Vegan Banana Bread Pudding Crumb Cake that Happened by Accident (eat cake, ice foot, get better. . . a running nemesis strikes and honesty about the past catching up to you)

 

This is a happy accident cake. During our major snow storm this weekend, an incredible urge to bake using bananas overcame me. I have scads of recipes for banana this and banana that--mostly in bread or muffin form. Then there is my other favorite form: cake. I'm a little behind on my recipe "trying"'--that is, I cut recipes out, stuff them in a folder and wait for a moment when I'm not lassoing training a puppy, to try and file them into my very stuffed three-ring binders. Well. Whatever. I just remembered cutting a recipe out, banana something and crumbs were involved. It actually was supposed to be a coffee cake--you know, something you'd have for breakfast. Does this cake here look anything like a coffee cake? My eyes say no. But, my curiosity said, Well, there goes two perfectly over-ripened bananas into a cake that didn't quite come out a cake. . . until my first bite and I was like, whoa--what just happened here? DID I JUST ACCIDENTALLY CREATE A VEGAN BREAD PUDDING. (Which I will admit has been missing from my life since our pre-vegan days. No regrets, just some taste buds that have food pang memories working.) And there it is.  

Vegan Eggnog Coffee Cake with Toasted Pecan Streusel (Week Two with "The Boot")

If I see one more story about how to survive your in-laws (or food, travel, Black Friday, etc.,), I think I'll scream. Just reading about Thanksgiving is giving me stress. So I bake. 

We came home with a box of vegan eggnog from the store this weekend. (Oh the horrors of shopping in the electronic cart.) It was nice to sink my teeth into cake again. I'd held off baking until I'd felt my lying-around-while-my-ankle-heals-weight-gain-scare was really just that, a scare. I've so far kept weight demons at bay by nearly starving myself all day, everyday since The Boot arrived.

Vegan Carrot Zucchini Lime Bars (Chive Talking, Perennial Dividing and . . . The Scrappy Gremlin Quilt)

If a cake has vegetables in it, does that make it less of a cake and more of a food group? My guess is no. I've probably made over two dozen carrot cake recipes in my lifetime, they always begin the same way: shredding carrots. "Shredding" is labor intensive--more mess to clean up. So I'll make excuses to not attempt carrot cake baking and instead switch to an easy chocolate pan cake or cookies. That kind of thinking is no longer an option in my kitchen. I love carrot cake. There was once a time in my life when the only carrot cake I knew was a boxed kind. Such dark and sad days those were.

Vegan Lemon Cornmeal Pound Cake (This is How 102 Feels, Almost Fifty and . . . On Going Gray)

Well, I suppose I should start with this lovely cake. This insufferable summer has caused my cake cravings to be put on hold. (Of course now we are in the middle of Hurricane Isaac weather--so far I've personally measured a rainfall amount of an inch and a half. Much needed rain.) I was worried about my sweet tooth issue. Nights would pass and not a single crumb of dessert could be found. I jumped in with a few batches of chocolate chip cookies--keeping the dough in the freezer for an occasional nibble, but other than that, nothing. I was confounded by this. My thoughts tended toward the "dark" side. (Or the hormonal.) Where had my sweet tooth gone?

Roasted Strawberry Frosting on Chocolate Cake (My Sugar Dilemma and. . . Rainy Day Garden)

Here was a cake that came about for no other reason than to do "something" with all the strawberries I had on hand. I am the person the grocery store has in mind when the display of this fruit is so large and in-your-face you practically have to high-hurdle jump over them to not notice. And before you can reach the bananas you "originally" came in for, there they are again, in a second display area! What's a girl to do? Buy two large flats, of course.

Vegan Suzy-Q Mini Chocolate Cakes with Fluffy Cream Filling (On My 399th Blog Post: How'd This Happen?)

This is my three hundred and ninety-ninth post. Seems pretty remarkable to me. There were moments when I thought, Well, that's all I have to say; I've cooked just about everything I can think of. Or this: I've shared just about enough drama. It's over, no more sharing. Then . . . this incredible pull toward the blog happens and I once again begin typing, opening that iconic window, "New Post". The blog has taken on a life of its own. Short of giving it a seat at the dinner table, it's here to stay. I reflect on this a bit at the end of this post. But let's get to the chocolate first. 

