling. After about 5 minutes, the mixture will start to thicken. Once it starts turning lumpy, whisk vigorously for a few seconds to smoothen it out.
3. Once the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, turn off the heat and stir in the vegan butter – mix well until the butter is fully combined and melted.
4. Pour the lemon curd into a sterilized glass jar and set aside to cool. After frosting the cake, store leftover curd in the fridge.

To make the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line and grease a 9x5" loaf tin.
2. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the sugar and mix with a wooden spoon.
3. In a separate bowl mix together the oil, milk, orange juice, orange zest and vanilla.
4. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
5. Pour mixture into the loaf tin and bake for 45-55 minutes. Do the toothpick test. Once it comes out clean, it’s ready. If it's not, leave in for a few more minutes.
6. Let cake cool in the pan for about 10 min and transfer out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Top with lemon curd frosting.
7. If not serving immediately, refrigerate in an airtight container. It will keep for 3-4 days.