Vegan Mexican Chocolate Cake

It's been a big week. A big week involving acceptance letters in the mail! And finally, finally, the previously distant future melding with my immediate present.

So, with the prospect of moving to New York on the brain, I decided that celebration was in order. Specifically, celebration in the form of cake.

Vegan Mexican Chocolate Cake

[copied verbatim from Foods For Long Life]

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 to 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut a piece of foil to fit the bottom of an 8 inch pie plate, and place in the bottom of the pan. Grease the sides of the pan with olive oil.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Stir in the water, vanilla, vinegar and oil until combined.
5. Pour mixture into the cake pan, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool in the pan, then turn the cake pan over and gently peel off the foil from the bottom of the cake.
7. Turn the cake back over so it is cooling on the rack with the top facing up and cool another 15 minutes.
8. Dust cake with powdered sugar.

vegan fudge brownies

hello friends!

so this is the point (cerca week two, to be optimistic or cynical, depending on your point of view) in the year when new years resolve is starting to weaken a bit.

though i am certainly far from throwing in towel, i'm starting to sense to feast-famine pattern of postings that is likely to start occurring, with emphasis on "feast" on these things called weekends, during which i occasionally manage to capture that rare beast known to some as "spare time".

ok, there will be no more gratuitious use of quotation marks for the rest of this post, so you can put your rotten tomatoes away.

what i am really getting at here is that though i am cooking consistently throughout the week, i will definitely need to make a more protracted effort to make sure that i'm posting in some semblance of real-time - with a liberal definition of being within the week.

but, as a show of my good feelings (and attempt at appeasement), here is the most amazing brownie recipe i know of. say what you will about vegan foods, but these brownies are by far the best i have encountered. something about the creative substitutions for dairy that really does the trick if you are into the idea of dense baked goods - which i am certainly in favor of. caution - these are heavy. as in, can use as a doorstop heavy. or, can eat for breakfast and be sustained for a good few hours heavy. not that i've done that for the past two days, or anything.

Vegan Fudge Brownies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 16 oz package silken tofu
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup dark cocoa powder
• 1 cup Earth Balance

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Puree tofu until smooth (in food processor, blender, or by hand). Add brown sugar, salt, and vanilla.
3. Melt margarine in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk in white sugar and cocoa powder until smooth.
4. Combine cocoa mixture with tofu mixture until well incorporated.
5. Fold in flour.
6. Pour into pan, bake at 350, until toothpick comes out clean (usually around 30-40 min).

Voila! In terms of difficulty and time commitment, probably not too much more or less than your standard recipe (unless your recipe consists of: opening betty crocker package, adding eggs and water, and baking. and even then, still not too much more).

But trust me. It's worth it. Just a note, you might want to make some coffee during the last five minutes while these babies are baking to have with your first piece.

(You can thank me later.)

rum balls

I was not having a good day.

Sunday, (that is, yesterday), I woke up late. Normally, this would not be a big deal, all things considered. Though I'm notorious for cramming my schedule to the brim with various obligations, I consider my Lazy Sundays to be sacred, serious business.

Except for this Sunday, which was, non-coincidentally, the day before the first day of winter quarter. This is also normally not a big deal. One of the many perks of being an art student is, well...work is play. There are no tests, no menial assignments, no group activities that inevitably require spending far too much time in the vicinity of the Axe-wearing population. Wait, did I say 'wearing'? I actually meant, 'drenched'. In fact, just working on my thesis work these past couple of quarters has, in effect, totally divorced me from the academic life cycle of the typical college student. Until I decided to start and finish a minor in two quarters.

On this Sunday, I not only needed to order textbooks (because, oops, forgot that Real college classes require those), and try to remember what it's like to be an actual college student - I also had signed up to make dinner for friends. Eight friends. It wasn't until after the invitations had been haphazardly issued that I realized: my apartment doesn't even have eight chairs. However, what it lacked in furniture, it compensated for in filthiness (a combined effort from: my propensity for cooking complicated meals, evenings that often result an impressive volume of recyclables, and a cooperative laziness in that whole "taking-out-the-trash" activity that I hear that mature, grown-up people do sometimes).

Needless to say, there were about five or six full trips worth of trash and recyclables to take out. In my slightly deranged haste, I forgot my keys on the kitchen table when I took out the first load.

Of course, the "oh shit" moment of realization dawned on me right when the deadbolt was clicking into place. I panicked. Not only was my roommate at work, I also didn't have my wallet. Or a coat. So I did the only thing that I could have done, given the circumstances. I took out the damn trash.

