Babycakes Covers the Classics: Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes From Donuts to Snickerdoodles (15 page)

Bread Pudding

To be fair,
bread pudding is an extremely delicious dish that was simply tagged with a terrible name and a rather unfortunate look. As a youngster I could hardly stomach the sight of it, all soggy and sad in its bowl, like a sandwich that had fallen into the pool and then been tossed in the blender. Now that I’m older and smarter, I see the beauty of bread pudding. It’s a day-old visionary’s dream that delivers so much texture and spice it’s suddenly not so hard to understand what keeps it shuffling down through the generations. You can use any bread you choose, just make sure it’s something sturdy.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly brush an 8½-inch square
baking pan with coconut oil and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the bread cubes, cranberries, apples, pecans (if
using), cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt until fully incorporated. Stir in the
rice milk, coconut oil, agave nectar, and vanilla and let stand for 20 minutes. Pour
the mixture into the prepared pan and bake until golden brown, about 35
minutes.

Drizzle with the Vanilla Icing and serve.

Serves 6

Mounds

My dad has a special affection for See’s candy, and he made sure that at least a couple pounds were at the table every holiday. At the end of the day, all that was left were a few coconut pieces with a tiny, investigative corner bitten off. These days, though, I’m putting coconut on just about everything (see
Dressing Up Your Donut
). This recipe is inspired by the coconut delights that See’s is famous for everywhere except my parents’ house. Here, too, are a couple quick tips for melting chocolate: (1) Make sure there’s no water in your bowl before you melt the chocolate or it will separate and be gross, and (2) if you are a microwave user, you can zap the chocolate chips for 30 seconds on high, then stir until the chips are melted.

Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine 2¼ cups of the powdered sugar, the agave
nectar, rice milk, coconut oil, salt, and vanilla and stir with a rubber spatula
until incorporated. Add the shredded coconut and stir until fully combined.

Dust a work surface with the remaining ¼ cup of powdered sugar. Place
the coconut mixture on the sugar and roll it around to coat it. Transfer the mixture
to one of the baking sheets and, using the palms of your hands, press down until the
mixture is about 1 inch thick. Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Using a melon-baller, scoop the coconut mixture into your palm one scoop at a
time. Form the mixture into a small rectangle and arrange it on the second baking
sheet. Repeat until all the coconut mixture is used. Return the coconut squares to
the freezer for 20 minutes more.

Meanwhile, put the chocolate chips in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and melt over
low heat. Using two forks or chopsticks, roll each coconut rectangle around in the
chocolate to coat. Put the mound back on the baking sheet and repeat with the
remaining coconut and chocolate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and serve.

Makes 24

BRACE YOURSELF: I REALLY WENT FOR IT IN THIS CHAPTER,
and I’ll tell you why. A cake is, above all other baked items that will make their way out of your oven, a glorious centerpiece. It’s your handsomely garnished Thanksgiving Day spread or an enormous pot of veggie chili on a winter’s evening. It’s the Christmas tree and your prom dress and your brand-new, radically altered hairdo. You have the entire room’s attention. I’m here to ensure that you take the opportunity to make everyone in attendance acknowledge you as a certified kitchen genius.

For this reason, some of the recipes here fall on the more difficult end of the BabyCakes NYC Piece of Cake rating system. I recommend you try the simpler ones first, but I want to also note that the kitchen is no place for cowardice. The fact that you’re holding this book now is reason enough to believe you can pull together an Italian rainbow cake, or an indulgently rich German chocolate tower, or even an excellent and aesthetically pleasing ice cream cake for that matter. But just in case, I added a sky-scraping chocolate cake with raspberry preserves that is completely klutz-proof.

ITALIAN RAINBOW CAKE

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

ICE CREAM CAKE

SIX-LAYER CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH RASPBERRY PRESERVES

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Italian Rainbow Cake

In New York there is no shortage of Italian bakeries, and as a rule I try to poke my head in as many as possible to peek at the offerings. Italians are creative masters, and of course it’s always the
Italian rainbow cake that first catches my eye. Probably I’m just hypnotized by a cool color palette, like a puppy watching TV. When choosing your preserves for this one, spend a little extra on the good organic stuff. The success of your cake depends on it! If you are allergic to almonds, omitting the extract won’t compromise your cake.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line three 8-inch round cake pans with
parchment paper and lightly coat with coconut oil. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, potato starch, arrowroot, baking
powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt. Add 1¼ cups of the coconut oil,
the agave nectar, applesauce, vanilla, the almond extract, if using, and the hot
water. Stir with a rubber spatula until the batter is smooth.

Divide the mixture evenly among 3 medium bowls. Add several drops of one food
coloring to each bowl and mix until the color is evenly distributed and to your
liking.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 12 minutes, rotate, and bake
until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 15 minutes more. Let
cool in the pans on a rack for 30 minutes. Run a knife along each cake’s
edges to remove it from the pan.

To assemble, place the green cake layer on a serving plate. Spread the
raspberry preserves over it. Place the yellow cake layer on top of it. Spread with
the apricot preserves. Top with the red cake layer and pour the chocolate sauce on
the top and on the sides, spreading it evenly over the entire cake with a rubber
spatula.