Baking is a Passion

So, I'll admit, the one thing I have tried to avoid doing during this first week of my adventure is bake. I have a love for baking that goes pretty deep, but the idea of baking vegan is something that seemed intimidating and a little scary to me, but today I decided to break that wall down and try baking one of my all time favorite desserts, and the dessert that I get asked to make for people all the time, and try it vegan.

It. Was. Awesome!

I decided that I would share with all of you this wonderful recipe that I love so much. Yes, I cheated this time and got gluten free cake mix, because living in Alaska it was the cheaper option, and easier for the time constraint that I was under.

Once the cakes were baking I made the raspberry sauce for the middle of the cake. All that took was a bad of frozen raspberries in a pan to reduce them. Once there was a 50/50 ratio of still whole berries to juice I added 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup organic sugar and let that simmer for a few minutes. Then I put that in a bowl and stuck it in the fridge to cool.

Next I put together the frosting. After spending about 20 minutes on Pinterest I found one that I decided to try, and let me tell you, it was the most amazing chocolate buttercream frosting I had ever tasted, and it was totally vegan. I can't do it justice, so I will share the link to the frosting recipe below.

http://www.picklesnhoney.com/2014/10/08/how-to-make-vegan-buttercream-frosting/

Besides looking at and trying their frosting recipe you should also take a look at the Pickles and Honey blog, it's awesome!

Once the frosting was done I kept it at room temperature to keep it smooth. Pulled the cakes our of the oven and stuck them in the freezer for about 30 minutes. After that I put the raspberry sauce in the middle of the two cakes and frosted it and stuck it back in the freezer until I was ready to serve it. It was SO GOOD!!!

Took it to work today and it was a winner. So happy that my first try baking totally vegan was a complete success. :)

One new adventure down, many more to go :)