My best Apple Cake yet!

Fall is definitely here and that to me translates to not only colder weather (which I do not like) but mostly to lots of pumpkin (which I love), butternut squashes, acorn squashes, all winter squashes, cinnamon, and of course apples. Even though we have apples available year round it is during fall - their peak season - that they are the sweetest and have the most delicious flavors.
For the past couple weeks we have been inundated with apples in our CSA box, so we have been eating them out of hand, taking to school as a snack, and also making delicious homemade applesauce - a favorite of mine and Matheus' too.
With an urge to bake and lots of apples staring at me from the fruit bowl on the counter top I entered the kitchen ready and full of the best intentions to create something delicious, nutritious and also easy to make.
I am happy to inform that my mission was accomplished and it turned out into a Vegan Apple Cake that is definitely the best apple cake I have ever made.
The first cake I baked was left on the counter while I went out for a few hours, and upon my return half of it was gone, the husband really liked it. We polished the rest of it the next morning for breakfast, so I didn't even had a chance to take a picture.
Since we loved it so much, and yes, I still had apples on the counter, I made another one. This time I rushed and did take a picture though! phew! (and as you can see in the pic, there were even more apples around!)
There is nothing fancy about this cake but the flavors are spot on, I also think it looks great, and better than anything: it makes your house smell wonderful as it bakes!
And as I said before, it is super easy to make. It is the "mix-dry-with-wet" type cake, no mixer, no special equipments needed, plus you can have it in the oven in no time.
When it comes to cake, the simple ones are my favorites (I am not an icing, filling, "stuff in the middle of my cake" gal), and this apple cake even though as simple as it turned out is also flavorful, fruity, and fragrant. Perfect to have with tea, or maybe a cup of warm milk.
One note: I used my homemade applesauce but you can certainly use any apple sauce or pureed apple you have - I actually used the store bought plain applesauce on the second cake I baked as we were out of the homemade deliciousness (it never lasts long!)
If you like apple cakes definitely try this one, and then let me know what you think. Around here it was a massive success. The last piece of the second cake I baked was hidden by Matheus one night so he could have it for breakfast on the next day (he was afraid dad would eat it!). And right then, after breakfast I got another request to make some more, from both boys.
You can't make a mom who loves to cook happier than when you say you love her food and ask for more!
Ana

See what I mean by "mix-dry-with-wet" kind of cake?! All you need for this are two bowls. I used a pan with removable sides for this and lined the bottom with parchment paper, but any 8 or 9 inch round cake pan should work, just make sure you oil it a bit.









Vegan Apple Cake

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly oil a round cake pan (either 8 or 9 inches)

In a small bowl mix together:
6 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. ground flax seeds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup canola oil (or another neutral oil you might like)
1/4 cup almond milk (or soy milk, or milk of your choice - if using cow's milk this won't be vegan anymore)
1 tsp. vanilla

In a big bowl mix together:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp cinnamon (looks like a lot, but trust me, it makes the cake taste and smell incredible!)
2 tsp baking powder
3 small apples, cored and chopped (peeled if you prefer)

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mix until combined. Pour batter into pan (it will be thick) and flatten with a spatula or back of a spoon. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until your house is smelling amazing and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean!

Easy chocolate cake!

