As i can...

So i am posting as i can and i have different cakes to post tonight and hopefully catch up a bit.

Tonight i am baking a variation on last night's cake which was a variation on Sunday's cake.

Sunday i was out in Washington Township, NJ at the family home of Sara Valentine.  She is there sorting, cleaning, packing and pitching stuff. Her Dad moved to Florida in with Sara's sister and the house needs to be dealt with.

i am out there because i wish i had had a friend to be there with my while my sister and i were doing the same in September.

The Valentine's have been in that house for 40 some years and it was the store house for many people and many generations.

Finding Sara's Nana's Blood Donation and Voter Registrations Cards, her brother Michael's first grade primer, her Mom's Girl Scout Troop leader files and lots of dusk, drek and mouse poop!

We avoided falling into the excavation site. Friends of Michael's are trying to find the rumored Civil War canon purported to be buried in the root cellar. i avoided several concussions after Sara bonked me in the head and i slid down the stairs.

Anyway before all this happened i made a cake.

Before i made a cake i made dinner.

Dinner was a blending of comfort food and dredged possibility.

i found some Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in the car. (Sara had the Velveeta kind which i refused to consider) And i found some Danish Mussels in a can.  Sara had a package of sliced mushrooms and some Chard.
i had brought an onion from Morgan's kitchen and so we were off.

Sauteed Mushrooms with Chard and Mussels

and

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese with Mussels

Served with some Red Wine.  Surprisingly delicious and satisfying.

For dessert:

A Banana Cake

1/2 cup Coconut Oil
whisked and then slowly is added
1 cup sugar.
1 nice ripe banana
1 teaspoon Vanilla ( i actually forgot this and the cake was still very yummy)
Try to incorporate as much air into this as you go along.

In separate bowl
2 cups Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix into Oil/Sugar mixture
Dry ingredients in about 5 goes
alternating with
1 cup Soy milk

Pour into a greases and floured pan.
Bake in a preheated 375 oven for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick or clean knife comes out clean from center.

It was SOOOOO Yummy!

On Monday when i got back to Morgan's in West Philly i attempted another version.

Ginger Squash Cake

5 Tablespoons Grape seed oil
1/4 Malted Barley Syrup
1/4 Honey
whisked together
it'll slowly come together and then you can start incorporating air into it and you'll see it get stringy and lighter in color.
Add 1/2 cup mashed Thanksgiving leftover Ginger Squash

(This was probably my first misstep)
i prepared 1/2 teaspoon flax seed with 1/2 cup water in a blender.  First blending the flax seed then adding the water.
Then i added it to the wet ingredients.

In a separate bowl

i blended 2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Then i added the dry ingredients alternately in 5 goes with
1 1/2 cups homemade almond milk.

(This was probably my 2nd mistake, the Almond milk was really cold straight from the fridge.)

Poured into a greased and floured pan and baked in a preheated 375 oven for 30- 35 minutes.

Well it was heavy and not sweet though the squash flavor was nice and the cinnamon could be hinted at.)


Tonight's version i came up with after consulting with Caleb.

Also i had to improvise because of circumstances and Morgan reminding me of things that needed to be used.

i told Caleb about last night's efforts and results and he suggested a couple things and we came up with a couple more during the conversation.

First off forget about the Flax.
2nd more lift is needed so use Baking Soda in some proportion to baking powder
3rd reduce liquid.

Some of the other things were to dissolve the syrup and honey in the liquid so it could be incorporated more easily.
Add some sugar for structure.
Adjust liquid amounts because squash in different than banana

Oh and other things too.

Here is the recipe which evolved over the making because we ran out of both Grapeseed Oil and Olive Oil.

Second Leftover Ginger Squash Cake

In a small sauce pan heat
1 cup homemade Almond Milk
1/4 cup Malted Barley syrup
1/4 honey
Blend it all together, don't cook it. Just get it warm enough to blend in the gooey stuff. Set aside to cool.

3 Tablespoons of Grapeseed oil
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil (poured off the top of the Tahini Jar)
3/4 cup mashed leftover Ginger Squash
This i slowly heated up to take the chill out of it.
At this point Morgan reminds me he set aside the pulp from juice making this morning! Carrot-Apple pulp.
So i add in:
1 cup Carrot-Apple pulp.

In a separate bowl mix well
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 brown rice flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Make "3" holes in the dry ingredients.
that is i dump the oil/squash/carrot-apple mush on one side
make a small hole for
1 teaspoon Vanilla
another small hole for 1 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
and then pour in the sweet liquid.

Stir quickly to incorporate and wet all the ingredients and pour into a greased and floured pan.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for 30 -35 minutes or until done.

It is now just out of the oven and looks MARVELOUS! High rise, good aroma! Springy to touch!
Will let it cool for a few more and then taste it.