Birthdays are special, especially when you’re a child – parties with friends, family, presents and cake. So when my friend, whose four-year-old daughter has severe eczema, asked me to make a vegan, gluten-free cake, I readily agreed.

I adapted a recipe from Lovely Lady Cakes on YouTube, doubled the quantity for the main cake and added cocoa to the third batch to make the cupcakes.

Cake Recipe:
– 6 teaspoons of vinegar
– 2 cups of rice milk
– 3 cups of all purpose gluten free flour
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 2 teaspoons baking powder
– 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
– 1 1/2 cups sugar
– 1 cup coconut oil
– 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

– Line two 6-inch round tisn and preheat oven to 175 degrees celcius
– Pour vinegar into the rice milk to create “buttermilk”
– Sift and mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl (no need to sift the sugar though)
– Mix the coconut oil and vanilla extract with the “buttermilk” until combined
– Pour liquids into the dry ingredients and mix well
– Pour mixture into the tins and bake for 30 minutes

To make twelve cupcakes, half the ingredients, add 1/3 cup of cocoa powder and follow the instructions above, adding the cocoa powder to the rest of the dry ingredients.

Orange Buttercream Recipe:
– 1 cup non-dairy butter
– 4 cups of powdered sugar
– Zest of 2 oranges
– 2 tablespoons of orange juice

– Beat the butter until smooth
– Slowly add powdered sugar to the butter until it reaches spreadable consistency
– Add orange zest
– Pour in orange juice and beat until smooth

This would be enough buttercream to frost both the cake and the cupcakes.

The birthday girl requested for a Numberjacks cake, so I carved the cake into the Numberjacks sofa and put up a big four. For the cupcakes, I topped them with all the numbers from the cartoon.

I have to admit that I like the chocolate version better as the chocolate covers the taste of the gluten-free flour, which takes a little getting use to. Otherwise, this recipe resulted in a moist, fluffy cake that held up when I carved it. The birthday girl was especially happy as she could indulge in cake, which is something she normally can’t eat. Poor mummy who probably had to deal with a super hyper kid on a sugar rush though!