This cake is not pretty.
This cake is not pretty so I almost didn’t share it with you.
This cake is not pretty so I almost didn’t share it with you but it was so amazing that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share it’s beautiful flavors.
This cake is not pretty so don’t expect pretty pictures.
Expect kinda mushy pictures, and a list of things I would do differently next time I make the cake.
This experiment started off with all the best intentions. I was going to take the Chocolate Eclair cake I had seen on Baking Junkie, veganize it and be a hero to everyone around. I could have made the pudding with almond milk instead of dairy, jello pudding is vegan afterall. But I didn’t want all those preservatives in my belly. I was at a loss for creme.
Then Chocolate Covered Katie posted this recipe for Creamy Dreamy Frosting. I declared, I’ll take the soy instead of the unknowns ingredients in the pudding.
I whipped up my recipe below. It was heavily influenced by the recipes above and a recipe for frosting at Elana’s pantry. So how did I end up with this?
- 1 box graham crackers (make sure they are vegan)
- 1½ cup silken tofu
- ½ cup cashew butter
- 4 tbsp agave nectar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup dark chocolate
- ½ cup of vegan margarine
- 2 Tbsp agave nectar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Blend tofu, cashew butter, 4 tbsp agave nectar, 1 tbsp vanilla extract and salt in food processor. You may want to chill to thicken.
- Melt together dark chocolate and margarine, add remaining agave and vanilla. Allow to cool.
- In a square baking dish, layer graham crackers and tofu mixture. Top and bottom layer should be graham cracker.
- Pour still warm chocolate mixture on the top of the dessert. If mixture is cool enough it can be whipped into icing and spread on top.
- Cool dessert overnight.
First off my creamy frosting was a little too liquidy. Next time I would use the silken firm tofu Katie recommends. What can I say, the local grocery store only had silken tofu.
Also, I wanted to pour my frosting onto the cake. Dumb move! I should have let it cooled, whipped it up, and spread it over the graham crackers.
You do want the cake to sit overnight. Part of the intent of this recipe is to soften up the graham crackers and give a cake consistency. You just don’t want your cake to be a leaning tower of Pisa that falls to mush when you lift it out of the pan.
I does have a great personality. It tasted AMAZING. Like little bites of Heaven, I kid you not. But even raspberries couldn’t turn this cake from an ugly duckling to a swan. Some of my prettier recipes are blueberry oatmeal smoothie, chocolate cherry oatmeal, and vegan spinach artichoke dip.
I will probably revise this recipe in the future, but let me know if you have better results.
Have you ever had a visual disaster in the kitchen that tasted amazing?
I'm an engineer, an animal lover, a runner and an ex-rower. I like medical devices, big ships and mountains. This is my journey teaching myself to make healthy foods and explore the world of vegan and vegetarian cuisine.
Not pretty? Are you crazy? It’s gorgeous! But then again, with chocolate and raspberries, that’s not surprising at all!
Your creme made all the difference, it tastes AMAZING! I’ll get it to be prettier someday, but there’s only so much cake a girl and a boy can eat
Miriam recently posted..My not-pretty Vegan Chocolate Eclair Cake
I dunno– I’d still eat it. YUM!
Melissa {adventuroo} recently posted..Dangly Legs
I make a whole lot of ugly–but delicious–food, so I certainly won’t judge! How can cake be BAD?? Despite claims to ugliness, I’d eat it! Those raspberries DO look gorgeous. And I went on a non-photogenic food binge recently with some soups and mushes–mashed beans and soup will just NEVER look that good, no matter how hard I try *sigh*
Allie recently posted..Vegan Weekend
I love that you posted this! And it’s totally not ugly! Trust me, I have made plently of ugly food in my time. Yum – thanks for sharing!
Thank you, it makes me happy that people like my little ugly duckling. Maybe it’s a swan in disguise.