‘Tis the season for tasty surprise office treats! Why do you ask? Because ACE turns 5 today! Happy birthday to us, but more importantly to you and all your support and hard work this last 5 years. Thank you.

To celebrate, we’re going to bake delicious treats and be green. No dairy from a farting cow releasing methane into the atmosphere for our dairy, or running after chickens for eggs. That’s right, this delightful tasty treat is all full of vegan deliciousness.

The following recipe is from the book Sweet Vegan, by Emily Mainquist. It’s a staple and one of my personal favorites; a divine 3 layer raspberry buttercream cake. If you like this recipe check out the rest of her book. She has so many amazing recipes and her book has no shortage of tasty treats.

I’ve made minor adjustments, but it’s still fabulous. I swapped gluten free flour for regular baking flour, soy milk for almond milk, and added ½ c more raspberries (lets face it, you can always use more raspberries). If you want, I’m sure you can make this non-vegan as well, using an egg, milk, and butter, or even add any fruit variations you please, but I haven’t tried it yet. I’ll leave you to try that one at your own risk.

Now, let’s get to cooking shall we?

Raspberry Buttercream Cake

Cake Ingredients:

1c Butter Substitute
1 1/2 c Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
3 c Flour (original recipe calls for gluten free)
4 tsp Baking Powder
6 tsp Egg Replacer (Ener-G) whisked with 8 tsp warm water
1 c Almond Milk (original recipe calls for soy)
1 tbsp White Vinegar
1 1/2 c of Raspberries

Buttercream Frosting:

1 c Butter Substitute at Room Temperature
3 c Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Food Coloring (optional for decorating)

Cake Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Beat butter, sugar & vanilla until combined until light and fluffy
• Mix remaining wet ingredients in one bowl and dry ingredients for the cake in another.
• Slowly mix and beat all ingredients together at a low speed until combined, rotating between the two.
• Once finished fold raspberries into the batter. Save some for later decor.
• Grease 3 9” baking pans, and fill evenly with batter.
• Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
• Wait for it to cool at least 30 minutes before adding buttercream (or else the frosting will melt faster than a glacier).
• Start frosting one layer at a time, adding each cake layer carefully as not to break it.

Buttercream Frosting:

• Beat the butter until smooth.
• Add powdered sugar slowly, ½ c to 1 c at a time until well blended.
• Add vanilla extract at high speed. If frosting is too thick, add 1tbsp of water as needed. Whip until light and fluffy.
• Add food dye if desired & whip until well blended.
• Decorate with leftover fruit or frosting.

Ta-da! It’s a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake now isn’t it? Be sure to share this delicious tasty cake with your officemates, friends, family, peers, or, you can eat it all by yourself. We don’t judge here.

Do you have any deliciously green tasty treats to share? We’ll be happy to eat them, or, you can post a link or recipe in the comments below.

We look forward to reading and eating all your tasty green treats!