How could someone resist this? It’s from a local vegan and gf bakery: http://beardedladyfood.weebly.com/
Apples……. October 7, 2008
and Cider have taken over some of my spare time, lately. I know, cider counts as a treat – as I sip a glass right now – so it fits to write about it here briefly. Dave has been pressing apple and has lots of gallons of frementing golden delight bubbling away in our house… and the late apples are not even ready! I fear that we may all ferment around here this winter… but then again – would that be so bad? In a few days Dave and i will be posting a co-op post on his blog: oldtimecider.com. You should check it out!
I did make some apple cake with fresh picked cemetery apples.
On the dog front – Both Rowan and Banjo got 2 titles in the mail from CPE today – I hadn’t uploaded my run data from the past two trials into my spreadsheet so I had no idea! Rowan moved up to L4 in standard – giving us a little more time to get 8 legs there. Banjo got his standard title and his handler title (jumpers and fullhouse – I think) This weekend is the CAT USDAA for Rowan and I. It will be good to go to a show.
Baking for baby October 7, 2007
I was asked several weeks ago to make the cake for my friend Rachel’s baby shower. I said “sure!” and then proceeded to panic in my waking hours and have nightmares about what I was going to make, how it would turn out, if it would taste good and mostly, if it would look good. And for some further background, Rachel and I took a cake decorating class together and Rachel often creates amazing looking food/baked goods- so the pressure was on to make the cake look good. And just to add to the pressure, there were other known foodies going to be there as well. This is an event that Rachel will remember forever – the baby shower for her first child… the cake must be memorable – in a good way. Can you feel the pressure? And in true Sagitarian style, I left it to the last minute.
My friend Kate helped me with the tip to use the Joy of Cooking’s Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe and that the frosting on the back of the Hershey’s cocoa can was tried and true. It kind of feels like a dirty secret – a bit of a cheat because it is so easy- but is a good start and I would not be using a cake mix… which was never an option in this case. We also discussed the element of decoration and Kate told me about some cupcakes that she made that had a square of Fran’s chocolate on them as decoration. Armed with a solid base I proceed. I -as usual- worried that 24 cupcakes for the 24 people who had RSVP’d would not be enough and that I would need to make a small cake, as well. I also wanted to decorate the cake simply but be sure it was coordinated with the cupcakes. I decided on English toffee from a candy maker at the Olympia Farmer’s Market for the top decoration and got some ribbon for the cake. I baked the cake and cupcakes on Friday night and the cake recipe couldn’t be easier! (and good!)
Dairy Free Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 350. I lined, greased and dusted the cake pans.
Sift together in a large bowl:
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 cup plus 2 T sugar
6 T unsweetened cocoa (I used dutch )
1 t baking soda
1/8 t salt
Combine (sift) together.
I added the following to my mixer bowl:
1 cup cold water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 T white vinegar
2 t vanilla
Stir in dry ingredients until combined. Measure into the pans and bake for 15 -20 minutes for cupcakes, 25-35 minutes for cakes.
I head to bed thinking about which frosting I will make to fill the cake and whether or not the chocolate frosting will be ok in my color coordination. Then I have my final dream about the cake in which my friend Emma – who is always very nice and supportive in real life – takes a look at my finished product and when asked what she thinks says – “uh, they are ok…” I wake up in a worried state.
The frosting came together nicely and I fill the cake with cherry preserves.
Hershey’s Chocolate Frosting
(using the new special dark cocoa)
1/2c butter, melted
2/3 c. cocoa
3 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. milk
1 t. vanilla
Beat ingredients together. Add more milk to thin and more powdered sugar to thicken.
With a little “cool cake – hot knife” maneuvering the end results is a mostly smooth cake with a lovely ribbon decoration! And there was plenty of cake remaining. Rachel was able to take whole the cake home to Kyle.
Success! I think that I could do this again!
banana bread – just for elinda September 27, 2007
My Aunt Mary gave me a book of hand written recipes after I graduated from high school that included many family favorites. It is one of my most treasured recipe books and it houses this favorite recipe.
Banana Bread
Pre-heat oven to 350 and prep your loaf pans with butter and flour. Yeilds either 3 small loaves or 2 large loaves.
1 1/2 sticks margarine (I always use butter)
1 cup sugar
3 small eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 to 3 ripe bananas (mine are always thawed, after I have stashed them in the freezer for safe keeping)
1 3/4 cup flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
optional: 3/4 cup walnuts, pecan or chocolate chips – which is my take on it!
Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Then , beat in one egg at a time. Add the vanilla and bananas and beat for 2 minutes.
In another bowl, Stir (I sift) together the flour, baking soda and baking powder.
Alternate between adding the flour mixture and buttermilk to the sugar mixture until combined. Fold in your nuts or chips.
Bake for 40 minutes for small loaves or 50-60 for large loaves. Test with a toothpick to be sure the breads are completely cooked.
Note: I always have problems with the chips falling to the bottom of the pans as they settle and cook. Maybe that’s because I use big chips… so mini chips might work better. I have also tried dusting the chips with flour before I folded them in and that didn’t really work either. Regardless, it is a great banana bread!
