German Chocolate Cake

Our friend Steph is graduating this quarter and one of her favorite treats is the Vegan German Chocolate cake from PCC. This cake is all for her. I've mentioned before that I'm not a baker (exact measuring just isn't my style), but tonight I achieved a huge success... I made my first cake!

I have to admit that I was a little nervous about this process. At the start of this blog, one of my secret goals was to make a cake by the end of the quarter. However, as final papers came and went, I was very thankful I had kept this goal secret (and therefore, was unaccountable to anyone but my own conscience!). Since I now had a purpose for this cake to come into being I had to seize the moment.

I went to the store and indulged in the most unhealthy shopping trip I have ever been on. My cart was full of sugar, oil, cocoa powder, white flour, and corn starch. I had to pick up some Brussel sprouts just to add something green in there. :) Even though I've never put so much sugar into a recipe, it turned out fabulous and everyone at the party loved it.

I looked through a ton of different chocolate cake recipes before I stumbled upon the winner: Joy the Baker's Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake. The cake was moist, rich, and super tasty. The avocado was the perfect ingredient to add healthy fats and the creamy texture. (shhh... don't tell Ashley there's avocado in this... she thought I was kidding when I mentioned it!) The frosting is from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. It's super quick and easy to make - definitely the most effortless part of this whole process. Since this cake has avocado, it should be refrigerated, but I've heard it's even better the next day.

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Avocado
3 cups All-purpose flour
6 Tbsp Unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking soda
2 tsp Baking powder
2 cups Sugar
1/4 cup Vegetable oil
1/2 cup Avocado purée
2 cups Water
2 Tbsp Distilled white vinegar
2 tsp Vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch rounds. Set aside.

Sift together all of the dry ingredients except the sugar. Set that aside too.

Mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl, including the super mashed avocado. Add sugar into the wet mix and stir.Mix the wet with the dry all at once, and beat with a whisk (by hand) until smooth.

Pour batter into a greased cake tins. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cakes cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

German Chocolate Frosting:
1 cup plain soymilk
1/3 cup lite coconut milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water until smooth
2 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

In a medium saucepan, mix the soymilk, coconut milk, sugar, and vanilla together. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Cook for one minute after it boils. Remove from heat and stir in coconut and pecans.

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes (mixture should still be warm) before spreading on cake.

Makes enough for one 2-layer 8-inch cake.