Adventures 24 & 25/52: Road trip with DP and Veganizing my favorite summer cake
"Love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart."
-Jack Johnson, Better Together
Wine: Cocktail hour was courtesy of Le Lapin ... finishing up the Paso Robles Multiplicity I bought at last Thursday's wine tasting.
In my rush to post all of my summer adventures, I forgot to add one of the best ...
Adventure 24/52: 24 hours in Indianapolis with DP and Jack Johnson
In a whirlwind road trip to Indianapolis in July just for fun, DP and I had dinner with one of his former students at ZING, rocked in a mellow kind of way with Jack Johnson, enjoyed the downtown canal walk, felt the magic at Hinkle Fieldhouse, and got a big dose of LOVE at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The original plan was for a group road trip, but it turned out to be a fun 24-hour vacation for the two of us ... we'll definitely repeat in a different city sometime soon.
And returning to a more recent adventure...
Adventure 25/52: Veganizing my favorite summer cake
Lime Cream Torte. Sounds and looks fancy, but it's pretty simple to make. Especially because it uses boxed cake mix, which I realized was a little weird the last time I made it. If I'm going to the effort of whipping real cream for the frosting, why am I relying on Duncan Hines processed cake mix? That was the first spark in wanting to try a makeover on this Taste of Home recipe.
Before I go on, let me assure you that I believe in the sacredness and importance of dessert. At a restaurant, I'll take the chocolate raspberry cheesecake over a fruit cup any day. Sure, at home I'll satisfy my craving for something sweet with a slice of watermelon or a square of dark chocolate, but I wouldn't call either of those options dessert. Additionally, though I find myself leaning more toward a vegan diet these days, I don't like to use soy-based butter and whipped cream and egg replacers when I bake. So, this adventure was more about challenging myself to find less-processed options for making this tasty cake.
The final result definitely tasted more on the "healthy" end of the dessert spectrum than I would have liked, but for my first attempt at recreating a dessert recipe, it stood up to the challenge. I substituted coconut oil and flax seed for the butter and eggs called for in this key lime cake recipe, then I made a cashew-nut based "cream" frosting (using lime juice instead of water) thanks to directions from this lovely blog I discovered. (Note: you should really soak the cashews for 2 hours or more. I was too impatient and I think the texture of the cream was impacted.) I took it to a family gathering on Sunday, and this is all that's left:
Mmmm I am in 110% agreement with your opinions on dessert!!!
ReplyDeleteI am so intrigued by your torte with cashew cream... sounds amazing! And I've also stopped buying the soy-based or vegan "butter" and using extra virgin coconut oil instead, as you do - thank goodness for a supply of coconut oil from the Philippines! (yeah I know it's not local, but it travelled with my parents anyway). I might give that cashew cream a try soon... the reward sounds like well worth the effort (and 2 hours' wait for soaking time)