Vegan Angel Cakes

Step 1

Pre-heat the oven to 175°C/350°F. Line two 20 x 3.5 x 31.5cm cake tins or traybake tins with baking parchment, leaving a 3cm overhang at the longest sides for easy removal later.

Step 2

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, caster sugar, cornflour and salt.

Step 3

In a jug, whisk together the milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside for 10 minutes. Once the mixture has curdled a little, add the almond extract and oil. Whisk well.

Step 4

Pour the wet ingredients into the sifted dry ingredients and whisk until smooth, about 90 seconds. It should be of a flowing, ribbon consistency. Divide the mixture between two bowls.

Step 5

To each batter, add food colour, a little at a time until you achieve pale pastel colours. Try not to stir the batters too vigorously.

Step 6

Pour the coloured batters into the two separate tins. Spread them out using a spatula. Rasp the tins on the counter top a dozen times to encourage any air bubbles to rise to the surface. This will give you a more even bake. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. They should be springy to the touch and slightly golden on top.

Step 7

Remove the sponges from the oven and allow them to cool completely in the tins.

Step 8

In a small bowl, whip the softened butter until pale and creamy. Add the icing sugar and continue to whip until light. Set aside.

Step 9

In a small bowl, mix together the icing sugar and then add water, a drop at a time until a smooth, thick but slightly flowy consistency is achieved. Refer to the video for what to look for.

Step 10

OPTIONAL: At this stage, you can transfer a small amount of the icing to a little bowl and colour it with pink food colour. This can be put in a piping bag with a very narrow tip to stripe on top for decoration.

Step 11

Run a sharp knife around the edge of the tins to loosen and then invert onto two boards. Carefully peel the baking parchment off the pink sponge.

Step 12

Spread a thin layer of the buttercream onto the pink sponge, baking parchment side up. Place the yellow sponge on top, using the baking parchment to help you lift it. Peel the baking parchment off of the yellow sponge.

Step 13

Trim the edges of the sandwiched cakes if you'd like a neater finish.

Step 14

Spread the water icing on top of the yellow sponge and allow to air dry for 20-30 minutes. Drizzle or stripe the pink coloured water icing on top of the white icing (optional). I use a paper piping bag with the tip snipped off for this. Allow the cake to air dry completely, about 1 hour.

Step 15

Cut the Angel Cake into 20 bars and serve.