Tuesday, August 31, 2010

All is fair in food and love... and improvisational recipes

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After more than ten years of dormancy, I have baked again. Cake for a surprise birthday celebration... like more than two months early... LDR, sigh!

I have significantly revised this recipe... this is what I actually used:
(1) 1 pack TJ's Vanilla Cake Mix
(2) 8 (~1" by ~1"by ~0.2") squares of 70% cocoa dark chocolate
(3) About 200ml of assorted nuts
(4) 3 large eggs
(5) ~1 cup (organic?) vanilla soy milk

I crushed the chocolates and nuts (butter substitute) and mixed everything... one ingredient at a time at andante pouring rate. The cake batter felt starchy and thick (like really thick puke, I thought). I added another egg because the cake mix was more than I expected. :-P

Took about 45 minutes at 350 degrees F and 10 more minutes at 250 degrees F. It has the consistency between a cake and a cookie. I think it was the extra egg... maybe I'll call it a cakie. :-P Actually, it's most like a giant muffin. Giant muffin!

No fruits went in the oven because I like to preserve their vitamins. I added them on after the cakie's been completely baked. In lovely geometric patterns. With subtle 90-degree rotational quasi-symmetry (quasi because my makeshift cake pan is not exactly a rectangle...)

Didn't come out too badly I think...