Twisted Valentine's Cake, Sorbet, Vegan Brunch, & a Chocolate Orange Cupcakes recipe!

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I present to you, the most un-vegan vegan ice cream cake ever! As I mentioned in my last post, I spent Valentine's Day with a group of friends. We ordered two ice cream cakes from local shop Maggie Mudd & stuffed our faces until we felt sick! The cake you see on the right was the larger of the cakes, filled with half Peanut Butter & Jelly ice cream & the other half "The Kitchen Sink", which consists of peanut butter, chocolate, & marshmallow swirls in chocolate ice cream, both on a chocolate cookie crust! We couldn't help but add the graphic on top, inspired by a walk to the ice cream shop where we saw the horrible image at a nearby butcher. Of course, we're not completely heartless! We also had a lovely heart shaped cake filled with Apple Pie ice cream on a cinnamon graham cracker crust! We also started the evening with creamy polenta & roasted vegetables, but who cares about that?! Bring on the dessert!

Is sorbet season back?! Despite the mainly cool weather, we've had a few nice days & a plethora of citrus fruit inspired me to make a Tangerine Sorbet! I used my basic sorbet recipe, but added extra Lemon juice, some zest, & the juice of one Tangelo. Very delicious! Ryan & I love this refreshing treat, even on cool nights, you can imagine you're in a tropical climate. I suspect you'll be seeing more sorbet from my kitchen as fruit starts rolling in to the Farmer's Market!

Another successful Vegan Brunch Cartel took place last weekend, with my house being the location. I decided to have a crepes theme & invite everyone to bring a favorite crepe filling for a "Make Your Own Crepe station". It turned out quite well & we were treated to delights like Chik'n & Pesto, Indian Dosa filling, Tofu & Veggie scramble, Almond filling with Coffee sauce, & of course, Banana & Vegan Nutella! We also had sides of Potato Salad, Seitan Sausages ala Julie @ Everyday Dish, & a beautiful "Heart Salad" with adorable heart shaped beets on top! Delicious, Adorable, Fun; I love crepes!

Finally, I leave you with a poocake. That's right, I said poocake! Our good friend Josh was in town to celebrate his birthday & I couldn't help but make cupcakes for him inspired by his favorite subject! At his request, these were chocolate orange cakes with fudgy chocolate-orange frosting! I used Isa's Rich Chocolate Cake recipe, but made a few adjustments to add the subtle orange taste.

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes
Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all purpose unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon orange zest

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Sift together the flours, baking powder, & baking soda.

In a saucepan, heat the soy milk on low-medium heat. Once lightly bubbling, add the cocoa powder, whisk well until it is dissolved, & remove from the heat.

Combine the maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, vanilla & orange extracts, & orange zest in a bowl and whisk well. Add the cocoa mixture to the other wet ingredients & combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients & mix until just combined.

Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes & rotate the pan.
Continue to bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 4 to 6 minutes more, for a total of 14 to 16 minutes.

Let them cool for 5 minutes, remove them to a wire rack to cool completely & frost with your favorite frosting!

This yields 20 to 24 cupcakes.

My Notes:
This was my first time working with this recipe & I thought it produced a nice little cake! With the amount of maple syrup, I think I'll be sticking to my coveted favorite recipe which includes melted chocolate for depth, but this is still a tasty cake worth making & is much better than most recipes out there! The fudgy frosting was a delicious treat & I used fresh orange juice, instead of soy milk for my liquid, a fun & easy way to flavor frostings.

It's been far too long since I've posted a recipe, but I promise you my next entry will be a delicious & exciting item that's had a bit of buzz around the PPK! Can anyone guess what it is?!