Sunday, June 2, 2013

The Rose and Cake

No, the blog title has nothing to do with a new pub opening around here.

Since several of my boyfriends like my garden pix, here is a new one for you.


My rose bush (heh heh heh, I said bush) just flowered in all the heat we had this past week.  No red hot pokers (heh heh heh) yet; they are running late.  Kelly's are probably dead by now.

I am waiting for my pincushion plant to bloom later this summer.

Now for the cake part.


Home made (no box mixes in this house!  and no wire hangers either!) chocolate cake hot outta da oven.  What's NOT in it?  Milk, butter, eggs, high fructose corn syrup, artificial anything, preservatives, additives.  You can pronounce all the ingredients and I made this cake for about $1.  BOO YAH!  Totally vegan!  This cake does not last very long around here!

What's in it?

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (e.g., hershey’s)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white (or apple cider) vinegar
1/3 cup light olive oil (or canola, sunflower, etc.)
1 cup cold water
  1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. spray an 8 x 8 x 2 square pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  3. dump all ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
  4. pour batter into pan.
  5. bake 55 minutes until a tester comes out clean. your oven, YMMV.

16 comments:

  1. That cake does indeed look good!

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    Replies
    1. well, perhaps YOU could make it for your family? think of cake baking as a chemical engineering project. and you can frost it if ya want.

      I have my eye on a t-shirt: "baking is science for hungry people." BOO YAH!

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    2. I actually do like baking and making candy. (The kids were floored the first time they saw me working in the kitchen. They had no idea.) Nothing beats the texture of a home-made cake.

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    3. damn str8 (or gay)! your kids need to discover famous male chefs, such as james beard and patrick feury.

      and yeah, the texture of a home made from scratch cake is FABU!

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  2. Sooooo, you have a beautiful house, lovely garden, you can cook and have a talented husband (he is a good writer). How do you spell l u c k y ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. luck of the draw, perhaps? we have only been in the house 13 years, the garden was planted by the previous owners, I can bake well (spouse can cook), and I answered spouse's ad (M seeking F) in a local paper.

      hee hee!

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  3. Oh my! Cake that I can eat! Looks gooooood!

    Peace <3
    Jay

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. try baking yourself one, jay! you cannot screw it up, it's so damn easy!

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  4. Thanks for sharing the recipe, AM! I'm not much of a cook, but I'll give this cake a try! :-)

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    Replies
    1. O-TAY! bet your mom would like this too! smooches!

      PS - what you mean you're not much of a cook? who makes dee-lish pizzelles every year?

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  5. Love the garden picture and will definitely try that recipe. I'm a "natural" man myself. Hate artificial and corp syrup. My body rejects that crap. What kind of icing do you use?

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  6. I think I’ll try this recipe but I may have to alter it a bit for high altitude.

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    Replies
    1. knock yourself out, honey! this is why I like baking, cause I take a recipe and experiment with it. I do that with knitting patterns also. it's FUN to color outside the lines!

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  7. My mother was quite into easy -do cooking, but she always made cakes from scratch, for reasons I don't know. But I still think 'proper' cakes are made from scratch, yes.

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    Replies
    1. proper cakes ARE made from scratch; box cakes taste like the box in which they arrived. besides, how did people bake before box mixes came along? SCRATCH!

      and don't get me started on box mix preservatives. and I always like more vanilla than the recipe calls for. I even tweaked your "spo cocoa" recipe to my liking!

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