VEGAN SWIMMING POOL BIRTHDAY CAKE
VEGAN SWIMMING POOL BIRTHDAY CAKE
Originally published in Australian Women’s Weekly Food as a remix series wherein I veganised my favourite cake from the iconic Children’s Birthday Cake Book.
As a child, our birthday parties were littered with Gran’s attempts to replicate the fanciful cakes in the Children’s Birthday Cake Book - the race car, the koala, the teddy bear and - in my opinion - the crowning glory: the swimming pool cake. The Swimming Pool gives you cake, frosting, jelly, biscuits, candy and more deliciousness per square metre (according to calculations young Zac made when asked which cake he wanted for his birthday). Using simple, supermarket-ready substitutions, this iconic cake can easily be made dairy-free and vegan-friendly so everybody at your party can have a slice. This recipe was written with Australian ingredients in mind.
Ingredients
Cake:
1x 470g Moist Vanilla Cake Mix
25g powdered egg replacer (or equivalent 2.5 eggs)
75ml aquafaba (or equivalent liquid for powdered eggs)
Jelly:
2 ⅔ cup water
⅓ cup Blue Lemonade flavoured cordial
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons agar agar powder
2 drops blue food colouring
Buttercream:
125g margarine/dairy-free butter
1.5 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
½ tablespoon dairy-free milk
Vegan-Friendly Candy Toppings:
2 Fruit or Cola Flavoured Chupa Chups
1 Licorice Strap
2 Strawberry Licorice Twists
4 Sour Patch Kids
3 Sour Straps
5 Skittles
Sprinkles
2 Packets Dairy-Free Scotch Fingers
90g Dark Chocolate
Photography by Pete Dillon.
NOTES: Look for a cake mix that doesn’t contain dairy in the ingredients. I have checked and tested Green’s ‘Moist Vanilla Cake’ Mix, Woolworths’ ‘Vanilla Cake Mix’ and Coles’ ‘Vanilla Cake Mix’ with success, Green’s being my top recommendation.
Lollies: Suitability for vegans can vary brand to brand so check for gelatine or colour 120 before selecting. Fruit and Cola flavoured chupa-chups, skittles and some selections of sour patch kids are all vegan friendly.
Aquafaba is the brine drained from a can of chickpeas, butter beans, or similar beans that come canned in liquid.
Agar Agar is a vegan-friendly gelatin substitute you can find at Asian supermarkets or health food stores. It comes in powdered and flake form. For this recipe, you will need powdered Agar Agar.
To prevent your cake doming, dampen enough paper towels to wrap around the cake pan and fold a length of aluminium foil over to seal the paper towels inside. Wrap and secure this around the side of the cake pan before proceeding to ensure a flat cake. Alternatively, use baking strips.
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180c/160c fan forced. Grease a 20cm (8-inch) round cake pan. Make cake according to packet directions noting the following: substitute room temperature dairy-free milk and butter in equal amounts for what is called for on the packet. In lieu of egg, add the equivalent of 2.5 eggs in powdered egg replacer and make up the additional liquid required with aquafaba.
2. Spread mixture into pan. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool upside down.
3. Meanwhile, whisk all jelly ingredients together (reserving ⅔ cup water) in a small pot. Once combined, bring mixture to a boil, continuing to whisk for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, mix in the remaining water and pour into a shallow container. Refrigerate until set.
4. To make buttercream, beat cold butter for 1 minute, before gradually beating in half the sifted icing sugar then milk, then remaining icing sugar. Beat sifted cocoa into butter cream. Beat until smooth
5. Level cake top if required; secure cake, cut-side down, on a cake stand with a little butter cream.
6. Cut a recess into the centre of the cake, about 2cm in from the edge, and about 2.5cm deep. Remove and discard centre of cake. Trim recess to neaten.
7. Break chocolate into small pieces and place into a microwave-friendly bowl. Blast for 15 second increments, stirring each time until fully melted. Spread scotch fingers onto a tray and drizzle chocolate on top. Allow to set.
8. Spread chocolate buttercream all over edge and side of cake (but not into the hollowed-out area). Smooth with a spatula.
9. Position chocolate-drizzled biscuits around side of cake, leaving an opening of about 5cm for ladder.
9. Use lollipops (sticks trimmed if needed) and thin strips of licorice strap to make ladder; secure with butter cream, and toothpicks, if necessary. Position ladder on cake.
10. Trim sour straps lengthwise and wrap around sour patch kids to create rubber floaties, pressing firmly to hold in place.
11. Slice licorice twists to fashion a pool raft and place a sour patch kid on top. Trim a licorice strap to mimic pool bars and a slide, securing with toothpicks, if necessary.
12. Mash set jelly with a fork, spoon into the centre of the cake to represent water; position kids, pool raft, pool bars, slide and skittles to represent beach balls. Add an umbrella to the poolside and place sour strap towels over the biscuit fence. Decorate the water with blue sprinkles to create an extra shimmer if desired.