vegan coconut layer cake

and this is how dinah helps bake birthday cakes #stoppickingyournose

it's my 31st birthday today! i love birthdays, mostly because cake is involved. i've made myself a birthday cake for as long as i can remember. last year i made a white sparkling cranberry cake, the year before, i made a pear cake with brown sugar buttercream frosting. this year, however, i made a vegan birthday cake. no, i'm not worried about eating animal byproducts or attempting to be healthier. no, no, this year, i have a wee tiny baby who's been struggling with dairy. he nurses about every five minutes right now, so when i have dairy, so does he. it's a very common allergy for infants and typically goes away by six months old, or so. since cutting out dairy, his uncontrollable crying sessions have disappeared. which is great, but sort of a bummer to say goodbye to dairy for a while. but a happy, healthy baby is so, so, so worth it.

i have the cutest kitchen helper that ever lived

so, a dairy free cake, it is. no problem. dinah requested a "winter cake" so i figured a white cake, with white icing, and "snowy" shredded coconut would do the trick. finding a good dairy free cake is easy enough, for the frosting, however, i had to get more creative.

this year, our good friends and their three-year-old daughter - dinah's very best buddy - and their one-year-old son came over for lunch, wine and birthday cake. spending birthdays with people you love is the only way i ever want to celebrate them. we had quite a feast; meatloaf, squash, rice, salad, and bread.

we ended the day with a huge slice of cake and sat by the fire and watched the little ones scream and run around. and how was this vegan cake? amazing! i was totally blown away with how moist and flavorful this cake was. even when i'm back on dairy, i will make it again. the icing was fantastic too. so light and creamy. it would be perfect over berries in the summertime.

vegan coconut layer cake

3 cups white flour

2 cups white sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups almond milk

1 cup canola oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 TBS vanilla

1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

-preheat oven to 350 degrees. lightly grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans

-in a large sized bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together. in another bowl, mix milk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk until combined. gently fold in coconut.

-fill each prepared pan with equal amounts of batter. bake 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs sticking to it. rotate the pans halfway through baking times.

-let the cakes cool completely before assembling.

coconut whipped frosting

2 14oz cans of coconut cream (from Trader Joe's), chilled

1/2 - 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cups shortening

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups shredded coconut

-chill the coconut cream in the refrigerator overnight. scrape the hardened cream into a bowl and the shortening, and whip powdered sugar and vanilla into it until it becomes fluffy. assemble and frost the cakes. sprinkle two cups of shredded coconut over the top.