I'm so excited about this new cookbook that it warrants its own Post. I'm referring, of course, to My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky. Hannah is a very young woman who is exploring "thinking outside of the box" techniques for this next stage in the development of Vegetarian (and by that I do mean Vegan) cuisine.
One of Hannah's hands-down winning recipes is the Decadent Almond Cake featuring a dense, rich crumb, that I made for a dinner party last night.
It's rich because of the three flours used in the batter. Soy, white, and almond meal. This recipe as Hannah wrote it, is two layers, with ganache sandwiched betwen them and smoothed over the top and sides, with sliced almonds covering the whole exterior. I love an over-the-top dessert, don't get me wrong, but I found this cake so delicate and rich and satifying and regal on its own that I opted not to gild the lily. I created the polka dot design on the cake top by sifting confectioners sugar over little items found in the kitchen (bottle caps, wine corks, etc.). Cute huh?
Here’s Hannah’s almond cake recipe which, to my mind, needs nothing but a little more almond extract. I like an assertive almond flavor.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease two 8-inch round cake pans. By the way, this batter does not translate well successfully into a cupcake.
1 scant cup almond meal
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup soy flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 cups plain soymilk
1 ¼ cups maple syrup
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 ½ teaspoons almond extract (I make it 3 ½ teaspoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease two 8-inch round cakepans.
Combine and stir the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Beat together the oil, soymilk, maple syrup, and vinegar so that the mixture becomes bubbly on the surface. Incorporate the two extracts. Slowly add in the dry mixture, stirring just until everything is combined. Divide the batter between your two prepared pans and bake 35 – 40 minutes, until a thoothpick inserted into the center of each layer comes out clean. Allow layers to cool for at least 15 minutes before turning them out of the pan.
