What I'm Baking: Bake Sale Edition

To coincide with the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale and Earth Day, Sidecar for Pigs Peace is holding a vegan bake sale this weekend to benefit Pigs Peace Sanctuary. I baked a bunch of goodies for the sale, including Peanut Butter Blondies and Rocky Road Cookies, both from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. Check out the recipes below:

Peanut Butter Blondies
Recipe conveniently already online!


Rocky Road Cookies

These cookies are delicious and nutty and fudgy.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I use almond)
2 TBSP ground flax seeds
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups plus 2 TBSP all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks
1/2 cup non-dairy white chocolate chips
1/2 cup roasted almonds, chopped

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Line some cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the almond milk, flax seeds, canola oil, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract until smooth.
3. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir to form a thick, wet dough, being careful not to over-mix.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and almonds.
5. Drop about two tablespoons of cookie dough onto a baking sheet about two inches apart, leaving room for the cookies to spread. To more easily measure and distribute the scoops of dough, it's helpful to use a small ice cream scoop sprayed with a little bit of non-stick cooking spray.
6. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes until they have spread and look firm on top. Let them cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. (Or eat while warm and gooey if you prefer!)

What I'm Baking

Triple Chocolate Cake!

I baked this cake for my sweetheart on Valentine's Day. Maybe it's really a quadruple chocolate cake. Do the cacao nibs count?

The Cake:

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose white flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used a mix of regular and Dutch)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup water
2 cups almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to  350°F. Lightly oil and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
2. Using a whisk, combine the flours, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, canola oil, and water, making sure the mixture is well blended.
4. Add the sugar mixture to the dry ingredients along with the almond milk and vanilla. Stir gently until combined. Be careful not to over-mix. A few small lumps in the batter is ok. The batter should be relatively thin and easy to pour.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans (half the batter in each) and bake for 27-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.


The Chocolate Buttercream Icing (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World):
This makes more than enough to frost a two-layer 9-inch round cake.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine (I used Earth Balance sticks) softened at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I used Earth Balance sticks) softened at room temperature
1 cup cocoa powder (I used a mix of regular and Dutch)
5 cups powdered sugar, sifted to remove clumps
1/3 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 tbsp vanilla extract

1. In a large, heavy bowl, cream together the margarine and shortening with an electric mixer until well blended.
2. Add the cocoa powder and blend.
3. Add the powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time, alternating each time with a little bit of almond milk.
4. Add the vanilla, and continue blending for another 3 or 4 minutes until icing is fluffy.


The Chocolate Ganache (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World):

Ingredients:
1/4 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
4 oz. chopped semi-sweet chocolate OR 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp maple syrup

1. In a small saucepan, bring the almond milk to a gentle boil.
2. Remove from heat as soon as the milk starts to simmer, and using a heat-resistent rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips and maple syrup until mixture is smooth.
3. Set aside at room temperature until ready to use.



To assemble the cake:
1. After the cake has cooled, frost one layer of the cake with the buttercream. Stack the other layer on top.
2. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the buttercream, making sure to cover the whole cake. Put it in the fridge to chill for 10-20 minutes. (This is a good time to make the ganache.)
3. After the ganache has cooled somewhat (maybe 10 to 15 minutes), spoon it over the top of the cake. Let some of it drip down the sides. Try to coat the entire top of the cake so it has a nice, glossy ganache finish.
4. Sprinkle cacao nibs* on the top, in whatever pattern you'd like to decorate the cake. Add any other garnishes you like, such as fresh strawberries or raspberries.
5. Chill the cake in the fridge to set the ganache.

*You can find cacao nibs at well-stocked baking supply stores or in the baking section of some grocery stores. I bought mine at Sur la Table.

Allow the cake to warm up to room temperature before you serve it. If the entire cake won't be eaten the day you make it, store the leftover cake in the fridge.

What I'm Baking

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Ganache 

Been baking lots of pumpkin stuff. It's that time of year! This cake is super moist and delicious, and easy to make. It requires a lot of maple syrup, unfortunately, which is used instead of sugar. I say unfortunately because we no longer live in Wisconsin where you could get a quart of syrup at the farmer's market for a lot cheaper than it costs out here. Luckily the rest of the ingredients are relatively cheap and easy to come by.

Recipe adapted from Sinfully Vegan, by Lois Dieterly.

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients:

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Wet ingredients:

2 cups maple syrup
1 can (15 oz) of pureed pumpkin (you can also use the same amount of fresh pureed pumpkin)
4 tsp flax powder (I use ground flax seeds)
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Chocolate Ganache*:

1/3 cup chocolate chips
3 tbsp soy (or other non-dairy) milk


*Double this if you want additional chocolate ganache to more fully coat the top of the cake.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a bundt cake pan with canola oil or cooking spray.
2. Combine flours, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl.
3. Combine syrup, pumpkin, oil and applesauce in a large bowl.
4. In a small bowl, vigorously whisk together the flax powder and water. Add this to the liquid ingredients and stir to combine.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing to combine. Make sure not to overmix! Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 75 to 80 minutes, or until knife or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand to cool for about a half an hour (I usually wait until the pan is cool enough to handle without oven mitts), then remove from pan by running a butter knife around all the edges of the cake and turning it over onto a baking rack. Allow to cool completely.

Make the ganache:

1. Heat soy milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until just about to simmer.
2. Remove from heat, add chocolate chips and using a heat-proof rubber spatula, stir until chocolate is completely melted and the ingredients are blended together. Set aside and allow to cool for about five minutes.
3. Drizzle over the top of the cake with a spoon.

Enjoy!

Served with vanilla Coconut Bliss ice cream.

What I'm Baking

I like to bake. It's probably my favorite hobby that is not art related. (Some people say baking is like an art form, so I say this is still relevant to my blog!) And with what other hobby can you eat the tasty results?!

Since moving to Seattle, I've participated in several vegan bake sales that help raise money for a local animal rescue, Pigs Peace Sanctuary. For this weekend's sale I made pumpkin chip muffins, brownies, and I tried out a new recipe for chocolate pumpkin bread.

Dark Chocolate Walnut Brownies (from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar)

Ingredients:
3 ounces firm silken tofu (1/4 package of Mori-Nu)
1/4 cup almond milk (any non-dairy milk can be used)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all-purpose white flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder*
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 handful of walnuts, chopped

*I like to use a mixture of "regular" and dutch processed cocoa powder. Dutch-processed cocoa has a deep, rich chocolate flavor, so if you like dark chocolate things, I recommend trying it out. You can even use all dutch-processed cocoa if you want to.

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8x8 inch brownie pan with parchment paper, making sure it covers the bottom and the sides.

2. Puree the tofu, almond milk, and canola oil in a blender or food processor until smooth and fluffy. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and make sure you get everything.

3. Transfer tofu mixture to a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and use a fork to vigorously mix them together until smooth. Add the vanilla and mix.

4. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Use the rubber spatula to fold and mix the batter until smooth. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth out the top. You may need to spread it a little towards the edges of the pan, but it will spread when baking if you don't get it into all the corners perfectly, so don't worry. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes. (The original recipe called for 30 to 32, but I like gooey brownies so I bake them a little less. I'd rather have gooey brownies than cake-like brownies.) Let cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

For Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf photos and recipe click here.