On the first day of school I noticed in Mikey’s classroom a name tag for a little boy named Harvey. Now, Harvey isn’t exactly a popular name, but that isn’t what made me do a double take. What gave me pause was that all through elementary school (the same one Mikey attends) I went to school with a boy named Harvey. I knew this Harvey had to be my Harvey’s son.
Sure enough, we bumped into each other at the Halloween festival and laughed about the odds of meeting up 24 years later, in the same place where we last saw each other. Life is funny that way. You know what else is funny? Bake sales.
Bake sales are the classic way in which churches and private schools raise funds, and I remember looking forward to them as a kid–the exception being the part where I stressed over what my mom would make. The thing is, these days, people don’t bake. Nope. They pick up donuts, buy things from the supermarket bakery, or drop by Marie Callender’s for a pie, but they don’t bake. For the bake sale.
I bake. There was no way I was going to drop off something from the store. Harvey, apparently, felt the same way. I posted my progress on Facebook in between Oatmeal Bars. He updated me on his brownies and oatmeal raisin cookies. Together, our smugness stretched across town, fragrant with the scent of home baked goods. When Harvey dropped off his four dozen brownies and oatmeal raisin cookies the next morning, it was all he could do to keep from smirking at the dozens of pink donut boxes. Likewise, my vegan oatmeal bars (raspberry and apricot) were happily received since it meant the kids with egg and dairy allergies could actually participate in the bake sale. When I got back to my car, I looked in the rear-view mirror to make sure my halo was still on straight. It was. It was shiny, too.
Later, Harvy and I discussed our superiority on Facebook.
Later still, Harvey picked up his sons at school. He asked his oldest how the bake sale went, and what he bought. Brownies? Oatmeal Raisin cookies? It would be a toss up–they were both pretty fabulous.
“I had a cake with cream inside, wrapped in metal.”
I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right. Oh yes, he did. Harvey’s older son bought a Ding Dong at the school bake sale. And he loved it. He loved it more than the Ding Dongs he has in the cupboard at home, apparently.
Even later still, Mikey climbed into my car, the sugar high making him both spastic and catatonic. I asked Mikey how the bake sale was, and what he bought. Raspberry Oatmeal bars? Apricot Oatmeal bars? It would be a toss up–they were both pretty fabulous.
“I had a white cupcake with a huge thing of frosting that went like this {pantomimes tornado} with a plastic tree on top.”
I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right. Oh yes, he did. My son bought a store-made cupcake at the school bake sale. And he loved it.
Harvey and I drove our children home, our separate cars propelled quickly across town by the force of our deflating egos.
November 12, 2009
in Food
{chocolate cake, The Joy of Vegan Baking}
I tried to hide the Halloween candy from The Mister. Truly, I did. Actually, I was hiding it from The Mister’s notorious, insatiable, unrelenting sweet tooth and a certain 2.5 year old scamp with a nut allergy. I picked out a few favorites for Mikey and put it in my little salt and do-dads cabinet to the right of the stove. I was doing a fine job doling them out piece by piece in Mikey’s lunch box, until this Tuesday I opened my cabinet and found it devoid of candy. Not a Snickers in sight. Clearly, The Mister found my stash.
The apple cake I made on Monday? Gone by Tuesday night. Two boys, a husband, and roughly 86 sweet teeth champing at the bit* to eat dessert will do that to Mother Hubbard’s cupboard.
Today I made the Chocolate Cake from The Joy of Vegan Baking. We’ll see how long it lasts.
*yep, it’s champing. Geeky word trivia from your friendly neighborhood word nerd.
**I normally don’t reprint recipes from cookbooks without the express permission from the author, but since Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has this recipe available on her site, I’m going to go ahead and reprint it here.
Chocolate Cake
This chocolate cake might be the easiest cake in the world to prepare, and it’s incredibly versatile, lending itself to a layer cake, bundt cake, or cupcakes. Though this is a pretty common recipe, I want to give credit to Jennifer Raymond, for it was in her cookbook The Peaceful Palate that I first saw it.
Ingredients
* 1-1/2 cups (188 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 cup (30 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1/3 cup (80 ml) canola oil
* 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
* 1 cup (235 ml) cold water
Preheat the oven to 350° F (180° C or gas mark 4). Lightly oil a Bundt pan, 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan, or muffin tins.
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Create a well in the center of your dry ingredients, and add the vanilla, oil, vinegar, and water. Mix until just combined. Pour into your prepared pan, and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. If making cupcakes, check for doneness after 15 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack. To remove the cake from the pan, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake. Cool completely before frosting with Chocolate Frosting (see below) or with Buttercream Frosting (page 231). You may also dust with sifted confectioner’s sugar and top with fresh raspberries.
Yield: One 9-inch cake (23-cm) or 8 cupcakes. Double the recipe for a layer cake or a bundt cake.
Serving Suggestions and Variations: Add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper or a teaspoon of chili powder for a ‘Mexican Chocolate Cake.’
Chocolate Frosting
A chocolate lover’s dream! Though many of the commercial brands of frosting are ‘vegan,’ they’re also made with unsavory ingredients, such as partially hydrogenated oil or high-fructose corn syrup. This recipe is as easy as it is delicious.
Ingredients
* 1/2 cup (112 g) non-hydrogenated, nondairy butter, softened
* 3 cups (300 g) powdered (confectioner’s) sugar, sifted
* 1/3 (42 g) cup cocoa, sifted
* 1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
* 3-4 tablespoons (45 to 60) water or nondairy milk
With an electric hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add the sugar, and cream for about 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, and turn the mixer to high speed once all the ingredients are relatively well-combined. Beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add l or 2 tablespoons more milk if it’s too dry. Cover the icing with plastic wrap to prevent drying until ready to use. Store it in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Re-whip before using.
Yield: Enough for one 9-inch (23-cm) cake or 8 cupcakes
Yesterday Mikey announced he had created a recipe in his head that he would like to make for dinner and “I want you to take pictures of it and put it on your website, okay, mom? Then I want you to tell me what the people say.”
So that’s exactly what we did. This isn’t the first recipe Mikey’s come up with and not the first time he has expressed an interest in cooking. Last week he developed a tomato and carrot salad that he instructed me to roast for exactly one minute. I have to say, it tasted great! (But I did roast it for longer than one minute.)
Last night we ate pasta tossed with olive oil, sauteed mushrooms, roasted butternut squash, spinach, and carrots. We added many seasonings and decided as a team to leave out the dried mustard and garlic chili powder. It needed a little more flavor, so we ended up drizzling it all with balsamic vinegar.
It wasn’t until he was looking at the pictures I took (he printed one out for show and tell today) that it occurred to him you would be reviewing his work in the kitchen. I could tell that he suddenly wasn’t so sure of his idea to share with everyone his creation.
“Are the people going to give me a grade, mama?”
“I’m sure they will just tell you that your recipe looks delicious.”
And it was. I had the leftovers for lunch.
