Autumn desserts | Vegan cranberry cake

After the summer months, barbecues and meals on the terrace, autumn heralds a return to the kitchen. This is the perfect time to prepare colorful, comforting and… sweet dishes. Each week, a pastry chef gives us the recipe for his favorite dessert of the moment. Zébulon Vézina, chef and owner of Pâtisserie Zébulon, presents us with his vegan cranberry and almond cake.

Karyne Duplessis Piché
Special collaboration

No doubt because of its red color, cranberries are more associated with the holiday menu. It was nevertheless the bright color of this fruit, currently in season, that caught the eye of pastry chef Zébulon Vézina when he was shopping at the Jean-Talon market.

The shelves are overflowing with vegetables in the fall. However, on the fruit side, the offer is less varied, he notes. “There are apples, squash, but cranberries are an underexploited fruit,” says the pastry chef. When we think of consuming it, it is often in a dried version. But in season, the cranberry bursts as much by its vibrant color as by its taste, it gives a desire for gluttony and celebration. ”

Gourmand, that’s how Zébulon Vézina describes himself. Anyone who converted to a vegan diet a few years ago quickly discovered that without eggs, butter, cream, the sugary offer was limited in Montreal. This is what led him to open a vegan dessert counter, Zébulon Pâtisserie, on the Plateau Mont-Royal, three months ago.

Is her recipe more complex because she is vegan? The chief assures us that it is not. According to him, the hardest part is finding the ingredients. “These are ingredients that are often unknown and are not always easy to find, especially outside of Montreal and Quebec,” he explains. But making dessert is easy! ”

This one has three elements: a crispy base, a cranberry confit for topping and the cake. If you don’t have enough time, you can always drop the crisp, but especially not the confit! Otherwise, it will be like a “cupcake without icing”.

Visit the Pâtisserie Zébulon website

Recipe: vegan cranberry almond cake

Yield: 5 to 6 servings

Ingredients for Cranberry Almond Cake

• 300 g of ground almonds with or without skin
• 160 g almond butter
• 50 g of water
• 230 g grapeseed oil
• 50g fresh, dried or frozen cranberries
• 5 g of sea salt
• 320 g of aquafaba (water recovered from a can of chickpeas)
• 240 g of raw sugar
• 50 g of cornstarch
• 50 g of corn flour
• 50 g brown rice flour
• 8 g of baking powder

Ingredients for the almond crisp

• 100g cocoa butter or coconut oil
• 100 g almond butter
• 100 g puffed rice
• 1 good pinch of fleur de sel
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1 C. maple syrup

Ingredients for the cranberry confit

• 150g fresh or frozen cranberries
• 15 g of water
• 10 g +30 g raw sugar
• 3 g of pectin or 1 g of agar-agar
• 1 capful of sweet clover (or vanilla) essence (optional)

Preparation for the cake

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350 ° F in convection mode.
• 2. In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients and set aside.
• 3. In another bowl, combine the two flours, cornstarch and baking powder, then set aside.
• 4. In a third bowl, assemble the aquafaba in firm snow, using an electric stand mixer or an electric hand mixer at maximum speed.
• 5. Once the aquafaba is well assembled, add the raw sugar, while continuing to mix at high speed.
• 6. Remove the beater and fold the aquafaba and sugar mixture with the first mixture.
• 7. Incorporate the second mixture (flour, cornstarch and baking powder) while continuing to fold.
• 8. Pour into a greased 7 inch cake pan.
• 9. Bake for 25 minutes or until the cake is golden brown.

Preparation for the crisp

• 1. In a double boiler, melt the cocoa butter or coconut oil.
• 2. Add all other ingredients and mix well.
• 3. Pour the mixture into an 8 inch round silicone mold or spread between two sheets of waxed paper 5 mm thick.
• 4. Reserve in the refrigerator.

Preparation for the confit

• 1. In a saucepan, cook the cranberries with 10 g of sugar and water.
• 2. Once the cranberries are well cooked, add the rest of the sugar, the essence of sweet clover (or vanilla) and the pectin (or agar-agar).
• 3. Grind using a hand blender.
• 4. Bring the mixture to a boil for one minute.
• 5. Pour over the previously baked cake, but still in its mold.
• 6. Put the cake covered with the confit in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Finishing

• 1. Unmold the cake with delicacy and confidence.
• 2. Place on the almond crisp.
• 3. Decorate the cake with edible flowers, berries, toasted almonds or crumbled cookies.