Thursday, February 21, 2008

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

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

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?!

28 comments:

Tim said...

Is it Meringue? The cakes look sooo good!

vko said...

OMG melisser- you make me laugh.
Poo cake is just too perfect!

Love me some of that tangelo sorbet. Looks like you got lots of loving desserts my dear.

Hope you are well!
x

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

oh my goodness gracious that cake is too fun!!

oooh, sorbet season IS on its way - I love it all year round though ;0)

those chocolate-orange cupcakes sounds even BETTER than the chocolate-orange cookies I baked, a few weeks ago - yum!!! care to do a bake swap??? :0)

puppy52doll said...

I'd eat the poo cake! LOL

Anonymous said...

Poocake. Ha, that's pretty damn amusing. :-)

Anonymous said...

Your brunches always looks so awesomely delicious :)

mel said...

I have yet to have a Mudd cake and I'm insanely jealous!

Anonymous said...

Ha ha ha. They totally DO look like poo! My parents used to have a little fake-poop in a box, and it looks precisely like that! WOOT WOOT!

MeganFabulous said...

I want that magnet! or better yet, that graphic on a tshirt! of course as a joke. Awesome cakes!

urban vegan said...

OMG...I'm having a delightful sugar low.

julie hasson said...

Oh yum!! I can always count on you Melisser for an incredibly delicious post.

P.S. I love the "poop" cakes.

affectioknit2 said...

Oh we have to try the poo cakes the next time the Man-Cub has his friends over - they love poo!

Jess said...

Wow, those cakes look awesome! As do your cupcakes. I have never been a fan of orange & chocolate together, but I think that's because I once tried one of those shitty Chocolate Orange candy balls when I was younger... Not exactly quality flavors there. Yours look mighty tempting...

And I think it's definitely sorbet season! I don't even live in a warm(ish) climate like you, and I've already got my ice cream maker churning with it! I'm hoping it will encourage Spring to come faster...

B.A.D. said...

meringue! its meringue isn't it?!
Also that cake place looks amazing! where do you live/where is that place located/when can you accept visitors?

BitterSweet said...

Insanely awesome cakes! And a crepe station is probably the best brunch idea I've ever heard, although there would be little chance I would actually pick out any semi-balanced options, given sweeter choices.

Amey said...

Poo Cakes!

Oh, I"m so sorry I missed the crepe feast... it sounds like it was seriously good eating. Mmmm.... crepes. I was dreaming up some sort of caramelized pineapple & coconut filling. I'll have to try it on my own.

I say a big ol' YES to sorbet! Gotta find a way to add a little zing to these winter fruits!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

So many beautiful desserts... so little time!

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

oh my goodness, i would die for a few slices of those ice Kream cakes. i'm jealous!!! i can't wait to make some sorbets with my new ice Kream maker I got for Xmas. i think strawberry will be my fist try.

Rural Vegan said...

Never thought I'd say this, but that poocake looks delicious!

anna/village vegan said...

Mmm, sorbet! Looks amazing.

Hot item from the ppk? Hmm. PB cinnamon rolls? Those steamed seitan sausages?

aTxVegn said...

That sorbet looks wonderful! I am so ready for sorbet season...

Bianca said...

I am so jealous that I don't access to Maggie Mudd. I would kill someone for a vegan ice cream cake...well killing wouldn't be very vegan. But I'd beat someone up for one.

And those poo cakes are so cute!

bazu said...

Oh my gosh, just the thought of maggie mudd ice cream cake makes me weak in the knees- what a cool treat! And the cows thank you!

This summer, I'm definitely going to get on the Melisser sorbet bandwagon- they seem irresistible!

When are you leaving for EU?

Vegan_Noodle said...

The v-day cake is too funny. And wow, what a great theme for the vegan brunch cartel! I haven't had a crepe in sooooo long.
Poo cake - ha! Hmmm, and I must not be looking at the right messages on the ppk boards because I have no idea what your surprise it!

Anonymous said...

Personally, I only have eyes for coconut sorbet. Nonetheless, yours is lovely.

Can't wait for the surprise - I for one am desperate for a pretty meringue recipe. Or even better; marshmallow.

Doodleyboo said...

Poocake! I love it! Gotta get me some of that.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting that sorbet recipe. I've been looking for an un-raw one that didn't have too much sugar in it and I think yours may just be the ticket!

And thanks for the comments on my blog -- you really have to try that Salsa Finta and Cashew Polpetta. You'll never be able to guess the flavour it's that good.

Now, I'm wondering how I can get one of those cakes back to Vancouver without it melting?... :o)

DJ said...

My God, even when the basis for your cake is a turd they come out looking lush!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

vko- Hehe, thanks! I'm a fan of sorbet making, obviously!

veggiegirl- I always love sorbet too! We should totally do a bake swap! hehe.

chun- I know you would! hehehe.

kindkitchen- Aww, thank you! I enjoy them.

mel- We should all chip in & order one!

Lindy- That is AWESOME!

VegFab- Hahaha! I'm glad others found it funny.

UrbanVegan- Come over here for a sugar high!

affectioknitter- I hope you try & enjoy them!

Jess- I was never in to the chocolate orange thing, it was the birthday boy who requested it & I was delightfully surprised!

BAD- I'm in San Francisco & have a couch, c'mon over!

Hannah- The crepe station was SO fun! It was totally hard to make balanced choices!

Amey- caramelized pineapple?! yes, please! I wish you'd been there; next time!

ppvegan- Can't wait to see what you make!

Rural- hehehe! Thanks.

Bianca- I guess you'll just have to visit SF!

bazu- I can't wait to see your sorbets! Come visit & have Maggie Mudd with me!

Doodleyboo- I hope the sorbet recipe works out for you! Also, Maggie Mudd ships cakes! hehe.

veganblogtracker, julie, CCvegan, aTxvegn, Amanda, DJ - Thanks so much!