When I started seeing rhubarb at the Studio City Farmers’ Market last year, I remembered that when I was little we had a neighbor who grew rhubarb in his garden.  I felt like there was a cake my Mom would make with it, and when I called her she remembered and found the recipe to send to me.  Once I tried it, I realized why just seeing the rhubarb made me so happy.  Ah, food memories…  you’re the best.

This is one of my all-time favorite cakes, and I think I’ve become obsessed with rhubarb because of it.  I realized that in all the times I’ve made it I’d never posted about it, and I had to remedy that.  It might not look like the prettiest thing, but don’t let that trick you into thinking that you won’t end up eating the whole pan. The rhubarb makes it super moist, and gives it an amazing flavor – not too tart, but not overly sweet either.  I’m trying to keep my distance from it right now, because I could easily do some serious damage!

This cake was really easy to veganize, and if you don’t tell the people you serve it to that it’s dairy and egg-free, they’ll never know the difference.  Of course you don’t have to share it if you don’t want to!  I made a few tweaks like reducing the sugar a bit, but it’s still plenty sweet.  I plan to experiment with this recipe more, maybe adding a crumb top or adding some strawberries in too.  For now, though, this version makes me very happy.  I’m trying so hard to control myself from grabbing another piece as I look at that picture!  I think I’m in trouble.

Rhubarb Cake

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (you can also use white vinegar or lemon juice)
1/2 cup (4 oz.) non-dairy margarine
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer
2 tablespoons warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups diced rhubarb (about 6 stalks, depending on their size)

For the topping

2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the vinegar into the soy milk and set aside.  Measure the flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine.  Set aside.

Cream together the margarine and sugar.  Mix the egg replacer with the warm water, and add this along with the vanilla extract to the creamed mixture.  Mix well, scraping down the sides as needed.  Add in the soy milk mixture.

Add the flour mixture, and mix just until combined.  If you’re using an electric or stand mixer, fold the rhubarb in by hand.

Pour the batter into a greased 8 x 11-inch pan.  Mix the sugar and cinnamon for the topping together and sprinkle evenly over the batter.  Place the pan on the middle rack in the hot oven.  Bake for 20 minutes, rotate the pan around, and bake for an additional 20 minutes.  It’s done when the top is lightly brown and a cake tester comes out clean – don’t hesitate to let it go longer or take it out sooner, the baking time will vary based on your oven.  Let the cake cool before you cut it, if you can wait!  And try not to eat the whole thing like I usually do…

I used to love me some Irish coffee.  Now I stick to coffee with whiskey (hold the cream), or I make my own with non-dairy cream at home.  When I tasted the batter for this cake, it reminded me of my beloved boozy beverage and instantly transported me to the last time I was in Ireland, one of my favorite places in the whole world.  Not that I was eating a ton of the batter or anything like that – of course not.  I don’t just stand in the kitchen licking every spoon, bowl and spatula that I use.  And I’m definitely not shoving bites of this cake in my mouth as I write this.  That doesn’t even sound like me!

I got the recipe here, and it couldn’t have been easier to make.  The only changes I made were reducing the amount of salt and baking it in an 8×11-inch pan rather than the 9×13-inch pan called for in the recipe.  You could use the larger pan, but the cake would be much thinner.  The thing that’s great about this cake is the strength of the whiskey flavor in the finished product.  There’s just a hint of chocolate flavor, but it really is predominately a whiskey cake.  And it’s really, really, really tasty.  Being the lightweight that I am, I’m going to have to control myself from eating the entire thing and ending up in a cake-drunk stupor.

Happy St. Paddy’s day!

When I go home to visit family I usually don’t do a lot of baking and cooking, especially since baking has been my full-time job for the last several years.  But on my most recent trip, I wanted to make some cinnamon rolls with my nephews since I can’t ship them home, and I got excited to do some cooking when I saw that the local grocery store carried a few types of Gardein that I haven’t been able to find out here in California.  (Gotta love it when going to the grocery store is one of the highlights in your life.)

