Wacky Cake with Chocolate Glaze

*Today, I am dusting off this recipe because it is my friend's bridal shower! Mailed out with the invitation was a recipe card to fill out with a (family) recipe to share. Of course, I wanted my recipe to be vegan, but I DID want it to be one she would actually consider making.  This is the one I shared:

I think almost every vegan has a Wacky Cake recipe up their sleeve. For those of you that don't know, WACKY CAKE is "wacky" because it's a chocolate cake, made without any milk or eggs. Recipes such as this one came to be during the Great Depression, where ingredients such as milk and eggs were extremely had to come by, and often too expensive for the average family. The "lift" in this cake comes from the reaction between the baking soda and vinegar. 

I found this recipe buried in a random website, labeled as the BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE EVER" and it just so happens to be vegan. The chocolate glaze totally makes this recipe, so do yourself a favor and try it at least once. Cake IS still amazing in its own, dusted with some powdered sugar. I added in the "optional" extracts that I use when making the cake too. They really add a great flavor.

THE Best Wacky Cake with Chocolate Glaze

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon chocolate extract (optional)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar or 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

For the Chocolate Glaze
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons margarine (I use Earth Balance vegan margarine)
2 tablespoons soymilk or 2 tablespoons almond milk, unsweetened
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly spray a square cake pan (mine's 9x9) with nonstick cooking spray.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt with a whisk, making sure it is blended together well.
4. In a large measuring cup add the water, vanilla, oil, and vinegar, and whisk to combine.
5. Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix batter until blended together well.
6. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides if necessary.
7. Pour batter into cake pan, place in oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.
8. Cool on a rack completely.
9. For the glaze: in a small saucepan, bring sugar, margarine, milk, and cocoa to a boil.
10. Stir frequently; then reduce heat to a simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
11. Remove from heat and stir for another 5 minutes.
12. Add vanilla and almond, if using, stir, and immediately pour onto cake.
13. The glaze will begin to dry really quickly, so if it doesn't cover the whole cake (mine usually does) spread the glaze to the edges quickly, before it dries.
14. If you like, top with sprinkles, and let cool for a hour.

The Best Vegan Cornbread

No, seriously...

My quest for the perfect vegan cornbread has ended!  This simple, no frills recipe has single handedly beat out all other cornbread recipes I've tried to date.  It is fantastic! 

I want to thank Chef Vino Girl over at Food.com for posting it.  I see she received it in an email from Cooks Illustrated, developepd by an 11-year old girl.  Apparently, the Blue Ribbon Cornbread winner that year was a VEGAN recipe, too. Even better!

VEGAN CORNBREAD
(Recipe with nutritional info. can be found here)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds

6 tablespoons water

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon table salt

1 cup almond milk, unsweetened

1/4 cup canola oil

*1/2 tsp butter extract, just for something special (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 and spray an 8" round or square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray
2. Mix the ground flax and water in a small microwave safe dish, and microwave for 30 second intervals, then whisk until thick ~OR~ (Original Directions): Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan.  Add the ground flax seed, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer the ground flax seed in the water for 3 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.  Set aside.    *I was a bum, and didn't want to dirty the extra pan
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt until well-combined.
4. Add the ground flax seed mixture, soy milk, and canola oil to the flour mixture.
5. Mix just until smooth (do not overmix.)
6. Pour mixture into prepared baking pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes; invert cornbread onto wire rack, then turn right side up and continue to cool until warm, about 10 minutes longer.

One taste, and you will see exactly why this recipe is a Blue Ribbon winner.  Try it out, and let me know if you think so, too! ^_^ 

When Life Gives you Zucchinis, Make Zucchini Bread

Another Summer, another beautiful garden in Uncle Bob's back yard.  And once again, the zucchinis are a-plenty...  and huge.  I have already sautéed and juiced my way through one giant zucchini, so I thought I'd try something different.

Zucchini Bread Mini Loaves
(adapted from Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick Goudreau)

INGREDIENTS:

3 Tbs ground flax seed

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup apple sauce, unsweetened

1 Tbs white distilled vinegar

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups grated zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 325. 
• Lightly grease 4 mini loaf pans.
• I was tempted to use my Kitchen Aid for this, but didn’t feel like hauling it out of the closet.
• So, In a large mixing bowl, vigorously whisk the flax meal and water until thick and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.
• Add the apple sauce, oil, vinegar, sugar, and stir. 
• Next, add in the zucchini and vanilla.
• In a smaller bowl, combine the all purpose and wheat flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 
• Whisk to combine. Add in the nuts and raisins.  
• Stir the dry mixture into the zucchini mixture. 
• Divide the batter evenly into the 4 mini loaf pans and bake 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

These loaves were moist, and full of flavor, with just the right amount of sweet.  I did cut way back on the sugar from the original recipe.  I halved the amount of oil and replaced it with half unsweetened applesauce.  I also thought I'd try replacing some of the white flour with a bit of whole wheat pastry instead.  The results were great.  I found I had to cook my mini loaves much longer than the original time stated in Colleen's directions, so I adjusted it a bit in my directions above.

Scallion & Cheddar Drop Biscuits

Veganized from Gourmet Magazine. These were fan-FREEKIN-tastic! You might remember my Buttermilk Biscuit making post from a few months back.  I actually made these for St. Patrick's Day, 2012. They turned out fluffy, flaky and were very simple to make. I used Daiya Vegan Cheddar cheese shreds, and reduced the amount of cheese to 1 cup (instead of 1 1/2, which was in the original recipe).  If you want more vegan cheesy goodness, go for it and use the full amount.  For me, sometimes a little Daiya goes a long way... 


