In a perfect world, we'd eat cake for breakfast every day and still be as skinny as Chloe Coscarelli, the sun would shine rainbow light onto vegan pixie fairies and the trees would bear vegan soft pretzels and the quick-checks at the end of your street would sell earth balance cheeze puffs and dunwell donuts. Alas, we dont' live in my vegan utopian society. My kitchen is close though, right?
Say you did eat cake for breakfast. Every day. Maybe you'd feel a little more wholesome about it if some normal breakfast staples were tucked into the cake, thus deeming it appropriate for breakfast consumption? Maybe not. But for us cakeaters, we make the cake work to fit our needs, morning, noon and night.
When I first began the tea-cake-making saga, I pictured a black tea cake. I pictured it in my wavey bundtcake pan. Then I pictured an old man's face with a sailor's hat on and a cigar jammed in between his teeth and hanging out the side of his mouth saying, "Black like the Seaaa" in a sort of creepy pirate voice. I guess I have a weird imagination.
I tried to make it as black as possible, using the blackest ingredients I had. This recipe calls for black cocoa, but you don't have any of that, so just use regular. It's definitely a breakfast cake, sweetened with fruit and maple syrup, and just a little brown sugar. I can't exactly handle darjeeling tea on it's own-- and I'm a black coffee kind of girl. I like the bitter notes and depth of flavor. But damn. I can't do this one without a little sugar.
It looks more black if I hold it like this...
Black Like the Sea Tea Cake
1/3 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup pitted dates
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups brewed darjeeling tea
2 tablespoons chocolate soymilk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons black cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Spray a bundtcake pan with some nonstick cooking spray
In a blender, blend the pitted dates, blueberries, maple syrup and brewed tea. Blend until very smooth and pour into a mixing bowl. Mix in the brown sugar and oil. Sift in flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together, and once combined, stir in the soy milk. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let cool on the counter before flipping it out of the pan. To flip, place a cake plate on top of the cake. Put one hand on top of the plate and 1 on the bottom of the cake pan. Now quickly but carefully flip so that the cake plate is now on the bottom. Place on a counter and carefully slide the cake pan off. Phew.
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