Cake or Death?

Cause, "Cake or death?" That's a pretty easy question. Anyone could answer that. 

"Cake or death?"

"Eh, cake Please."

"Very well! Give him cake!"

"Oh, thanks very much. It's very nice."

"You! Cake or death?"

"Uh, cake for me, too, please."

"Very well! Give him cake, too! We're gonna run out of cake at this rate. You! Cake or death?"

"Uh, death, please. No, cake! Cake! Cake, sorry. Sorry…"

"You said death first, uh-uh, death first!"

"Well, I meant cake!"

"Oh, all right. You're lucky I'm Church of England!"

"Cake or death?"

Eddie Izzard had this joke in one of his skits and I have been dying to make a post using it. If you do not know who Eddie Izzard is, well you must search him! watch him! and hopefully you will find it as funny as my family and friends do. 

So what would your answer be? Cake or Death? I choose cake, but the question is which one? I used one base recipe for agave nectar cupcakes, then played with flavors. I wanted to make a creamsicle type cup cake, a spicy chocolate, a peanut butter, and a spice. The real test was for the orange creamsicle one. I don't know why but I have been craving this combination. So here where my experiments:

Agave Nectar Cupcake

Base recipe:

2/3 cup soy milk

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup agave nectar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup whole wheat white flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cup cake pan with cup cake liners. 

Mix the soy milk and vinegar together in a large measuring cup.

Add the oil, agave nectar, and vanilla.

In another bowl mix the flour and other dry ingredients.

Combine the two. Now you can bake this off and have yummy cupcakes. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, turning half way through baking. 

(these are for 3 cupcakes each)

Spicy Chocolate

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/8 (really a dash) teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 tablespoons water

(the red in that picture is the cayenne)
Add a quater of the base batter to a bowl along with the above ingredients.

Creamsicle

zest of two oranges (I used red navel)

Juice of 1 orange 

2 tablespoons whole wheat white flour

Add a quater of the base batter to a bowl along with the above ingredients.

Spice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

Add a quater of the base batter to a bowl along with the above ingredients.

Peanut Butter

1 tablespoon peanut butter

2 tablespoons cashew butter

Add a quater of the base batter to a bowl along with the above ingredients.

Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 of the way full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, turning half way through baking.

Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely. 

Frosting time:

I used TrueWhip a type of vegan coolwhip.

It is really good, reminds me of coolwhip, but it is much better for you.

So I used that to top some of the cup cakes. For the spicy chocolate I added some Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder to the TrueWhip and grated some dark chocolate on top. For the creamsicle, I just added some vanilla extract to the TrueWhip and topped with some vegan naturally colored sprinkles. For the spice cup cakes I made an agave nectar icing. (To make it it has 3T agave nectar, 3T coconut oil, 3T milk,  1t arrowroot powder,  dash of salt, 1/2 t vanilla, and 1 1/2 t soy milk powder in it. You first heat milk and arrowroot- whisk, add in the agave- whisk, then add the coconut oil and vanilla- whisk, then add in the soy milk powder- whisk.) And I topped the peanut butter with a chocolate ganache ( Just melt 2T dark chocolate chips and 1T carob chips over a double boiler, add in 1t milk.) And there you are!

So the question still remains, Cake or Death? I choose one of each please!

Here is an easy dinner side dish recipe for one:
Artichoke "Hash"

4 artichoke hearts, chopped
3 green pepper strips, chopped
3 yellow pepper strips, chopped
2 mushrooms, chopped
4 black olives, chopped
10 grape tomatoes, halved
handful of fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon walnut oil (or any oil of choice)
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Heat a sauce pan with oil over medium high heat, add in the peppers and mushrooms. Cook for about 4 minutes, add in the artichoke. Let that cook for 8 or so minutes stirring so things do not stick but do allow them to brown. Add spices, tomatoes, and olives. Before you serve add in the parsley.

I topped it with eggplant "steaks" with melted provolone cheese. So good!

Next week: I'm thinking bread...