German chocolate cake brings up weird memories for me. When I was a kid, my sister had a friend over who brought with her a German chocolate cake. Being the little sister, I followed them around the whole time, and observed that a fit of giggles ensued when they began talking about the cake.
“What? Guys, what’s going on? Tell me! What’s wrong with the cake?” I demanded to be informed. If the cake maker put something weird in the cake, I needed to know before I dove in. Even as a kid I knew I couldn’t trust everyone where food was concerned.
My sister gave me a sly, knowing look and said, “Well Katie, it’s not really called ‘German Chocolate Cake.’ It’s called something else.” It took a good deal of back-and-forth and nagging before my sister finally caved. “People call it ‘Better Than Sex’ cake,” she said, and I’m sure an eye-roll came directly after this statement.
From there on out I thought of German Chocolate Cake as naughty, and giggled whenever someone said they liked it. This especially happened when my mom deemed it her favorite cake. I figured she must not know the “real” name*.
Of course, once I realized I loved coconut and started warming up to this “Better Than Sex” cake, I had to kind of get over my childish aversion. Really though, how can you not like a rich chocolate cake smothered in a gooey coconut frosting? I think it’s impossible to dislike this cake, unless you’re a coconut hater, in which case I don’t even know where to start with you.
Actually I DO know where to start; you should just make these muffins without the glaze, because my sister, the ultimate coconut hater, loved them when they were glaze free. The cake is fluffy and chocolatey, and the adorable mini chocolate chips make it so you have rich chocolate bits in every bite. If you’re a fan of “Better Than Sex” cake, you must spread the glaze on top. It’s quick, simple, and absolutely divine for us coconut lovers.
Sometimes Friday hits and I feel like I’ve won something simply because I made it through the week without completely losing it. So…here’s to not losing it!
In this post we’re going to get real about food photography. Teaching myself how to take pictures of food has been one of the most satisfying and fun parts of creating this blog, but as a bit of a perfectionist (ahem, understatement of the century), I can be quite obsessive about my recipe photos. All of you food bloggers out there know that figuring out lighting, props, and surfaces can turn into a half-day project, and that’s before the editing even starts! When I started shooting in RAW and using Adobe Lightroom a few months ago, I would constantly yell for The Beast to come look at my computer so I could show him before-and-after shots.
Note: he’s great at sounding convincingly enthusiastic about white balance adjustments…I have a keeper.
I’m getting ahead of myself here, so let’s start from the beginning. If you haven’t noticed, tomatoes + basil + fresh mozzarella = many of my favorite things in this world, so when my mom gave me the task of making a potato side dish for Easter I immediately knew the fate of those taters. In order to get some pretty pictures for you folks, I made two dishes of the gratin: one for blog shooting (and a cheesy afternoon snack) on Saturday, and one to bring to my parent’s house on Sunday. So organized, I know.
After being broiled to perfection, I set my photo-shoot gratin on a cooling rack on my standard photo-shoot table, and began snapping. After three rounds of shooting, transferring to my computer, reviewing the results, and starting again, I finally found the magical lighting spot. I moved around the table, shooting, adjusting the angle etc. until at one point my elbow hit the cooling rack just enough to knock the rack’s feet off the table, and then, seemingly in slow motion, the gratin dish slid off the angled rack onto the ground in a dramatically loud, over-the-top crash. Real life, folks.
After much screaming from me and assistance from The Beast, the fallen gratin made its way to the trash. On the optimistic side of things, I did have a chance to snap several good [enough] pics before the tragic fall, and because of my habit of eating as I shoot, I can confirm that the gratin is everything I hoped it would be: rich, creamy basil sauce between layers of potatoes that stretch melty mozzarella up and down with every lifted forkful. The grape tomatoes roast and begin to pop in the oven, but fully burst open with sweetness when they enter your mouth.
So…at least I got to eat that before my floor did.
Friday flowers! The Beast’s mom gave us these in our Easter basket this week, and they just make me smile. Yellow is such a happy color, and Minnesota is so grey-scale right now.
I’ve had a huge sweet tooth lately. HUGE. Recently I’ve been just going to Pinterest, typing in “Desserts,” and seeing what happens.
Note: I do NOT recommend doing this.
Per usual, my sweet tooth hones in on two things: chocolate and peanut butter. I don’t even care what the context is; if the party includes chocolate and peanut butter, I’m there.
Take these cookies, for instance, which were the result of a few rounds of kitchen experimentation and dumb luck. I’ve been wanting to make vegan cookies for a while, but felt a bit intimidated by the idea, because there are many things to consider. To help you navigate vegan baking, here are the usual non-vegan ingredients, and their vegan solutions.
Butter: Since butter is a dairy product, it’s clearly not vegan. Vegan cookies require a different source of fat and moisture. Solution: Earth Balance (or other buttery spread) and avocado*.
Sugar: White sugar is often not vegan-friendly, because many US cane sugar refineries use animal bone char in the manufacturing process. Solution: Sucanat (stands for Sugar Cane Natural) is a great substitute for white sugar. It is a bit sweeter than regular sugar, so in these cookies I added extra salt to balance out the sweetness.
Eggs: In non-vegan cookies, eggs bind the ingredients, add moisture, and add some leavening. Solution: Flax eggs for moisture and binding, and a touch of baking powder to help the cookies rise.
Chocolate chips: Most chocolate chips are made with milk or non-vegan sugar. Solution: Buy vegan chocolate chips! Simple.
*After using avocado as a partial butter substitute for cookies last year, I knew it could do the job, but you’re probably looking at me like I’m a crazy person right now, so let’s break it down. Most importantly, these cookies do NOT taste like avocado. The avocado simply takes the place of half the butter/margarine, adds good fats, and fills the cookies with moisture and richness.
Now that we’re done with all the explanations, let’s get to the good stuff; I love a fat cookie, and these fit the bill. They’re super soft, thick, fluffy, cakey, packed with dark chocolate and peanut butter. Prrrrrfection.
I suspect that these cookies can make a believer out of anyone who is wary of vegan baked goods. The Beast, my very non-vegan coworkers, and The Beast’s mom all devoured these cookies, despite their vegan-ness. Whether you are vegan, have a friend who is vegan, or just want a slightly healthier option for your dessert cravings, you must, MUST try these.
