Kricket Cakes

My mom and my sister came to visit this weekend and we had a lovely time eating, relaxing, chatting, and eating some more! I wanted to bake something with them, so we browsed through recipes until we hit on one that sounded really yummy: Mocha Mud Slide from the Millennium Cookbook. Espresso + chocolate = good, but espresso sponge cake drenched in rich chocolate espresso sauce + whipped cream = Heavenly!

Mary was a lovely sous chef and my mom took a different type of supportive role, entertaining us with her commentary. We modified the recipe only slightly to make it more espresso-y. The cake took almost no time at all to prepare and the sauce was quite easy as well… quite unusual for a Millennium recipe! Since I don’t have much caffeine these days, the espresso was enough to keep me up later than usual with creative energy. Mary didn’t seem to have any problem falling asleep shortly after dessert!

So, even though this is a vegan recipe, I must confess that I cheated a little bit. Homemade whipped cream sounded too good to pass up! However, if you want to make the whole dessert vegan, buy or make vegan whipped cream or substitute with vegan ice cream or sorbet- vanilla, chocolate or espresso would be great! Also, try any leftover sauce poured on vanilla ice cream… it is delicious!

This cake serves about 10 people. We decided that it would also be good for breakfast with a cup of coffee.

For the Cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely ground espresso
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

For the Sauce:

• 1 cup freshly brewed coffee (can be made with espresso beans)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

For the Whipped Cream:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To Make the Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease an 8 inch round spring form pan, set aside.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, espresso, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl, set aside.
4. Whisk the oil, maple syrup, soy milk, vanilla, and lemon juice together in a small bowl.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until well combined.
6. Pour into the pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Remove cake from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes.
8. Remove cake from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

To Make the Sauce:

1. Whisk together the coffee and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
2. Pour into a medium bowl and whisk in cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
3. Place in fridge to chill until ready to use.

To Make the Whipped Cream:

1. Beat the cream in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer until it starts to thicken.
2. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
3. Store in fridge until ready to use.

To Assemble the Cake:

1. Slice the cake and place on its side on a dessert plate.
2. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of the sauce over the cake, letting it drip down the sides and onto the plate.
3. Place a dollop of whipped cream on the cake or next to it.
4. Sprinkle with any leftover ground espresso.

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 28th, 2008 at 6:27 pm and is filed under Cakes, Vegan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.