And the Oscar goes to....Mexican Chocolate Cake!

This evening my husband and I hosted a little Oscar's viewing party for a few friends and of course I had to make something special for dessert. This time I asked my husband to decide what I should make and he requested Mexican Chocolate cake. He picked this specific cake because not only is it one of his favorite cake flavors at Simply Desserts in Fremont (my hands down favorite cake shop in the greater Seattle area), but because he rarely gets to have any of the cakes I make.

When I started researching recipes, I quickly found that Mexican Chocolate cake contain not only cinnamon but cayenne pepper too. Apparently the act of mixing chocolate and hot chilies started with the Aztecs back to the early 1500s. I wouldn't think that these flavors would go together, but they do! The recipe I used called for 1/2 to 3/4 of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, but I thought it best to go easy and only used 1/4. I think this was the right amount as anymore would have just completely stolen the show.

I eventually settled upon this recipe from VegCooking.com by way of "Yeah, That 'Vegan' Shit" blog (yes, that's really the name of the blog!). The author wasn't kidding! This is a wonderfully moist and just darn yummy chocolate cake. I didn't taste the cinnamon though and I wonder how the cake would taste without it. The cayenne was a really wonderful little surprise. After each bite, a parade of little firecrackers would dance across my tongue. The chocolate glaze added just the right amount of sweetness to the cake. And although it's not vegan, I added a dollop of cinnamon whipped cream on the side, just as a fire extinguisher.

Mexican Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups flour, sifted (I used cake flour instead of all purpose. If you decide to use cake flour, add an additional 4 tablespoons of flour to the recipe.)
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (1/2 will be very spicy!)
1 teaspoon. vanilla extract
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup cold water

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 8 to 9-inch cake pan or spring form pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Stir in the cinnamon, cayenne, vanilla, vinegar, oil, and water. Mix until just combined.

Pour into the prepared cake pan and cook for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool.

Chocolate Sauce

2 ounces dark chocolate
1/4 cup water or soy milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons vegan margarine
1/2 tespoons vanilla
1 to 2 pinches cayenne pepper

Melt dark chocolate with water or soy milk in a saucepan over low heat. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar and cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in margarine, vanilla, and cayenne pepper, to taste. (I added an extra 1/2 cup of powdered sugar because I wanted the sauce to be thicker, however I'm not sure if powdered sugar is considered vegan.)

Cinnamon Whipped Cream

1/2 pint of whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 to 1 cup powdered sugar (depending on your taste)
1/2 to 1 teaspoons of cinnamon (depending on yoru taste)

Chill mixer bowl and beaters/wisk attachment in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Set up mixer and add whipping cream to the bowl and beat on super high speed,just until cream starts to get thick (when cream sticks to the back of a wooden spoon without dripping). Add sugar, mix for about 20 seconds and scrape down bowl. Add vanilla and half of the cinnamon. Mix another 20-40 seconds. Add remaining cinnamon (if desired) Chill until ready to serve.

Yield: 8 generous slices.
Would I Make This Again? Yes! This dessert was really great. If you take the cinnamon and cayenne pepper out, it would be a great basic chocolate cake recipe. Really yummy! 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Orlo's Power Bars

For Olro's birthday he asked for either chocolate chip cookies or for something called a Biff Bar. Since I've made chocolate chip cookies a gazillion times, I decided I'd take a stab at the Biff Bar. I had no luck finding a Biff Bar recipe but I did find a recipe called Jo-Ann's Power Bars on Allrecipes.com . Orlo said looked good so I gave it a shot.

I tweaked the recipe a bit (as usual) but accident I left out the eggs which made the bars a bit more crumbly then I would have wanted. But the good news is that they are vegan friendly! Yey!

Orlo's Power Bars

2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups Nature's Path SmartBran
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup applesauce
1/2 cup honey (for vegan bars use maple syrup or agave nectar)
6 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup of chopped pecans
1 (7 ounce) bag chopped dried mixed fruit

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with Pam. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flour, cereal, and cinnamon. Add the applesauce, honey, brown sugar, and oil. Mix well. Stir in the sunflower seeds, walnuts, and dried fruit. Spread mixture evenly in the prepared pan.

Bake 30 minutes, or until firm and lightly browned around the edges. Let cool completely then cut into bars or squares, and store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Note: The flavor of the bars improves over time. I found that the flavor was much better the next day.

The best part about this recipe is that you can really add anything you'd like. My only regret would have been to use more fruit and to not use one that has any "essence" added. I think the dried fruit I used had a slight orange essence added to it.

Yield: 15-20 servings. It really depends on how you cut the bars.
Would I Make This Again? Yes. I want to try it with different fruit, more fruit, and raisins. I'd also like to try it with 2 egg whites too. 3.5 stars out of 5

David's Most Amazing German Chocolate Vegan Cupcakes

Last year David said he'd like a carrot cake but because he's vegan, I got very nervous and ended up buying him one from PCC. Everything changed this year when my boss, Nick, let me borrow Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule. The recipes weren't scary and I already owned most of the ingredients. This year I would not wimp out!

One afternoon when David was walking past my desk I handed him the cookbook. "Pick anything. Choose whatever you want," I said proudly. "I'll make it!" David looked a little giddy, "Really? Wow. " A few hours later he surrendered and said everything looked good and gave me his blessing to pick whatever I wanted to make. With Nick's prodding I decided to make the Basic Chocolate Cupcake recipe with the German Chocolate frosting.

The recipe, as basic as it was, was a bit viscous. I was sure that I had done something wrong and they wouldn't look like the pictures in the book. But after exactly 18 minutes at 350F, they were perfect. And the frosting was easy and probably the best Coconut Pecan frosting I have ever had. The only mistake I made was that I didn't make enough! I made two dozen and probably should have made double that. Everyone loved them!

Happy Birthday David! Thank you for helping me face my vegan baking fears. Now I want to make every recipe in this cookbook! Oh and out of respect for the authors and copyright laws, I've decided not to post the recipes that I used. I just don't feel that it's right. You can find this book at Amazon, any bookstore, or at your local library. Be sure to check it out!