Reader recipe: Bonnie's egg- and dairy-free sponge cake

Kieran Scott

There was absolutely no question that Bonnie Sumner's recipe was the winner of our reader competition that called for recipes that had been given a makeover to suit a partiuclar diet. We love it it when something so incredibly easy to make ends up tasting and looking drop-dead gorgeous. This delicious sponge is free from eggs and dairy, and is light and full of flavour with an oh-so-now whipped coconut cream filling. See more of the entries here.

Ingredients

3 cups	White spelt flour
2 tsp	Baking powder
2 tsp	Baking soda
2 cups	Coconut sugar
4 tsp	Vanilla extract
⅔ cup	Vegetable oil
2 Tbsp	Apple cider vinegar
2 cups	Water
1 can	Coconut cream, refrigerated overnight
1 to serve	Raspberry jam

Directions

1. Heat oven to 180C and grease and line 2 round baking tins.
2. Sift spelt flour, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl and mix in the coconut sugar.
3. In a separate bowl mix together vanilla, oil, vinegar and water.
4. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid ingredients. Stir well to combine.
5. Divide evenly between baking tins and bake for 30-40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Turn on to a rack after 10 minutes.
6. Open the can of coconut cream carefully, you want to spoon off the solid cream, leaving the liquids behind. Put the solids into a bowl and whip.
7. Spread raspberry jam over one cake then top with some of the whipped coconut cream. Place the other cake on top and top with more whipped coconut cream. Decorate with coconut threads or flakes and fresh or freeze-dried raspberries, or decorate with toppings of your choice - edible flowers are also good.

Whipping coconut cream

Your coconut cream needs to be well refrigerated for the water to split from the cream and you need to look for a brand that doesn't have stabilisers as this prevents splitting. Do not shake the can and open it carefully so as not to unsettle it. You will get more solids out of some cans than others.

Tip

Check out Ray McVinnie's video:How to make chocolate shards.

More recipes

For more winning reader recipes,go to this collection.fo