Potluck Vegan Chocolate Raspberry Hazelnut Cake
I hadn't quite decided how I wanted to treat myself on Christmas Eve when a friend invited me to her place for a potluck. What a perfect idea!
We knew it would be a small group of people, and my gem of a hostess had a plan to make most of the meal so I offered to bring dessert!
Plot twist! She is allergic to eggs, dairy, and almonds.
So, this was an opportunity to play around with some vegan baking, something I rarely do. I wanted to make something really special; nothing that felt like a vegan consolation prize would do. After reading a ton of recipes and visiting a lot of new-to-me blogs, this recipe shone through the fog like a beacon from a lighthouse: Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Whipped Chocolate Ganache from Vanilla and Bean. I decided to pair it with Raspberry Sorbet from Saveur, á la mode style.
After securing permission from my hostess, I hit the kitchen!
Planning!
I read the recipe over and over before even doing my grocery shopping. Vegan baking is not my strength, so I wanted to make sure I really had a good sense of things.
The recipe calls for two 6" cake pans. My cake pans are 9" pans, so I decided to double recipe and use three pans. This also meant I wouldn't have to slice the cakes in half; I would automatically have three nicely-sized layers for the cake.
Also, when I went to my local wine shop to buy Frangelico, I found that they were only selling 1.5L bottles. The recipe asks for so little hazelnut liquor, and I don't want a bottle of sweet mixer sitting in my liquor cabinet gathering dust, so I decided to take advantage of the bottle of Chambord - raspberry liquer - already gathering dust on my shelf, and tie the flavors of the sorbet and cake more closely together.
Finally, I didn't purchase the chocolate extract, but replaced it with Chambord, as well.
Baking!
This was such fun!
First of all, the sorbet came together in a heartbeat. It was such a breeze, and such a creamy, sweet, tart treat that paired perfectly with the cake.
Meanwhile, I was very nervous about the cake.
Would it rise? I thought it would: the cider vinegar should activate the baking soda perfectly.
Would it have a nice crumb? I thought it might: the balance of cocoa powder, hazelnut flour, and AP flour should allow for nice air pockets while letting the flavors shine through.
But vegan baking is not my forte, so I put my trust in the recipe, focused on the details, and went for it.
Suffice to say, I'm very proud of how it worked out.
We ate about a third of it at the potluck. My hostess split the leftovers in half, keeping half for herself; so I took a third of the cake home with me, thinking serious thoughts about slicing it up and freezing the slices for treats later down the road. I walked the dog. I fed the dog. I went to bed. I got out of bed, cut myself a slice of cake, and went back to bed to eat it there.
Christmas Eve Deliciousness: accomplished.
