It's my birthday and I had cake
May. 28th, 2007 04:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitoutChocolate cake with chocolate frosting.
I usually use the chocolate cake recipe out of Zukin's _Dairy-Free Cookbook_ (a variation of which is in my online cookbook at http://www.seanet.com/~rla/cookbook/chocolate_cake.html). When I got it out this time, it occurred to me that I could try a couple of changes. First, I cut it down to 1/3rd (it's a three egg recipe, so that's a nice easy fraction). Then, because of the way I make blonde brownies, I decided to replace the solid shortening with oil. Rather than creaming the sugar and shortening and adding the egg, I emulsified the egg and oil and then added the sugar. The rest was as usual (mix dry, add dry to sugar mixture alternately with water). I used King Arthur Flour's Organic All Purpose White flour. I made it a two layer cake, by using two small oval baking pans. This worked pretty well. The frosting was cocoa powder, powdered sugar, soy milk and a little vanilla. Then I sprinkled coconut on top.
This isn't something I want to have often (it is always a shock to realize just how much sugar there is in frosting -- way more than in the cake itself), but it is nice to know that the emulsion trick works so well here. At some point soon, I'll be going through the online cookbook and rewriting the recipes to use oil, rather than solid shortening. That really simplifies reading labels, makes it a lot easier to use the recipes even in places with limited selection at the grocery store, plus cuts back on the saturated fat (or trans fat, if using Nucoa). Given the heavy reliance of many milk-free/dairy-free recipes on milk-free packaged goods, it seems like this serves a useful purpose.
I usually use the chocolate cake recipe out of Zukin's _Dairy-Free Cookbook_ (a variation of which is in my online cookbook at http://www.seanet.com/~rla/cookbook/chocolate_cake.html). When I got it out this time, it occurred to me that I could try a couple of changes. First, I cut it down to 1/3rd (it's a three egg recipe, so that's a nice easy fraction). Then, because of the way I make blonde brownies, I decided to replace the solid shortening with oil. Rather than creaming the sugar and shortening and adding the egg, I emulsified the egg and oil and then added the sugar. The rest was as usual (mix dry, add dry to sugar mixture alternately with water). I used King Arthur Flour's Organic All Purpose White flour. I made it a two layer cake, by using two small oval baking pans. This worked pretty well. The frosting was cocoa powder, powdered sugar, soy milk and a little vanilla. Then I sprinkled coconut on top.
This isn't something I want to have often (it is always a shock to realize just how much sugar there is in frosting -- way more than in the cake itself), but it is nice to know that the emulsion trick works so well here. At some point soon, I'll be going through the online cookbook and rewriting the recipes to use oil, rather than solid shortening. That really simplifies reading labels, makes it a lot easier to use the recipes even in places with limited selection at the grocery store, plus cuts back on the saturated fat (or trans fat, if using Nucoa). Given the heavy reliance of many milk-free/dairy-free recipes on milk-free packaged goods, it seems like this serves a useful purpose.