Experiments in Pumpkin Cake

I've been craving something seasonal for a while now, something warm and spicy to ward off the damp and cold. This recipe jumped out at me immediately, begging to be baked. The result is a remarkably light, soft, (albeit crumbly) cake with a sweet and slightly chewy crust. It's tastes and smells exactly like a pumpkin pie would, only it has the texture more of a banana bread. I can't help but smile when eating it!

I don't know if you've noticed it already, but if you take a closer look at the photo of my finished product you'll see that my pumpkin cake looks a bit like it exploded; I made the mistake of overloading my loaf tin. I should have opted for baking two smaller loaves instead, but I truly didn't anticipate it rising as much as it did, and boy did it ever! I've found that a lot of my vegan recipes result in cakes/cookies/breads -all yummy but - without much volume. All except this one, I guess. For some reason the sky was the limit for this one! It really erupted! So when in doubt opt for two, or reserve some of the batter to be baked at a later date (this may not be an issue at all if you're using the actual 8x8 baking sheet the recipe suggests).

I'll also admit that my dry ingredients could have been mixed better. I don't own a sifter (yet!), but if you do I strongly urge you to use it! I am going to get one before trying this recipe again because I got an unfortunate bite of too much nutmeg which I perceived as quite sour and unpleasant. Cinnamon really is the fairer sister, although that's just my opinion. Maybe you all like a mouthful of nutmeg - you're perfectly entitled.

Anyway, I did the best I could with what I had available, and I still consider it a big success. I've already eaten three pieces since I baked it this afternoon, and it also has my husband's stamp of approval, and that means a lot because he's fussy...

Ingredients:

Brown Sugar, 1 cup

Vegetable Oil, 1/2 cup

Maple Syrup, 1/2 cup

(Real) Vanilla Extract, 1 tsp

Flour, 2 1/2 cups (I used All-Purpose)

Baking Soda, 1 tsp

Baking Powder, 1 tsp

Cinnamon, 1 tsp

Ground Cloves, 1 tsp

Ginger, 1/2 tsp

Nutmeg, 1/2 tsp

Salt, 1/2 tsp

1 (15 ounce) can Pumpkin Purée (or 2 cups fresh Pumpkin, cooked and mashed)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Grease 8x8 baking pan, line bottom with wax paper (I used a loaf pan but filled it too much, made enough batter for two loaf pans)
3. Place sugar, oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl, whisk together until sugar is dissolved
4. In a separate bowl SIFT (for the love of God! Sift!) together dry ingredients including spices
5. In small alternating portions mix the pumpkin and dry mixture into the wet ingredients *beginning with flour and ending with flour (batter became very thick, I had to use a hand mixer to get it smooth)
6. Spread the batter into prepared pan
7. Bake 55 minutes to an hour until it passes the toothpick test (since I overloaded my loaf pan it actually took almost another 20 minutes to pass the test)
8. Once it's cooled a little, turn out onto rack and allow to cool further. Sneak a piece of the heel while it's still warm and EAT IT!

You can see the original recipe HERE

Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe

I have finally found a delicious vegan chocolate cake recipe amazingly similar to my grandmother's trademark chocolate cake. I found the recipe while searching 'vegan' on Food.com. My grandmother originally clipped her recipe out of a magazine and started baking it regularly when my cousin developed a milk allergy when she was a child. I had no idea it was completely vegan until I was older. Up until I got married and moved away, she baked it as my birthday cake every year. This recipe does includes directions for icing, which I didn't do as I'm not a huge icing fan (the picture above is my finished product, my deliciously naked cake).

Part of what I love about this recipe and my grandmother's recipe is that the cake comes out very rich and moist without being too heavy.

I can't wait for dessert time this evening when I'll be able to show off my accomplishment to my vegan-naysayer of a husband!

