Confetti New Years Cake

I can't believe 2010 is no more.  It flew by so fast that I feel like last year's New Year's Day was more than a year ago!  I started my day off this first day of the calander year with a nice run, my other passion, and then was very hungry for cake! I was thinking that now that 2011 has arrived, a celebratory cake was in order! 

I was thinking about it, and even though this blog is called "Fragrant Vanilla Cake" it has been quite a while since I have actually made a vanilla cake.  It has always been enhanced by some flavor or another, and I thought what better a time than now to make one.   I wanted this cake to be festive and look like a celebration.  So, I decided to tint the batter with color and marble it! 

I thought a nice smooth chocolate frosting would be a wonderful contrast to the light cake, and some multicolored nonpareils to top it of would be perfect!  I felt like a little kid as I decorated the cake, topping it off with the confetti like nonpareils. 

It was a sight to behold, and even more so when I cut into it and the beautiful colorful layers were exposed.  The best part of this cake was eating it!  The light vanilla scented cake went perfectly with the creamy chocolate frosting!  As I devoured my cake, I was thinking, if this year is as good as this cake, 2011 is going to be amazing! Happy New Year!

Confetti New Years Cake

Makes 1 6 inch 4 layer cake

2 6 inch cake pans

Cake:

1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt

1 cup maple sugar or granulated sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup coconut milk
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

pink, blue and purple food coloring

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

Frosting:
1 pkgs tofutti vegan cream cheese

1 cup agave nectar

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and position rack in center of oven. Line two six-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides with parchment paper. Coat parchment paper and pan sides with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, baking soda, sea salt, and sugar in a large bowl to blend well. Whisk oil, juice, vanilla extract and food coloring together in small bowl to blend well, then whisk into the flour mixture until well blended. Whisk in cider vinegar and stir quickly (pale swirls will be in the batter, which is the baking soda reacting with the vinegar, which allows the cake to rise since there are no eggs). Divide batter into 3 bowls.  Whisk 4 drops pink food coloring into one, 4 drops blue food coloring into another, and 4 drops purple food coloring into the last. Drop cake batter in blobs into prepared pans, alternating colors, swirl with a knife, and bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on rack, about 1 hour. Cut around sides of pan to loosen. Turn cake out onto platter; peel off parchment paper. Let cool completely, then place in the fridge to chill until very cold to make slicing easier (since cakes with no eggs crumble easier). When chilled, slice cakes horizontally in half so that you have 4 layers.

To make frosting, whip cream cheese until smooth, then add agave nectar, cocoa powder, and vanilla and beat until smooth.
To assemble cake, place one layer on a plate, and top with about a heaping 1/2 cup frosting. Spread out on layer to the edge. Top with another layer and repeat, then the next 2 layers ending with a top layer of cake. To frost cake, spread frosting over top and sides, smothing out as you go. Sprinkle nonpareils all over the cake, then place remaining frosting in a pastry bag with a tip, and pipe decoratively onto cake.  I piped the frosting around the top and bottom edges of the cake, but feel free to be creative! Enjoy!

*if you would like a 4 layer 9 inch cake, double this entire recipe and bake in two 9 inch cake pans.