It was Eat This My Friend’s birthday yesterday.
Two Years now. Holy smokes!
The posts over the last 12 months really do reflect the tumultuous state of my life. And I feel that the focus has somehow shifted from recipe sharing, to sharing my thoughts. Maybe you’ve noticed, maybe you haven’t. I made a little joke to myself about changing the name of the blog to Hear This My Friend. Because I feel like I’m on some kind of journey of self-discovery. The kind of journey you only embark on when you accidentally fall into a hole and can’t quite figure out how to get out. I wrote a little story about it in my head, to try and make sense of it all. It went along the lines of falling into a rather deep narrow hole, with my family and friends at the top of hole, calling out instructions. But I felt so disconnected to them, I couldn’t quite make out what they were trying to say. Even though they were there, I still felt so alone. So they decided to band together to form one big human chain. But they still couldn’t quite reach. I became very distressed, and cried and cried, until I found myself floating upon a sea of tears. Suddenly I discover that the tears had lifted me high enough to reach a hand! And because crying a sea of tears can sometimes take a very long time, I had a lot of time to think about things. And figure things out.
Throughout this process, I’ve recorded any kind of insightful discovery. All of the things that I am learning on this terrifying journey, and mustn’t ever forget. I’ve found that the very process of writing them down, really helps to illuminate exactly what I’m learning. This blog is basically a journal. What originally started as a journal of my culinary successes (that I share with you, so that you too may have culinary successes), has now evolved into a journal of thoughts, too. Somehow I feel they’re both worth sharing.
To those of you who have offered me your support over this past year, those of you in that metaphoric human chain, thank you. You’re helping. I’m not entirely sure what point I’m up to in that crazy story, but I know how the chapter ends. And I’m quite curious to know what happens next.
VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE W PEANUT BUTTER CHOC FROSTING
cake ingredients
wet:
- 3/4 cup almond milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2/3 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup strong coffee (I used espresso)
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
dry:
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cups + 1 Tbsp plain flour
- 3/4 cup raw caster sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
frosting ingredients
- 1/2 cup of vegan butter (nuttalex)
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 cups icing sugar, sifted
- 1/4 cup (or even less) almond milk
- Preheat over to 180 degrees C.
- Combine the almond milk and vinegar and set aside for a minute to activate.
- Add to the remaining wet ingredients and beat until foamy.
- Sift in the wet ingredients and fold gently until thoroughly combined. It should be quite a wet mixture.
- Pour into a small cake tin that has been lined with baking paper
- Place in the oven to bake for 35 – 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool completely, while making the frosting.
- To make the frosting beat the nuttalex and peanut butter together. Add the cocoa and icing sugar, and a splash of the almond milk. Beat together until combined. Add more almond milk in gradually, if the frosting is still a bit dry. Once you reach a good consistency, spread the mixture liberally over the top of the cake. I don’t even bother trying to make it look pretty.