Another day without school... still lots of ice/snow outside on the roads, and to get things a little worse it was raining, the whole day, sigh.
At least we were able to get out of the house and went to the YMCA, mom gets an workout and kid can play with friends, and we both come back home happy!
But what one do when there is another afternoon of nothing ahead and it is so cold out that it makes you want to have tea and hot cocoa for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Make chocolate cake, of course!
And that's what we did! You can't beat a slice of warm chocolate cake, it warms you up from the inside out - chocolate does put a smile on my face! (and wrecks my morning workout, but that's another story... we gotta live a little, right?!)
After a few days staying home I got the urge to bake, and after a batch of muffins (I made Morning Glory Muffins this time!) and a frittata for lunch I was left with no eggs... "no problemo", I can find a chocolate cake recipe without eggs, right? Sure, and to be true I even have one like that in my archives already (this one), but still I wanted to see if there was something different out there and got me some google action! (What can't you find on google, tell me?!!)
A minute on the search engine led me to some very similar recipes to the one I had previously made, and after adapting my recipe and and combining it with a slightly different one I came up with a new egg-free chocolate cake recipe, and guess what? It was way better than the one I made before!!
People, if you don't have eggs, or milk, or if you can eat any of those ingredients, do not fret, you can still have some awesome chocolate cake! Some call this a whacky cake, but you can call it whatever you want and I don't care, just don't shy away from making this cake, it is really yummy!
Plus you will only dirty up one bowl, that's all - and the baking pan. Super easy and so fluffy and chocolaty, we really enjoyed it!
The combination of vinegar and baking soda is the key to this cake, it is what gives the leavening action and make this type of cake rise, pretty cool, huh?
The cake was delicious warm just by itself, and that's how we ate it right after it came out of the oven. Then, a little later, we decided that a chocolate sauce would only improve the goodness. I quickly whipped some of our favorite chocolate syrup and we went to town, it was heavenly!
This recipe yields a small, 8-inch round cake, which was just perfect for the three of us. It is a fluffy, very tender cake, chocolaty and delicious, just perfect for another snow day!
Enjoy!
Ana

Easy no-egg chocolate cake

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 or 3 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon white vinegar (I used champagne vinegar, it was what I had)
3/4 cups sugar (feel free to add more if you want it sweeter)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup water (cold)

Preheat oven to 350F and spray an 8-inch round cake pan with oil.
In a bowl mix up dry ingredients, make a well in the center, add wet ingredients and stir all together until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes.

My notes: start checking at around 20 minutes. Turn on the oven light and see how it looks, if risen then open and check with a toothpick, mine was done at 22 minutes.

Taste Testing some cake recipes…

As I mentioned on the last post, I have been testing some cake recipes, but not your usual cake recipes, they are actually more a kind of “allergy-free cakes”! hehe!
Matheus’ birthday is on the 25, and we are going to celebrate at a fun place he chose by inviting his classmates and having yummy cake to round up the fun! However, some of his friends have severe food allergies, and since the only thing I am going to make is the cake, I felt really bad about having a cake that a few kids could not enjoy.
So, I started a quest for an Egg-free Milk-free Nut-free Birthday Cake to make for the party, and that way I hope everyone can participate in the whole fun, including the cake part too!
I tested 3 recipes so far, two for yellow cake and one for chocolate cake. The chocolate cake I had actually made before (one time we wanted cake and didn’t have eggs in the house), but in name of research I did test it again!
From the two yellow cakes, although the recipes were similar, one came out a little better than the other, and I am posting the recipe with a picture below. The only drawback from this recipe is that it makes a small (8x8 inches) cake, and I would have to at least double the recipe to feed all the 25 kids. However the cake tasted good and kept very moist for over three days.
The chocolate cake on the other side yielded a much better cake, a very moist and tall cake, which was baked in a 9x13 cake pan. (I got the recipe a while ago from the website www.cybercook.com.br) It tasted and looked good, very tender, and everyone was impressed the cake did not actually have any eggs or milk in it. We will probably be having chocolate cake for the birthday this year. If I can convince Matheus, that is; because he originally wanted a white cake with strawberries in the middle… oh well, chocolate cake is still good, right?! And being able to share it with everyone definitely makes it taste even better!
I will post further recipes in case I do more testings. Meanwhile, whish me luck… now I am on my way to taste another frosting recipe (first one did not came out very nice… oops!)

Ana

Milk-Free Egg-Free Chocolate Cake
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 cups warm water
1 cup oil
In a bow mix all dry ingredients together. In another bowl mix wet ingredients, add to mixture and mix until well combined and free of lumps. Pour batter into greased and floured rectangular baking pan and bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes.

Milk-free, Egg-free Yellow Cake

1 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp arrowroot (optional)
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
5 Tbsp canola oil
1 cup cold water
Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8x8 pan.
Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add liquid ingredients and beat for 2 minutes. Pour into 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.