Currently viewing the tag: "cake"
I have never baked gluten-free before… but I like baking challenges! I decided to try out both a ‘from scratch’ recipe (from the tried and trusted VCTOTW) and Cherrybrook Kitchen‘s yellow cake mix.
On the left, the Cherrybrook Kitchen’s mix. Batter was very sweet (the ingredients list both cane sugar and brown sugar.) and familiar-feeling although a bit granular. It didn’t rise all that much but was springy with a golden brown skin. The finished product held onto the super-sweet taste the batter had. It was yummy– it tasted a bit more like a packaged snack cake.
On the right, the Vanilla Gluten Freedom cake. This batter was also very granular. I subbed the ground flax for ground salba (cha-cha-cha-chia) for the egg replacement which did affect the taste a bit. Flax is more neutral. The cake did not rise all that much either, and came out of the oven a bit heavier, more dense. The hue was also a deeper yellow. It was very delicious but in a different way. Considering all, I prefer this recipe to the box. It tastes more… real, if that makes sense?
I would buy a box if I was in a bind… but a bind won’t likely happen soon. I have a huge collection of flours on hand and hope to experiment more with gluten-free baking. For now, I’ll feast on this vanilla layer cake.
Since I was a little girl, vanilla has been one of my favorite flavors. I used to huff vanilla extract on the sly, enjoyed only vanilla ice cream, eating around other flavored add-ins, and, as my birthday neared, requested only vanilla cake. Fragrant and delicate, it is still my first choice in desserts. Chocolate is an easy please. Vanilla, on the other hand, requires more effort. And now that I’ve tasted vanilla beans in their natural state, now that I’ve stripped pods of their tar-like innards, I am in a pure state of vanilla love.
The Electrician and I were hosting Electrician Dad and Mom for an Easter dinner. And I was in charge of dessert. With the start of the berry season upon us, I decided on a vanilla layer cake blinged out with a heavy hand of strawberries. My vision of the cake was tall, slathered in both coconut cream and vanilla buttercream and guarded by towering strawberries quartered lengthwise. Here is the play-by-play.
Because this was a special occasion cake, I used many cups of confectionary sugar in total. Proportionately, I put the most in the coconut whip and halved the buttercream sugar. I didn’t want a cloyingly sweet dessert, especially given the sweet, red berries. I also added some smashed strawberry into the whipped coconut cream, both for flavor and desired hue. Coconut whip can look a bit grey, especially when paired with a stark white buttercream. However, needing most of my berries for the tops of my layer cakes, a subtle hue would have to do.
After baking my vanilla cake layers, I opened up the springform pan, removed the bottom part of the pan, and let cool. Afterwards, the bottom layer was set on the cake server and the springform side refastened. This would help the coconut whip and berry center to set securely in the fridge.
Same went for the top layer. I placed this layer on a cutting board to allow for easy moving.
It was a berry convention on top!
Flash forward, the layers were stacked and the sides were frosted with the buttercream. I attempted piping but the refrigerated buttercream resisted… and I was concerned about over doing it, since the berries were pretty dramatic on their own.
The cake was a big success! And I was happy to have expanded the perception of vegan baked treats.
I will be eating this for the rest of the week, thankfully.
I love long Sundays in the kitchen. The afternoon sun streaming in… making a mess… licking the spoon… It’s the best part of the week.
Today’s epic recipe, a version of this: Vegan Vanilla Ding Dongs
Real ‘black tar’ vanilla bean
Very vanilla sheet cake. I could have put this batter in a flute and sipped it all night.
Stay golden, Ponyboy
Cake-punching
Delicate texture
Piping freshly-beat coconut milk creme
All piped.
Cacao and cocoa butter
Time for a chocolate coat
Chocolate. Everywhere.
Vanilla Ding Dongs done, after 3 hours. Let’s look
There’s a lot I won’t miss about Brooklyn. Hipsters. Transplants. Or worse, hipster transplants. But I will miss the food. After a long morning of hauling 8 years of stuff out my apartment, CP and I needed a satisfying lunch. We needed carbohydrates, and plenty of them. We needed Bliss Grand, the over-achieving sister to Bliss on Bedford ave, a Williamsburg vegetarian staple. 
