A Vegan Cake for Christmas

I'm not a vegan, although I probably should be. If you know how to combine your foods to make a complete protein it's a very healthy way to eat. The good news is that there are absolutley delicious recipes I make that happen to be vegan, too.

Wishing each of you, dear readers, a happy holiday season and joy and prosperity in the New Year.

Counting my blessings this year takes some time because I've been very blessed. Loving friends and family are some of the biggest blessings one can have.

The day after Christmas we'll have a gathering of friends and family, with food and drink and conversation. One of the things being served will be this vegan spice cake, a variation on a Spanish Bar Cake I used to enjoy when I was a girl. It's based on a recipe in the Joy of Cooking but there are so many recipes in that cookbook that you may not have run across this one. Even though there will also be handmade cookies and Costco mousse cake as desserts, this one may be finished up first, it is so good. And yes Lynn, I did make some changes. But of course.

The texture is light for a fruit cake and the flavors are deep, dark and spicy due to the cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and lots of raisins. Let it cool before slicing it. Sweetie couldn't wait and so it crumbled on him a bit.

Do try this at home. It contains no eggs, butter, or milk but you do need a non-dairy butter substitute or butter flavored shortening. It's not diet food, but is also less rich than a lot of the desserts that will be served this holiday season.

Vegan Spice Cake with Citron, Candied Orange Peel and Dates
Based on Eggless Milkless Spice Cake in the Joy of Cooking

1 1/2 cups water
3 cups raisins
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup (one stick) non-dairy margarine or butter-flavored shortening, melted
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon allspice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated if possible
3 cups cake flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup chopped candied citron
1/4 cup chopped candied orange peel

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease well and flour a 9 - 10 cup Bundt pan. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan stir together the water, raisins, brown sugar, margarine/shortening, cinnamon, allspice, salt and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and baking soda. Stir gradually into the boiled ingredients until the batter is smooth (I transferred the boiled ingredients into a stand mixer bowl and used the mixer to mix in the dry ingredients.

Stir in the almonds, dates, citron and orange peel to distribute evenly in the batter.

Transfer the batter, which will be somewhat thick, into the prepared pan and even the top. Tap the pan a few times on the worktop to settle the batter. Bake in the preheated oven for an hour. Check to see if it is done by pushing a toothpick into the middle of the baked batter. If it comes out clean or with a few crumbs sticking to the toothpick it's done.

Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes on a rack. Turn out onto a serving plate and cool completely before serving. Can be decorated with a drizzle of melted white chocolate or with a drift of confectioner's sugar put through a fine screened strainer.

Serves about 16