This is a sincere apology for slacking. I've had it on my to-do list for about two weeks now to make a new blog post, and my boyfriend has even been dropping not-so-subtle hints to let me know that desserts are lacking in this house. Well, I've finally done it, and I made it extravagant so as not to disappoint!
This was my first full weekend off in months, so I took the time to do some fun stuff and a lot of laying around doing nothing. I barely squeezed this cake out in time for the sun to be out on Sunday evening (I try to take pictures during daylight hours to make the lighting better), and even the finished product picture was taken towards the end of dusk. I was just reveling in laziness, a luxury I haven't been able to afford for the last two months.
I unfortunately will not be attending the Haile Plantation farmers market anymore. To anyone who reads this and also goes there, I'm sorry :( For those of you who supported me, I truly appreciate it and hope you will continue to read and/or come see me downtown on Wednesdays. For those of you who are just readers, this is good news for you since my weekends will be free from now on and I can spend that time making posts!
This cake is really, really good when it's fresh, as the chocolate chips are still a bit melty. Recipe below!
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegan butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cup almond milk
1 12-oz bag mini vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 Tbsp almond milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar and mix until combined. Add almond milk and flour mixture and beat until a uniform batter forms. Stir in chocolate chips.
Pour batter evenly between three 9-inch round greased cake tins. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes (this was very variable for me as I used two different kinds of cake tins, and two only took about 20 minutes, whereas the other one took a little over 25, so keep an eye on them!) or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of each cake pan comes out cleanly.
Let cool on the counter for about 10 minutes. Then flip out of the pan onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.
Meanwhile, in another bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, almond milk, and vanilla extract until smooth.
Once the cakes are cooled completely, lay one on a flat serving surface, then cover with a thin layer of frosting with an icing spatula. Apply the second layer and repeat, then the top layer and repeat. Then cover the sides of the cake with frosting as well. Then cut and serve!
This week has been ridiculous. From getting sick in the middle of the week, making me unable to go to the downtown market, to only selling $20 worth of stuff on Saturday morning, which doesn't even cover half of my fixed costs per market, I felt as though I was having the worst week ever. I was exhausted, I was working overtime, I had to blow my nose every five minutes, and I must say, I was bitter. Sometimes doing the markets seems like a waste of time and unappreciated effort. I'm sure no one knows how much effort goes into producing such a modest table of products (except for my business partner and possibly my boyfriend, who sees how exhausted I am every day). If nothing else, I have gained a much greater appreciation for people who successfully hold down two jobs. 
Now, none of that was written to solicit pity or sympathy, nor was it to guilt anyone. This blog serves to be a personal journal of my journey through this phase of my culinary life, and the above was just me venting. Because as hard and tiring and stressful and sometimes disappointing as it all is, it's something that pushes me to do better, perfect an art I've just begun to explore, and grow as a person. Which is why instead of taking a nap and being lazy today after work, I made good use of a very ripe avocado in the fridge.
Avocado mousse is the best thing to happen to avocados since guacamole! It may sound strange, but when you think about it, it's really not. A plain avocado doesn't have an overwhelming taste, so it is more like a blank canvas with which you can paint with flavors. On top of that, the smooth, fatty, and rich texture is perfect for a decadent dessert. 
This is not a vegan recipe, but can easily be made vegan by just omitting the egg whites. It won't be as fluffy or light in color as my pictures, and will have more of the consistency of a pudding, but will still be outrageously rich and delicious. Honestly the only reason I used the egg whites was because I made custard-style ice cream the other night, which required five egg yolks, and I didn't want the whites to go to waste. Also, as an aside, custard-style ice cream is the shit, and I don't know how I lived my life for 24 years without ever having it!
Recipe below!Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado, de-pitted and peeled
6 oz chocolate
2 tsp brandy
5 egg whites
Directions:
In a medium bowl, mash avocado until smooth. If you're really weird about chunks, then you should use a food processor to get it really smooth. Melt chocolate over low heat on the stove, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Mix in with mashed avocado, then stir in brandy.In a large bowl, beat egg whites with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Then, using a spatula, fold in chocolate and avocado mixture just until incorporated. Try to keep your stirring to a minimum since you want to keep as much air in the egg whites as possible.Refrigerate for about an hour and then enjoy!
It has been a very busy week, and is only to get busier! With this in mind, I thought today (my only day off this week) would be an opportune time to make something for the blog since my time will be sparse over the coming weeks. Well, sorry to disappoint :(
I attempted to make vegan marshmallows. I've had a craving for some time and marshmallows were also on my list of things to make that are naturally gluten-free. So this morning when I woke up, I did some research on different recipes, and came to the conclusion that I needed to get vegetable gelatin instead of agar agar since that seemed to work better.
So I hopped on my bike and took a quick ride to Ward's (the local health food market here in town) to find some, but they only had agar agar (a whopping $8 for about a quarter cup!). This is about the time I started to feel an impending sense of failure for this venture. I cringed as even the lady at the register remarked at how expensive that stuff was, rode home, and got to work.
Everything seemed to be going as it should, and the end result was not a total flop, although definitely not worthy of posting a recipe. To quote from my boyfriend, "It tastes like a marshmallow, but feels like an eyeball". Mmmm...appetizing.
So there will hopefully be more to come on the marshmallow front when I finally figure something out, because I am determined to provide vegan marshmallows to the (local) masses!
I'll admit that I had time to come up with a recipe and make something delectable for you to read about today, but I chose not to. Two reasons: As I'm typing this, I'm finishing up the last of the blackberry frozen yogurt (bypassing some leftover banana ice cream in the freezer), and gave away about half of my Mayan chocolate almonds. What I'm trying to say is that I have too many desserts just laying around for me to make yet another one.The second reason is that I wanted to show off what I've done today, and what will be sold at the farmers' market tomorrow afternoon.
This is a vanilla cupcake with strawberry frosting. I used real strawberries (of course!) to make a syrup, then added that to my frosting to give it a cute pink color and a very faint strawberry taste.
This is my chocolate duo!
This one has the strawberry frosting on top.
For these, I had some fresh raspberries left over from a special order, so I dropped one into the center of each batter-filled cupcake liner and baked it in, then sifted powdered sugar on top. I almost tried to mess one up so I could eat one!
This is a strawberry orange cream tart. Very impromptu kitchen experiment, so I'm not sure how it will go over, but this crust is to die for!
And this is my best seller, the chocolate coconut tart. Only five ingredients in the whole thing, yet so, so, so good!
And these are my special order donuts! I have one or two loyal customers who special order these every week :) They're a pain in the butt to make, but are totally worth the effort.
All products are 100% vegan and natural! Wish me luck for tomorrow, and hope to see some of you out there!
