Tag Archives: bundt

Moderate Midnight Chocolate Cake

Moderate Midnight Chocolate Cake

I do love a good sale, so Black Friday is loads of fun. What does that have to do with baking? For the purchase of baking pans, of course!

Bundt pans are very useful for high-altitude baking, so when they go on sale I scour the internet with glee. There are several 10-cup Bundt pans in my arsenal; it was time to get a more manageable 6-cup model.

With the smaller version in hand, I looked back at favorite Bundt pan recipes. My Midnight Chocolate Cake has always been well-liked, so I chose that for the new pan. Checking the recipes on Nordic Ware led to the tip that you can simply halve a full-sized recipe to use in the more petite pan. Whew! That makes things much easier.

When my hubby saw me making a half-sized version of the cake, he asked why. My response was a query of what would two people do with a large cake. His reply, “Eat it!” With that, I give you my sensibly-sized revision.

Moderate Midnight Chocolate Cake

Shortening, to grease pan
1/2 cup cocoa powder (packed tightly) + extra to dust pan
1 cup + 3 tablespoons boiling water
1.25 teaspoons instant coffee
1.25 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt, depending on how salty your butter is
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegan butter (at room temperature)
1.5 cups organic cane sugar
1/2 cup pureed silken tofu
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vanilla pastry cream and crushed peppermint candies, for decoration

Preheat the oven to 350F. Use shortening to grease a 6-cup bundt pan then dust the inside with cocoa powder. Set aside.

Mix boiling water with 1/2 cup cocoa powder and instant coffee and whisk well. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, sift together the flours, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and tofu. Alternate adding cupfuls of dry ingredients then cocoa liquid to the creamed butter mixture. Scrape down the sides as needed. Add vanilla and beat until fluffy.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out with a few specks clinging to it.

Let cool for 15 minutes in the pan set on a wire rack. Gently loosen the center and cake edges from the pan using a small spatula. Invert the pan onto a wire rack and let the cake sit for 20 minutes.

To unmold, pick up the rack with the pan on top and lightly tap both on the counter to loosen the cake. Remove the pan from atop the cake and place the rack on the counter to allow the cake to cool completely. Once cooled, decorate the cake as desired.

Until next time, happy baking!

Cinnamon Apple Cake

Cinnamon Apple Cake

Cinnamon Apple Cake

Occasionally I decide to jump into the deep end and bake gluten-free. Gluten-free baked treats are difficult enough to make well, but when they are also made vegan at high altitude then they can spell disaster. But, a friend said she missed cinnamon rolls so I was on a mission.

The recipe I found was for a vegan cinnamon bread so I tried it but with high altitude alterations. The problem was that I didn’t like the gummy texture so often found in gluten-free baked goods. I also had a new bundt pan I needed to break in, so I scaled the measurements up to fit the larger pan. The cake version was not gummy, helped by the fact that I split the apples up and put one in the batter and one in the topping. The cake turned out very elegant. Oh, and it was tasty … very tasty.

Cinnamon Apple Cake adapted from Apple Cinnamon Swirl Bread
2 1/4 cups gluten free flour
1/4 cup + 1 TBS organic sugar
1/4 cup + 1 TBS organic brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
generous 1/2 tsp baking soda
generous 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
generous 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup + 2 1/2 tsp nondairy milk
1/4 cup + 2 TBS + 1 tsp canola oil
1/4 cup + 1 TBS unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup + 1 TBS maple syrup
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 red apples, one grated on large holes of a grater and one diced small
cinnamon topping
5 TBS organic sugar
2 tsp cinnamon powder
Preheat oven to 350F. Thoroughly grease and flour a bundt pan. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, oil, applesauce, maple syrup, vinegar, and vanilla. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and whisk gently until batter is just combined. Mix in one grated apple.
In a small bowl, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon for topping. Scoop batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle one diced apple then cinnamon topping over batter. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely in pan. Invert onto a serving plate.

Until next time, happy baking!

Mini Chocolate Chip Bundts

Mini Chocolate Chip Bundts

Mini Chocolate Chip Bundts

Specialized baking pans fascinate me. I sit in the store, staring, and wonder what I will create in them. My mini bundt pans have been calling to me since I bought them a few months ago. They came to mind when I decided I needed a treat that would bake in far less time then a full sized cake. A quick bread recipe seemed perfect to adapt to the mini bundts.

To veganize the recipe, I used the vegan equivalents of butter, eggs, and yogurt. For high altitude I added non-dairy milk for a bit of moisture. To make the recipe healthier I used mostly whole wheat flour. To then make the recipe tastier I added chocolate chips because chocolate is always welcome in my baked goods. The mini bundts turned out adorable, but if you don’t collect pans (as I do) you can make standard-sized muffins and bake them at 350F for 26 to 30 minutes.

Mini Chocolate Chip Bundts adapted from Mini Yogurt Tea Breads
2 TBS flaxseeds
6 TBS water
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup + 1 TBS all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
4 TBS vegan margarine, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup vegan sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBS non-dairy milk
1 1/4 cup plain non-dairy yogurt
2/3 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325F. Spray mini bundt pan with cooking spray. Whisk together flaxseeds and water and put aside to gel. Sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together melted margarine, oil, sugar, vanilla and milk for 30 seconds. Whisk in flaxseed slurry. Whisk in yogurt in 3 additions, alternating with additions of flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
Divide batter in prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 14 to 16 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove mini cakes from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Until next time, happy baking!