Chocolate Coconut Caramel Birthday Cake

For Melissa’s birthday, I made her a fancy cake. Two layers of chocolate cake and two layers of caramel coconut cake with chocolate coconut caramel buttercream icing between each layer and on top of the whole thing. I covered it in toasted coconut, then drizzled it in caramel sauce. All made from scratch. All vegan. All rich and delicious. I feel lucky that Melissa was willing to share a piece of it with me. Think Girlscout Caramel Delight/Samoa cookie in cake form.  YUM!

My slice!

P.S.  Both pictures taken by Melissa.

Chocolate-Caramel Sandwich Cookies

Going to a Halloween party and need to impress with your kitchen prowess? These look beautiful and taste wonderful, too.

Although Martha says they take about 40 minutes plus cooling time to make, I’d say it’s about 2 hours total. By the time you make the cookies, make the icing, let the cookies cool, ice them, yeah, about two hours. Most of that time is spent getting the cookies to be the right size and close to the same size, since you’re making little, bitty, teeny, cute-as-a-button sandwich cookies. Two hours that don’t even count getting your vegan butter to room temperature or making the caramel sauce. But if you’re willing to put in the effort, you will DEFINITELY impress! And what’s two hours when everyone will oooo, aaahhhh, and love you forever afterwards? Worth it!

Martha’s Ingredients
Makes 40

Cookies:
10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 c. sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Frosting:
1/4 c. caramel sauce, cooled
3/4 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar

Scrumpdilly’s Veganized Chocolate-Caramel Sandwich Cookies
(adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food, October 2009)
Makes 35-40

Cookies:
1 Tbsp. ground flax seed
3 Tbsp. water
10 Tbsp. vegan butter, room temperature
1 1/3 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Frosting:
1/4 c. caramel sauce, cooled
3/4 c. vegan butter
1 1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar

Combine flax seed and water in microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 20 seconds until gooey. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl beat together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in flax seed mixture until fully combined.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until a dough forms (you may have to combine with your hands). Using a 1 tsp. measure, form level teaspoon-shaped half-balls and place on cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.

Bake until cookies are puffed and cracked, about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and smack the tops of each cookie with the back of a wooden spoon to flatten slightly. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Make the frosting by beating together caramel sauce and butter until smooth and creamy. gradually beat in confectioner’s sugar until smooth. Spread frosting on flat sides of half the cookies and top with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Chocolate Cake Truffle - The Money Shot

Cake Truffles – Step Three – The Coating

Step 3.1 – Create Truffle coating in small batches (see below)
Step 3.2 – Coat Truffles in small batches
Step 3.3 – Chill in refrigerator or freezer

Step 3.1 – Create Truffle coating in small batches
Once your balls are completely chilled, you’re ready to coat them in the luscious chocolate (or whatever flavor) shell. As with the cake and the frosting, you can use any of your favorite coating flavors…chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, ramma-lamma-ding-dong! FUN!

Chocolate Coating

Makes 1 small batch
1 c. dark chocolate chips (vegan)
1 – 1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening

Simulate a double-boiler by putting chocolate chips in a large glass measuring cup and placing the measuring cup inside a larger pot that is filled with water to reach about 1/2 way to the top of the chocolate chip line.

Bring water to boil to begin melting chocolate. Once boiling, turn heat down to medium-low. Stir chocolate until completely melted – it will be thick. Stir in vegetable shortening to thin chocolate into a more workable consistency. If it’s still too thick, add more shortening a teaspoon or so at a time. If too thin, add more chocolate chips.

Step 3.2 – Coat Truffles in small batches
The cake balls are easiest to coat when they are chilled. This is why you want to coat them in small batches, so that you can coat some while the others stay chilling.

To coat: Dip one ball in the melted coating and roll until completely covered. Lift out with a spoon, gently tapping the ball several times along the inside edge of the measuring cup to get excess coating off the ball. Once most of the excess coating has made its way back into the measuring cup, let the coated cake ball slide off the spoon and onto a sheet of wax paper to cool.

Step 3.3 – Chill in refrigerator or freezer
After coating first small batch, place in the refrigerator to chill for 10-15 minutes. Once coating has completely chilled, place in candy wrappers to serve. Start process again with next small batch.

Cake Truffles Surrounded by Mini-Cupcakes (size perspective)

Cake Truffles – Step Two – The Balls

Step 2.1 – Make Vegan Frosting (see below)
Step 2.2 – Crumble cooled cake into large bowl
Step 2.3 – Add 1-2 cups vegan frosting to crumbled cake and combine thoroughly until sticky
Step 2.4 – Form balls
Step 2.5 – Chill in refrigerator or freezer

Step 2.1 – Make Vegan Frosting
While your cake is cooling completely, begin Step Two by making 1-2 cups worth of vegan buttercream frosting. As with the cake, you can use any of your favorite frosting recipes, in any flavor you’d like. Mixing and matching flavors is part of the fun!

