Monday, January 26, 2015

Gluten-free and vegan peanut butter chocolate layer cake

gluten-free and vegan peanut butter chocolate cake

I think it’s high time I posted another one of those big, bold, and beautiful layer cakes. Don’t you agree?

This time, I’m setting out to prove that it is possible to make amazingly delicious desserts without the assistance of eggs, dairy, wheat—grains, even, since this cake is made with quinoa (a pseudocereal with gluten-esque properties)—or any kind of animal product you can think of. Sub some kind of other nut butter (almond butter, probably, since it’s the most similar to peanut butter in flavor), and you’ve got rid of another common allergen. People, this is some mildly world-changing shit. Do you know how many fat (but happy) vegans this cake has given birth to?!

Fuck if I know. At least one.

But, I mean, that’s just my regular day-to-day fare. You know. You’ve probably been here for a while; you’ve seen it all. Brash declarations of awesomeness! and fabulousness! and even—dare I say it—sexiness! Really ought to tone it down sometimes. Which reminds me...

I think I shall make this my last post comparing an edible, inanimate object to a living, breathing human subject of sexual desire. Because that’s just hyperbole. The word “sexy” seems kind of cheap these days, too, don’t you think? You’ve got people throwing it around to describe things like salads and sunsets, and somehow it all escalates into calling inanimate things “porn”, food porn only one prominent genre in that phenomenon. On the glorious time suck of a website that is reddit.com, it is possible to find things as varied and inaccurately named as earth porn and power washing porn (?) to—get this—human porn, which is not at all sexual, contrary to what it might seem. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Before we know it, we’ll be calling regular porn “porn porn”, if only in an attempt to distinguish the totally not kid-friendly stuff from the pretty pictures you see on Pinterest and Foodgawker.

So call this a one-woman crusade against the desexualization of the word “sexy”. It probably doesn’t matter. In fact, it doesn’t, not a single bit. But I’m a pedant, and frankly I’d rather keep one word in a NSFW territory than have to invent newer, more grotesque words to describe what “sexy” originally meant. God forbid we end up whispering about how that one hunky actor is particularly “bae-esque”.

Now that's a headline I never thought I'd read. source

NOT THAT IT MATTERS. Anyway, forgive my ranting. You just gotta let things out sometimes, you know?

Let’s get back to cake.

I approve of this message.

In my efforts to reduce the amount of hyperbole you have to endure on this here blog, I am going to tell you in no uncertain terms just what this cake is. It is very interesting. You will look at it and be perplexed—how can this possibly be free of all those allergens? You may also experience feelings of lust GOD DAMMIT I MEANT MILD HUNGER observing the swaths of ganache and layers of buttercream. It’s only natural, when faced with such a luscious dessert. Do not resist. Go back for another slice. Munch quietly and contemplate where your life is headed.

And then you will be very grateful that you ventured out into the kitchen one day and made this cake.
Here is the recipe.

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Gluten-free and vegan peanut butter chocolate layer cake

Adapted from this chocolate cake

Makes one double-layer 8-inch round cake

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Gluten-free chocolate cake

Ingredients

80 grams • nondairy milk • 1/3 cup

240 grams • silken tofu • 1 cup

4 grams • vanilla extract • 1 teaspoon

360 grams • cooked and cooled quinoa • 2 cups

170 grams • coconut oil, melted • ¾ cup

300 grams • granulated sugar • 1 ½ ups

80 grams • cocoa powder • 1 cup

6 grams • baking powder • 1 ½ teaspoons

2 grams • baking soda • ½ teaspoon

3 grams • salt • ½ teaspoon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment.

Combine milk, tofu, and vanilla in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add quinoa and coconut oil; blend until completely smooth. You want to ensure that there are no little chunky pieces of quinoa in your cake batter.

In a large bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour pureed ingredients into the bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.

Divide batter between baking pans and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before transferring from pans to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Peanut butter frosting

Ingredients

113 grams • coconut oil, softened • ½ cup

256 grams • peanut butter • 1 cup

45 grams • full-fat coconut milk • 3 tablespoons

240 grams • powdered sugar • 2 cups

2 grams • salt • ¼ teaspoon

Instructions

Place coconut oil in the bowl of an electric stand mixer; beat until smooth. Add peanut butter and beat until smooth once more. Add remaining ingredients and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

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Peanut butter chocolate ganache

Instructions

113 grams • nondairy chocolate, finely chopped • 4 ounces

Pinch salt

120 grams • coconut milk, full-fat • ½ cup

14 grams • coconut oil • 1 tablespoon

22 grams • light corn syrup • 1 tablespoon

16 grams • peanut butter • 1 tablespoon

Instructions

Place chocolate and salt in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, whisk together remaining ingredients. Heat over medium-low heat until all ingredients are thoroughly combined and the edges of the mixture are beginning to bubble. Pour over chocolate and let stand for a minute. Whisk until thoroughly combined, about 2 more minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

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Peanut butter cups

Ingredients

113 grams • nondairy chocolate, chopped • 4 ounces

32 grams • peanut butter • 2 tablespoons

Instructions

Place miniature cupcake wrappers in 8 miniature cupcake tins. Melt chocolate over very low heat in a small saucepan, stirring consistently. Spoon a bit of chocolate into each tin, filling it about 1/3 of the way up; add a dab of peanut butter, then top off with more chocolate. Freeze cups until firm.

