maple cake

When searching for a cake to make for my friend Chris's birthday I knew it had to be spectacular.

Chris arrived as I was icing the cake and seemed impressed with my beautiful golden, maple creation. It was adorned with pecans then tucked away for after dinner. Dinner? I'm going through this phase where I like to use just the ingredients I have on hand to make meals. It's getting kind of tricky now because the pantry is pretty sparce, but I'm using things I didn't even know I had and coming up with creative ways to use those foods that I'm not sure why I bought in the first place. Not allowing myself to go to the store for anything (except items for baking, of course) is a real challenge. I had the bright idea to make fried spring rolls filled with bean thread, spinach, egg, and spicy garlic sauce. A butternut squash soup and roasted potatoes. This sounds way more impressive than it really was. I showed Chris how to roll the spring rolls then I set off on cutting potatoes and putting garlic in the soup. Once the oil was hot enough to fry our delicate creations, he asked, "Have you ever done this before?" Well, I had never fried spring rolls but how hard could it be? The spring rolls were far from perfection but we looked pretty professional, both of us wearing aprons, armed with spatula's, and me, with goggles on. We were suddenly transported to a television set introducing ourselves and our little spring rolls using phrases such as, "Looking for that nice, golden brown", and "You want it to have a good crunch". We both did a great job consuming spring rolls, dripping with oil, and making more of a splat sound when biting down than "crisp!". After that I decided on no frills whatsoever. The soup had all of 4 ingredients and the potatoes were just that. Chris was a good sport and encouraging of my lamest meal ever. What on earth made me think that just because I can bake a cake I can fry little rice paper wraps to a golden perfection?? Maybe one can bake spring rolls?? Hmmmm....I think Chris deserves another birthday dinner, don't you?

Thank goodness I made that maple cake. After dinner my palate needed some love. Just on time for cake, my boyfriend arrived and we promptly lit candles and sang. I gave out generous pieces for the three of us and we stood right where we had recived our plates and ate in silence. "This is the best dessert you have ever made" said Tanner, who is also my food critic. "It's not vegan is it?" I did make it vegan, actually. This made me feel much, much better while standing in my grease covered kitchen and watching two grown men shove birthday cake into their mouths. My ego was saved.

Nigella Lawson gets the credit for this one. It's her autumal birthday cake from, "How to be a Domestic Goddess". I ate the "real" cake last year at a birthday party baked by my wonderful friend Miz Collins; I fell in love with it on the spot and have been craving it ever since. The vegan rendition is really similar; it lacks some of the fluff that the one with eggs provides, and the fosting is not as fluffy either. The moisture is there- amazingly- with only a bit of oil and no eggs. That being said, the taste is pefection; just straight up maple and pecans. Also it's comforting that something that tastes so luxurious is so simple in nature. Oh, and it looks stunning sitting on a cake stand. It's the perfect introduction to fall or an anytime of year birthday cake spectacular.



you will need these:
2 mixing bowls
wooden spoon
blender
2 8x8 round cake pans

for the cake:
1/2 C oil
scant 1/4 C unrefined natural sugar
3/4 C milk subsitute (I chose almond milk but soy, rice, hemp...etc. would work too)
3 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 C maple syrup (preferably organic grade a or b. please don't use aunt jemima)

for the icing:
1/2 box (approx. 6 oz) silken firm tofu (like Mori Nu brand)
1/2 C maple syrup
1 T unrefined natural sugar
1 T arrowroot powder (this is to thicken the icing)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 C chopped pecan pieces

preheat the oven to 350 degrees

grease cake pans with a little canola oil

mix the flour, baking soda and baking powder and set aside

Add the apple cider vinegar to the milk and whisk for a minute or two until bubbles from at the top. set aside

combine the oil and sugar until fully incorporated and add the milk and maple syrup

slowly add the flour mixutre until just combined. overmixing cake batters can result in a tough, too dense cake

pour into cake pans and bake for 30 minutes. the color of the cake is light and golden and might appear on first glance to not be throughly cooked- test with a toothpick to be sure

to make the icing:

put all ingredients into a blender and wiz until nice and creamy. let chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

make sure the cakes have cooled to room temperature before icing them. the icing is a bit thin and the less the heat on it, the better it will stick to the cake.

lay one layer on a plate and poke holes in the top with a fork. pour icing generously over the top and throw on a good handful of pecans.

next, place the second layer on top, this time without poking holes in the top. pour the rest of the icing over cake. it is more like a drizzle really- let it drip down the side and try not to worry too much about covering the whole thing in icing. it looks really nice with little drips going down the side. top with pecans and you are ready to go. if this is a birthday cake, go ahead and splurge on gold candles....not too many though.