I also used my large cookie scoop from Pampered Chef to make the drop biscuits puffy and even.

SCALLION & CHEDDAR DROP BISCUITS

Ingredients:
1 cup almond milk, unsweetened (or unsweetened soy milk)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons Earth Balance buttery sticks, cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup vegan cheddar cheese, grated (I use Daiya brand)
4 scallions, finely chopped

Directions:

• 1.  Preheat oven to 450°F.
• 2.  Add 1 tsp apple cider vinegar to 1 cup almond milk and set aside to curdle while you measure the dry ingredients.
• 3.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, then blend in the Earth Balance with your fingertips or a pasty cutter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
• 4.  Stir in the Daiya Cheddar and scallions.
• 5.  Add buttermilk and stir until just combined, do not over mix.
• 6.  Drop dough in 12 equal mounds about 2 inches apart onto a greased large baking sheet.
• 7.  Bake in middle of oven until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.

Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

Pillsbury "GRANDS", step aside. There's some pure, non-hydrogenated goodness  coming from my kitchen.

I follow a lot of vegans on Twitter, and occasionally, a recipe pops up in my Twitter feed that really catches my eye.  The recipe for the flaky, fluffy pillows of goodness pictured above, comes from the blog: Where's the Revolution.  I posted a direct link to it so you can check it out and try them; I guarantee, you will NOT be disappointed!! 

I'm not on Twitter a lot, so I am quite surprised that I even caught Bazu's tweet. It must have been fate, because at the time, I just so happened to be looking for a simple, yet mind blowing, flaky biscuit recipe!! So I marked it with a star, and vowed to get back to it later... (it ended up being months later, but better late than never...)

Now, some background on me and biscuit making:

I have tried the Vegan with a Vengeance Biscuits and Tempeh Sausage gravy recipe:

Gravy was two thumbs up for me, but not so much for L (who is an avid tempeh hater, and devout sausage gravy fan...) Probably not the best gravy to make for her, but, oh well, I tried.

The biscuits turned out pretty well too, except for the fact that I did not have biscuit cutters at the time, and resorted to using a glass. Definitely not the best move on my part, as you can see:  I committed the cardinal sin of biscuit making by twisting the glass to cut through my dough, resulting in no fluffy, flaky sides at all :(

So, one Pampered Chef party later, and I had me some brand new biscuit cutters in FOUR sizes!!

 These work wonderfully! Can you see the difference between the ones above and these?

I though so!

So, for a change of pace, one weekend morning, treat yourself to some home made baked biscuits.  I serve mine piping hot from the oven, with lots of Earth Balance vegan margarine, and blackberry or strawberry jam. A batch of ten can usually serve TWO in my house ^_^

Halloween Cupcakes! (Vegan Style)

Trick or Treat!  A few fun sprinkles plus some white and black vegan buttercream make these delicious sweet little treats!

For the cupcakes, I used my go-to recipe from the cookbook: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  As far as I'm concerned, this is the most wonderfully, perfect vanilla cupcake recipe (vegan or NON).  Recipe can be found here, reprinted with permission. Vegan buttercream frosting is a must as well.  My hints for the frosting: Use Earth Balance brand shortning and buttery sticks, and beat in a Kitchen Aid mixer for the full 3 mintues and then 7 minutes!  It's like a cloud :)  Then, go to town with sprinkles!!

The only one of its kind! White buttercream and shiny orange glitter sprinkles!

Frankenstien Style! (black and green ^_^)

All purpose Halloween-y Colors!

And... my FAVORITE:  Black frosting with BONES!!

I made the full batch of buttercream, left half of it white and then added BLACK food coloring paste to the remaining half until it went from a purple-y grey to a nice dark black.  I think I added about three tiny "scoops" of the black gel until it was dark enough.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT check to see what this food coloring gel "TASTES" like.  A small miscommunication in the kitchen made L's tongue (and saliva) black for a good three hours!! (no pics, sorry)

And... the inspiration for all the fun:

On sale at A.C. Moore!! (thanks Mom!)

Vegan Cookies are Invading...

A friend of mine was kind enough to lend me her copy of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and I went to town baking!

Oatmeal Raisin



Amazing recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar! I think I like this oatmeal cookie recipe even better than the one from Joy of Vegan Baking (which I really, REALLY love). There is actually less sugar in this one, but it is all BROWN sugar so the flavor is really amazing! Original recipe in VCIYCJ called for soy milk, but I always use unsweetened almond milk. Baking time: 10 minutes = chewy, 12 mintues = crunchy. I like CHEWY :)



I actually used half raisin and half dried cranberries, since I only had a half cup of each...



Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles!



Do yourself a favor: Make these NOW!!  You can actually find the recipe on the PPK blog here.  These cookies had the perfect blend of soft, crunch and chewy... I was a wimp, and cut the cayenne a bit, but I think next time I will make as written. 

I actually bought a bottle of chocoate extract for the express purpose of making these cookies, and it really, REALLY makes a difference in the intensity of the chocolate flavor.

AND... last but not least in any way... 

THE chocolate chip cookie!!



Again, these are the perfect blend of crispy and chewy!

Please, do NOT be tempted to over cook your cookies.  If they look done, they're OVER-done.  Just be patient and let them cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet then carefully move them to a rack to finish.

^_^