We home-school. Actually, we lakeparklibrarymuseumartinstituteclubclasscoopteam-school. But, I digress. In an effort to curtail the constant requests for complicated projects just as I am about to prepare dinner or right before bed, I initiated what we call "Thomas Edison Time" (TET). About 3 times a week, we dedicate 1-3 hours to all those complicated projects that require lots of supervision and one-on-one time. The kids write down what they want to do during TET and we save those projects for then.
Today, we fulfilled my eldest and youngest's request to bake a chocolate cake. Normally, my eldest, nine year old Little O, can run with a recipe and cook up a feast herself. But I thought it might be nice to bake a cake that all of us can eat. Since we were out of the ingredients needed to make my Vegan Chocolate Cake of Happiness, I needed to develop something new with what we had on hand. It also needed to be simple enough for the kids to learn once and then create on their own in the future.
I came up with the recipe below. Not only did it solidify the very confusing world of fractions for Little O (who exclaimed somewhere in the middle of the process, "You know Mamma, fractions are really making sense in my brain. Before, it was all jumbled up. Now it makes sense"), but it was also a huge hit. My son, nearly eight year old Little S, has requested it for his upcoming birthday. That is definitely success in the gluten-free, vegan world.
Sidebar: I have been torturing myself over what to call the cake because of America's apparent abhorrence of the word "moist". But, moist it is and thus, the name of the cake:
Moist and Nutty Gluten-free Vegan Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
3/4 c. cashew meal (We pulsed about 1 c. cashews in the food processor, leaving some coarse pieces in tact -- so as not to make cashew butter. The tiny bits of cashews add to the delight of the cake)
1/4 c. flax meal
1 c. brown rice flour
1/2 c. white rice flour
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1.5 t. xanthan gum
1 t. vanilla
1 T. vinegar (apple cider might work best, but we used rice vinegar)
1 c. agave
1/3 c. Soy-free Earth Balance or vegan butter spread of choice (you can also use coconut oil or canola oil), softened
1/3 c. vegan milk of choice (we used So Delicious Unsweetened Cocount Milk)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 9" round cake pan by greasing with vegan spread or coconut oil and dusting with white rice flour.
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Blend all wet ingredients in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into pan and bake 25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
1/2 c. agave
a scant 3/4 c. cocoa
1/2 c. vegan butter spread of choice
optional 1 t. vanilla
Melt spread. Whisk in other ingredients. Cool in freezer or refrigerator until ready to frost.
Today, we fulfilled my eldest and youngest's request to bake a chocolate cake. Normally, my eldest, nine year old Little O, can run with a recipe and cook up a feast herself. But I thought it might be nice to bake a cake that all of us can eat. Since we were out of the ingredients needed to make my Vegan Chocolate Cake of Happiness, I needed to develop something new with what we had on hand. It also needed to be simple enough for the kids to learn once and then create on their own in the future.
I came up with the recipe below. Not only did it solidify the very confusing world of fractions for Little O (who exclaimed somewhere in the middle of the process, "You know Mamma, fractions are really making sense in my brain. Before, it was all jumbled up. Now it makes sense"), but it was also a huge hit. My son, nearly eight year old Little S, has requested it for his upcoming birthday. That is definitely success in the gluten-free, vegan world.
Sidebar: I have been torturing myself over what to call the cake because of America's apparent abhorrence of the word "moist". But, moist it is and thus, the name of the cake:
Moist and Nutty Gluten-free Vegan Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
3/4 c. cashew meal (We pulsed about 1 c. cashews in the food processor, leaving some coarse pieces in tact -- so as not to make cashew butter. The tiny bits of cashews add to the delight of the cake)
1/4 c. flax meal
1 c. brown rice flour
1/2 c. white rice flour
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1.5 t. xanthan gum
1 t. vanilla
1 T. vinegar (apple cider might work best, but we used rice vinegar)
1 c. agave
1/3 c. Soy-free Earth Balance or vegan butter spread of choice (you can also use coconut oil or canola oil), softened
1/3 c. vegan milk of choice (we used So Delicious Unsweetened Cocount Milk)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 9" round cake pan by greasing with vegan spread or coconut oil and dusting with white rice flour.
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Blend all wet ingredients in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into pan and bake 25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
1/2 c. agave
a scant 3/4 c. cocoa
1/2 c. vegan butter spread of choice
optional 1 t. vanilla
Melt spread. Whisk in other ingredients. Cool in freezer or refrigerator until ready to frost.
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| Did I mention it is both moist AND nutty? |
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