Day 7 in Deutschland, Baking a Cake

Today was a special occasion for my friend’s family… so we made a vegan cake! I was excited to use Biovegan’s Zuckerstreusel on top which I had picked up at Bio Bio.

We used a coconut-rice milk with the only vinegar in the pantry, white vinegar, in make the “buttermilk” for the cake. It didn’t froth up like I was used to. A and J split the vanilla bean pods and added a hefty hand of vanilla beans to the batter. Yes, don’t forget to taste the batter! There is our completed cake. A little shallow but oh well. It was a pleasant experience that proved to onlookers that baking vegan is easy.

Our finished product–a big chocolate ganache-glazed donut with sprinkles.

The special occasion was my friend’s husband moving up in the Army ranks. I got to experience this low-key “pinning” ceremony at the base. The ceremony included the pinning of his new Sergeant First Class pin and the throwing of his old rank’s hat. These two acts are done by the family and are followed by a speech.

It was an interesting experience. One I never fathomed I’d be hanging around taking pictures of. Most of the time I was  giggling about my threat of busting out in performance of Cher’s If I Could Turn Back Time.

Yay for the adorable family!

We celebrated in town at Da Gino, an Italian eatery very close to the house that wins the award for having the most un-fancy website I’ve ever seen. It was a packed house. We sat outdoors, surrounding by German laughter and lush green.

We decided to go to Da Gino after trying for quite some time to find an eatery that accepted credit card and wasn’t an hour away. I was happy that they had a vegetable buffet this evening. It wasn’t the most complete meal but it would do. It is shocking how inconvenient things are in Germany. Cash only is the norm and restaurants close so early!

My dinner of 5 servings of vegetables. I’m not taking anything for granted. Bon appetit!