On my way back in, I frantically flagged down my sassy neighbor to see whether she had my building manager's phone number. I was positive that she would, given that she's the type to hang out on her balcony to put the drivers of illegal parked cars in their place. So I fully expected that she would be able to help me out. What I was not expecting was for her to point towards the floor above us (we have an open courtyard layout), and say, "Oh. Joe? He's right there."

I wish I was joking when I confess that Handel's Messiah actually starts playing in my head when this happens. Looking up, I behold the first glorious sight of my grizzled, bandanna-wearing landlord waving with his epic ring of keys - one of which could let me back inside my warm (slightly less smelly) apartment!

I was so giddy with relief (and harried, as I still had a mess of an apartment to contend with, and a meal to make), and so preoccupied with entertaining thoughts of what I would have done had Joe not been conveniently to the rescue that - I did it again.

Now, this was not my proudest moment. But, I figured, I had just seen Joe. It would be embarrassing to come crawling back to his apartment, but it wouldn't be beneath me. So, I ashamedly went up and timidly knocked on his door. Then waited awhile. Then, thinking that perhaps I had knocked too softly, knocked again. Then waited some more.

When it became clear that he wasn't home, I contemplated my options. And by options, I mean "trying to finagle the screen out of the only outfacing window to our apartment". Only thing was, in my hurry, I miscounted the windows. A pertinent point that becomes clear minutes later, as my neighbor judo-death-chops his hand through the venetian blinds to give me the stank-eye. Just as I am getting the screen off his window. To his apartment. Once we both get over nearly pooping ourselves in surprise, he turned out to be a pretty nice guy. A pretty nice guy who also happened to have Joe's phone number on his fridge.

So, a quick call and an hour and a half later, I was back. In my warm, even less smelly apartment. And I really could have used a drink. But, as I had been up for less than two hours (1.5 of those which were spent waiting to be let back in), I decided that making these would probably be better form. And hot diggity, what a great decision that was.

Rum Balls
[only slightly tweaked from Everyone Likes Sandwiches]

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups pecans
• 2 1/2 cups vanilla cookies
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
• 4 tablespoons molasses
• 1/2 cup amber rum

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toss pecans on a baking sheet, for about 10 minutes, or until you can smell them. Cool, and chop coarsely.

While pecans are toasting, crush the cookies into mostly powder.

In a large bowl, combine chopped pecans, cookies, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa.

Add the molasses and rum, and mix well.

Try not to nip from the bottle.

Chill for at least 1 hour.

Try not to eat the dough.

Roll mixture into bite-size balls and roll in powdered sugar.

They were perfect. Smashing helpless cookies to smithereens with a blunt object? Great outlet for pent-up frustration. No baking required, which was particularly helpful in my current state of mind. Bite-sized, and an easy candy alternative. Oh, and did I mention that they pack a bit of a punch?


Good thing I made a double batch. More than enough for me, and apology gifts for my next door neighbor and building manager. Everyone wins!

new year, new blog - and chocolate stout ginger cake

i would be lying if i said that this year didn't knock me flat.

somehow within these twelve months, there have been two apartments, three countries, more than a thousand photographs in pixels and film, eight airplanes, breakups, makeups, makeouts, many goodbyes, oceans and deserts, hundreds of cups of coffee and text messages and hours worked.

this is a familiar story, of not having enough. not enough time to divide among too many places and obligations, pages to read, words to write. not enough time to spend time working, to scrape by after bills and rent with enough to remain at equilibrium.

so this year, the new blog will be about food. it will be about trying to have it all - about eating healthily, about the pleasure of making and consuming small things from nothing, about buying food ethically, about being conscientious and taking care.

oh, and of course, about spending as close to nothing in the process.

sometimes it's too tempting to want to crumple and give up. but when that's not an option, what do you do? you make do. you make it work. you make cake.

Chocolate Stout Ginger Cake

[adapted from the Sassy Radish]

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups stout
1 1/8 cups molasses
1/2 tbsp baking soda
3 large eggs
1/8 cup dark cocoa powder, plus an extra pinch
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp grated, peeled fresh ginger


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a Bundt pan with dark cocoa powder to avoid having white specks on your cake.

Mix stout with molasses over high heat. Bring to a boil, remove, and add baking soda. Mixture will bubble, so do this first to give it time to settle and cool.

Beat together eggs, brown sugar, white sugar. Add oil.

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, spices, baking powder) in a separate bowl.

Whisk the stout mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients.

Add the egg/sugar mixture, and ginger.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick come out clean.