Mothers Day Bake

Happy Mothers Day to all the awesome moms out there including mine.

This morning I made a cake from "Get It Ripe" by Jae Steele. I am not a vegan and would not normally do vegan recipes but after flipping through this lovely and easy to follow book, I wanted to try some stuff out. This is my 4th recipe attempt and I have been satisfied with every one. One of my favs was a Morroccan style, cinnomony soup with garbanzo beans. I added moose sausage, making it very not vegan but it was so yummy and would be just as yummy sans the wild game, no doubt.






























Carob Chai Cake with Cardamom Icing

1 -1/2 cups light spelt flour
1/3 cup carob powder (plus extra to dust pan)
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
4-5 twists of the black pepper mill
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup organic non-dairy milk
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated coconut oil
or sunflower oil (plus extra to coat pan)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9-in cake pan and dust with carob powder.

Whisk together the flour, carob, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, pepper, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

Pour in the syrup, milk, oil and vanilla, and mix with a silicone spatula just until all flour is absorbed. Add the vinegar and stir quickly--you will see pale swirls as vinegar reacts with baking soda. Stir just until vinegar is evenly distributed throughout the batter, and immediately pour batter evenly into pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until top is domed, edges have begun to pull away from sides , and a toothpick inserted un centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes in pan before transfering to a rack or serving plate.

Serve warm simply dusted with powdered sugar and pinch of ground cardamom, or let cool completely before frosting.

Cardamom Icing

1-3/4 cups powdered organic sugar, sifted
1/4 cup arrowroot powder, non GM cornstarch,
or tapioca flour, sifted
1/2 cup softened non-hydrogenated coconut oil or non-dairy,
non-GM margarine
1/4 cup good-quality coconut milk
2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp sea salt (omit if using margarine)
5-13 raw almonds (for garnish)

Combine all ingredients (except almonds) in a medium bowl or food processor. Mix until just smooth, adjusting measuring slightly if necessary for a speadable texture. Spread a very thin layer over cooled cake (crumb coat) and then refrigerate for 10 minutes to set.

Remove from fridge and frost with the remaining icing, starting in the centre and working out to and down the sides. Garnish with a combination of chopped and whole raw almonds if desired.

I steeped rice milk with coco chai rooibos tea for some extra flavour and I used filberts and cacao nibs as garnish instead of almonds. I probably took mine out a little early as I had less of a dome and more of a swimming pool making for a denser cake in the middle. Oh well, next time I will leave it in for 35-37 minutes as I think my oven might run a little cool. Also, upon tasting this moist cake, there is a tonne of spice flavor. If you are going to do the tea like I did, I would cut the spice quantities in half unless you really like your chai.



Jae also has a blog totally worth checking out...