I Finally Trust You Enough to Share my Recipe for Black Magic Cake!

I have trust issues, Folks.  My issues are varied, come in all shapes and sizes, and will take lots of therapy to overcome.  My life has changed a lot since I've started this blog.  I've divorced, moved back to my hometown with my kids, fallen for a new fella and moved the big lug in.  I've really been trying to work on fresh starts and a positive attitude and not being so guarded and . . . skeptical of everyone.

So what in the hell does this have to do with chocolate cake, you ask?  Great question!  This recipe means a lot to me.  I can't remember a family celebration when this cake wasn't in the middle of our big table.  My father would make this for every birthday and knew the recipe by heart.  Then, years ago, I made a family cookbook and it was the first time I had seen an actual recipe.  For every celebration after that, I would make Dad's Black Magic Cake, and it was awesome.

Then I started this blog, and figured one day I would tinker with his original recipe and not only veganize it, but make it, well, awesome-er.  In the past few years every time I attempted to transform the recipe I would doubt myself and never changed it.  I didn't trust my skills and didn't trust that I would be able to make a vegan version that was even close to what I grew up with.  And then something magical happened: my son asked for the cake for his 10th birthday, and added that I should post the recipe on Vegerrific.

The beautiful thing is I just "went with it," trusted that I had good instincts and- damn it all- I do believe that this is the best cake I have ever made, eaten, and allowed my children to devour until they were in chocolate comas.  It was, without a doubt, awesome-er!

Dry Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups Florida Crystals sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

Wet Ingredients:

6 ounces (3/4 cup) coconut yogurt (vanilla flavor)
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons Egg Replacer, mixed with 4 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon chocolate extract (or just double the vanilla extract)
2 tablespoons instant espresso prepared with 1 cup water, cooled to room temperature
Desired frosting (recipe follows for my Black Magic frosting)

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Mix all the dry ingredients in bowl and set aside.
2. Mix all wet ingredients, beating with hand mixer for two minutes exactly.
3. Combine both mixtures, stirring gently. When all ingredients are wet, beat with hand mixer for 2 minutes. The batter may be thick.
4. Pour into a greased and floured 9” x 13” x 2” pan or two round cake pans. For the record, we always made this cake in a rectangular baking dish and didn't mess with trying to make a pretty round cake.  We are cake eaters in this family, not cake decorators.
5.  Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Check for doneness at 35 minutes.
6. Spread with Black Magic Frosting when cooled (recipe follows).

"Look, Ma . . . no salmonella!' (Get it? 'Cause there aren't any eggs in the cake batter!)

Black Magic Frosting

2 tablespoons softened Earth Balance (more to taste for creamier frosting)
1 tablespoon instant espresso prepared with 1/2 cup water, cooled to room temperature
4 tablespoons coconut milk 
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
32 ounces of Florida Crystals powdered sugar
2 pinches ground cinnamon
1 bag of vegan chocolate chips (if desired)

1. Combine Earth Balance, coffee, cocoa and cinnamon. Add creamer, blending well.
2. Add sugar cup by cup, beating to desired consistency.
3. Add more Earth Balance to make the frosting creamier if desired.
4. Frost cake and the cover top with chocolate chips, of using.

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I Made You No-Bake Cookies because I'm Super Cool like That . . .

Full disclosure:  I. Do. Not. Like. No-Bake. Cookies.  I don't know why that is, but I never have, never will.  I DO like my man, however, so when he asked for these during my Christmas-cookie-baking-frenzy I was happy to make them for him.  This is my grandmother's recipe with a few additions of my own. 

 

 

 

1 stick butter (use Earth Balance to veganize recipe)

2 cups sugar

4 tablespoons cocoa

½ cup milk (non-dairy milk to veganize.  I wonder how this would taste using dark chocolate almond milk . . . next time I'm trying it!)