Since I was creating treats for a formal occasion, I kept my balls simple: chocolate cake (see Step One) and vanilla buttercream frosting (see below).

Vegan Buttercream Frosting (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero)

Makes 2 cups worth (I halved the original recipe)
1/4 c. nonhydrogenated shortening
1/4 c. vegan butter (Earth Balance)
1 3/4 c. confectioner’s sugar, sifted if clumpy
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 c. non-dairy milk or creamer

Beat the shortening and vegan butter together until well-combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and milk or creamer, beat for another 5-7 minutes until fluffy.

Step 2.2 – Crumble completely-cooled cake into large bowl.

Step 2.3 – Add 1-2 cups vegan frosting to crumbled cake and combine thoroughly until sticky. Using your fingers works best.
(For one of my 9×13 cakes, I used 2 cups frosting, for the other, I used 1 cup frosting. Both ways worked just fine.)

Step 2.4 – Form balls
Your balls can range in size from about a quarter diameter to golf ball size. It’s your preference and discretion. Mine were about quarter-sized and I was able to create 100 balls from one 9×13 cake.

Step 2.5 – Chill in refrigerator or freezer
Put balls into an air-tight container and chill.
Fridge chill time = 4 hours or more
Freezer chill time = 2 hours or more
The balls freeze nicely. I made mine in batches one week in advance of the wedding and froze them. They were perfect the day of and nicely-chilled balls makes for easy chocolate coating later (Step Three on the way).

Chocolate Cake Truffles (photo by Melissa Dettloff)

I like to call them Chocolate Cake Truffles for fancier occasions, but when I’m speaking in the vernacular “cake balls” will do. The “truffle” terminology, however, actually explains better what these precious balls of joy really taste like. A rich, dense, cake center, with a deep, dark, and equally rich, chocolate coating. I made these as my wedding gift for bride/groom friends to serve at their wedding reception, and they were such a hit, I thought I’d share the process with you.

In a bizarre, round-about way, these cake truffles actually fit with my Vegan MoFo theme, Veganizing Martha’s Muffin, since the first time I ever heard the term “cake balls” was when I was getting a haircut and my stylist was telling me about seeing them “on Martha Stewart or somewhere.”

During a search, I ended up on a cute, non-vegan, cake-y kind of website, that helped me figure out the basic principles of the “cake ball”. However, the site’s methods include using a boxed cake mix and canned frosting. And the total regular and vegan snob that I am, just wouldn’t have anything to do with that. So I went all scratch-vegan on those balls and created my own classy, sassy, sophisticated cake truffle.

Because the method occurs in three distinct steps, I will post the method in three separate posts. It’ll make your life easier. And I’m not just saying that to up my Vegan MoFo posting obligation. Heh-heh.

Cake Truffles – Step One – The Cake
You can use any of your favorite cake recipes, in any flavor you’d like. The beauty of this concept is that you can mix and match your cake-y truffle inside with whatever frosting and outer coating flavors you’d like. Play! And see what happens.

I used a basic chocolate cake. I purposefully chose a recipe that resulted in an understated chocolate flavor, which became important later, after Step Two.

Chocolate Cake (adapted from Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon)

Cooking spray or oil to grease cake pan
2 c. sugar
2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
3 c. unbleached white all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 c. water
1/2 c. mild oil (corn or canola)
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar, white vinegar, or lemon juice
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Generously grease/spray 9″ x 13″ cake pan. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together into a large bowl. In a 4-cup glass measuring cup, combine the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Stir well. Pour the water mixture into the cocoa-flour mixture, whisking vigorously for a couple of minutes, until smooth and free of lumps. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and whack it on the counter a couple of times to release any air bubbles. Bake until the edges of the cake pull away from the pan sides slightly and the cake tests clean with a toothpick, about 30-35 minutes.

For Cake Truffles, allow cake to cool completely.

Vegan Snickerdoodles basking in the sunlight

I almost posted about cabbage tonight, but I thought with the collards last week and the kale a few posts ago, I’d give you something sweet instead.

I was lucky enough to experience the best flippin’ snickerdoodle of my entire life last April when I was in South Texas for my husband’s band’s 15 year reunion show. We had to go to Austin to pick up the other guitarist and decided to stop by Toy Joy, our favorite toy store in the whole wide world. Toy Joy now has just closed their extension, Dhaba Joy, the sweetest, cutest, most wonderful coffee shop and cafe ever to exist. Luckily the two bakers from Dhaba Joy are still baking. I notice their snickerdoodles are only $22/dz. A steal, I tell you. The lemony accent, the cinnamon, the sugar, the softness (without being raw) of the cookie. Absolutely the best snickerdoodle I’ve ever had. Ever!