For the cake:

Dry:

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar (I used cane sugar)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

Wet:

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used pure vanilla, not artificial)

1 tablespoon vinegar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup cold water

For the frosting:

2 tablespoons earth balance butter (or other vegan margarine/butter)

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cups cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-4 tablespoons water

Directions:

For the cake:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
3. Make a well in the centre and add wet ingredients
4. Stir until mixture batter is smooth
5. Pour into greased 9X9 baking dish*
6. Bake for 30 minutes**

For the frosting;

1. Cream the 'butter' in a bowl
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to make a thick but spreadable frosting.

* I used a 7X11 baking dish and it was fine, if a little thin. You can also use a cupcake pan, it will make 8 cupcakes.

** After 30 minutes it should pass the tooth pick test, tooth pick should come out clean. If not cook for longer in 5 minute increments to not over do it. My cake cooked perfectly in 30 minutes, but I know everybody's stove is different.

To see the original recipe please click HERE.

Happy cake baking!

Sweets from the Earth, Spiced Carrot Cake

I was first introduced to Sweets from the Earth's cakes at my wonderful aunt's house. My parents were in from out of town and we had all gathered there for dinner (my aunt and uncle's house is bigger, so they normally stay there) and she bought two of these for me, and for other people's enjoyment as well, so I would have something delicious for dessert too; and delicious they are!

Before I go any farther, I am going to start something in these entries from now on called the "Husband Stamp of Approval". What this really means is a product with my husband's approval is "Regular People Friendly". Not that we don't like regular people, we love regular people! There is nothing wrong with people without our particular dietary restrictions, sometimes we even marry them! I want everyone to understand what I mean when I give a product the Husband Stamp of Approval; my husband has systematically rejected 95% of all the amazing vegan/vegetarian/Erin's-tummy-friendly products I have discovered over the years. So, these stamped products are 100% safe to serve to absolutely anyone.

Needless to say, this product has the Husband Stamp of Approval. We tried the spiced carrot cake with 'cream cheese' icing (photo above, sorry for the glare ) and their chocolate cake too. My aunt let us take the leftovers home and my husband and I spent the following week stuffing our faces. Of the two varieties I have tried, my favorite is hands down the carrot cake. This comes from a chocolate lover; one of my favorite cakes is my grandmother's dairy free chocolate "Cockeyed" cake, but I have an even longer history of being deeply in love with carrot cake. (FYI, My wedding cake was carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese icing [not vegan]). This is one of the best store bought carrot cakes I have ever tried, forgetting the fact that it is vegan. The fact that it is vegan only endears it to me further, because I can eat half of one when a craving hits without 'emergency-room-worthy' consequences (lesser consequences are inescapable; enough of any kind of carrot cake will inevitably go to your thighs, vegan or not - you just have to eat more). My husband agrees - about how delicious it is, not that it's going to my thighs. The only downside to indulging in these delicious desserts is that they do break the bank. The tinier versions of the cakes my aunt bought run at about 12$ a pop, which leads me to believe that my aunt really really loves me.

The packaging boasts: Sweet. Natural. Sinfully Delicious. All natural 100% vegan, dairy & egg free, peanut & nut free, cholesterol free, lactose free, 0 trans fat, low in saturated fat, no refined sugars, GMO free, no preservatives, nothing artificial. The genius behind the sweets writes, "As a pastry chef, I love decadent desserts. Having been a lifelong vegetarian, my dessert choices were suddenly limited by my decision to embrace a healthier vegan lifestyle. Unwilling to give up treats, I combined both passions and Sweets from the Earth was born. Using only the finest, all-natural 100% plant-based ingredients, our original recipes are handmade with care. Our delicious desserts are a healthier indulgence, because life is sweetest when you can have your cake and eat it too."

Ingredients (Spiced Carrot Cake): Organic carrots, organic evaporated cane juice, organic unbleached wheat flour, water, sunflower oil, non-hydrogenated vegan cream cheese (water, expeller pressed oils [soybean, palm fruit, olive], maltodextrin, soy protein, tofu, non dairy lactic acid, organic sugar, natural gums [locust bean, guar, cellulose, xantham and carrageenan], veg mono and diglycerides, salt}, organic tofu, organic flax seeds, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, sea salt, vanilla bean seeds. Baked in a dairy, egg. peanut and nut free facility.