Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

(This is an awful photo. Oops.)

This past July I met up with some friends for some intimate shows put on by one of our favorite bands, two in New Jersey and two in Vienna, VA. In between the two New Jersey shows, my friend Laura and I headed into NYC. Laura is gluten-free and vegan, so naturally one of our stops was at Babycakes, a vegan, mostly gluten-free bakery.

I'll have to admit, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I eat a lot of vegan food, but I'd never really had any vegan baked goods before, let alone gluten-free ones. After one bite of a carrot cupcake, I was in love. I'd gladly live the rest of my life eating only donuts, cupcakes, cookies, brownies and muffins from that bakery. If you aren't vegan, I promise you won't miss the butter or eggs at all. You'll forget they ever existed.

Yesterday I picked up the Babycakes cookbook and made these delicious cookies. They are light, crispy and have a faint coconut flavor from the coconut oil. If you aren't gluten-free, you should be able to use regular all-purpose flour and skip the xanthan gum.



Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from the Babycakes Cookbook

1 cup coconut oil (measure when melted)
1¼ cups evaporated cane juice (or sugar)
¹⁄³ cup homemade applesauce or store-bought unsweetened applesauce
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1½ cups bob’s red mill gluten-free all-purpose baking flour (or regular all-purpose flour if you don't have a problem with gluten)
¼ cup flax meal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons xanthan gum (skip if you use regular all-purpose flour)
1 cup vegan chocolate chips (or regular)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Combine the coconut oil, evaporated cane juice, applesauce, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, flax meal, baking soda, and xanthan gum. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in two batches, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.

Form the dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter and press down slightly onto parchment covered cookie sheets. Bake for 14 minutes, turning the pans 180 degrees after 9 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on the sheet and then transfer to a wire rack. If you don't want to bake all the cookies, you can freeze the cookie dough balls and bake later.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Irish Car Bomb Cake

I have a thing for baking cakes.

Especially cakes with two layers or more. A cake with one layer is no cake at all. I get a intense feeling of satisfaction after successfully leveling each layer, spreading the filling, placing the last layer on top, and frosting the whole thing up. I'm not sure where it came from. It might be from the memory from my childhood when I tried to turn my parent's anniversary cake into a layer cake. I made it out of a boxed cake mix and baked it in a large rectangular pan. One of my best friends was over and we decided it would be cool to cut the rectangle in half and make a two-layered version. Disaster ensued. We ended up putting all the pieces back in the pan (at this point there were more than 2) and frosting over it, with a big cross to cover up our incisions. It. was. not. pretty.

So last summer when I decided to make a layer cake for my graduation party, I was very scared and convinced it was going to be incredibly tricky. Maybe if I had not thought it was such a big deal, I wouldn't have been so pleased when it came out perfectly. And then maybe I wouldn't dream of all the different flavors and fillings I could make or spend hours looking at recipes, dying for an excuse to start preheating the oven.

This week, I did just that. A cake version of the popular drink: the Irish Car Bomb. Chocolate Cake made with Guinness. Chocolate ganache with a hint of Irish whiskey. Buttercream froting made with Irish Cream. This is not your kids' birthday cake. It is an adult cake. Rich and chocolaty with a hint of booze. What more could you ask for?



Irish Car Bomb Cake
Adapted from here and here

Cake:
1 cup Guinness (or any stout)
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Filling:
8 oz bittersweet chocolate (I only had unsweetened, so I used 4 oz and added sugar to taste, about 4 tbsp)
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1-2 tsp Irish whiskey

Frosting:
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3-4 tbsp Baileys or milk (I used both milk and caramel flavored irish cream since we already had a bottle)

(I ended up making 1.5x the recipe because I'm better at cake frosting if I have more to work with. I had some leftover so you could probably get away with using the recipe itself.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch cake pans.

In a saucepan, simmer the stout and butter over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and mix until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 tsp salt. In a separate bowl, blend the eggs and the sour cream. Then beat in the chocolate-stout mixture until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients. Divide between the cake pans and bake for 15 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 300 and bake until a toothpick in the center comes out clean, about 15 more minutes.

