Page 110: Double Chocolate Crumb Cake

And here is the third and final recipe which was partially derived from the disappointing Red Velvet Cupcakes. I made the vanilla version of this cake for Easter, but since this one involved chocolate crumb base I needed to wait until I had leftover chocolate or red velvet cupcakes to crumble.

I also had a little help in the kitchen since my sister's family was visiting me last week. Even though my nephew Cooper isn't too fond of chocolate (yes, the child is a little crazy in that respect) he was a willing helper and even he could not resist to sneak a handful when I brought out the jar of chocolate chips.

Since Cooper was here his mommy was also here, and she is infinitely better than I at capturing an activity in photos. Therefore, the process was well documented (here's to you, Jess!).

Cooper doesn't like potatoes either, so when he found out the ingredient list contained potato starch, he was less than thrilled.

But the final product didn't look anything like potatoes! Unlike the Easter cake, I watched this thing like a hawk to prevent over-baking it and drying it out. The end result was a pretty moist cake and the extra sweet and salty crumb topping was yummy. 

The recipe calls for chocolate sauce, but since I've severely failed in my attempts to make that previously I opted for a layer of chocolate chips. Sauce would probably be better, though, I have to admit (but probably not the way I make it!). 

I served it for dessert ala mode - the real stuff since I had guests and did not have any non-dairy ice cream!

Despite the chocolate and the potato starch, even Cooper had some.

Seems like it was a hit. Now... just SIX recipes to go!

Easter Brunch

Oh how I love brunch! It is my favorite meal - and what's not to love? It generally takes place on a weekend, holiday, or some other type of day off.  It's essentially breakfast fare but occurs later so as not to interfere with sleeping in on said day off.  And the menu is a perfect combination of savory and sweet that doesn't make it's way into our everyday breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.

On Sunday we hosted Easter Brunch for a dozen of our closest island-dwelling friends. Since adopting a plant based diet, going out to brunch has lost some of it's appeal for me because in most cases it means making exceptions to my normally egg and dairy free diet. Thus, I was beyond excited to host brunch where I could make the delicious favorites I enjoyed in my pre-veg days, but do so using plant-healthy ingredients! I also seized upon the opportunity to try out not one, but two new BabyCakes recipes. Read on for details on my menu.

BabyCakes Blueberry Crumb Cake (Page 113)

Although slightly overdone (I really need to approach baking times with more skepticism), this was still pretty good. It contains three ingredients - blueberries, cinnamon, and lemon extract - that I never would have thought to combine in one recipe, but it was a genius combination that really worked.  The crumb topping is derived from the BabyCakes Vanilla Cupcakes, so I started the process by making a small batch of those.  I also had vanilla frosting, which had really turned out as a sauce, left over from the Gingerbread and it worked out perfectly for the icing.

Whole Foods Portobello and Asparagus Strata

While I enjoyed the vegan version below, I'm told this was delicious! Hubby helped me out with this one - apparently he is more experienced than I at adequately whisking eggs.

Vegan Portobello and Asparagus Strata

After finding the strata recipe at Whole Foods, I was left with the question of what savory dish to serve that I would eat, as well as something that would accommodate one of my guests who cannot eat dairy or gluten.  The solution: a genius named Sarah Farsh who converted the Whole Foods recipe above to be entirely plant based, and was kind enough to leave a link to her creation in the Whole Foods comments section.  I simply subbed the bread for a gluten free almond flour bread (with egg replacer), which was so easy to make and worked out great in the recipe.

Oven Roasted Herb Potatoes

One of my favorite side dishes - for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  This is a large recipe because I was feeding a dozen, but you can adapt accordingly.

5 pounds fingerling potatoes, cut in half lengthwise

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl until potatoes are well coated. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Spread potatoes on baking sheet in single layer and roast at 350° for 60 to 90 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and begin to brown.

BabyCakes Spelt Biscuits (Page 37) with Vegan Clotted Cream and Jam

I was so excited to make these biscuits and have literally been looking forward to this part of the brunch for weeks.  I love biscuits, especially with clotted cream and jam - a taste I fell in love with while visiting London a few years ago.  After giving up dairy, I thought my days of enjoying clotted cream were over. But then I bought a recipe book called Vegan Yum Yum and discovered it was incredibly easy to make a vegan clotted cream that was just as delicious! And the author has posted it online. Enjoy!

Unfortunately we missed a picture of the final product, so I only have the pre-baked version from my iPhone.  I initially failed to add enough water to the dough so the first few were very tough to get rolled out (notice the very "cracked" looking egg above).  But I kept going back and adding water to the dough so by the end they were looking more like proper biscuits.

