We all know at this point that vegan cakes can be even more delicious than their more traditional counterparts, but what’s the secret to getting that rise and ending up with something fluffy and beautiful?

After 10 years of perfecting the art ( and just generally eating a lot of vegan cakes) I feel like I can share a few tips that we use in our Highlands bed and breakfast to ensure no one would know the difference. So in no particular order:

-Find a recipe book or blog that has fab reviews from home bakers. Lots of people have tested these recipes before you, saving you the disappointment of picking a dud. Some of our favourites:

www.noracooks.com

www.domesticgothess.com

If cakey fingers and mobile phones aren’t your idea of a good time, there are some excellent recipe books that we love too:

Simply vegan baking – Freya Cox

Chloe Coscarelli – Chloes vegan desserts

Vegan cakes – Sarah Hardy

The naughtiest vegan cakes in town – Ms Cupcake

-So you’ve chosen your recipe. Next tip is get everything ready, weigh out dry ingredients where you can, line tins, pre heat your oven and just generally get everything ready to go. Once the raising agent hits the liquid you’re going to want that in the oven asap.

-Sieve your flour , its tempting to skip but its going to minimize the amount of stirring you’ll need to do.

-Which brings me to stirring. Our method of choice? A big metal spoon used in big sweeping motions, and only until its just about mixed.

-To bang or not to bang? The go to tip used to be to knock the cake tin on the counter to slow the raising agents progress. I don’t know if this is a good idea or not, but its fun, so why not? So that’s it, not as hard as its sometimes made out. As with most skills, practice is key as its getting a feel for the batter which tells you whether you’re onto a winner or not. Alternatively, you could just book a stay at Greenstone Lodge, as there is always free and delicious vegan cake waiting on arrival 🙂