Vegan blueberry buckwheat cake

Boy, do I have a cake for you today! It’s really about time. It’s been exactly 20 days since posting a cake, a near-fatal gap of time for someone like me. Yes, it also uses blueberries (frozen ones we picked last summer, specifically), but it’s different. I promise.

What I have here is a cake made with buckwheat. Happens to be gluten-free as well. I stuffed it with blueberry pie filling and frosted the whole business with this nice cashew cream frosting, a perfect complement to the sweet blueberries. Blueberries and buckwheat are a nice complement, too, which is why I decided to make this.

See, we bought a whole bunch of flours at the local Indian market after I got the Everyday Gluten-Free cookbook—sorghum flour, amaranth (okay not flour, but that’s still kinda weird), buckwheat flour...yeah that’s it. But it’s a lot, for me. I usually stick to all-purpose and occasionally whole wheat. So why do I need all of these flours?

My point here is not just to make a gluten-free cake, but to try something new. Explore some new flavors. And this isn’t even that exotic—we’ve had blueberry buckwheat pancakes a few times, always very delicious. But I’ve never used buckwheat to make a cake. 

I know, I'm so boring.

So today I have! And it’s pretty good. Definitely an unusual flavor, but not unwelcome. I got the recipe from Twigg Studios—a beautiful blog that you should totally read—and was pleasantly surprised. No chocolate to be found here, but it works on its own.

I ain’t got much else to say, so here’s the recipe.

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Blueberry buckwheat cake

Makes one double-layer 6-inch round cake

Adapted from Twigg Studios

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Buckwheat cake

Ingredients

110 grams • silken tofu • ½ cup

13 grams • ground flaxseed • 2 tablespoons

90 grams • warm water • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons

224 grams • coconut oil, softened • 1 cup

165 grams • light brown sugar • ¾ cup

320 grams • agave nectar • 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon

4 grams • vanilla extract • 1 teaspoon

220 grams • buckwheat flour • 1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons

8 grams • baking powder • 2 teaspoons

3 grams • salt • ½ teaspoon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 6-inch round baking pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

In a blender, combine silken tofu, flaxseed, and warm water; pulse until smooth. Set aside.

Place coconut oil and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer; cream until light and fluffy. With mixer on low speed, pour in tofu mixture and beat until combined. Add agave nectar and vanilla and beat once more. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix just until combined.

Divide batter between baking pans and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Blueberry filling

Ingredients

296 grams • blueberries • 2 cups

12 grams • granulated sugar • 1 tablespoon

2 grams • cornstarch • 1 teaspoon

0.5 grams • cinnamon • ¼ teaspoon

15 grams • water • 1 tablespoon

23 grams • coconut oil • 1 ½ tablespoons

Directions

Combine 222 grams • 1 1/2 cups blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and water in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is slightly thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from saucepan and stir in coconut oil and remaining blueberries. Let cool completely before using.

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Cashew cream frosting

Ingredients

160 grams • cashews, soaked in water overnight and drained • 1 cup

112 grams • coconut oil, softened • ½ cup

240 grams • powdered sugar • 2 cups

4 grams • vanilla extract • 1 teaspoon

Zest of one lemon

Directions

In a food processor, blend cashews until smooth. Transfer to the bowl of an electric stand mixer and add coconut oil; beat until well-combined. Add powdered sugar along with remaining ingredients and whip until light and fluffy.

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Assembly

Ingredients

Buckwheat cake

Blueberry filling

Cashew cream frosting

Directions

Place cake on a work surface and level off the tops of each layer. Cut each layer in half so you have four thinner layers. Fill a piping bag with cashew cream frosting and pipe rings of frosting on one layer; fill with blueberry filling. Repeat so you have a nice four-layer cake. Frost the entire thing with remaining frosting. Top it all off with more blueberry filling if desired.

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Not my best frosting job, but whatever.

While you’re here, check out some of these other blueberry recipes.

Blueberry cinnamon swirl layer cake. A similar cake to this one.

Finnish blueberry-filled buns. Better than cinnamon rolls, almost!

Lemon blueberry zucchini muffins. Because it’s almost zucchini season...again.