I have room to improve on this recipe, specifically add a lot more water next time.  I also have leftover clotted cream and jam in my fridge as we speak so I just might have to try a remake sooner than later.

There you have it!  My friends were kind enough to add fresh fruit and a few other pastries to the table - it was an absolutely delicious spread and was in every way as magical as the brunch menus I so loved in my pre-veg days.

Happy Easter!

Page 114: Sweet Paradise Cake

Another cake! I hosted a dinner party last weekend and wanted to make something special for dessert. So, I took a shot at another cake.

Overall, this cake was a much better experience than the last one I made. For starters, I learned my lesson from the chocolate mint cakes and took it out when, and only when, toothpicks came out clean. This made removal from the pan in one piece not only possible, but uneventful! It also allowed me to keep all three layers.

The frosting. Oh the frosting. I was bound and determined to make real frosting this time, so I changed a couple of things in the recipe. I feel I have the right to take such liberties at this point because 1) I've made it strictly by the recipe many, many times and 2) lately that method hasn't been working for me.

First, I substituted the agave nectar with powdered sugar. Higher on the glycemic index, I know, but I hoped the powder rather than liquid sweetener would help hold it together.

Second, I added an extra scoop of coconut flour. I'm going for thickness here.

Last, I only added the coconut oil to the point the mixture became thick in the blender. This resulted in me using about 1/4 cup less than usual.

And it worked!

It worked so well, in fact, that I didn't even have to refrigerate the finished product. It just sat on my counter and remained beautifully in tact.

Hopefully this is not just a fluke of coconut oil behavior and I can replicate the results in the future. Standby.

Now, for the flavor. I loved this one! And, most of those that tried the mint chocolate cake agreed that this one was tastier.  It was akin to a strawberry shortcake - with layers of frosting and sliced strawberries between the cakes.

See those thick layers of frosting that are not melting away? Success!

Page 109: Mint Icebox Cake

Happy New Year!

We celebrated the New Years Eve holiday at home with friends. Always looking for an excuse to try a new BabyCakes recipe, I thought long and hard about the perfect treat for the occasion.  New Years Eve is a very festive holiday, and I thought it deserved an equally festive dessert.  Thus enters the Mint Icebox Cake.

I haven't done many - actually now that I look at the book I realize I've done none - of the BabyCakes cakes, so I thought this was the perfect occasion to make one!

I started on Friday by making the double chocolate chip cookies (page 71), which were intended for piling between the layers and on top of the cake.  I also made the frosting on Friday to give it plenty of time to chill.  Then, Saturday morning, I made the cakes.

As usual, things didn't turn out exactly like they were supposed to... you guessed it. The frosting. But I'll get to that in a second.  The cakes were my first problem.

The chocolate mint cakes were divided into three pans as called for in the recipe. Confession: it called for 7 x 4 x 3-inch loaf pans to make a rectangular cake.  I didn't have them and couldn't find them, so I went round.  I recently read that Erin McKenna thinks you should always try the recipe as written first before deviating or getting creative.  I'm sorry!! But I don't think they make that size loaf pan on my island.  So I went round.  Moving on...  The recipe also says "the cake may seem a touch underdone when the baking time is up, but trust me: you will have a beautifully moist cake that won't dry out in the freezer, one you'll pick at happily each time you pass the fridge for weeks to come!"

Now, I know I didn't use the loaf pans but still, the baking times never work for me anyway. So I gave it ten extra minutes and then took it out.  Cut to the end of the story: when I flipped cake one, the still-batter-like middle stayed in the pan and the donut-shaped remains of the cake were on my cake plate. 

AHHHHHHH! I panicked, of course.  Assuming it was a lost cause, I put cakes two and three back in the oven (mind you they had cooled by this point) and baked until a toothpick came out clean. Why can I never try that in the first place?!

I was beyond pleasantly surprised when I flipped the cooled cakes two and three and the whole cakes came out clean! Hence, the two layer cake. Which turned out to be plenty of cake by the way.

Now, back to the frosting. Even after some time in the freezer it was still very soupy - as you can clearly tell from the photo below.  My guests thought it made the cake look more artistic.  I let them think it was that instead of my continued inability to make a reasonably textured frosting.

Regardless of aesthetics, I suppose the bottom line is the taste.  And it was yummy!  The mint was added to the actual cake (there was no mint in the frosting or the cookie layers) and the combination was very, very good.  Because it's an icebox cake I served it out of the freezer, and as usual I think the temperature made it all the better!

Although, I must say... it would have been even better if the frosting had been stiff enough to slather it on even thicker.  As it was, most of it ran off before I could adequately layer, so it could definitely be improved with a more voluminous layer of frosting in the middle and on top.  Gotta master that frosting!

A very yummy New Years Eve!