So it's been goodbye Portland nad hello again Connecticut. And I'm not that happy about it, though not as unhappy as I expected (despite hte fact that my door blew shut one time a couple weeks ago; leaving me in my room for a few hours, and the fact that I can't go as I please; I don't think there is even a bus running through Niantic) Days on the beach and daily swinms in hte bay have been nice, but I definitely miss the diversity, the hustle and bustle, and the easy-to navigate streets of Portland; going whereever, whenever I wanted!
So, in an effort ot relive a little of portland, I decided to make my Mom's favorite cupcake- at least of the ones we sold at the bakeshop- Mocha. But I couldn't just leave them plain, of course, I had to add my own little flair. A little mroe punch, some great Oregon coffee, and salted caraeml. Yum!
Well, at least I htink they were yummy. I didn't get to have one because they're not vegan. But then smelled great and the caramel was tasty (its vegan... shhh!) And the ones I saved for my family are half gone so, that's always a good sign.
So with the summer heat kicking in and everyone wishing for a great, sweet treat, here's a different way ot have you caramel frappochino and eat it too! Sorry, the recipe is a secret, for now!
But, if you are a baking nut like me, I'm sure you can't wait to get into the kitchen and bake something, so here's some more inspiration! Get yourself a copy of Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe by Joanne Chang.
Got the book? Ok, now find the recipe for "Vegan, Low-fat Chocolate Cake".
What? You're not vegan? You're not dieting? I don't care, cause i'm sure you know someone who is. And I'm also sure that if you don't tell anyone it's vegan, they won't care or notice a difference. I mean whoever created this recipe was some kind of genius. No egg replacer required!
So, now whip yourself up a triple batch - that's enoug for 2 9" pans (that's the only flaw with this recipe- apparently Flour Bakery has a much smaller appetite than me- Joanne's version only makes one 6" cake).
When the cake are baked and cooled, remove from pans and prpeare to frost. i frosted mine with raspberry jam and a bit of vegan ganache. Then I put the other layer on (please remember ot flip it upside down if you're not going to level off the top; it makes frosting a lot easier; trust me!) And frosted with a creamy vegan chocolate frosting (sorry, that's a secret too, a happy mouse-making accident that too many people love for me to share- I do have a bakery in the works after all!). Of course, just about any frosting would work on this cake- vegan or not!
Now serve it at your favorite Bunco Night nad let everyone ooh and ah and compliment on that "long hours of hard work" it took you to make this!
Actually, maybe you should make a 4x recipe so you have a bit leftover.......
Cause then you can make cake balls!!!!!!! Or should I say cake truffles!
But of course I didn't have any leftover cake- I was going to eat all the leftovers thank you very much!
So I whipped out another 1.5 recipes of this delicous cake batter, poured it into a parchment-lined half-sheet pan, and let it bake for 25 minutes. Like magic!
Once cooled, I crumbled the cake (yes, I'm sorry, you do have to destroy all the moist layers- this is probably why you should use leftover cake- but I don't think I could ever have enough cause I would jsut snack on hte scraps). Anyway, once you have the entire cake crumpled into fine crumbs in a large bowl, add a small amount (1/2 to 3/4 cup) frosting and mush with your hands until the frosting is evenly distributed and teh crumbs comes together like a dough.
Form into balls (mine were the size of small plums and the recipe made about 25) and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Let the balls sit a bit, then dipped in melted (preferably tempered) chocolate. Make sure you have enough- I was using a big bowl with only about 8 or 9 ounces of chocolate in it, and it was hard to get an even coat. I coated mine with the help of a fork (don't stick the fork into the cake ball, just use the flat part of it to help roll the ball around and pick it up once it coated. You should also tap off some of the excess chocolate while the ball is still on the fork. Sprinkle the top of each ball with chocolate sprinkles- or whatever you like. Serve on a decorative platter, and surprise everyone!
