How about some color for a change? For today’s recipe I veganised a kid’s birthday cake which my parents always called ‘parrot cake’. Parents would make this colorful sponge cake for birthday parties to please the kid’s hunger for colorful and sugary food. And to be honest, sometimes I do feel that hunger too. So why am I calling this cake a unicorn bread and not a parrot cake? Mainly because I put booze in it to make it an adult version 🙂 Just a little bit of amaretto for the taste of it! (And yes, I am really contributing to that silly unicorn food trend)!
You know when I feel like baking kid’s cakes the most? When I am around my grandparent’s place. So when I go and visit, I usually sit with my grandma and we bake wacky childish cakes which remind us of good old times. This is always so much of fun especially as she lets me dirty her massive kitchen and I am free to use all her baking tools. Although the inspiration came from a kid’s cake I made it an adult version by using a hint of amaretto liqueur. No dramas if you don’t feel like using alcohol just use some vanilla instead (or omit). The cake is basically a usual vegan vanilla sponge (although I feel it became more dense than a sponge). I coloured the unicorn bread with natural food coloring like matcha, turmeric, raspberry powder and spirulina. But feel free to use usual food coloring as well.
The meringue was made using magical aquafaba but you could make your usual meringue of course to top this beauty. The cake is perfect by itself without the topping but it gives it that extra bit of soft texture. So let’s not waste any more time, get your inner child out and hit the kitchen!
 Unicorn Bread (using a rectangular loaf tin)
- 3.5 cups flour (you can replace with any general glutenfree flour)
- 15g baking powder
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- pinch of salt
- 3 chia eggs (mix 1 tbsp chia seeds with 3 tbsp water)
- amaretto liqueur (omit for a kid’s version or replace with ground vanilla)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 can of coconut milk (400ml)
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 cup plant based milk
Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the sugar and salt. In a second bowl mix chia eggs, coconut milk, oil, milk, vinegar, amaretto liqueur. Now mix the content of the 2 bowls. Divide the dough into 4 bowls and add food colouring to each bowl (matcha, raspberry powder, turmeric, spirulina). Grease a bread loaf tin and spoon in the dough – alternating the colours so you will end up with a colourful pattern (check my photo how it can look like). Once done take a fork and swirl through once the cake but do not overmix. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 1 hour (always checking if the inside is done with a stick).
Aquafaba Meringue
- liquid of 1 tin of chickpeas
- pinch of salt & vanilla
- 1 packet cream of tartar (5g)
- 1 packet of Whip it (Dr. Oetker) or German Sahnesteif
- 1 cup of icing sugar or Erythritol
In a cake mixer or with your hand mixer add the chickpea liquid, salt, vanilla, and cream of tartar. Start blending on high and slowly add in the sugar as it beats. You may need to stop and scrap down the sides to get any of the sugar that is stuck to the sides of the bowl. Keep blending until you get a thick fluffy texture and stiff peaks. Top your unicorn bread with the fluffy meringue and sprinkle with fruits (dried or fresh) or chocolate!