Rose's Heavenly Vegan Cake (Mending A Broken Heart, Snow Play And Tech Support)

Nothing quite like a decadent vegan chocolate cake in the shape of a heart to make you appreciate the little things in life: like your heart!

The crumb on my vegan version of Rose's cake is quite moist. I think this is one of the moistest single layer vegan chocolate cakes I've made to date. So much rides on the crumb texture and all in a single layer--you can hide a lot in a double layer.

This is my boy--he likes to herd the rest of his clan. He's looking on in such a majestic way--I just love him to pieces--I thought this shot captured a whole lot. Sweet. Loyal. (Scrappy sometimes, too.) But always on alert and on guard.

Then there's these two. Snow play-time! Downward facing dog, to get her sister's attention--it was a good day yesterday in the snow!

My real-deal heart-shaped cake pan from Michael's.

My other real-deal baking pan for Ingots--whatever the heck those are.

Since I was hospital bound on Valentine's Day, I sort of missed out on all the fun of the chocolate mania. (Even after being together nearly fourteen years, Mr. Thyme and I still celebrate this Hallmark Holiday.) I had big plans for the day, too. I bought myself Rose's Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum for Christmas (with my Border's coupon, of course). I read this book cover-to-cover. I heard Rose interviewed on The Splendid Table and took her to be quite a serious cake-baker, pastry chef and all-around know-it-all in all things that I love: carbs--cakes, breads, you name it. (I've also signed up for her newsletter on her site: Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum.) The photography in this book is magnificent. I don't think I encountered a single cake and went "ewww". (It would take an act of congress for me to shun a pastry, like maybe a brussel sprout cake or something--I'd shun that.)

Now if you are going to be a student of this cake book, be warned that there are plenty of "equipment" requirements. Some of it is so over-the-top, I laughed out loud. I thought, okay, we aren't building a bridge or transplanting a liver, we're working with some flour and sugar. I don't intimidate easily and jump at the first sign of, say, a "cake band" to ensure a full, even rise of your cakes, or of a recommended silicone Financier for making Ingots--pahlease. (And what the heck is an Ingot?) Plus, I am not going to go all nuts and hit Sur La Table for my baking indulgences. I cannot afford that place, so I opt for the second best cake-supply store within the Wal Mart budget and that happens to be Michael's. (Plus, I get a 40% coupon in the paper every week to shop there.) I am sure there are those that would blanch at the thought that I would even dare deviate from the prescribed tools as per Rose's direction. But deviate I must.


I picked a heart-shaped cake to try from the book: Double Chocolate Valentine cake. Rose has this one topped with a smooth layer of ganache and fresh raspberries--it is divine in its appearance--though I made my own adaptation, raspberries not being in season anyhow. The day before the "incident", I bought (with my 40% off coupon) an $11.00 heart-shaped cake pan at Michael's that Wilton makes (a famous American cake-making supply company). All in all, I was out like seven bucks when it was said and done. It made me happy. (Oh, and while I was there, I did happen across the noted "cake bands" and purchased two of these--I'll give them a shot, plus an Ingot-like baking pan which I know would have set me back some twenty-five dollars or more in the high-end cooking and baking supply stores--because I called them and asked, but settled on the Wilton mini-rectangular cake mold pan for half the cost. . . again, Michael's.)

In the book's introduction a lot of attention is paid to the science of cake baking. Much like I've been reading in my self taught bread baking adventures--exact weights and measurments help. Rose stresses exact measurements and ingredient adherence, as well. Right from start, being vegan means making cake-baking adjustments. This particular cake required four egg yolks. Hmmm. I am a pretty big fan of the Ener-G Egg Replacer, but I have found in using this that sometimes, the lift or texture I am seeking sorely lacks in my pastry attempts. I Googled a few vegan egg yolk substitutions and settled on using Silken Tofu for my yolk replacement. Right off the bat, I am taking a big risk here in doing so, as I am sure Rose would not approve.

My adaptation of this cake turned out lovely, if I don't say so myself! Mr. Thyme and I finally had our V-Day cake and all was right again with the world (even if he thinks I look like a Borg with my tubes running from my arm and my gauze-covered face)--we both sat quite contently watching Idol eating this most decadent treat--thank god for cake! My recipe changes were: replacing the egg yolks with a 1/4 cup Silken Tofu per egg yolk (the kind in the box), used unsalted vegetable spread for the required butter. A note on the Silken Tofu--I split my box in half and whipped it up in a blender prior to measuring this out. This helps tremendously as the consistency of the tofu is made lighter after it's blended well. My frosting is your basic vegan chocolate buttercream: using 1/4 cup vegan butter, 1/4 vegan shortening, 1/2 cup cocoa, 2 tablespoons soy milk and a teaspoon of vanilla extract plus gobs of powdered sugar--then mix all together in a bowl. I don't measure my frostings anymore--I've made this so many times. Just eye-ball it and do taste-testing for additional powdered sugar as you use your hand blender. For the ganache, I used three squares of vegan chocolate, a tablespoon of maple syrup, a tablespoon of soy milk, stick in microwave for about a minute. Whisk well to incorporate, allow to cool for about five minutes, then take a spoon and drizzle over the cake.

My heart cake came out of my mold and split right down the middle--I sort of had my hand in the wrong place or something when I flipped it over, and god-knows, I didn't follow the prescribed Rose method to do so--oh well, no biggie. I just spackled it back together with some buttercream frosting--who'd know?

Update: My IV antibiotics and me are doing fine. There was a minor glitch last night. I have to have this pump powered up and connected to me, ready for injections every six hours. So, I called the "Infusion" folks yesterday afternoon for a tutorial on how to disconnect me from my pump (I desperately wanted to go for a walk). I had time to spare before my next "pumping". They walked me through all the steps, but I was so shaken after giving myself my own injections of saline and heparin, that I really, really needed a walk afterward--as the tech said, to "shake off my jitters"--not like my nerves haven't taken all they can handle by this point. So, Mr. Thyme came home early to help me with my hooking up for my six o'clock pumping. I was ready to go with all my stuff laid out. Then, hooked up--my pump was not cooperating. Long and short of it--I had to have Mr. Thyme jump in to save day. I was ten minutes away from needing my next injection and my panic level was on the rise. OMG, my pump, my heart, what the #@$!? So he got on the phone asap to explain that my pump was not functioning properly and re-booted it to get us back on track. Whew. Thank god for Idol and vegan chocolate cake.