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The Vegan 8s Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cake by Cake in a Crate

November 29, 2016 · Natalie 18 Comments

This cake. This cake is A M A Z I N G. The simple ingredients. The perfect crumb. The talented recipe creator behind it. The chocolate ganache. The ultra rich flavor. The elegant presentation. The chocolate chips. The feels-like-its-your-birthday vibe in every bite. The chocolate confetti curls. The classic flavor combination of vanilla and chocolate. Did I mention chocolate?

Meet the Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cake. This cake is a creation of the incredibly talented Brandi from The Vegan 8. She partnered up with Cake in a Crate to bring this cake to us in a minimal-effort maximum-deliciousness way, and I was so excited for the chance to try it out!

The timing worked out just right that this cake ended up being the main dessert at my family’s Thanksgiving meal, and everyone loved it. No one even touched the pie next to this ganache-topped goodness! Judging by all the “oohs” and “ahhs” and “This is the best cake you’ve ever made!” through sweet mouthfuls, I’m pretty sure they liked it even more than any past cakes I’ve tested on them. Thanks guys, thanks a lot. Nah I can’t argue, Brandi’s recipes are always top notch and this is no exception!

Perfectly fluffy and moist with added richness from the ganache on top and a bit of fun factor from those mini chip speckles–I think this cake could pull off any occasion. Classy party, kid’s birthday, or just one of those random weeknight cake-cravings! Vanilla and chocolate lovers would both be happy with a slice, and for those who can’t decide and love both like me it’s the perfect balance.

The crazy part is that the entire decadent thing is vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free, and actually uses many of the same ingredients I use all the time in my own recipes! It’s made with familiar favorites like oat flour, maple syrup, applesauce, and of course chocolate. It was also a lovely introduction for me to baking with coconut butter. That stuff is like cake-moisture magic! You will absolutely not miss butter or oil here, and it doesn’t even take very much coconut butter to totally transform the texture. Three days later–yep still totally yum! Plus the subtle coconut flavor is really lovely too.

But now onto what makes this post extra special and not just me rambling about cake: Cake in a Crate. This cake came to be in my kitchen courtesy of a company called Cake in a Crate that pre-measures, (adorably) packages up everything you need to make this cake, and ships it right to you. Yay for lazy baking! Between Thanksgiving leftovers and this cake in the fridge for sweet snacking, I haven’t been to the grocery store in 4 days as of today (Sunday), which is a lot for me!

So since they took care all the ingredient shopping and measuring for me, I had time to make a little video of the whole process. Everything from slicing through the packaging tape to slicing into the cake. (Except for the part where I cut my thumb because apparently no one taught me how to use scissors. Not essential for yummy cake, so I cut that scene out.)

Annnnnd GO…

So easy, right!? And SO delicious! Even thought the camera can’t fully convey that part, just trust me and try it! I am not the best chocolate curl-maker though, Brandi did a much better job of that. But I was not mad about having to finish off that chocolate bar later…dessert part 2 🙂

If you want to try out this easy-peasy baking and decadent dessert-eating too, you can find out more info and order your own cake in a crate -> HERE

And you can use the offer code THEVEGAN8 to receive 20% off your cake kit!

Spiced Chocolate Pear Overnight Oats

November 27, 2016 · Natalie 32 Comments

Cinnamon spice, fruit freshness, tastes-like-brownie-batter base–this Spiced Chocolate Pear Overnight Oats recipe is an easy, absolutely delicious breakfast in a jar!

It’s that day of the every other month again. I’m talking Collab-With-Some-of-My-Fave-Bloggers-to-Bring-You-A-Bunch-of-Superstar-Recipes-Focused-Around-One-Ingredient Day. CWMFBTBYBSRFAOI day, duh! I personally love this day, and I especially love this day when the ingredient happens to be a fruity one. We’ve done blueberries and sweet potatoes in the past (and I seem to be stuck in a muffin rut…just noticed that). But to keep it somewhat seasonal, this month’s theme is PEARS! Wait…pears are a fall/winter-ish fruit right?

In case my complete lack of pear knowledge and the fact that there are almost no pear recipes on FF up to this point didn’t give it away already, pears are not a fruit I am too familiar with. Anjou, Bosc, Bartlett–I have no clue which is which or what to use when. And if you asked me for tips on selecting the perfect pear the best I could give you is eeny meeny miney mo, because that’s what I do. I have probably eaten 100 times more apples in my life than pears, so this was a fun challenge.

I may not know much about pears, but I do know a thing or two about ~~life~~ ~~breakfast~~ chocolate. When in doubt, add chocolate. When you are working with an ingredient you don’t know what to pair with, try chocolate. When you want to make breakfast taste like dessert–chocolate. So that is what I did. And cinnamon too. And I must say after just one bite I was loving pears a whole lot more than before!

This is one of those breakfast jars that has tons of textures and tastes in every bite. The ingredient list isn’t too long or complicated, but the flavors all mingle so well that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. And by greater I mean tastier, of course.

Extra thick, date-sweetened, tastes-like-brownie-batter overnight oats. Slightly softened but still crispy pear chunks with a perfect balance of sweet, spice, and citrus. Cinnamon throughout because it needs to be in everything this time of year and because it pears (sorry, couldn’t help myself) so well with both chocolate and pears. I’m telling you, the flavor mingling happening here is just awesome!