This was our Valentine's Day: flowers and chocolate. When Dr. Thyme came home, he had flowers for me. So sweet. (Good thing that "Roses" guy in the van at the bottom of the hill hadn't closed shop!) I had these chocolate hearts I'd baked for him. Could we have been any more cliche'?

Vegan Buttermilk Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting (Triple-Layered for Cake Weather)

It started raining on me this morning while I was taking this picture of the cake on the back deck. Perfect. Just what I need on day four of living in No-Sun-St. Louis in the middle of winter. Not that we're in the sub-zero's or anything. It's just that when it's cold AND sunless here in the Midwest (close to the Mason-Dixon line) with temps hovering in or about the thirties combined with rain and/or snow (which is what is predicted), it feels somehow much worse than if it were snowing a blizzard and a mere ten degrees. Don't ask me why, it just does. 

Vegan Whole Grain Blueberry Crumb Coffecake (Cowls And Guitars)

This is a very "crumby" coffee cake: I love it to pieces! Literally. It's baked with tons of good-for-you whole grains and a yummy cinnamon-y, crunch-y topping that, as it sits, gets better by the day. I've had this for breakfast, lunch and dessert. For evening time, if you have a hankering for something sweet, but want to feel "healthy" about it, then this cake's for you! The added bonus are those antioxidant-rich blueberries. I'd probably add another cup of berries the next time I make this, but meantime, thought it totally worth sharing. If you wanted to make giant muffins out of this, or even regular-sized muffins, you could. But you'd need to adjust the baking time and keep an eye on them during baking. Either way--the flavor in this is outstanding.  

Vegan Chocolate Loaf Cake (Zoo Year's Eve)

This was the last thing we ate in 2011. I couldn't have been happier.

Hubby and I spent the last day of the year at the zoo. When we got home, we were ravenous, so he put together his man-chili (mostly beans and NO tomatoes) and I sat around thumbing through all my cookbooks looking for just the perfect food for ending this horrendous year. Uh. Chocolate was mandatory. I went all baking-bonkers and spent the next four hours in the kitchen creating a chocolate New Year's Eve for us to enjoy. This chocolate loaf cake exceeded all of my chocolate-loving expectations. I found it in my search in Nigella Lawson's cookbook, Feast: Food to Celebrate Life. A cookbook I've had on my shelf now for the past few years. That's why it's good to collect cookbooks. You just never know where your next inspiration will come from.  

Vegan Caramel Cake (Looking Back . . . )

Nearly 2012. I am completely through with 2011. Through. I had decided I'd wanted to take a break from all that is and live "off grid" for a bit. And so I have. It's been pure and utter delight. I won't say that I didn't peek into the world of the internet here and there, but when I did stop by, it was brief and I quickly set about doing whatever it was my mind was consumed with two minutes before.

Vegan Lemon Almond Tea Cake with Lemon Glaze (And Snowflakes on The Side for Some Much Needed Crochet-for-Me Time)

I had to take a break from cookie baking. Plus, it felt like I was being unfair to the cake. In keeping with the "only happy things" posting theme for December, I am sharing this amazingly delicious lemony slice of heaven with you. If you are stuck for a gift idea for special foodies in your life, might I strongly suggest you give this recipe a try. Seriously. I'm on my "almost" third piece this morning already. The addition of ground almonds to the batter took this bread to a new level in my opinion. There is this sweet, crunchy-almond-y, lemon-y pizazz you get when you bite into this. The browning of the crust occurred after I baked mine in an old metal loaf pan once belonging to my mother. Mmm. I will promptly be hitting the treadmill this afternoon.

I have a trip coming up here shortly. I'm heading back "home". Indiana. I have not been home in sixteen years. My last visit was for my mom's funeral. (I wouldn't really call that a visit as much as a mandatory march.) She wasn't from here either.

Vegan Wacky Cake (Or. . . Chocolate Get-Me-through-The-Holidays Cake!)

I've decided that December is going to be Happy Foods Month--only posting about foods that truly make me happy. Chocolate is the first order of business. Oh, and there will be cookies, don't worry.

We've had this cake on the counter now for three nights. We have a little ritual called, Eight o'clock Happy Time whereby the last food of the day consists of something that makes us both very happy. Some nights it's a small bowl of vegan ice cream. Dr. Thyme preferring a mint/chocolate combo and for me cherry/vanilla or chocoate, just depends. (This "routine" perhaps has lead to a more blissful marriage. Just a theory.)