Vegan MoFo 2014 - Sunday baking: Golden Syrup Cake

Today's Sunday baking is a recipe from the Ms Cupcake cookbook.  I actually got this book before it was available in stores - I got a signed copy at Brighton VegFest last year (? - whatever year it came out).  But I've been really crap about making stuff from it.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I've only made 4 recipes ... after today.

I kept looking at the Golden Syrup Cupcakes and thinking I really wanted to make them.  But given my penchant for laziness and the fact that I have fewer than 12 cupcake papers, I decided instead to make these into a cake.  I made it in an 8" square pan and sliced it in half to layer it with the vanilla buttercream from the book, then drizzled with syrup as suggested.

Behold!  As you can see, I like my cake to frosting ratio at approximately 1:1.  I usually frost the sides as well, but for some reason I decided I liked the look of it more like this.  And frankly, it didn't need any more frosting.

This was good, but not really much different from a regular vanilla cake.  I would've preferred a more syrupy flavour, maybe less sugar and more syrup.  But it's lovely and moist.  And Zebby liked it!

Also, I had half a recipe of frosting left over, so, oh darn, I'm gonna have to make something else.

And just because, here's a picture of Zebby looking at something.

Vegan MoFo 2014 - Sunday Baking: Whole Wheat Beer Bread

It's Sunday baking day!  Today I made the Whole Wheat Beer Bread from Cookin' Crunk.

Warm bread always means jam piece for me.

Beer breads are pretty great - you get freshly baked bread in about an hour, and you don't have to knead!  This came together so quickly that I actually had to do some other stuff while my oven pre-heated before I put the beer in because I didn't want to mess up the chemical reaction by having it sit around before going in the oven.

So, as you can see, I used Innis & Gunn Toasted Oak IPA*.  I had a wee taste of it before I poured it into the bowl, and it was super hoppy.  That really comes out in the bread.  Unfortunately, what I can't handle with beer is the hops part, so I thought the bread had a bitter note to it.  The slice on the right is a bit thicker than the slice on the left, and I almost gave up on the bread because the bitterness overwhelmed the sweetness of the jam.

Apart from that, it's got a lovely texture - slightly dense (without feeling like a brick), moist, and soft.  It definitely has potential, and I think it's my mistake that makes it not fantastic.  Since this is the first time I've made this, I'm gonna assume it's the particular beer and not the recipe itself, because I have had beer breads I've enjoyed.  I might try this again with a less hoppy beer.

*Innis & Gunn are Edinburgh brewers, and most if not all of their beers are vegan.  Woot!

Vegan MoFo 2014 - Sunday Baking: Bakewell tart

I'm having an allergy attack today, so I don't have the energy to be clever, which means this will be a short post.

I'm sure I've mentioned this, but I love Bakewell tart.  It's just so good!  I don't know why I don't make it more often, other than because I'd eat too much.  I'm actually surprised at my restraint in not having had any yet.

I made pretty much the same recipe last year (Sainsbury's shortcrust pastry, seedless raspberry jam, and the cake part of the Bakewell cupcake recipe in the Ms Cupcake book), only this time I remembered the sugar before I put the cake mix on top of the jam/crust.  Below is the finished product.

badly lit slice

It was tasty, as expected.  I'm taking a bit to the office tomorrow, which marks the first time I'm taking baking to this office.  I hope they like it, and if they don't, they can suck it.

As you can see I put some chocolate drizzle (cocoa powder, icing sugar, water) on top.  I made a bit too much, and Mike came in to the kitchen while I was trying to decide what to do with it.  He decided that he'd use it to make chocolate milk.

before stirring

after stirring

It looks like regular chocolate milk, doesn't it?  It was not.  I had a couple of sips, and it was good/gross.  It almost tasted like a milkshake ... that had sugar added to it.  It was so sweet.  Maybe that's why I didn't have any tart after I made it.