More Cake

My mom has outdone herself! Two fabulous gluten-free vegan cakes in one week! The latest was a modification of a recipe I had given her many, many years ago which called for raspberry preserves in place of some of the oil. It's a moist, dense, and super chocolately cake.

She added a little almond extract to the batter which worked well with the cinnamon, and she replaced even more of the oil with apple sauce. Another success!

The frosting is made from melted vegan chocolate chips, Mori Nu tofu and maple syrup. The last few times I've made this frosting it's been more puddinglike, which has frustrated me. My mom's tip was to melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, then let them cool a little before blending them with the tofu & maple syrup. She also added a little cocoa powder just to be safe. The end result was smooth, rich and creamy, and regular people would never know there's tofu in there. Thanks, mom!!

Cake

Yesterday my mom surprised me with an incredible gluten-free vegan lemon coconut cake. She's always experimenting, and this time it resulted in 100% success.

She started with a Glutino Old Fashioned Cake and Cookie Mix which made a single layer vanilla cake which she augmented with lemon zest. After it baked, she split it in half and added a thin layer of lemon pudding she had whisked from corn starch, soy milk, Florida Crystals and lemon juice. She topped it with a vanilla cream cheese frosting and generous sprinkle of shredded coconut. Then she fashioned a pretty rose garnish from dried apricots and basil leaves. Beautiful! Delicious!

Earlier in the afternoon I had cooked Triple Green Tempeh with Brown Rice for a client. It's not as heavy and greasey as the kind you might get at a Chinese restaurant. The tempeh is nice and crisp and savory when baked in the oven rather than fried. I like it.

HO! HO! HO!

I've been meaning to post this for at least a week but computer glitches and phone-line overload have prevented that from happening. I will keep my fingers crossed as I type, save and (hopefully!) publish this entry.

I prepared a special vegan Spanikopita for a client's Christmas Eve party last week. I was dying to cut into it, but had to restrain myself for presentation sake.

I consider making Spanikopita a Zen-like experience. It's one of those foods that you need to 1) be patient with and 2) make while listening to good music (I chose Abba's Greatest Hits to sing along to).

Start with a hefty amount of fresh dill and parsley. Chop until they are itty bitty little shreds and the pile is half the size as when you started. [NOTE: It helps to have "Dancing Queen" playing while you do this.]

Combine in a large bowl with a big bag of spinach and your tofu, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and nutritional yeast mixture. Then get ready to prepare the layers of filo.

Lay about 12 sheets of filo in an oiled baking pan, spreading each sheet generously with olive oil. Then spread the filling in evenly and lay another 12 oiled layers of filo on top.

Be sure to score the surface with a knife so that the pieces won't crumble after you cut into it once it's baked. This baby gets covered with foil then gets popped into a preheated 375 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 and cook uncovered for about 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

I had to take mine out a little early since it was going to be heated a second time for the party and I didn't want it to get too browned and crumbly. But it still looked pretty tempting.

Dessert was a chocolate cake with Godiva liquor between layers topped by a chocolate raspberry tofu cream and garnished with some pretty little craisins and mint leaves. Alas, it's a sad affair not to be able to dig right in...