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Assembly

Ingredients

Gluten-free chocolate cake

Peanut butter frosting

Peanut butter chocolate ganache

Peanut butter cups

Instructions

Place chocolate cake on a cutting board or other frosting surface. Spread a good amount of peanut butter frosting on top of the cake and place the other layer on top. Frost the entire cake and pipe little dollops of frosting around the edges with a large star tip. Place a peanut butter cup on top of each dollop. Pour ganache on top, letting it drip down the sides of the cake all pretty-like. Slice and munch.

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OODLES AND OODLES OF PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE!

It’s not like you’ve ever seen any cakes as dramatic and glorious (there goes my hyperbole resolutions) as this, but in an attempt to give you your daily links! to other blog posts! I’ve included some other peanut-buttery and possibly chocolaty treats you may enjoy.

Chocolate peanut butter swirl bread. What your French toast dreams are made of.

Peanut butter zucchini bread with homemade peanut butter chips. Once you go to homemade PB chips, you’ll never go back.

Peanut butter and jelly Oreos. An interesting but good Oreo flavor.

Apple peanut butter cheesecake with sautéed apples. Very creamy and filled with that sweet peanut butter flavor.

Oh! And one more thing—I’m entering this very fine recipe into a chocolate contest hosted by Torta Della Figlia, a very fine Polish dessert blog. See more about the contest here.


20 comments:

  1. I love your vegan peanut butter chocolate cake recipe! I'm mouthwatering right now! Dying to give your recipe a try!

    Thanks for entering my contest!

    Have a wonderful evening!

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    1. Thanks so much! I am very excited for the contest :)

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  2. This looks freaking incredible and I am going to make it.

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    1. Yay! Tell me how it comes out! Maybe leave a picture...? *hint* :D

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  3. "Big, bold, and beautiful" are definitely the words I would use to describe this!!

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  4. ...why... why is there a link on human porn? Do.. Do i click it? I don't want to click it... but I usually click on your links because it's funny. I... think I'm gonna scroll past that one and instead, I'm going to look at the pretty pictures of the cake.

    Ahhh yes. Perfection. Good luck with the contest, hope it wins! -It's totally gonna win-

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    1. Haha don't worry, it's just pictures of people's faces. Sorry if I spooked you. And I sure hope it wins, would make my cake coma after making this worth while :)

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  5. Hahaha I loved this post!
    I agree with you, whenever I heard someone in my old work talk of business as "sexy" I was wondering what the earth was coming too.... It is sad that so many words get turned around and used completely the wrong ways these days...
    But thankfully we have June to keep us straight, and see to it that we make and consume environmentally friendly cakes, which is the best excuse for going back for a second slice! This cake looks amazing! x

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    1. Haha yes, I try my best...just trying to stand for the common good here! :D

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  6. WOW! this looks amazing. i am very eager to try out this peanut butter frosting!!

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    1. Thank you! The frosting is definitely one of the better ones I've made, so rich and fluffy at the same time :)

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  7. You are blowing my mind with this cake. Usually I see vegan baked goods and I think MUST MAKE but when wheat flour is the first ingredient....that pretty much rules that out. I really never would have guessed that this was gluten free and vegan (really. look at how fluffy and moist that cake is!) which is the best thing a gf/v can can be. :)

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    1. Thank you! You should totally try it, it's such a fun cake to make :) tastes even better too!

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  8. This cake has me desperate to reach into the screen and grab a big chunk. Totally amazing looking recipe. If you had a spare moment, I would be delighted if you'd drop this (and anything else you'd like to share) by at the #PureBlogLove anything goes link party! You can find me here: http://picnicnz.blogspot.co.nz/

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  9. You, June, I can't handle. You make me laugh! My eyes almost fell out of my head when I saw all the links to porn. I had to take a peek at earth porn. I'm pretty let down. I thought it was going to be something magical. Back to this beautiful cake. It's amazing. I love the super thick layer of frosting in the middle of your cake. I always set out to make an overly thick frosting layer in the center and then I look at my bowl of frosting and get scared I won't have enough to frost the entire cake. lol I need to be more of a risk taker. Thanks for linking this treasure up to the Sunday's Recipe Wrap-up!

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    1. Haha thanks so much! Don't worry about those links, I'd never link *actual* porn on here. It's all just pretty pictures. And about frosting--honestly if I ever think I'm going to run out of frosting I just go ahead and make more. This recipe, though, makes plenty of frosting! :)

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  10. Oh my goodness, this looks amazing! Thank you so much for sharing, I love peanut butter and chocolate together : )

    Kathryn | nimblenote.blogspot.com

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    1. Yup, it's pretty much the perfect combination of flavors :)

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