Vegan Coconut Cake Recipe

I have had very few vegan bakery products that I would actually eat again. The reason is, often with vegan baked goods (well the several I have tried so far)they are often dense and, or lacking in moisture. I stumbled across this recipe a couple years ago when I was trying to find a treat to make for the annual tea party I throw that my niece could eat. She is allergic to anything that contains casein or milk related ingredients. This recipe uses coconut milk and silken tofu which gives it a nice nutty flavor and an extremely moist texture. If I didn't make it myself I would never had guessed it was vegan. This recipe is definitely worth trying.

p.s.
Some of the measurements are in pounds and ounces so I tried to post the cup measurements along with it for easier measuring.

The recipe is from the food network website, but I also have it posted below.

Vegan Coconut Cake Recipe courtesy Edna Tapawan (found on www.foodnetwork.com)

Show: The Best Of Episode: Cakes

Level: Easy
Yield: 1 (9-inch) 2 layer cake
CloseTimes:Prep 15 min
Inactive Prep-- Cook 1 hr 0 min Total:1 hr 15 min

Ingredients

Cake:
8 ounces silken tofu
1 pound plus 5 ounces sugar (2 cups, plus just under a half of a cup)
2 cups coconut milk
12 ounces coconut flakes
1 cup canola oil
1 pound plus 4 ounces all-purpose flour (2 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda


Icing:
1 pound soy margarine
1 pound powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup coconut milk


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Put first 5 ingredients the bowl of a food processor and puree until thick and uniform in texture. Add last 3 ingredients and process until incorporated. Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) parchment lined cake pans that have been coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for about 1 hour.

For the icing, mix ingredients until incorporated. Spread on cooled cake.

Rachel's Note: When mixing the icing, it works best with an electric hand or stand mixer. Blend the sugar and butter together until smooth, then add in the coconut milk and blend until smooth.(I also added 1/2 a teaspoon coconut extract to give it a little more flavor) When I tried mixing it by hand the icing came out lumpy.
Also, when I made this icing I had almost enough to ice another cake. This recipe could easily be cut in half, or you could use the rest to ice some sugar cookies.

Food Network Note: This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The FN chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.