Ingredient Suggestions:

The Flour: The standard is 12 oz (2 3/4 cup) flour. For chocolate 10 oz (2 1/4 cup) flour + 2 oz (1/4) cocoa powder. For other flours you'd like to experiment with simply replace two ounces of all purpose flour with an alternative of your choice. Remember the other flours bake and absorb liquid differently than all purpose so you may end up with a cake that is looser or more crumbly.

The leavening: stick with 1 tbsp of baking powder, this is perfectly balanced to get you maximum fluff with no funky flavors.

The Additions: Up to 8 oz ( 1- 1 1/2 cups) of fillings or about 1 cup. You can use anything you can imagine here except anything with a high moisture content such as fresh fruit, or jams, otherwise your batter will never bake. One rule here would be nothing of too large a chunk as it will keep the cake from staying together while baking and make it hard to eat. An example would be not using whole walnuts, you would need to break them up into smaller pieces. Otherwise have fun and try whatever you can come up with. These fillings and added items should always go in with the flour to ensure they disperse evenly and don't sink while the cookie is baking. Even candy works great here cut into small pieces.

The spices: You can use up to 3 tsp spices. You can mix and match these however you choose, going for more spice than this will start making the flavor a little too over powering and unpleasant. Spices always go in with the dry ingredients. Make sure to keep in mind that some spices are very strong so use them sparringly, such as cardamom.

For the egg replacer: You can change what liquid you use for the 3.5 oz (1/2 cup) make sure it is not cold, ive used anthing from coffee to marachino cherry juice before so there is a wide range. Otherwise nothing else about this portion of the recipe can be changed. As well remember to always use a neutral tasting oil at room temperature.

The Sugar: 10-14 oz ( 1 1/2 to 2 cups) sugar total. More sugar may be needed if the ingredients you are adding are earthy or bitter. This can be a mix of regular sugar or brown sugar, the later of which not only adds flavor but will make for a denser more fudgey cake. Don't use powdered sugar as it contains cornstarch. Sugar is always considered a wet ingredient.

The nut butters: if you want a more fudge like cake you can add nut butters to the batter. keep it at 1 cup total or roughly 8 oz (1 cup), otherwise any nut butter you can think of will work.

The Extract: Use up to 1 tbsp extract. Technically you can do more like some recipes listed but you will be making for a much more artificial tasting cake. Extract is always a wet ingredient.

The Syrups: You can use up to 3 tbsp syrups of any kind, any more than this and your cake will be too heavy. Syrups always go in with the wet ingredients.

The salt: Just stick with a heavy pinch.

The Liquid: For the liquid you should stay around 6-8 oz ( 3/4-1 cup) total. you can also add an extra tablespoon or two of liquid for the recipe such as using vinegar to make a buttermilk like flavor. The more liquid you add the longer the cake will take to cook and it may be so moist it feels under baked. you can go lower than 6 oz but I would only reccomend this if you will be soaking the cake somehow such as you do with Tres Leches cake, but i would never go lower than 4 oz. other than this you can use any liquid you choose, so long as it is not too viscous and bordering on a syrup. Any liquids will always go in with the wet ingredients.

The citrus zest: If used will always be a wet ingredient. I wouldn't use more than two oranges worth volume wise or the taste will be off. Think more floor cleaner than cake. Otherwise mix and match different citruses as you see fit.

the icing:

the butter: you can use any vegan butter that you prefer but best to stcik with salt free for a better taste. The amount should stay at 1 cup total, any more and you are just going to need more powdered sugar to compensate. Nut butters can be used in place of regular butter but add 2 tbsps regular to the mix to help with it s spreadability. OTHERWISE ANY NUT BUTTER WILL WORK HERE. yOU CAN USE OTHER SOLID OILS HERE LIKE COCONUT OIL BUT YOU WILL GET A DENSER ICING. TO MAKE CHOCOLATE ICING SIMPLY ADD 2 OZ OF MELTED CHOCOLATE TO YOUR FROSTING RECIPE.

THE SUGAR: NOTHING BUT POWDERED SUGAR WILL REALLY WORK FOR ICING AS IT WILL NOT DISSOLVE AS WELL AND LEAVE A GRITTY UNMIXED TEXTURE. oN TOP OF THE POWDRED SUGAR YOU CAN ADD OTHER SUGARS IN SMALL AMOUNTS FOR FLAVOR OR TEXTURE SUCH AS BROWN SUGAR. 3 CUPS IS THE STANDARD AMOUNT FOR THIS RECIPE BUT YOU CAN ADJUST THE AMOUNT TO GET A LOOSER OR DENSER TEXTURE, OR TO MAKE IT SWEETER.

THE LIQUID: MORE LIQUID WILL MAKE FOR A LOOSE ICING SO I WOULD STAY AROUND 1-2 TBSP 3 AS THE MAXIMUM. OTHERWISE ANY LIQUID YOU WANT CAN BE USED.

SPICES: ANY SPICE YOU CAN IMAGINE WORKS HERE BUT JUST LIKE THE IN THE BATTER YOU WANT TO AVOID ADDING TOO MUCH AS YOU CAN MAKE YOUR ICING TASTE MORE LIKE POTPOURI THAN A DESSERT TOPPING. USUALLY 2 TSP IS MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR ICING, BUT KEEP IN MIND SOME SPICES ARE MUCH STRONGER THAN OTHERS.

THE EXTRACT: aNY EXTRACT CA BE USED TYPICALLY YOU WOULD WANT TO STAY AT OR UNDER 1 TBSP, OTHERWISE THE ICING WILL TASTE TOO ARTIFICIAL. aLSO KEEP IN MIND THAT SOME EXTRACTS LIKE COCONUT OR MINT ARE VERY STRONG AND A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY.

SYRUPS: ANY SYRUP CAN BE USED BUT WHILE MAKING THE ICING SMOOTHER WILL ALSO MAKE IT LOOSER. jUST LIKE THE LIQUID 1-2 TBSP IS BEST BUT YOU CAN GO UP TO 3.

ADDITIONS: ADDITIONS CAN BE ADDED DIRECTLY TO THE ICING BEARING IN MIND THEY CAN REDUCE ITS ABILITY TO SPREAD. THESE SHOULD BE SMALL AND AS LIGHT AS POSSIBLE SUCH AS COCONUT FLAKES OR SPRINKLES, EVEN FREEZE DRIED FRUIT AS IN THE DETH BY STRAWBERRY CAKE. oNE WAY TO GET AROUND THIS WOULD BE TO ICE YOUR CAKE FIRST THEN SPRINKLE AN ADDITION ON TOP OF IT SUCH ASH CRUSHED UP GRAHAM CRACKERS OR CANDY. IF USING THE ADDITON INSIDE THE ICING MIX STICK TO ROUGHLY ONE CUP TOTAL OR YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SPREAD IT.

the zest: any zest from any citrus will work. volume wise stick with something equivelant to 1 large orange, keeping in mind that some zests are very string and you wont need as much of them.