Vegan Semolina, Coconut and Orange Marmalade Cake with Chocolate Ganache (And. . . my first peach harvest that almost "wasn't")

I've had my eye on this cake for quite some time. But I needed two things to make it happen: sunflower oil and orange marmalade. I have both now. And the cake was completely worth the wait. The original recipe is from the cookbook Jerusalem by Yotam Ottogenghi and Sami Tamimi. I had a bigger than usual vegan challenge in adapting this recipe as it calls for four eggs! But this cake was happening regardless. The chocolate part is completely optional. Honestly, I wasn't going the chocolate ganache route until DH said, You ARE going to add chocolate to this, right?

The thing that I had trouble with in making this was achieving that little "bump" down the middle typical in loaf cakes. Or the crack on top where the syrup goes. When the baking time came to an end and I had no "bump" on top of my cakes, I was a bit crestfallen to tell the truth. I had my hopes set on this little feature. Could be my baking powder's time had run out, or something was wrong with my egg replacer (which is what I opted using for the eggs in the recipe vs. a flax and water mix or some other iteration of vegan egg helper). Truth be told, the lack of this little feature did not harm the cake's end result in the least little bit. Nada. So this past week, husband and I have enjoyed splitting a slice of this cake as an after dinner treat. It's loaded with flavor. Topped after just coming from the oven with orange flavored sugar syrup, there is really no need for more than a small piece. You will feel the love of this cake in one bite size and be satisfied. Trust me. Which is why I love it so much.   

I haven't told you about my peach tree yet. I'll try to make this short. Three years ago I brought home three fruit trees: a peach tree, apricot tree and pear tree. We planted them in our back yard (un-fenced area) and waited. 

Next spring I had two twigs sticking out of the ground and a peach tree that had clearly been the delight of our deer--only they couldn't reach the tip top of the branches so they kindly left me a "peach tree canopy". I love deer. I couldn't really blame them, even if there's an entire FOREST of trees for them to chow on, I understand the appeal of novelty trees in their diet. I wrote off the demise of the other fruit trees to stupid planning (on my part) and mother nature. And left the peach tree standing. I whispered to it, "You must be strong little peach tree" and left it at that. 

I had fruit the first year, but was busy with other stuff and really, being a Master Gardener and all, I knew better than to think for one moment I'd be harvesting peaches off that thing that year. I left the peaches be. And I waited. (Which is a mandatory fruit tree growing virtue--fruit growing is not for the impatient!) 

Last year we had the drought. Whatever peaches I thought I saw were soon the appetizers for deer. I knew for sure I'd seen the last of our crooked little peach tree. Plus, there was some gooey stuff coming out of its bark and all, and I was like, okay, maybe I'm not cut out for fruit growing and should stick to veggies and what have you. Oh ye of little faith. . . 

This spring I had a bazillion blossoms on our tree. I was giddy. But cautious. And waited. Then, little baby peaches--all green, covered the tree. Again, not getting my hopes up. Then early July, I saw the color and size of the fruit change. Orange-y, yellow-y. So far. So good. 

Then two weeks ago I was walking the dogs and noticed a squirrel at the bottom of the hill, under the peach tree, with what looked like a pumpkin in its mouth, bobbing up and down across the yard, into the woods. What the?! Then I got closer to the peach tree and saw two peach pits, flesh all gone under the tree. I immediately ran the dogs back inside, grabbed my harvest basket and came back to the tree. 

I read that you'll know when a peach is ready to pick not by color, but by smell and by the ease with which it comes off the branch with a slight tug. Well, obviously if the peach came off for a squirrel, it's coming off for me. In fact this was the wisdom Dr. Thyme shared with me, "If it's good enough for the squirrels, it's good enough for us. I'd say pick "em!" 

My first peach harvest. I used nothing on the tree. No spray of any kind. Um. Several peaches were not as lucky. A few peaches were blemished, but no worse for the wear. They weren't ready for eating, but only needed a few days in a brown bag on the kitchen counter before ripening and. . . OMG. The absolute BEST peach I have EVER eaten in my life. DH took one to work. He's not really much of a fruit eating person, but he obliged my request of "You have GOT to try these peaches, they are the best I have EVER had!" And of course I was right. He loved them. 

Best. Peach. Ever.

Best. Peach. Jam. Ever.

Crooked little peach tree.

Peach tree heaven.

Picking my first peach. It made my day, and probably my whole summer, my peach picking. Meantime, here's the recipe for my non-peach cake. 

Vegan Semolina, Coconut and Orange Marmalade Cake with Chocolate Ganache

*Adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

Makes two 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaves

11/4 cup semolina flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup organic shredded coconut

2 tablespoons almond flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup raw sugar (placed in a food processor and pulsed 5-6 times to make finer crystals)

3/4 cup sunflower oil

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

zest of one orange

1/2 cup orange marmalade

4 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 6 tablespoons water

For the syrup:

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup water

zest of half an orange

For the ganache:

1/3 cup chocolate chips

2 tablespoons coconut milk

*Place in microwave safe bowl for about 20 seconds, stir, and repeat. Should be nice and melted by then. Drizzle over cooled cakes with a spoon. 

For the cake, preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pans. In a large bowl, add the dry ingredients: sugarn, flours, baking powder, coconut and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the marmalade, sunflower oil, orange juice, egg replacer and orange zest together. Whisk until the marmalade breaks down a bit. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until you have a smooth but runny batter (like pancake batter). Divide batter between two loaf pans and bake for 45-50 minutes--until the edges of the cake begin to brown. While cake is baking, prepare your syrup. Add ingredients to a small sauce pan over a medium heat, whisking the whole time--allowing for the sugar to dissolve. Once mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat and set aside to cool a bit. After cakes are removed from oven, and before they cool, begin spooning the syrup over cakes. Allow the syrup to soak in after each spooning. Leave cakes in pans to cool completely. Then, remove from pans and store in an airtight container. (I removed my cakes from their pans, sliced into pieces and stored under a cake keeper.)