Vegan Chocolate Cake

 Vegan Chocolate Cake with Vegan Buttercream Cream Cheese Frosting and Vegan Chocolate Glaze

2 cups Sifted All Purpose Flour

¾ cup Powdered Cocoa

½ tsp salt

2 tsps Baking Powder

1 ½ tsps Baking Soda

1 cup granulated sugar

¾ cup light brown sugar

1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Line 3 8” round pans with parchment paper

Sift all your dry ingredients together, except the brown sugar. Add the brown sugar to the bowl after sifting first 6 ingredients. Make a well in the center and add your apple cider vinegar,  coconut milk, vegetable oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Mix gently from the center until dry ingredients are wet. Slowly add boiling water, and again, with a whisk , gently mix water into your batter until smooth. Divide equally into your prepared pans about 15 ounces  each or 440 grams.

Bake in a 350 degree conventional oven or 300 Convection for about 25 minutes. Cool completely. I like 

to chill the cakes before frosting. 

Chocolate CreamCheese Buttercream

 1½ cups plant based butter, room temperature

1 cup plant based cream cheese, room temperature

3 cups sifted powdered sugar

½ c sifted powdered cocoa

2 tsps vanilla

Cream the butter . Add cream cheese and continue to paddle until smooth. Add powdered sugar and cocoa. Pulse for a few minutes-and add cocoa. Continue to paddle, add milk and vanilla slowlyand mix until nice and light and smooth.

NOTE: I have not used a lot of different plant based fat and cream cheese, so it is a hit or miss so far. I used Target’s Good and Gather organic plant based butter and also like Good and Gather Cocoa.  The vegan cream cheese was hard to find. 

On a 10” board or plate, put one 8” cake (pls remove parchment paper first). Spread about ¼ of the frosting on top. Place the second 8 ” cake and repeat until you have assembled all three round cakes. Spread the remaining frosting over the cake with a spatula, trying to get it as even as possible . Chill cake!

Glaze

¼ cup plant base butter

¼ cup powdered cocoa

½ can coconut condensed milk

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa and stir until smooth. Add condensed milk, mix well and cook over the stove and cook until slightly thick but still pourable. Cool. Pour over the top of the cake, slowly so as to get a nice drip on the edges, Use vegan chocolate to make curls to garnish. 

Gingerbread House Dough

 

This is construction type gingerbread dough, although it has very good flavor, it is quite hard for the teeth.

Gingerbread Dough

32 ozs bread flour

2 tbsps cinnamon

2 tsps ginger

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp nutmeg

(if you want your gingerbread lighter in color, reduce spices)

1 tsp salt

9 ozs corn syrup

9 ozs molasses

(if you want it lighter, reduce molasses, increase corn syrup)

10 ozs brown sugar

10 ozs shortening

(if you are making cookies, you can substitute butter)

Combine corn syrup, molasses, brown sugar and shortening in a sauce pot, and warm just until the shortening is melted. Transfer warm liquid into a mixing bowl, and with a paddle, mix in dry ingredients. 

Mix until well blended. Pour dough into a parchment lined sheet pan or silpat. Cool for several minutes, sheet out to about ¼ inch thick, sometimes thicker, depending on your structure. Chill in the refrigerator overnight. (Tip: after cutting your templates, you can bake your pieces halfway, pull them out of the oven, re cut the pieces using the original templates. this is also a good technique for adding crushed hard candies for windows. This will insure that your sides are all even. 

Chicken Pot Pie

 serving size: 4 Individual  3x5x2” serving dishes

Crust:

6 ozs all purpose flour

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsps salt

4 ozs butter

6 Tbsps cold water, cut in small pieces

Mix flour, salt and sugar.  Blend in butter with a pastry blender just until distributed.  Sprinkle water on flour. push all ingredients with your hands, careful not to overwork dough. roll out into about 1/4 inch thick rectangle.  Reffigerate

Chicken Filling

1 chicken breast boneless and skinless, large dice

3 tbps butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 medium potatoes, peeled, large dice

1 stalk celery, small dice

2 Tbsps flour

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup half and half

1 cup frozen peas

salt, pepper to taste

Saute  garlic in butter.  Add onions, cartots, celery and cook just a few minutes.  Add flour to the chicken and immediately add to the cegetables.  Continue to saute until chicken us lightly btowned.  Add chicken broth and galf snd gslf.  bring to s boil and cook until thick. season with salt and pepper, add ffozen peas. Remove from stove and cool.

Assembly:

Equally divide chicken filling into 4 ramekins, cut rolled pie dough the same size as the top of ramekin.  Place dough over pie filling, eggwash and bake in a 375 oven until golden briwn delicious!  C very devouring!  It will be very hot!