Baking cakes symbolizes the sweet love of family. Trouble was: I didn’t bake. And the idylics of motherhood left little time for learning baking. Inspired by The Great British Bake Off and the notion that confident capable well-adjsuted kids are formed while cakes are in the oven, I’m slowly building up my repertoir of gluten-free vegan cake recipes. There’s the six minute chocolate cake for a quick family celebration, that took me well over an hour to manage in the beginning. There’s the almond vanilla donut cake which scoffs at the recipe’s bake time (a meer 25 minutes), actually enjoying a full hour of bake time. There’s the double chococate cupcakes which disappear like hotcakes. They are sweet, they are fun and they are enjoyed by all.
I’ve traded my strict naturopathic diet and globetrotting adventures, in favor of something more subtle and richer: creating memories with my children.
My son, who used to think a bulb of garlic made a suitable snack, is now enthusiastic about sweets. Lake could open his mouth and point out to you his sweet tooth, except it’s hard to choose just one.
“They’re all a sweet teeth,” he proclaims.
The sweetest thing though, is not the cakes, of course. It’s the moments the cakes support. The memories the moments make. A visit with a neighbor. Lingering over dinner, the anticipation of dessert. Coffee with a friend. Sweetness appears in many forms.
Recently during an impromptu Friday night out at the neighborhood open-air fruit and vegetable stand, Lake surprised me by doing the shopping. In rapid success he procured two bags of whole carrots, two bags of baby carrots, a handsome bunch of celery, a fractalicious head of Romanesco broccoli, a tender fluffy head of lettuce, a gigantic ginger tuber, and three Bosc pears which he took care not to bruise. My heart swelled with joy and pride to see this confident, capable, well-adjusted kid leading the shop for veggies. I ask the young woman who is helping us check out to please add to our bill the two avacodos and a dozen eggs from the guy standing behind us in line.
I don’t want to rush this sweet experience with my son.
In this moment, my thirst for high adventure is sated by a Friday evening walk to Rising Sun with my children, where my son has a chance to do some shopping and flirt with the checker. What could be sweeter?
Maybe just afterwards coming home to a warm kitchen and a cake in the oven.
…
Try my recipes and let me know what you think!
Six-Minute Mocha Cake
375 ~35 min
1 1/2 c GF flour
1 t baking soda
1/3 c cocoa powder
1/2 t salt
1 c sugar
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 c cold coffee
2 t vanilla
2 T apple cider vinegar
Almond Vanilla Donut Cake
350 ~1 hour
2 c almond flour
2 c GF flour
1-1/2 c sugar
2 T baking powder
1 t salt
2 c soymilk
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T vanilla
Vegan Vanilla Icing
cream together
2 T sofened vegan buttery spread
3 C powdered sugar
2-3 T almond/soy milk
1 t vanilla
sprinkles!
Double Chocolate Cupcakes
350 ~20 minutes
1 1/2 c GF flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 c sugar
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/3 c coconut oil melted
2/3 c soymilk
1 t vanilla
1 t apple cider vinegar
3 T vanilla coconut milk yogurt
Chocolate Frosting
cream together
1/2 c vegan buttery spread
3 c powdered sugar
1/2 c cocoa powder
2 1/2 T soy milk
A Perfect Day . . . 
so fun reading this post today! over an hour to bake the 6min cake. lol
On Fri, Dec 11, 2020 at 9:46 PM A Perfect Day . . . wrote:
> Tolle VanLaanen posted: “Double Chocolate Cupcakes and Double Sweet > SiblingsBaking cakes symbolizes the sweet love of family. Trouble was: I > didn’t bake. And the idylics of motherhood left little time for learning > baking. Inspired by The Great British Bake Off and the notion that” >
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