I did bake one other thing – the chocolate “wacky cake” that see you above, smothered in a Silk Nog flavored custard.  Ryan’s brother and his wife were hosting the family for dinner and asked us to bring a dessert, so I had to come up with something that I could make from the ingredients in my mom’s kitchen, and something that would be simple since I was still in lazy vacation mode.

I’d made other versions of wacky cake before and it’s always yummy, so when I came across this recipe I thought I’d give it a try.  This cake would be perfect with just some powdered sugar on top, but when I came across a box of custard powder in the pantry I knew I had to make it as a sauce for the cake.  I’m a sucker for all things custard.  When I studied in London my junior year of college they served a hot custard sauce over dessert almost every night in my dorm cafeteria, and you can bet I would eat a whole bowl of it.

We had some Silk Nog in the fridge, so I thought I’d use that instead of regular non-dairy milk to make the sauce more seasonal.  I figured it would taste good with chocolate (what doesn’t?), and even though I usually feel the pressure of needing to impress with dessert, I’ve also tried to get more comfortable with experimenting and being okay with the end result not working out.  I figured each thing would taste great on their own, so they must be good together, right?

I guess that logic doesn’t always work out – I’m sure we can all list things that are good on their own but don’t go together so well – but I’m glad to say that it did here. The cake was super moist and had a rich chocolate flavor, and the warm custard sauce with its hint of nog flavor was great on top.  Both things were simple to make but tasted impressive, so if you love chocolate and you’ve never made a wacky cake, you need to!

Last week in my  Bakin Wrapped Dates post I mentioned a Date Cake that I’d made, and here it is!  When I first passed the date stand at the Farmers Market I had a flash of this cake that my Mom had made when I was little.  I probably remembered it because dates sounded really scary to me, but the cake had been surprisingly tasty. I imagine it was one of those times that they had to tell me what was in it after I’d taken a bite and liked it.

This cake is so incredibly delicious and moist.  The dates almost give it a caramel flavor.  If I make it in a mini loaf pan I sprinkle some chopped pecans on top.  Their hint of buttery, caramel flavor compliment this nicely. For this version in a bundt pan I added about a half cup of shredded sweetened coconut, because I had some on hand, and it seemed like it would work well with this cake.  It was really yummy, but you could certainly leave it out if coconut’s not your thing.

I end up tweaking this recipe a bit each time I make it, and I’ve only ever made this in a mini loaf pan or in this small bundt pan.  I’ve tried it with less sugar (since the dates and chocolate chips add sweetness), and I’ve also tried it with reduced amounts of margarine.  It seems to work well each time, so it’s a good recipe to try if you’re intimidated by baking.  It’s pretty resilient and will probably be delicious even if you make a couple mistakes.

Also, if you don’t want to use Ener-G you could probably use flax eggs in this recipe. Just mix 1 Tablespoon flax seeds with 3 Tablespoons water and let the mixture sit to thicken.  (Reduce flax to 2 1/2 teaspoons if you’re using pre-ground.)

I’m so grateful that my Mom has held onto all these recipes, and that I get to make them as an adult.  I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do!

Chocolate Chip Date Cake

1 cup pitted, chopped dates
1 cup boiling water (or less if using fresh dates – anywhere from 1/2 to 2/3 Cups)
1 cup non-hydrogenated margarine
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon Ener-G egg replacer
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon non-aluminum baking powder
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips

Topping (optional)

1/2 Cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place chopped dates in a small bowl, and pour boiling water over them.  Set the mixture aside.  Sift dry ingredients into a separate small bowl, and set aside.

Cream margarine and sugar together.  Beat the egg replacer with the warm water, and add it to the creamed mixture along with the vanilla extract.  Scrape sides of the bowl and mix in the dates and water.  Scrape sides again, and add the dry ingredients.  With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the chocolate chips.  (This is also when I added the coconut).