And most importantly, this recipe is NOT a muffin. Success!

Now let’s see what everyone else made for this pear recipe party…

Spiced Pear Donuts with Cashew Caramel Icing from The Coconut Diaries

Chocolate Chip Pear Streusel Mug Cake from Athletic Avocado

Pear and Cranberry Crisp from Choosing Chia

Pear Parsnip Pie from Healthy Helper

So if you are on the fence about pears like I sometimes am, I hope one of these recipes catches your eye and changes your mind!

Spiced Chocolate Pear Overnight Oats

★ 1 from 1 review

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 120 minutes
Total Time: 130 minutes

Print Recipe

Description

Cinnamon spice, fruity freshness, tastes-like-brownie-batter base–this Spiced Chocolate Pear Overnight Oats recipe is easy, absolutely delicious breakfast in a jar!

Ingredients

Scale

Overnight Oats

½ cup rolled oats
1 tbsp chia seeds
2–3 tbsp date paste (or 1–2 tbsp maple syrup)
2 tbsp cacao powder
¾–1 cup non-dairy milk
1 tsp cinnamon

Spiced Pears

1 pear (chopped)
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp maple syrup
½ tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chopped pecans (or other nut)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients for the overnight oats in a jar. Mix/shake to combine. Refrigerate overnight (or for at least 2 hours).
In a bowl, add the cinnamon, maple syrup, and lemon juice to the pear chunks. Toss to coat. Sprinkle in the chopped nuts. Stir. I like to set this mixture in the fridge for about 30 minutes to let the flavors mesh, but that is not essential.
Layer the pears on top of the oats. Optional: sprinkle on a few chocolate chips. Enjoy!

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Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll Mug Cake

November 23, 2016 · Natalie 25 Comments

Soft fluffy dough, warm gooey apple inside, a caramel drizzle on top–this healthy Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll Mug Cake is one cozy quick microwave treat you need to try this fall! Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free.

A single serve recipe?? How un-Thanksgiving of me considering it is Thanksgiving tomorrow. Instead of attempting some sort of savory stuffing or sweet potato something or traditional Thanksgiving thing, I decided to take advantage of this last feels-like-fall week before the Christmas craze hits to focus on one of my favorite fruits: apples!

If you are currently operating in Thanksgiving brain, then maybe hop over to this post instead and just ignore the little number at the top that reads 2015. A Thanksgiving feast Buddha bowl style would still be a perfect last minute meal. I honestly haven’t decided yet what I will be doing, all I know for sure is that there will be pumpkin pie. (Read: I’m probably just going to skip the meal and eat an obscene amount of pumpkin pie instead. Don’t judge, it’s my tradition.)

So no last minute side dish ideas here. However, if you are still searching for that perfect pumpkin dessert that I can help with…
-There is my favorite Date-Sweetened Pumpkin Pie.
-Or there are the mini Pumpkin Pie Cups, party of 4 (Or 8 or 12, just multiply that recipe as needed!)
-The pudding form: Pumpkin Pie Parfait
-The frozen form: Pumpkin Pie Nice Cream
-And I think that is…no wait! Pumpkin Creme Brûlée–can’t forget that fancier form.

But enough pumpkin talk, the Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll Mug Cake is starting to get jealous…

But Thanksgiving really isn’t supposed to be just about the food anyways, so I am thankful for ramekins for being the perfect vessel for baking up single serve desserts. I am thankful for microwaves, the perfect power source for the hungry and impatient. I am thankful to whomever it was that first thought to make cake in the microwave–a true genius.

I am thankful for tapioca starch for making the spongy gluten-like cinnamon roll texture possible without gluten. I am thankful for 5-Minute Caramel Apple Butter for being a super fast and fantastically fruity filling for this rolled up ramekin recipe. I am thankful for baking powder and lemon juice because together they are an unstoppable fluffiness-creating force.

And you thought this wasn’t going to be a Thanksgiving themed post! Actually I was thinking the same thing at the beginning there, but once I got to writing I realized just how many little things there are to be grateful for in something as simple as a mug ~~cake~~ roll. And in every recipe or snack or bite of food for that matter. I’m sure I could expand this into some sort of cinnamon roll = life metaphor right about now, but I will refrain and just get to the recipe.

The caramel apple butter is really the star of this recipe, acting as both the sweetener in the dough and as the filling. Oh, and the sauce drizzled on top actually, just thinned out a bit.

So I know there are some of you out there who are tired of me using tapioca starch in so many of my recipes, but I don’t do it without good reason. It’s amazing stuff! And very much necessary to keep this cinnamon roll in a mug from turning into cinnamon crumbles in a mug. Tapioca starch simultaneous acts as the egg replacer and gluten-substitute in this recipe, binding the dough to make it easier to roll and also giving it a very gluten-like texture after baking.

I tested it with both ground chia and flax in place of the tapioca flour and the texture was nowhere near as good. Cornstarch would be the next best thing, but I highly suggest you invest in a bag of tapioca starch. Most oat flour based baked goods are better with it I have found. It’s relatively inexpensive, and one bag will last you a while since most recipes only use a quarter cup or so.

Soft fluffy cinnamon dough, warm gooey caramel apple insides, drizzle of extra apple flavor on top–diving into this irresistible warm-from-the-microwave mug is quite the cozy treat!