Vegan Bourbon Apple Pie Cake

Apples and Bourbon.
Bourbon and Apples...
It's a match made in Heaven.
After using bourbon in so many of my desserts of the holidays,
I figure, why stop now?
People love bourbon!
And they also love when I add bourbon into anything that I bake.
So, what could be better than combining my apple pie cake with my bourbon apple pie.
Boom!
Delicious!

Vegan Bourbon Apple Pie Cake
*Prepare the apple marinade and soak apples overnight

Apple Marinade:
3-5 Granny Smith apples or other tart apple
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
3-4 Tablespoons of bourbon
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking powder
1 cup non-dairy milk (soy, rice, coconut, almond- whichever you prefer)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

Directions:
Night Before:
1. Peel and slice apples.
2. Place apples in a medium bowl and add the marinade ingredients.
3. Cover bowl and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Next Day:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour cake pan.  The more design on the pan, the better it turns out since this cake just has a glaze.
3. Combine all of the dry cake ingredients and mix well.
4. Add non-dairy milk, oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar into the dry ingredients.
5. Place a layer of marinated apples in the bottom of the pan. (This will be the top of the cake)

6. Pour a layer of cake batter over the top of the apples.
7.  Now alternate layering apples and batter until you've used it all up.
8. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

Let it cool completely before adding a sugar glaze.
Share and enjoy with those you love!

Coconut Dream Cake- Vegan

No, you're not dreaming.
This cake is not only beautiful, but it's crazy delicious.
It's topped with toasted coconut...need I say more?
Seriously?
If you like coconut, then you will love this cake.
If you don't, well...that's really sad, because you're missing out.
There is something about toasting coconut that brings out all of the best components of the coconut.
One of the things that is distinct about this cake are the huge flakes of coconut...
like I stated, this cake is for those of us that dream about coconut.
I'm also very fortunate, because I live very close to Bob's Red Mill,
so I can get all of my ingredients from their a-maz-ing store.
And when I go there, I always load up on big chunky flakes of coconut.

This is my vegan version of the cake...
maybe I'll break out my secret recipe for the regular coconut butter cake...
but maybe not.  :) 

Cake
For a single layer 8" cake or two 6" cake layers.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• ½ cup canola oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2-3 tsp. coconut extract (3 for those who really love coconut)
• 2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

Center Frosting- for a layered cake

I love this frosting, especially for such a strong flavor of cake.  It gives your taste buds a little break from the coconut, and I think that it helps to focus on the toasted coconut on top.

Filling recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup superfine or powdered sugar (I generally only have powdered sugar.)
• 1/4 cup soy milk powder
• 2 tsp vanilla 

 -For filling, mix well for at least ten minutes...you want this very light and fluffy.  Also, make it right before you fill the cakes.

Icing

• 4-5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup fine flaked coconut 
• 1/2 cup vegan margarine
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• coconut milk- add a tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency that you want.

Topping:
Big flakes of coconut, toasted to perfection

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. Prepare cake pans by spraying with vegetable spray and lined with parchment paper.
3. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in bowl.
4. Stir in coconut milk, oil, vinegar, and coconut extract.
5. Mix well.
6. Fill pans evenly and bake 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Cool completely.
8. Make both of the frostings according to the directions above.
9. Layer, frost, and enjoy!

Ina's Lemon Yogurt Cake Saves the Day

I have lemons and need cake.  Ina, can you help?

This is absolutely PERFECT for my life!
hehehe...okay, back to lemons...
I love lemon and I think that this sweet pup does too...kind of.  :0)

But I do know something that the pup and I definitely have in common...We both like to dance when we see fresh lemons.  That's exactly what I wanted to do when my mom brought over Meyer Lemons the other day. 


Oh wait...this is my mom's dance...Not mine! hehe

After making one disastrously, gross zucchini-lemon cake...blah...I wanted to give it another try.   But with a different recipe.

This is where Ina Garten came in to save the day with her Lemon Yogurt Cake. Hallelujah!!!

Ina Garten's Lemon Yogurt Cake

Courtesy of The Food Network

Ingredients:

1 lemon, thinly sliced & seeded
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice (use both of the zested lemons)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup sugar

3 extra-large eggs

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 - 2 tbsp. poppyseeds (I used 1)

Zesty...

Directions:

1.  Add 1/2 water and 1/2 sugar in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Add the lemon slices and simmer for about 25 minutes.  Remove from the heat, and remove the lemon slices, placing them on the parchment lined plate.  Add lemon juice to the syrup and aside aside for later. 

2.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan or a bundt pan. Be generous with the grease - you don't want your cake to stick! Arrange the lemon slices on the bottom of the pan. (Oops!  I forgot, so I put them on top.)

3.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil and poppyseeds into the batter, making sure they're all incorporated.

4.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40-50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

5. When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place the cake on a       serving platter. While the cake is still warm, brush the lemon-sugar syrup over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool. 

Then, invite a friend over so that you can share the goodness.  Fortunately, I can always find someone willing to come and taste-test.  :0)

This is a keeper recipe!

Joanne Chang's Lemon-Raspberry Cake

There are so many things that my parents have taught me over the years.  They're two talented people, and growing up with them, I learned that you can do anything if you try.  Of course, you may have to do it again and again to do it correctly! Especially if it falls down or doesn't fit or....whatever else happens and usually does in our world.   :0)

Thanks to my dad, I can drill, sand, grout, paint, fix, and well, pretty much most things...except use a chain-saw or ax.  You really don't want to read that story! Yikes!  My toes DO NOT want me anywhere near those!  There have been too many close calls.

I don't know why I'm acting like a pirate that drills ;0P

Thanks to my mom,

Isn't she the cutest?!  She's going to die when she sees it! Ha!

I learned how to bake at an early age and I'm not afraid to try anything! That "try anything" attitude was put to the test with a Lemon- Raspberry Cake from Joanne Changs' Amazing Cookbook, Flour.

http://www.flourbakery.com/index.php?pageID=1

Joanne's Description-
lemon-raspberry cake (nf)

lemon pound cake brushed with lemon syrup, filled with lemon curd, crushed raspberries, buttercream

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the most complicated cake recipe that I've ever tried...

four pages of instructions for lemon curd, buttercream, and the cake.

But I think that the end result was tasty...

Tada!

Happy Birthday to Kristi!

The leftovers...it was supposed to go to my mom, but well, she was too busy to stop by...after 5 days of staring at it in the fridge, I ate it.  And it was delicious!  I think when I make this again, and I'm definitely making this again.  I will make a lighter cake.  The pound cake was good, but it was a bit heavy for a summer dessert.  I think that even a simple angel food cake would work.  The lemon curd was Divine, and the buttercream, heavenly. 

If you're looking for a fantastic cookbook that will challenge the practiced baker, this would be a great gift! Yes, I didn't write, "practiced baker."  The recipes range from simple to complex, but the many of them would be overwhelming to someone that doesn't bake often.

Savor every moment,
~Lori