Vegan Apple Cake

This last weekend, my husband and I attended a potluck picnic. Knowing that a couple of the friends there were vegan, I decided to bring a vegan dish so as not to leave anybody out. Unfortunately, I didn't have all the ingredients I needed to make my favorite vegan chocolate cake, so I set to work on finding a new recipe I could try. All week I tested different recipes on my husband, making him my official taste-tester. It wasn't until I discovered a recipe for sourdough apple cake that I was struck with an idea. Looking over the recipe, I scribbled away on my notepad on ways to convert the recipe to be vegan friendly in addition to a few of my own unique ideas.

Of course, I had to test it out before I brought it to the potluck. So I called over our two best friends, whom are luckily foodies much like us, and I served up a generous amount of my experimental cake to everyone. Through the "oohs" and "aaahs" I knew I had created a recipe I would be happy to share.

When the time of the potluck came, I set to work on making the cake again. It turned out great, although I probably could have let the middle set a little longer than I did, but we were already running a little behind. So the middle of the cake was more like pudding, but that wasn't exactly a bad thing. It still tasted great. I was happy to see that there was only a fraction of the cake left to take home after the picnic, so I'm going to count this recipe as a success!

Vegan Apple Cake

Ingredients:
*1 cup of sourdough starter
1/4 cup soy milk
1 cup flour
1 cup applesauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
chopped apple

Ingredients for cake top:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
Thin apple slices

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium size bowl, combine sourdough starter, soy milk, flour, and 1 cup applesauce. Set aside until ready to use (do NOT put in the fridge. Leave out at room temperature so the yeast in the starter can help the dough to rise).

In a large bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients (not including the cake top ingredients). Fold in the sourdough mixture until well combined.

In a small bowl, stir together the cake top ingredients (except for the sliced apples), mixing until all of the brown sugar is moist. Spread evenly on the bottom of a non-stick or greased cake pan. Arrange thin apple slices on top of the brown sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan. Pour the cake batter over the top of the apple slices.

Bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool for about 5-10 minutes. Then place a plate on top of the cake and flip the cake over. Gently pull the cake pan up, revealing the "upside down" cake, so that the apple slices on the bottom of the cake are now on top.

Serve warm with soy ice cream, or chill in the refrigerator for about an hour and serve cold.

*Sourdough starter consists of yeast, flour, sugar, and water. Here is a link for making your own sourdough starter: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/SourdoughStarter.htm