Ooey Gooey Caramel Apple Blackout Cake, and Happy Blorgthday! and a Giveaway!

This is it, folks! It's desserts for breakfast's one year blorgthday! (blog-iversary?) Woohoo! Even though the blog itself has been live for longer than one year, I posted my first recipe around this time one year ago, which marked the beginning of this wild food-blogging adventure that I've been on.  As you may know, I'm a huge believer in celebrating birthdays in a big way, and so that's exactly what I'm gonna do for the blog, starting with exciting news, a delicious cake, and a fun giveaway in this post!

So first off, the exciting news: desserts for breakfast is now www.dessertsforbreakfast.com!  That's right--the ".blogspot.com" training wheels have now come off, so please make sure to update your bookmarks.  Your feed should transition automatically, but please double check and let me know if you experience any problems.  (And if you aren't subscribed, well--why aren't you?! --> subscribe at the top of that right hand sidebar.)

Now, onto dessert.  Birthdays, of course, necessitate cakes, and I really wanted to pay homage to my first recipe post ever: vegan chocolate pumpkin cupcakes.  I've also been itching to use the bushels of apples that have been populating every corner of every farmers' market, and so here it is--my way of saying "happy birthday" to this blog: ooey gooey caramel apple blackout cake.  (and yes, it's vegan, too!--I've included both vegan and non-vegan options in the recipe.)

Now, originally this cake was to be named the "caramel apple whole wheat chocolate cake," but the moment I turned the cake out of its pan and saw the caramel juices run down its sides and soak into the deep, dark, rich chocolate cake underneath, I knew that the only way to describe this cake was "ooey gooey."  And let me tell you, even though it might not look like the prettiest cake ever, what it lacks in good looks, it makes up for in incredible yum.  The chocolate cake is dense and textured from the whole wheat, and it's perfect for soaking up all of the juices and caramel sauce from the apples on top.  The caramel itself has a generous sprinkling of coarse sea salt in it, and it makes the dark cake underneath the perfect sweetness for devouring and never getting tired of.  (yes, it's quite dangerous for just that reason.)  Digging your fork into this cake is like eating ultra-moist and robust chocolate pudding with baked apples and just enough cinnamon spice inside.  And did I mention it might actually be, um, (somewhat) good for you?  After all, it has fruit and whole wheat in it!  *smiles innocently*

Lastly, for my blog's blorgthday, I wanted to do something to thank all of you wonderful readers and new foodie friends out there who have helped make this year amazing.  Before I started this blog, I was being torn apart at the seams in two directions.  On one side, I had my studies, which I absolutely love, but at the same time, I felt this incredible need and hunger coming from inside to express my creativity through food and photography (though not food photography--that came later).  Without a proper and regular outlet for my food and artistic interests, I was just constantly unhappy and unfocused and questioning what the right path for me was.  After all, every artist needs an audience, no?

So I am so, so incredibly thankful for this community that you all have provided me in my small corner of the world wide internets.  It's been wonderful to have a space I can come to and be able to actually share my creations and passions.  Food photography, even, has allowed me to blend both of my artistic interests into one.  I've had so much fun "meeting" all of you virtually (and in person for some!), and finding like-minded, food- and sugar- and art-obsessed people has been such a godsend.

All that said, here's a little giveaway that I put together to celebrate the blorgthday!  One of my favorite quotes that I try to live by comes from my academic great-great?-grandfather (that would be my advisor's advisor's advisor's advisor): "Life consists of the little things: the important matter is to see them largely."  This lesson is so perfect and applicable when it comes to food, so I've put together a small collection of a few of my favorite little things that make me happy to pass on to you!