Bliss Grand‘s menu is full of savory selections, surpassing their other location’s reliable earthy plates with more variety and foodie lure. On our table: foreground–my Polenta Florentine, poached Silken Tofu, cashew Hollandaise & homefries, background–BBQ Pulled Jackfruit on a Bun. Yeah. The real deal. Heavenly.
No more words. Let’s just look…
Chocolate cake… Happy Out of Brooklyn! I’ll have to visit again for those Grilled Seitan Taquitos…
Since moving I’ve been peeking at my cookbooks ore often. My Sweet Vegan is literally brimming with little Post-its marking the recipes that enticed me. Post-its on the tops of pages, on the sides, on the corners. It’s been years since I flipped through its pages and I no longer remember the rhyme or reason for this placement. One thing is for sure. I needed to make the Marshmallow Mud Cake before another year passes. And with non-traditional Thanksgiving festivities with the family on the calendar, I was on it!
Getting started, deep dark cocoa is a must.
The batter was a bit thick, even with a splash more of milk. It came out of the oven looking like an enormous Dutch Fudge cookie with a soft, spring bounce. I will have to make this cake again when I don’t plan on piling a bunch of super-sweet white glop on its top.
Making the marshmallow topping was quite the adventure. I blew out the motor on the handmixer. It seriously was smoking. The Electrician hooked the mixer attachment into his drill and it still did not whip up to peaks. I wound up smearing the marshmallow mixer on top of the cake.
Last but not least the chocolate drizzle. I felt like Jackson Pollack flipping drizzles of dark chocolate on a stark white canvas. Gorgeous.
So pretty.
Once sliced, the marshmallow topping oozed and morphed, freeform style.
I love vanilla cake. I love vanilla ice cream. I was a vanilla extract huffer when I was a little girl. In fact, vanilla, though slang for basic and boring these days, is, to me, far more exciting than chocolate. Chocolate is too easy. Vanilla’s subtle, nuanced flavor is a bit more complicated… like the best things in life.
So my birthday cake was going to be vanilla, yes. But I’ll need a chocolate frosting. Retro-Duncan Hines style. Little did I know that the last page of Hope/Moskowitz’s Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World has the perfect recipe for my needs. I feel foolish for not discovering it sooner. It is exactly the kind of frosting I love. And it gave me the opportunity to finally try Earth Balance’s coconut spread.
Soy milk powder and cocoa are the foundation of this frosting, producing a thick, fudgy, milk-chocolately texture and taste. Try not to eat spoonfuls.
All blended up and ready for its close-up.
Jump to a fully frosted cake. It was gorgeous! And save for some milky specks of soy milk powder, a rich smooth shade of retro ripple icing waves. What exactly does that mean? Not sure but this comes to mind.
Hello, gorgeous!
At my folks’ house, the cake was a hit. It fit in nicely with my mom’s Halloween spread.
Inside layers, golden and buttery… very rich.
What finger is this? Not sure.
Cheers!
Remember this? Creepshow was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Having older siblings, I began watching horror movies at a very young age. Who knows the psychological effects this has had on my development and outlook. Anyway, this past weekend was Father’s Day! So I wanted to try something different for my Dad. You see, he is always trying new things. While the rest of my family shy away from vegan foods (even after 15 years of veganism), my dad always gives it a try. And when we order in on birthdays and special events, he rarely gets the same thing twice. I decided to whip up a special bundt cake to honor his adventurous tastes. But it also had to be good… So I tried Hannah’s Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake.
It was a gorgeous and delicious batter. I wanted to drink it. Thank goodness I do not use egg in my baking as I’d sure to be infected with salmonella with the amount of raw batter and dough I spoon in my mouth. I improvised with the recipe a little bit, being short on yogurt, by adding more milk to the batter. Though the cake was a pleaser, this small change watered down a bit of the cake’s sweetness and affected the texture. That’s what I love about baking. The precision required.
The lemon glaze was nice but a thick opaque dripped glaze would have enticed my family a bit more. The thinness didn’t present well.
