SO, YEAH

I happened to mention to a sister of mine that I needed a dessert to share with friends who happen to be of the vegan persuasion.  "I know just the thing!" she exclaimed.  "It's a cake I made last week!  It is incredibly easy, and really, really good! It's so moist.  No one would know it's vegan."  She kept on raving about it.

Well, of course I made the cake.
It was a trial run.  And, oh, it was so easy!  So good!  Moist, not a clue it was vegan, Reader Dear!  I hadn't even finished off the wedding-turned-birthday cake, and here I was--snacking on chocolate vegan cake too. Morning, noon, and night.

I tweaked the cake recipe. I gave it a new name.

Then, I baked another (to serve to the friends, you know).  I made two layers and spread raspberry jam between them.

"You need to cover it with whipped coconut milk!" my sister had instructed. "It's easy!  So easy! It looks fantastic, too, all fluffy like real whipped cream!"

Now, Dear Reader, I already told you I made the cake, and it was a success.  That story ended well.  In fact,  I've baked the cake two more times in the past two weeks.  (When I get on a roll, I'm on a roll! [Or, I suppose one could say, when I get on a cake, I'm on a roll]).   But, ahem, were I to tell you the saga of the whipped coconut milk topping, the title would be something like this:  Whipped Coconut Milk Debacle! (subtitled) How I Ran Through Four Cans of Coconut Milk and Ended Up with Three Additional Quarts of the Stuff Sitting in my Fridge!

Believe me, the tale would be too long and tedious.  (Though, I gave my sister a play-by-play account that spanned two days and ended with a voice-mail message on her phone saying,  "I'm so bummed! What'll I DO?!  I have no Plan B!")*

Veritable Piece-of-Cake Cake

1-1/4  C. flour 
1      C. sugar 
1/2    C. unsweetened cocoa powder 
1      tsp. baking soda 
1/2    tsp. salt 
 
Mix together well (don't have to use a beater, just stir it) 
 
Add liquid ingredients: 
1      C. almond milk 
1      tsp. vanilla extract 
1/3    C. vegetable oil 
1      tsp. distilled white or cider vinegar 
 
Once again, stir until well-blended.  Put in an 8 x 8 pan (or use a round pan)** 

 Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until knife comes out clean. 
Yum! 

The third time I made this cake, I coated it with peanut butter icing.  I put nasturtiums atop it (Do you know they are edible, Reader Dear?) and carted it off to a church potluck meal.  Everything about it was a resounding success!**








*Take my advice, Dear Maker of the Veritable Piece-of-Cake Cake. Reduce any grandiose ideas you may have of whipped coconut milk frosting (I'd stick with the peanut butter icing.  I wouldn't say it was a piece of cake to make, but it was pretty simple!)

**Though no one ate the flowers, so there's that.

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