1 cup smooth peanut butter (use chocolate-peanut butter if you can find it!)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon chocolate extract

3 cups oatmeal

Waxed paper

Powdered sugar and extra cocoa for dusting (if desired)

 

 

 

 

1.  Melt butter over medium-low heat in a heavy saucepan.   
2.  Add  sugar, cocoa, and milk, raise temperature to medium, and stir occasionally until the mixture reaches a slow boil.
3.  Let boil for 3 to 4 minutes then remove from heat. 
4.  Add peanut butter, vanilla, chocolate extract and oatmeal.
5.  Let mixture cool for 2 to 3 minutes, then drop on waxed paper. You can shape them into round cookies if you choose. 
6.  Dust with powdered sugar and cocoa if desired.  Allow cookies to cool and harden on paper before moving.

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Betrothal Brownies

So, I don't want to exaggerate, but I believe that you can't say you really love someone until you've either a: made these brownies for him or her, or b: eaten these brownies prepared by him or her and then immediately proposed marriage.  And I'll not listen to the old "but the love of my life doesn't like chocolate  . . .  "  Seriously?  Then break up before it's too late.  There are few things more miserable than being saddled to a chocolate-hater for life.  Something is fundamentally broken inside.  These brownies are so good I need to warn you against making them for someone you are casually dating.  Don't be a tease, People.  Only make these for someone if you're in it for the long haul.  They.  Are.  That.  Good. 

Even better news: if the baking of these brown beauties does lead to an engagement, I also do wedding photography!  <3 

Don't be tempted to over-bake these if they don't test clean-toothpick done...you could have found a chocolate chip where you tested. They firm up as they cool so resist the temptation to cut into them when they first come out of the oven.

2 cups fine-quality semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
3½ ounces dark chocolate (90% cocoa), chopped
1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter
1 cup Florida Crystals sugar
2 teaspoons of prepared instant espresso, room temperature (I put 1 full tablespoon into roughly 3 ounces of hot water, then measured out the 2 teaspoons.  You can dilute it more or less to taste)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons chocolate extract
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water melt the dark chocolate and one cup of the semi-sweet chocolate chips with the butter, stirring until the mixture is smooth; remove the bowl from the heat, and let the mixture cool until it's lukewarm.
2. Stir in the sugar, espresso, vanilla and chocolate extract; add the eggs, stirring after each addition. Stir in the salt and the flour, until the mixture is just combined. Mix in the remaining chocolate chips.
3. Pour the batter into a well-buttered and floured 9" x 13" baking pan, smooth the top, and bake the mixture in the middle of oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Let the mixture cool completely in the pan on a rack and cut it into whatever size brownies you like.

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(What the) Halawa (are in these) Treats (?)

One of my favorite places to explore is the Flint Farmer's Market. One of the permanent spaces at the market is occupied by Jawhari's Beirut Restaurant from Linden, Michigan (click here for a review and directions). In addition to cooking up all sorts of great-smelling dishes, they sell a large variety of Middle Eastern specialties. Since going vegetarian (and then vegan) I always make sure to stop at their booth and pick up something I haven't tried before. Yesterday I came home with sugar-free Halawa (a tahini "fudge") and a bottle of pomegranate syrup. I grabbed a fresh pomegranate as well and on the ride home I started to think of what I could do to create something new.

Here's my experiment. I added a few ingredients (like chocolate and pistachios) and came up with a truffle-like treat. It's sweet, but not too sweet, and definitely a new and unique flavor combination for someone like me.

Halawa Treats

4 tablespoons sugar-free halawa
3 tablespoons pomegranate syrup
Fresh pomegranate seeds from 1 wedge of a quartered pomegranate (or ¼ cup dried pomegranate seeds)
½ cup salted pistachios
2 tablespoons natural sugar (plus more for rolling)
1 king-sized bar dark chocolate



1. Combine all ingredients (excluding seeds and chocolate) in a food processor and blend until smooth. Alternately blend with a hand mixer in a bowl.
2. Fold in seeds. Take a tester of the mixture; if it's not sweet enough, add more sugar until it's to your liking. Using a tablespoon measure, portion out mixture into balls and roll in additional sugar.
3. Place balls in freezer for about 10 minutes until they firm up a bit.
4. Melt chocolate in the microwave or in a double-boiler.
5. Roll balls in melted chocolate and allow them to harden on wax paper.
6. If you use fresh seeds your ingredients will be more moist, so you may want to freeze the treats and serve them cold. If you used dried seeds you'll find that they hold up nicely at room temperature. Makes about 1 dozen.

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