To make the filling, melt the chocolate in a saucepan or double boiler. Add in the cream, butter, and whiskey and mix until smooth. Allow to cool until thick. You can put in the refrigerator to speed up the process, but make sure you stir it occasionally.



For the frosting, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, fully incorporating it each time. I usually don't measure it out, just taste it frequently and stop when I think it is sweet enough. Then beat in the milk and/or Bailey's.

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake

Sometimes, a girl really needs some chocolate cake.

Sometimes, the girl is out of some of the integral chocolate cake ingredients, like eggs and butter. But don't worry, she has....avocados?

Wait a minute, please. Don't stop reading. I know it sounds a bit strange. I had the same thoughts when I randomly saw this on Joy the Baker's recipe index. But I was intrigued. And out of eggs.

Maybe what you need to do to accept this combination is reimagine your idea of an avocado. Yes, the first thing you might think of when you see an avocado is guacamole, but take a step back. The avocado is a fruit. Strawberries, raspberries, oranges, bananas...they all get to hang out with chocolate all the time. They never invite the avocado. The avocado feels left out. It's sad. But it doesn't need to be. One bite of this cake and you will agree with me. Really, I promise.

And yes, that is also avocado frosting. It is not bad. It does taste like avocados, but also like sugar. Lots of sugar. It's probably not a combination you've ever tasted before and if you don't like something about this cake, it would probably be the frosting. It's probably not for everyone, but I like it. The cake, however, is delicious and you cannot taste the avocado at all. Feel free to swap the avocado frosting for chocolate or vanilla or whatever your frosting of choice may be. But if you ever find yourself sans eggs, plus avocado, don't be afraid! Let the avocado have some fun for once.



Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake
Adapted from Joy the Baker

3 cups white whole wheat flour (you can use all-purpose or whole wheat pastry if you would prefer)
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/t tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup walnut oil (you can also use vegetable oil)
1 medium mashed avocado (use the ripest avocado possible)
2 cups water
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting:
2 medium, very soft avocados, mashed
2 tsp lemon juice
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two round cake pans (8 or 9 inches).

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together the mashed avocado, water, oil, and vinegar. Then add the sugar. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients all at once and beat with a whisk until smooth.

Pour batter into the cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes. Let cool in pans for 15 minutes, then remove and let cool completely on wire racks before frosting.



While the cake is in the oven, put the mashed avocados for the frosting into a bowl with the lemon juice. Mix with an electric mixer until smooth. Then add the powdered sugar a little at a time and mix until incorporated.

S'mores Brownies

I made my own vanilla extract! I've seen it on a few of my favorite food blogs and have been itching to try it myself. It was ridiculously easy. It took about 60 seconds (well, minus the part where it sits for two months). Slice 3 vanilla beans lengthwise, put in a jar with 1 cup alcohol (at least 80 proof vodka, rum, or bourbon), shake. Store in a cool dry place for 2 months. Shake it a few times when you remember. I made this batch with rum. I ordered some more vanilla beans online (way cheaper!) and am planning on making another batch with bourbon.

I also made brownies for my little sister, because I am really super nice. Not just any brownies: S'mores brownies. I marked this recipe a few weeks ago and decided it would be the perfect way to get rid of the graham crackers I brought home from my desk at my old job. I did, of course, try one before I sent them away. They were very cakey and also, HUGE, but who can really complain about the giantness of a chocolate baked good? The only thing I would change next time is add more graham crackers. They rose so much the cracker bits were a bit too sparse. I definitely cannot complain about the crisp and melty marshmallows on top though.

S'mores Brownies

Adapted from Joy the Baker

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (you can also use all-purpose)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, melted

6 oz unsweetened chocolate

5 eggs

1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup roughly crushed graham crackers (I would maybe double this)

Large marshmallows

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13in baking pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Chop the chocolate into small pieces.

Put the chocolate in the melted butter and microwave until the chocolate is melted and smooth, about 1-1 1/2 minutes.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla, and sugars. Add in the chocolate mixture and then mix in the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Fold in the graham crackers.

Pour batter into pan and top with marshmallows (I used 15). Bake for 30-40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes before cutting and removing from pan.