Pour the mixture into a greased and floured 9 x 13 inch pan.  Mix topping ingredients together, if using, and sprinkle them over the top.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool, and enjoy!

I’ve been obsessed with trifles for a long time.  For years I would save cake scraps in the freezer (much to Ryan’s annoyance), just waiting for the day when I would use them in this amazing dessert.  But I didn’t have a trifle dish, so that was my excuse.  Then I finally got one, however, now the problem was that it would make so much and I hardly had an occasion to need such a large dessert.  This thing feeds a crowd, but when we’d have a crowd over, I wouldn’t have time to make one.  See the pattern here?

Last week I saw this post on the Post Punk Kitchen message boards, and I got inspired.  I had a bunch of mini cupcake orders last week, so with each batch I made a little more than I needed and also recruited the less than perfect cupcakes that I wouldn’t want to serve.  I had chocolate and banana pudding mixes in the cabinet, and a Soyatoo carton in the fridge.  I layered vanilla cupcakes, chocolate pudding, chocolate cupcakes, banana pudding, velvet cupcakes (red velvet minus the food coloring), and then the Soyatoo, which I whipped with a tablespoon of vanilla extract.  I topped the whole thing off with grated bittersweet chocolate.

I think this would have been even better with some fruit thrown into the mix, like strawberries or cherries. Next time I make a trifle I’ll plan ahead and take the time to make homemade pudding or custard.  These puddings were okay, but I could really taste the soy in the chocolate pudding.  I also didn’t have time to let the puddings chill as long as they should have, which would have helped with their flavor.

I have more trifle ideas (black forest!), and now that I’ve tackled one I’m really excited to make more.  It’s a dessert that looks so impressive, and really isn’t too difficult to put together.  Plus it makes a ton, so it would be great for the holidays. (There were three of us eating this last night and we didn’t even put a dent in it.)  I think the key is making the cakes and puddings ahead of time.  Assembling everything is really easy.  Once I finally made this one, I couldn’t stop staring at it.  Is there anything better than cake, pudding and whipped cream?!  I can’t believe it took me so long to make one!

This is a plum kuchen that I made last summer from Deborah Madison’s “Local Flavors” cookbook.  I had a bunch of pluots from the farmer’s market that were about to go off, and I found this recipe which seemed easy enough to veganize.  I love fruit based desserts, not only because they’re usually so easy, but because they taste SO good!  I’ve made this cake for parties and it is always a huge hit with non-vegans.  It’s actually pretty simple to make, and tastes so good warm with some non-dairy vanilla ice cream.  Here’s the recipe with my adjustments.

Plum Kuchen
serves 4-8 depending on size of slice

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons cold earth balance margarine (tub or sticks)
1 tablespoon Ener-G egg replacer
3 tablespoons warm water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup soy or other non-dairy milk

Fruit and Topping
10 to 12 plums or pluots (if your fruit is large you’ll need about half this amount)
2 tablespoons Earth balance margarine, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil an 8-cup gratin dish or tart pan. (I use a small glass casserole dish).

Pulse the flour and sugar in a food processor, then cut in the margarine to make fine crumbs.

In a 1-Cup measuring cup, whisk the Ener-G powder with the warm water.  Add the extracts and enough milk to make 1/2 cup of liquid.  Add this to the flour mixture, mixing enough to make a thick dough.  Dampen your hands and pat the dough into the baking dish, pushing it up a little around the edges to make a rim.

Slice the plums in half if they’re very small, or into smaller segments if they are large.  Arrange them on top of the dough (I like to fan them out in circles), being sure to overlap as they’ll collapse while cooking.

Drizzle the melted margarine over the fruit.  Mix the sugar and spices together in a small bowl and sprinkle this over the top.  Bake until the crust is golden and the fruit is soft, about 35 to 45 minutes.  Serve warm if possible.