Lemon-Raspberry Cake

This is the cake I made for M's eighth-grade graduation. In my quest to have a 100% vegan reception, I set out in search of a good cake recipe. I had never had a good vegan cake (that I knew of), but I was optimistic that one could be found. I tried five different recipes from cookbooks and various websites. Finally, by combining tips, tricks, and ingredients, we created one that was acceptable in both taste and texture. This recipe still needs some adjusting since the middle ended up a bit lower than the sides, but a multitude of problems can be covered with raspberry jam and icing. If you are able to find a way to keep the dip out of the middle of the cake, please let me know!

For a 9 x 9 cake*:

1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
3/4 t. baking powder
3/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. oil
3/4 c. soy milk or rice milk
1/4 c. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375°F. Stir dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients and mix with mixer until well combined. Bake for 35 minutes in a greased pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper for easier removal.

When done, let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan. Remove from pan and wrap in plastic wrap. The edges tend to be a bit "crunchy" right out of the oven, but wrapping it up until it cools makes it more cake-like.

After wrapping, I immediately put the layers on a flat surface in the freezer. There they stayed until later in the week when I was ready to trim and decorate.

I made 2 layers, using raspberry jam for the filling. I veganized a buttercream icing recipe off the web by replacing the butter with Earth Balance spread and cream with soymilk. All the kids loved the icing, but most of the adults found it too sweet. It was my first attempt at from-scratch icing of any kind, so I'll keep working on it.

*For an 11 x 17 pan, multiply each ingredient by 2 1/3.