I am giving away to one awesomely lucky winner three things:

1. a set of 4 mini latte bowls from anthropologie {because they're so adorable, and I love to use them for, like, everything!)
2. a 12" stainless steel balloon whisk from Sur la Table {because I'm known around these parts as the whipping queen--I insist on whipping all creams and most meringues by hand because it builds the bubbles properly and because it, you know, builds character. :-P There's also something about the rhythmic clack-clacking from whisking that is just so therapeutic for me.}
3. a set of 6 custom 4x6" prints--of your choice!--from the desserts for breakfast archives {because if I can't send you actual desserts, this will be the next best thing!}

The giveaway is now closed. Thanks for participating, and please check back soon for the announcement of the winner!  To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment with your name, a way for me to get in touch with you (anonymous entries will be disqualified), and the answer to this question:

What is one little thing in your daily life that makes you happy?

I'll also give you an extra entry in the drawing if you tweet about this post, but in your tweet, you must mention me (@shihbakes) and include a link to this giveaway (http://bit.ly/dfbbirthday1) so that I can track all of your entries!  You have until 23:59 PST, Sunday, October 3, 2010 to enter. I'll pick the winner at random that night and make the announcement in next week's post, so be sure to check back then!  This contest is open everywhere except where prohibited, but please note that I am not responsible for any import duties or taxes beyond shipping that may be charged by your country if you are overseas.  This giveaway is in no way affiliated or sponsored by anthropologie or Sur la Table.


So, thank you all so, so much for your loyal readership and friendship!  And, this is definitely *not* the end to all of the excitement--I have plenty of things planned for October and the coming months, so here's looking forward to another year of sugar highs and nom-licious desserts!


Read on for recipe....

Vegan Banana Walnut Bread

It's one of those weeks.

You know, one of those crazy, hectic weeks when you have absolutely no time to even eat, let alone sleep?  Yes.  One of those.  The main reason that I've been running around like a chicken with all twenty of my heads cut off is the workshop that we're running this weekend at my "day" job.  It's been one thing after another (and not to mention being stuck in a broke-down car of my friend's for the entire afternoon yesterday! what a waste of time!).

Anyways, the reason I bring up this workshop is because we always have to have breakfast snacks at our workshops.  And, being me, I always insist on *making* the breakfast snacks, just because I think it's a nice touch for those traveling from afar not to have to suffer through store-bought, crap-tastic, overly-sweetened pastries first thing in the morning.  Blech.  One thing that I always make whenever we do these workshops is this vegan banana walnut bread because (1) it's vegan, in case there's anyone with dietary restrictions, (2) it's super easy for me to make, given the crazy weeks I usually have prior to these workshops, and mainly because (3) it's GOOD.

This banana bread recipe is actually the only one that I know.  Why?  Because a good family friend taught me how to make it this way years ago, and I liked it so much that I've never bothered to go looking for a new (even non-vegan) recipe.  It's a great bread recipe--much more bready than your usual overly oily banana "cake-which-passes-as-a-bread"; yet, this banana walnut bread doesn't taste dry at all.  It's also just sweet enough but not over-poweringly so.  And most people are none the wise that it's vegan, unless you tell them.

There isn't so much more to say about this bread.  It's good, it's banana-y, it's studded with roughly chopped walnuts.  For me, it's the perfect slice of breakfast that I'd want at a day-long, mind-boggling conference.  Nice and hearty.  Simple and healthy.  Really good with a tall glass of OJ or a hot mug of coffee or tea (because I'll NEED that caffeine!).

Oh yeah, and btw, check out how sheik my blog is today.  I mean, sailor stripes are so in this season, no?  :-P

I'll be back next week with elaborate and decadent desserts, I promise!

(P.S. Another breakfast item that I always make for these workshops is my meyer lemon lavender pound cake.  Also a slice of heaven in the morning!)

Read on for recipe....

A Sunflower and Pastry Wedding

So here goes the long-awaited post about Maria and Nicholas's fabulous September wedding! I've already been posting recipes from the various desserts at the wedding for a while now (vegan chocolate pumpkin cupcakes, key lime heart pies, pomegranate-basil-vodka cheesecakes), but I have yet to give you all the big picture, so here goes.

This was most definitely my largest order thus far in the history of my little pastry start-up. I not only made Maria and Nick's wedding cake, but also a whole dessert bar! We'll get to that, though. First--the cake.

