Blog Hop!

Well it looks like it's time for me to pop my blog hopping cherry!

I was tagged by Nicole Lavigne to share a recipe. Linda Poitevin started this whole thing. I've tagged Isobel Adams to share a recipe on her blog next week. I tried to tag more, but they were already tagged or are either bakers who don't blog or bloggers who don't bake. Clearly, the world needs more blogging bakers.

This is actually a daunting task for me given that I cannot consume dairy, eggs, or yeast. I regularly get asked how I'm still alive. What's my answer? I eat almost everything else (save seaweed, grapefruit, and some sea foods because yuck) that is not related to those things, which is challenging, but not impossible. Mostly I stick to fresh things, but who doesn't love a cookie, pie, or cake now-and-then?

It's a good thing that I'm not one for running from challenges or I would have starved by now. I'm constantly discovering new tricks like bun-less hamburgers that have no fillers. Those are gluten-free and low carb, so I don't have to feel bad about the fries, right? ;)

What initially came to mind was my mother's coffee cake, however, being almost Christmas she has been busy and has no idea where the recipe is. I will instead share a childhood favourite that is a fairly common dessert in French Canadian families. No it's not sugar pie. And it's not cookies, sorry for misleading you.

Hacked Apple Cake of Joyousness

You'll need:

- A cake pan (size TBD later)
- Various baking tools
- Various ingredients like apples and stuff

You'll want to grease the cake pan. My mom probably uses shortening, but butter or something like coconut oil or a vegan margarine will work too.

Don't grease it yet. You don't know what size the pan is.

I bet you greased it... Such impatience you have.

*Sigh* Well, let's hope it's the right size.

You'll want to slice some apples to go in the pan now that you've greased it, but you should probably wait until you've mixed the cake, so you're apples don't get all brown. Mind you they'll be browned between the cinnamon and being at the bottom of a cake pan, so I've always thought this was silly. I suppose you could sprinkle them with lemon juice if browning is a concern. Just don't put the cake in the cake pan before you put the apples into the pan.

Alright, so my mom would mix up a boxed white cake and pour it over sliced apples that had been sprinkled with cinnamon. If you're using a tart apple, you might want a dusting of sugar or stevia on the apple slices.

Now, I can't have enriched flour (yeast is an a-hole), or eggs, or dairy.

I need to make a cake without those things so enter this recipe for crazy white cake: http://www.cooks.com/recipe/x60v58sp/white-crazy-cake.html

Now if you can't have gluten, I'm guessing you could take the gluten free chocolate crazy cake recipe linked below, remove the cocoa powder and add something to make it taste right like extra vanilla and/or sugar. That part's on you to figure out yourself. Or you could skip the recipe and get some boxed GF white cake, which probably all have eggs or dairy in them for no necessary reason except to make my life that much more difficult. If you're not feeling super lazy, here's a GF crazy cake recipe: http://www.artofglutenfreebaking.com/2011/02/crazy-cake-and-welcoming-all-to-the-table-gluten-free/

If you were patient and didn't grease the pan, go ahead now that the box or recipe has told you what size you need.

Put all the dry ingredients for the cake together. Preheat your oven to cakey goodness temperature probably 350 degress Fahrenheit unless the recipe says otherwise. You might want to mix it right after you slice apples, so the leavening ingredients don't start working too soon.

Alright, it's probably best you have someone helping you cut the apples. Oh yeah, I didn't tell you how many you need. I don't know. Can't you do anything yourself? Enough to cover the bottom of the cake pan, of course. My mom always did one layer, but I think two layers could be extra delicious. Just buy a whole bag or two and keep peeling and slicing apples until you've covered the bottom, but leave room for batter to reach the bottom of the pan in spots so the apples will be embedded in the cake. Sprinkle them with tastiness, otherwise known as cinnamon and sugar or stevia.

Your oven should be hot by now.

Finish mixing the cake then pour it onto your sliced apples and put it in the oven. Time it however long it said in the recipe you used or whatever the box said.

While it's in the oven transforming from a sweet liquid concoction to fluffy deliciousness, you need to make your sauce.

Brown Sugar Sauce

Lately I like to watch how much sugar I take in, so I substitute some of the sugar with stevia. You need to have some brown sugar or it won't taste right.

The flour in the sauce recipe is simply for thickening, so any thickener like corn starch would likely work, but you may need less or more depending, so it doesn't end up being like a sugary cement mixture.

Enter some vegan margarine again for me. I usually use Earth Balance.

Brown sugar sauces are a mix of brown sugar, butter, flour, vanilla, salt, and boiling water. They're easy enough to wing, but if you feel you need a recipe, here you go: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/brown-sugar-sauce-2/

Serve the warm cake with the warm sauce. Let it cool before you bite into it as hot sugar = lava in your mouth and this is not a lava cake; it's an Apple Cake of Joyousness.

You did remember not to put cocoa in it, right?

Merry Holiday of your choosing!

Ciao,
R~