Movin' Movin' Movin'

The Veggie Kitchen will be moving in about a month. As you can see, Helios is tired already. What does that mean right now? Not much. I'm hoping to keep cooking through at least the next couple of weeks. Perhaps the meals will become a bit more eccentric as I use up the wonderful treasures I found in my pantry organization session yesterday (four pounds of red lentils anybody? Anybody?). But this impending move has greatly affected my spring break. We're hoping to move in May sometime, and since April 1st has passed the May apartments are springing up like flowers! I've met with 2 brokers, and I've seen two apartments. Tonight M. and I are seeing three more. And I'm awaiting a possible call to see a fourth in the next hour! It's exhausting this moving thing, and we haven't even started yet.

So, in my downtime between brokers and phone calls and internet searches, I decided to make an old favorite. This recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs and I remember loving it the first time around. Unfortunately this time around wasn't such a big hit. And I don't think that's the recipe's fault, instead I think it is what happens when you A. double a recipe, B. use up older ingredients and C. find out after you've added it that your nutmeg (because you're out of ginger apparently) doesn't smell great. I had hoped this vegan cake would go to M.'s office tomorrow, since he has a vegan coworker who misses out on the usual baked goods I send in. But now I'm not sure. We'll see... perhaps allowing the cake to cool a bit will help.

So, my changes were to use all whole wheat flour since I'm out of all-purpose. I subbed nutmeg (both the not so great and then more fresh grated to try and mask the not so great nutmeg) and a splash of cardamom (because I'm just loving cardamom right now).

If this cake sounds at all appealing to you I urge you to try it, since I think my less then spectacular results were a result of the ingredients.

Coconut Chai Breakfast Cake
Susan V. of Fat Free Vegan

1 cup strong chai tea
1/3 cup uncooked quick (not instant) oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger (use more for a spicier cake)
3/4 cup vegan sugar (I used demerara)
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked coconut, 2 tbsp reserved

Prepare the chai ahead of time by steeping two teabags (I used decaffeinated Tazo Chai) in one cup of boiling water until cool.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

Combine the dry ingredients (oatmeal through sugar) in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the chai, applesauce, vinegar, extracts, and all but 2 tablespoons of the coconut. Mix well, and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the reserved coconut and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.