Have Your Cake and Vegan Too (31 page)

CHAPTER 6

No-Bake Cakes

Cake . . . but not from an oven. Impossible, you say? Think again! Using your trusty rice cooker, slow cooker, or even a stovetop pot, you can make delicious cakes in as little as 30 minutes, or you can let the aroma fill your house over the course of a day if you slow cook a cake for dessert. Anything goes with these unbaked beauties!

 

INGREDIENTS

1
^½
cups
all-purpose flour
^¾
cup
organic granulated sugar
1 teaspoon
ground cinnamon
^½
teaspoon
ground ginger
^1/4
teaspoon
ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons
baking powder
^1/4
teaspoon
salt
^1/3
cup
unsweetened applesauce
^1/4
cup
canola or other mild vegetable oil
^½
cup
nondairy milk
^½
teaspoon
vanilla extract
^2/3
cup
chopped cranberries,
preferably fresh or frozen,
or
^1/3
cup dried
1 recipe
Basic Glaze (page 130)

 

DIRECTIONS

 

Lightly grease the inside of your rice cooker pot.

 

In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, combine the applesauce and oil. Add the milk and vanilla and mix until combined. Incorporate half the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, blending until just mixed, then repeat with the other half. Gently stir in the cranberries. Spread the batter evenly into the rice cooker pot.

 

If your rice cooker is very basic, just select start. If you have more options, cook on the setting you would use to make white rice. Cook for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the toothpick doesn't come out clean, let it cook for 5 minutes longer and check again. Remove the pot from the rice cooker and let the cake cool in the pot on a cooling rack. Once the cake is completely cool, run a butter knife around the edge of the cake and invert onto a platter. Pour the glaze over the cake and let it sit for 10 minutes to set. Store leftover cake loosely covered at room temperature.

 

SERVINGS:
8 to 10

 

INGREDIENTS

1
^½
cups
all-purpose flour
^1/4
cup
baking cocoa, sifted
^¾
cup
organic granulated sugar
1
^½
teaspoons
baking powder
^½
teaspoon
baking soda
^1/4
teaspoon
salt
^¾
cup plus 2 tablespoons
nondairy milk
^1/4
cup
canola or other mild vegetable oil
1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
^1/3
cup
chocolate chips
1 (21-ounce) can
cherry pie filling

 

DIRECTIONS

 

Lightly grease the pan inside a 4- to 5-quart slow cooker.

 

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well to combine. Create a well in the middle of the mixture and add the milk, oil, and vanilla. Combine the mixture until it is just mixed. Add the chocolate chips and then swirl in the cherry pie filling; you don't want to incorporate it completely, but to leave it more like a swirl. Spread the batter evenly into the slow cooker.

 

Cook with the lid on for 5 to 6 hours on low heat, or for 2
1/2
to 3 hours on high. Warning: Because this cake is dark, if the inside of your slow cooker is also dark, you may get some blackening on the edges if you cook on high heat. Condensation from the lid can cause the center of the cake to look uncooked, even when it's done, so don't be deceived.

 

The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, with no cake crumbs (there might be some juice from the cherries). Remove the container from the slow cooker base and let it cool on a cooling rack. This cake is best served warm, from the slow cooker dish, but it holds up fairly well overnight. Store covered in the refrigerator.