How I love a good marble! The thinner blueberry batter made thin blue ribbons in the remaining thick, lemony batter. Next time, FRESH blueberries for a better bunch of blue!
My critiques aside, the cake was a big hit! A tasty summer cake–zesty and lively. Now, I better start brainstorming for dad’s birthday cake next month!
CandyPenny and I finally got around to hitting Dirt Candy in Manhattan’s East Village. With tough weekends under our belt, we needed some delectable eats during our debrief. Unfortunately we didn’t realize that the ambiance of this tiny, loud, upscale restaurant off East 9th street would have us yelling across the table… and dodging air from the bathroom we were seated next to given our reservation-less arrival.
But first, a cupcake from Terri. This was my first appetizer as I killed some time before our dinner. I must go on about the chocolate frosting and how rich it was. Tasted like nostalgic Duncan Hines atop a yellow cake. You go, Terri!
And onward to Dirt Candy. What gorgeous food you have! As we waited and sipped our $9 half-glasses of wine, we drooled over what was coming out of the kitchen. It was kind of difficult not to as our table was practically in the kitchen, in every clank of the dishes.. Sound filled the tiny space aggressively. But the food was innovative and tasty. Here is the run-down:
For my appetizer: CARROT—steamed barbecue carrot buns, cucumber & sesame ginger salad. These gorgeous little buns were dyed with carrot coloring. The innards, barbecue carrot shreds, were very yummy.
And my entree: CUCUMBER—coconut poached tofu, shiso galangal sauce, salsify & hearts of palm. Ain’t she gorgeous? With food this beautiful, it’s a shame, the lighting is orange and dim. In the enhanced light of photoshop (here), I see so much more lovely detail I wasn’t aware of eating!
It was a beautiful entree. But the presentation was slightly better than the taste. Cucumber, by definition, is very watery and light. The sauce and salad needed to deliver a bit more than it did.
And for my dessert BEET—Chocoloate Beet Cake: roasted pear sorbet, beet & pear leather. Although the color of beet drizzled the plate, it didn’t compliment the cake. Oddly, the chocolate cake was kind of in the way since the sorbet and beet sauce tasted nice together.
It was a nice dinner, but unless I was renting out the entire space, I’ll likely not volunteer to be within the conversations of its patrons again.
So Cocoa V, the swanky short-lived all-vegan chocolate shop, is no longer. Since my first report in 2009 and this more recent post, the space had been cut in half to house the Blossom du Jour, Blossom‘s more casual eatery across 9th avenue. Now Cocoa V’s side of the space has morphed into Blossom Bakery, an all-vegan (my favorite words) bakery in Chelsea. Cp and I had to check it out.
I got the blonde on blonde, as this combination reveals a bakery’s raw talent. Chocolate can make for a easy, no-fail decadent dessert. Vanilla, on the other hand, is more difficult to get right. Blossom Bakery got it right, albeit ever so dry. I loved the frosting which had the perfect blend of oil, creaminess, and a wonderful and slight fine-grain sugar grit. That is the best. I kind of wanted a berry on top.
In fact, this cake would make a fabulous layer for a strawberry shortcake.
Blossom Bakery had a ton of goodies: cookies, full cakes, macaroons, and brownies, as well as a scrumptious-looking S’mores pudding, savory quiches and gorgeous heart-shaped linzer tarts.
I also had a slice of their triple layer German Chocolate cake. So, so good. The slice was 3 or so portions but served unphotogentically in plastic. Blossom Bakery, please buy some pretty plates for the food bloggers!
Of course, a savory bite had to be had at Blosson du Jour. I had a perfecto sandwich: the Filet No Fish… Filet No Fish: a tofu cod cake, v-bomb cheddar, lettuce, and v-bomb tartar sauce. The soft, buttery cibatta with its semolina flour debris, on its own, would have hit the spot… let alone the tarty tartar and the yummy cake of tofu. 9th avenue, you are pretty cool.
