Sunday, October 23, 2011

Here comes trouble.

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This week might do me in, weight-wise. I have a serious weakness for sugar, and in fact, it's the downfall for me whenever I try any kind of "diet" or weight loss regimen. As soon as I start to do great, look good, feel confident...I stifle it all with a half gallon of So Delicious Dulce de Leche. I'll admit again, that if good vegan ice cream didn't exist, I couldn't have kept this shit up for six years.

This week I was going to tackle candymaking. I went out and got a bunch of chocolate and corn syrup, and then don'tcha know, someone else did it last week. I learned that I have a massive ego and don't want anyone to think I'm copying, and (as you all know from my bleeding all over the blog yesterday) I learned that I should just focus on things this week that I can do somewhat blindfolded. Well, except for Saturday's recipe, which I'm very worried about.

This one I pulled out of my ass during the Vikings game, because, if you saw that piece of shit, you'd be distracted, too. The batter came out very mousse-y, and it leavened like a sumbitch. The frosting is cream cheese frosting, mixed with melted chocolate, and poured all over the cake. Sweet Lord. Serve this warm with (what else) your favorite ice cream.

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My cream cheese frosting heart started to melt.

Pumpkin Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
Makes one 9" round cake

Wet Ingredients

1/4 cup chocolate chips, melted
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup vegan sour cream
1/4 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)


Dry Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9" round cake pan (8x8 square) with baking spray.

Whisk together the wet ingredients. Work quickly, because the chocolate will start to harden when it hits the other liquids, so try to mix it up as best you can. In a separate bowl, blend the dry ingredients well with a whisk or spoon. Gradually add the dry to the wet, and mix. The batter will be fluffy and mousse-like. Spread in your pan with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes (do the toothpick test). Cool for 10 minutes, and make frosting.

Frosting:

1/2 can Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frosting (it's vegan!)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Microwave for one minute, then stir until blended. Pour over cake.

pumpkinchococake 003
I'm glad that the only bad thing about this cake is that I took awful pictures of it. I was in too big a hurry to inhale it.

If any of you are poo-pooing the idea of store bought frosting or using cake mixes, then this week may not be for you. I haven't had many run-ins with the vegan police, but I do know that Lindsay over at Happy Herbivore recently renounced the "vegan" title because people were questioning where her sugar was sourced, etc. I do know that she also uses honey, which is a whole 'nother can o' pectin gummy worms, but as for the sugar thing and the questionable ingredients on cake mix labels, I have this to say: If I make something from scratch that I serve to other vegans, I use organic sugar. I don't make shortcuts. When I'm making something for me and the thankless bastards I work with, or my vegan friends who feel similarly, I'll cut corners and use "accidentally vegan" store items. So far, the only people who have nitpicked me about such things have been non-vegans, who seem to think there is a purity rule. The way I see it is, when it comes to things like sugar that may or may not have been processed in bone char, when the day comes that there are no animals being used, then there won't be by-products. There is no purity test. But if you really do stress out about these things, I will post ingredients lists for you.

2 comments:

jessy said...

we use some accidentally vegan items every now and again as well - and we fo 'sho buy vegan sugar, too. oh man, that happy herbivore post did create quite the stir. but i digress......

while i'm more of a salty-crunchy kinda gal (that's my weakness), i can fo 'sho appreciate a good cake. your pumpkin sour cream chocolate cake sounds awesome and looks downright delicious! cakes are pretty damn easy to deglutenize, so you can bet your boots i'm excited about that! mmmmmm!

Anonymous said...

Oh gosh this sounds amazing. I will definitely have to try this recipe.

And yeah, when I found out about the frosting being vegan, I started buying a can a week and just eating it PLAIN. (Oh, dorm life. What can I say.)