Happy Birthday Missy!

Even though my coteacher, Missy, won't celebrate her birthday officially until Sunday, she's getting her birthday cake tomorrow! She took Friday off to enjoy her birthday weekend, so I wanted her to be able to take her birthday cake home with her to enjoy all weekend long. :) I asked Missy what kind of cake/treat she wanted, and all she said was, "CHOCOLATE!" I can do chocolate! I decided to go with a double recipe of Moosewood's Vegan Chocolate Cake, in three layers. (If you want the recipe, click on the link and scroll down -- it's the fourth recipe.)

I must confess, however, that I SUCK at splitting cake layers. I think I must have a malfunctioning cake-later-splitting gene or something -- I've always managed to completely destroy cakes in the past. So, one day I had a bright idea -- I just bought more cake pans and now bake cakes in individual layers. I own four 9-inch cake pans, but decided to only use three for this cake. I used roughly two cups of batter per pan, and they baked beautifully! (I shortened the baking time, of course.)

Look how rich and chocolatey they appear . . . the magic that is Valrhona cocoa powder. I did also opt for coffee instead of water, per the recipe instructions.

After work, I whipped up a quick Mocha Buttercream frosting using Earth Balance, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and Toddy coffee concentrate. (I know I've waxed poetic about my Toddy in the past, so I'll spare you.) Here's the cake, mid-frosting:


And the completed masterpiece, garnished with a few simple sprigs of mint:


I am so thrilled I was able to so easily and expertly (if I do say so myself) whip together a simple, decadent, homemade treat. AND, it's completely vegan, too! Sugar- and fat-laden, of course, but cruelty-free and (nearly) cholesterol-free!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISSY!

P.S. In unrelated news, I've joined the Daring Bakers Challenge! I'm SOOOOOOOO excited. I can't wait to find out what my first challenge will be!