Ever since I saw the Philadelphia’s Memphis Taproom on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives and learned it had a couple of vegan options, I’ve been wanting to go. The draw? Their vegan “bacon”. Not a packaged meat analog but coconut. Smoked coconut, smoked in a smoker. This ingenious creation is used in their vegan B.L.T. and graces the plate on their tofu scramble, along with vegan blood sausage. And one gorgeous day, CandyPenny and I were there to give it a try.
The Vegan Rooster. A moist tofu scramble, two chunks of the deceivingly light vegan blood sausage, a pile of smoked coconut bacon, some potato wedges and toast. Spot on! Though it may look like any other scramble, the Memphis Taproom does it much better: with housemade accompaniments and extra points for creativity. I cleaned my plate. After all, we had a bit of a drive and were hungry. I was a bit concerned the portion would not satisfy at first. But it was the perfect amount of food.
With some time to kill before our dinner reservation, the gorgeous unseasonably potent sun out and the guise of coming to Philadelphia with any other reason other than eating stripped, we took a quick detour to Bethlehem, home of the famous Vegan Treats!
There was so much to choose from. A slew of adorable personal cakes, danishes, cannoli, cheesecakes–My goodness! I have never seen a more impressive bakery case. Vegan or not. Hands…down.
I got the gorgeous and nostalgic Funfetti mini-layer cake and had a quick photo shoot with it before my first bite. It was nice to see other patrons snapping pictures of their beautiful selections as well.
More fun on the inside. Vegan Treats sure can whip up decadent delights in many shapes and forms. The delicious treat hit the spot and helped us through the hours until our next meal.
This was it. The reason for our trip: Vedge, Philadelphia new vegan fine dining spot from former Horizons owners (you remember Horizons, don’t you?) The vegetable-based menu looked downright heavenly and, though we were stuffed with sweets and scrambles, we were ready.
Firstly, Vedge sells plates and the house recommends 3-4 to make a full meal. It would save the wait staff a good portion of time if the menu and website indicated this. That being said, the plates are assembled to perfection, shaking your taste buds’ hands at first and then leaving them panting and lusting for more in the end. Vedge knows food. Knows how to combine it to produce pleasure. Wow. Did I mention my first plate? Layers of gold beets, smoked tofu, avocado and capers next to a puddle of cucumber dill sauce and a toasted wedge of pumpernickel. My only critique was that the capers were too many. An easy fix.
My second plate was one off of “The Dirt List”, their farm vegetable sides: Brussels, shaved and grilled with smoked mustard
This was my main plate: a tender and light grilled seitan in black lentils and mushroom topped with a creamy horseradish sauce and garnished with a pickled kohlrabi, a type of turnip. Utterly fantastic. Vedge, I will return. And next time I will be getting dessert.
There is an efficiency to pound cake. Maybe because you don’t need to bother with a frosting, maybe because there is more cake packed in its bite. Either way, a good vanilla pound cake can fulfill a multi-leveled craving: sweet, cakey, buttery and a decadent fruit companion.
I made this gorgeous golden vanilla pound cake hoping to use what was in the pantry, straying from my usual go-to (Isa’s Golden Vanilla). You see, I had a container of coconut oil sitting pretty on the shelf. Usually I use coconut oil sparingly given its hefty price tag. But when you score a $1.19 jar in a suburban grocery’s store’s Caribbean section, you are more apt to experiment with it.
To liven up the pound cake a bit, I added some chopped maraschino cherries from Tillen Farms. I hadn’t really eaten any of them cherries since July when I had a strong hankering for a banana split. But there they sat in my designated shelf in the Electrician‘s fridge. They are sweet deliciousness and, at $7.00 a jar, I was about to utilize them to the max in this, one of the last days of 2011.
I love teaching. Though it took many years to put myself through college and my student loans for grad school will be with me for decades to come, I’ve never felt more content and have never been more inspired. And it’s not just the vegan chocolate birthday cake running through my body. I have the best job in the world.
But I have to admit, the delicious vegan cake almost brought me to tears. For a foodie, the gesture is grand. As if spending my day with a bunch of 10 year olds wasn’t rewarding enough, there’s cake and cards and a disarming outpour of love only capable from those steeped in freedom and in innocence: children.
Vegan Reporting By Location
