Our SSFC theme last week was to make a sweet treat for Valentine's Day. One of my goals since last new year's has been to improve my baking skills, and I've been experimenting with vegan recipes. I am not vegan but I frequently use non-dairy butters and almond milk to give my body a break from dairy. It seems to help with my allergies. I'm also intrigued at the thought of making tasty desserts without butter or cream. We have a relative who is allergic to eggs and dairy, and he's usually left out when everyone else is enjoying dessert, so I want to make desserts that he can enjoy too. Actually, he has recently been tested again, and his egg allergy is gone, but he still has the dairy allergy.
I got this recipe for an iced vegan apple pecan cake from
The Kind Diet, Alicia Silverstone's book about vegan eating. The recipe actually calls for walnuts, but I bought pecans by mistake. Here are the ingredients:
Flour, sugar, canola oil, salt, baking soda, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, vanilla, pecans, and apples. The
apples were my only
locally sourced ingredient. They came from West Virginia and I bought them at the farmers' market.
The cake turned out great! It's like a very soft apple-cinnamon french toast. The oil kept everything moist and I didn't miss the butter at all. These apples are very sweet, so I used 1/4 cup less sugar than the recipe called for, but next time I'll probably use 1/2 cup less because the cake turned out really, really sweet. And can I tell you how divine the house smelled?? There is nothing like the smell of apples and cinnamon baking.
I've been eating squares just as they are, but I was thinking about cutting off a huge block and putting in a bowl with almond milk. I think that would be really good for breakfast.
Although I made this cake for my sweetheart, this is probably something I would make next time we head out to my father-in-law's.
Click on the SSFC badge to see what other challenge participants are making this week. I thought my blog friend
Emily's idea to make sweet potato and kale soup was a clever way to do the assignment. I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day!
that looks so delicious! vegan baking is awesome once you get used to it. i'm so accustomed to using egg replacer, even though i have my chickens' eggs now, i still use substitutes most of the time when i bake.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, that looks soooo tasty! I had a plentiful supper and Cherry pie for dessert, but you've managed to make me hungry again. ;-) That Apple cake would be yummy with a glass of milk or ice cream--but then it wouldn't be vegan I guess. I eat so many dairy products, it would be near impossible for me to go vegan. Vegetarian maybe.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful looking cake. Apple anything is wonderful and the smell of baked apples is divine. Nice nice nice
ReplyDeleteLooks yummy! You are always so creative with these challenges. I try to eat vegan (not real good at it - my family calls me a chegan (cheating vegan)). :) I may have to give this cake a try!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this, I intend on having a go at baking it as it looks so delicious.xxxxx
ReplyDeleteThis sounds amazing and I like the breakfast idea!!!
ReplyDeleteMmm, it makes my mouth water. I usually cut back on the sugar for recipes, too. Otherwise, it's too sweet.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writting this
ReplyDelete