Chocolate cake

with cherry filling, dark chocolate ganache,

cream cheese frosting, and sugarpaste flowers

Maria is a huge chocoholic, so she most definitely insisted on a chocolate cake, and they wanted cherry, so I decided to make a chocolate cake with dark cherry filling, dark chocolate ganache, and cream cheese frosting on the outside to balance out the darkness inside! (I don't believe in fondant and try to avoid it whenever possible.) The sunflowers were all made by hand out of sugarpaste.

I have to admit, though, as much as I liked the final result with the sunflowers and ducks (Maria and Nick have an awesome rubber duck collection!), the cake looked even better after they had cut into it and taken the first slice. I'm so glad that I was around for it--it makes me feel so special that a couple is eating a cake that *I* made for their special day.


Anyways, so now on to the good part: the dessert bar! I have to say that I love this new trend at weddings. I did another similar dessert bar set-up in August for another wedding, but that one was far simpler and involved a lot more miniature cupcakes. Maria is also a huge tea connoisseur, so she wanted to have a fabulous, miniature pastry spread for everyone to enjoy with tea post-dinner. *Right* up my alley! So I whipped up the most fantastical menu I could think up for them:


Dark chocolate truffles with crushed cacao nibs

Espresso dark chocolate truffles

Amaretto dark chocolate truffles with almonds

Chocolate cupcake with pumpkin buttercream (vegan)

Fresh fruit tart

Pomegranate-basil-vodka cheesecake

Key lime pie

White and dark chocolate dipped strawberries

Lemon pie meringues

Man, was it a spread! Three different types of handmade truffles (for the chocoholics, of course!), cheesecakes, tarts, pies, cookies, tuxedoed strawberries! Everything turned out to be quite a hit, and the desserts really flew off the tables... Yes, that's tables. Here's just one half of the set-up:


*whew* It was so much fun to do a large mini-pastry order like this, I really have to thank Maria and Nick for the chance!

Oh, and before I'm done, a quick peak at those truffles:


(What you see there off to the sides are the lemon pie meringues--basically, the best parts of a lemon meringue pie, minus the crust--and fruit tarts.)

Congrats on your marriage, Maria and Nick!

Vegan chocolate pumpkin cupcakes

This post is an exciting one! since it will be the first time that I'm posting a recipe here on Desserts for Breakfast.  When mentioning and/or talking about my desserts with others, I keep getting asked about my recipes, so by popular demand, I will start including some here in the posts.  The recipes that I post here will be a mix of those adapted from other sources (as noted) and my own.  Please enjoy!

--

For a recent dessert bar order, the host requested that I make a vegan dessert.  I don't do much vegan baking, but when I do, I refuse to compromise in flavor and texture.  I wanted the vegans to have something that even the non-vegans would find scrumptiously delicious and irresistable, so I decided to go with chocolate cupcakes.  I've also been getting fairly excited about the upcoming chilly weather of fall (we're still in the 100 degrees here in California), so I decided to add pumpkin into the "buttercream."

vegan chocolate cake

with pumpkin 'buttercream'

I have to say that this chocolate cake recipe that I tried was so surprising--it totally rivaled even my best non-vegan chocolate cake recipe.  The pumpkin buttercream, however, is a tad sweet, so I would use it with moderation.  I am working on developing a non-vegan pumpkin buttercream that isn't so sweet, so I'll post that when successful.

(btw, these cupcakes were a hit at the wedding.  They were so good that people didn't even know they were vegan and the vegans were shocked to hear that they could eat them.)

Read on after the jump for recipes.

TREND @ Stanford 2009

Lemon poppy seed pound cake with blueberries and vanilla mousse.

Vegan Carrot Cake - (this one's won awards!)

Dark Chocolate Truffles, 3 ways: (from L to R)
Lavendar
Spicy
Blood orange

(also on the menu, but not pictured: pomegranate-basil cheesecakes)