Aperol Spritz Cake

Folks, this is a good one...

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Right on cue, here I am, jumping on a cocktail trend for a drink that was cool roughly six years ago.

We could call it fashionably late, but the truth is that I’m a nearly-forty-year-old who doesn’t drink with a mild aversion to anything bitter. Like marmalade, grapefruit and campari, I’ve always found Aperol to be a borderline punitive experience, which surprisingly isn’t my go-to vibe for a chilled, summer drink. But when I saw Ian Akerlind’s Aperol Spritz cake last week on Substack, I had a weird little tummy flip of excitement. I love orange in pretty much anything, so the zest-studded sponge was calling my name from the start, but I also couldn’t stop thinking about the Aperol spiked glaze. No, I’m not a lover of bitter flavours, but I am a lover of contrast, and my interest was piqued by the promise of a surprisingly bitter-sweet cake. So I decided, there and then, that baby needed veganising.

The process was relatively simple, as Ian’s recipe was already quite similar to my lemon poppyseed cake recipe. The veganising process mostly involved creating a hybrid of the two recipes (and then praying to Oprah that it actually worked). Ian uses oil for his version, so there was no butter to replace, and the two eggs were simply swapped out for 100ml plant milk (sometimes it really is that simple). I added a tablespoon of cornstarch to help with emulsification and browning and I reduced the fat content slightly (standard protocol for vegan cakes to help prevent sinkage on account of the lack of eggs). I added some fresh orange juice to the batter, partly because I’m an orange stan, but also because it makes sense to use the whole orange and not just the zest.

One thing that caught me by surprise was the effect that the prosecco had on the sponge. This is the lightest, most even crumbed cake I think I’ve ever made, and I thank prosecco (and Ian) for that. I think the tiny bubbles helped the cake to rise (it’s significantly taller than my lemon poppyseed cake) so I advise that you do your best to add the prosecco to the wet ingredients last and to stir as little as possible after this point. As suspected, the glaze is deliciously bittersweet, with a gentle crackle to it, once set. Folks, this cake is bloody stunning and I’d really, really like you to make it. The idea of this cake, sliced and waiting for guests at a little open air cocktail afternoon just brings my gay heart so much joy. Once again, thank you Ian Akerlind for coming up with this idea! You too have made my gay heart happy.

My recipe is at the bottom of this newsletter.

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Quick Update

I’m hosting a vegan vacation this week with the Getaway Co in Switzerland, so I’m going to keep this newsletter brief. I arrived in Zurich yesterday and we drove from the German speaking part of the country, down to a town called Brissago in the Italian speaking part. Amanda (the founder of the Getaway Co) has somehow not only managed to find the most beautiful location I’ve ever seen, but also, she’s found a vegan hotel - right here on the lake Maggiore!

Our guests arrive today and I can’t wait to meet them all at our opening dinner tonight. I’m going to be making vegan ricotta and vegan parmesan all day in preparation for my vegan cheese making demo I’m hosting next week, which is always my favourite bit of these trips.

Anyway, I’ll be doing a full update on the trip in next week’s newsletter, so hang tight for that. In the meantime, you can check out the details of my upcoming vegan vacation to Bali, which is in September this year and still has some spots left! You can also check out all the other vegan getaways the company is hosting this year right here.

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This Week’s Recipe:
Aperol Spritz Cake

(With Downloadable PDF Version)

A fluffy, citrusy loaf infused with prosecco and topped with a bittersweet Aperol glaze. All the joy of a summer spritz, just in cake form. If you can possibly help it, try to make this cake at least a day ahead. The texture of the cake will be significantly improved if you wrap it in plastic wrap after it has cooled fully and refrigerate it overnight. Not only will this help the glaze to set more quickly when you apply it, but it also helps to create an even more moist crumb in the sponge.