And because I’m too afraid to ask them for their recipe, even if I promise to NEVER share it except for in already-baked form with friends, I’m left searching for the perfect snickie. Here’s the best I’ve found. It’s not Dhaba Joy’s version, but you won’t be disappointed. It is downright delish.

Vegan Snickerdoodles (from VeganMania via VeganCore)

1 cup vegan butter
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 Tbsp. soy milk whipped with 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. tapioca starch or cornstarch

Topping:
2 Tbsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp. white sugar
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder (optional)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In large bowl, cream together the vegan butter and sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla and cornstarch/soymilk mixture and beat until well-mixed.

In a smaller bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and tapioca/cornstarch. Stir this into wet ingredients and combine well.

In small bowl combine topping ingredients.

Begin rolling the cookie dough into balls of about 3 Tbsp. each. Roll each ball in the topping mixture until completely coated and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Continue until all dough is used. Using the bottom of a glass, press down on each ball until they are about an inch thick.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, and no more. The cookies should still seem very soft when you remove them from the oven. Let cool on sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Makes 30 cookies.

Bridal Shower Dessert Table

I offered to help throw a bridal shower for Midge (friend and scrumpdilly reader). My main task was the dessert table. Bake, bake, bake, I did for over 14 hours.

72 cookies for gift bags (lemon butter cookies, molasses cookies, and swirled sugar cookies)
60 cookies for cookie dish (molasses cookies and swirled sugar cookies)
54 cupcakes (chocolate with vanilla buttercream frosting lined with blue sugar, lemon with lemon buttercream frosting and raspberry fruit gem)

2 vegetarians
1 vegan (me)
21 omnivores who didn’t know the difference; all goods were a huge hit!

I had a great time baking. And an even better time reflecting on it afterwards.

Chocolate-Coconut-Oat Bars

I had at least three baking disasters last week. “At least” meaning, that’s all I can remember; there might’ve been more. Oh no. That’s right. It was the thermostat on my car that went bad, then the hot water heater in the house. Plus the three kitchen disasters. I needed something easy and reliable to counteract the losing. So I revisited the Choco-Coco Bar.

The first time I ever made this bar, I used the recipe from The Chicago Diner Cookbook, but the “crust” portion of the bar wasn’t a thriller. It was dry. What luck, though, in making my normal vegan blog rounds, I stumbled upon a very similar recipe at Urban Vegan. Thankfully, within about 20 minutes, my week filled with disasters turned into easy deliciousness. Got to get me more o’ dat!

Chocolate-Coconut-Oat Bars (from the Urban Vegan blog)

Bottom Layer:
1 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal (instant is fine)
2 T. coconut oil
1/4 cup agave nectar

Top Layer:
1 cup dark chocolate buttons or chips (vegan)
1/2 cup pecans*
1 cup shredded dried coconut
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix “bottom” ingredients and press into oiled 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish. Mix “top” ingredients and spread atop crust. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Let cool and cut into squares. Makes 9 large or 18 small bars. Optional: Add 2 Tbsp. dried raisins, cranberries, cherries, or cacao nibs to “top”.

*Urban Vegan calls for walnuts. I’m partial to the pecan.

Roll, roll, roll your dough

Shy away from rolling dough because you hate the idea of throwing flour all over your counter, and you just don’t like messes (me!)? Maybe you like baking all the more when things are made easier (me!). That’s when you use this completely brilliant dough-rolling technique I learned from my cookie testing experiences. This technique is so genius, you’ll never, ever go back to rolling dough any other way. Thanks to Garrick and Kelly for choosing me as a recipe tester and for sharing their complete genius with me. I love y’all for it.

Technique: Place dough in one-gallon zip-top plastic bag. Close top. Begin rolling dough, until bag is full and dough extends to all edges. Push air out through small opening at top of bag. Reclose bag and store in refrigerator or freezer until ready to use. When ready, cut plastic bag away from dough along edges.

Result: Uniformly thick dough in perfect, square shape.

Clean-up: None.

To occupy you, while I run around the country with my 18-wheelin’ driving husband – yes, I’m inside the rig with him – here are some cookies I tested before hitting the highways. Reports soon about being on the road as a trucker’s vegan wife. But first, dessert!

Zesty Lime Coconut Wedding Cookies

Texture: soft and moist, but crumbly enough that you might take some heat for it
Taste: lime and coconut play perfectly well together
Rating: 3.5 dough balls

Crispy Pinwheels

Texture: crispy and crunchy
Taste: like carmalized sugar with an ever-so-slight chocolate taste
Rating: 4 dough balls

Almond Ladies Kisses

Texture: soft, but expected crunchy
Taste: overpowered by almond extract, couldn’t taste the chocolate
Rating: 2 dough balls