Pistachio Cake with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream excerpted from Plantcakes by Lyndsay Sung. Copyright © 2023 Lyndsay Sung. Photographs by Lyndsay Sung. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited.
Plant-based baking like you’ve never seen, or tasted, before—bursting with color, flavour, and fun! Plantcakes is a boldly beautiful baking book for everyone who loves cake!
Whether you’re all in on the plant-based lifestyle or you’re just a bit plant-curious, you’ll find the vegan cakes of your dreams in Plantcakes. Inside are recipes for cakes of all shapes and sizes, to fill any craving or occasion—from a rainy Wednesday slice of emotional eating to a spectacular sheet cake for a crowd. You’ll never be short of options with chapters on:
- Snacking Cakes: When you need to snack and need to snack now, whip up the Orange Citrus Cake or Blueberry Sour Cream Streusel Cake
- Two-Layer Cakes: Keep it casual cool with the Dark Chocolate Cake, Supermarket Bakery–Style Cake, or Vanilla Almond Raspberry Cake
- Three-Layer Cakes: When you feel like getting fancy, there’s the Coffee Milk Cake, Passion Fruit Vanilla Bean Ombré Cake, or the PB+J Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Cup Crunch
- Party Time (or Everyday) Cupcakes: When cupcakes are called for, try the Garden Party Vanilla Lemon Cupcakes or the “They Don’t Know They’re Healthy” Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
- Wildcard Cakes: And to really take the cake, turn to the Abstract Buttercream Painted Blackberry Cake or Mocha Dacquoise Cake
Fun and fanciful, the recipes in Plantcakes are also extremely approachable. With step-by-step instructions, easy-to-find ingredients, and accessible plant-based alternatives for all the baking essentials, Plantcakes makes vegan baking a breeze. Whether you’ve never baked before or are an experienced baker ready to explore the vegan side, you’re bound to learn a thing or two—like how to make the best buttercream ever (without the butter!) or some sweet piping techniques—from self-taught baker, Lyndsay Sung, creator of the wildly popular cake making and decorating site, Coco Cake Land.
The book’s eye-popping photography leaps right off the page, and its vibrant, kaleidoscopic design brings everything together in one irresistibly sweet package. Plantcakes is the perfect gift for all the plant-based and plant-curious people in your life, bringing cake to the people in the most delightful, plant-based way. Let’s all eat (vegan) cake!
by Lyndsay Sung by
Pistachio Cake with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
MAKES ONE 9-INCH SINGLE-LAYER CAKE
Finely ground toasted pistachios sifted with cake flour gives this beautifully nutty single-layer fancy cake its flavour. Swiss meringue strawberry buttercream is then piped on top using a large multi-pronged star tip, and the whole cake is dotted with fresh berries of all kinds, along with whole pistachios and chopped sprinkled pistachios too, if you so desire. I used what I had in the fridge to decorate this cake, which included gooseberries and fresh mint. go nuts!
Pistachio Cake
½ cup (125ml) soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup (130g) finely ground shelled toasted pistachios (you can use a food processor for the grinding)
1½ cups (195g) cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp fine sea salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup (112g) unsalted plant-based butter, room temperature
1¼ cups (250g) granulated white sugar
¼ cup (60g) sour cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp pistachio or almond extract
Simple Vanilla Syrup
1 cup (200g) granulated white sugar
1 cup (250ml) water
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (substitute almond or pistachio extract, if desired)
Filling + Frosting
½ recipe Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream (see below)
Fresh strawberries, sliced raspberries, blueberries, and gooseberries (optional)
Fresh mint (optional) Whole pistachios
MAKE THE CAKE
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Prepare a 9-inch round cake pan by spritzing it with vegetable oil and lining with a parchment paper circle, and then spritzing again to prevent sticking.
In a small bowl, mix the soy milk with the apple cider vinegar and set aside for 10 minutes to thicken. It may look a bit separated at this point, but that’s normal.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the ground pistachios, cake flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, sour cream, vanilla extract, and pistachio or almond extract on medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds.
With the mixer turned off, add the flour mixture to the mixer and pulse to combine. Slowly pour in the soy milk mixture and mix on low speed to combine until a batter forms, 15–30 seconds.
BAKE THE CAKE
Add the batter to the prepared cake pan, using an offset spatula to level and smooth the top. Give the pan a light tap on the counter to reduce any air bubbles. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with only moist crumbs.
Let the cake cool completely in the pan set on top of a wire rack.
MAKE THE SIMPLE VANILLA SYRUP
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan set over medium-high heat, allowing the sugar to dissolve and the mixture to reduce, 5–10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Let cool completely before using. The syrup can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
ASSEMBLE THE CAKE
Remove the cooled cake from the pan. Using a pastry brush or a teaspoon, spread a generous amount of the vanilla syrup across the top of the cake.
Dollop a generous amount of strawberry buttercream onto the center of the cake. Using your small offset spatula, frost toward the edges of the cake, leaving a half-inch of bare cake around the edge.
Fit a piping bag with a large open star tip and fill the bag with the remaining buttercream. Pipe drop stars in a circle around the border of the cake, working your way inward in circles until the entire cake is covered in piped stars. Alternate between adding sliced strawberries (and any other berry you might like) and whole pistachios to the center of each drop star. Crush up some more pistachios and sprinkle on top. Decorate further with additional berries and mint, if desired.
This cake will taste freshest eaten within a day of making it, but can be stored in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days. See page 13 for storage notes.
Excerpted from Plantcakes by Lyndsay Sung. Copyright © 2023 Lyndsay Sung. Photographs by Lyndsay Sung. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.