Chloe Coscarelli | The Veg Way

Well I’ve reached a milestone, 100 blogs. Yippee! To celebrate, I baked you all a cake. Unfortunately some of you won’t be able to taste it. I will do my best to resist the urge to enjoy it all to myself and share it with as many people as possible.

And a big thank you to all who’ve supported my blogging endeavors. I look forward to creating 100 more recipes in the year to come.

I got the recipe from Chloe Coscarelli’s website. I’ve always wanted to bake a double layer. Mission accomplished!

Chocolate Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups water
1 2/3 cup agave
1 cup canola oil
¼ cup white or apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Frosting

1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips (dairy-free)
1 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 to 5 tablespoons soy, almond, or rice milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix dry.

Mix wet.

Add wet into dry. Do not over mix. Pour batter into 2 greased 9-inch pans.

Bake for 25 minutes and rotate halfway through. Let cakes completely cook before frosting… I was impatient and went ahead to frost and my middle layer disappeared

Making the Chocolate Frosting

Melt the chips in the microwave and let sit for a few minutes. Beat the shortening with a mixer until smooth. Then, add powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon nondairy milk at a time, as needed, until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. Add the melted chocolate chips. Beat on medium speed until combined. Increase speed to high and beat for 2 more minutes until light and fluffy. Add more nondairy milk as needed.

Assembling the Cake

Once the cakes are completely cooled, run a knife around the inside edge of each cake pan to loosen, and gently unmold the cake. Place cakes on a serving plate, and spread a generous layer of frosting on top of the cake. Place the second cake on top of the first and spread a generous layer of frosting on top. I agree with Chloe in leaving the sides unfrosted.

It’s a good thing I took Wednesday off of work and school. It took me a day and a half to make the following menu: sweet potato biscuits, green bean casserole, cauliflower mashed potatoes, savory onion gravy, stuffing/stuffed portobellos, pumpkin pie and baked apples.

The biscuits and potatoes can be found in Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Appetite for Reduction. The biscuits were just, meh, okay, but the potatoes were awesome. The savory gravy was great, kind of sweet, but not overpowering. And green beans needed more liquid and salt (I am horrible with salting things, I never salt anything!) I am not sure what went wrong with the stuffed portobellos, my caps collapsed on me and all of the stuffing fell out And the two desserts were excellent, that pumpkin pie was the best pumpkin pie EVERRRR!