ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Some Seriously Domestic Bundt Cake Edition

Here I've brought out my brand new sieve. Hopefully many fond sifting memories shall ensue.

I wasn't about to buy a Bundt pan for this silliness, but luckily my friend Jash had one sitting around that he let me borrow. I floured the interior with cocoa powder — easier said than done.

Oh man. This was some heavy duty sifting action: all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking soda — the works.

Unsurprisingly, a mess was made.

Post-siftage macro shot!

That's good sift!

Next came the wet ingredients: orange juice, balsamic, vanilla extract, water. The recipe called for soy yogurt, but I decided to stray from the tenets of veganism and used normal yogurt instead. How rebellious.

The recipe also called for orange zest, which thus precipitated the use of my brand new zester. It may seem a bit ridiculous to purchase a zester, but I'm sick of dealing with tiny graters and microplanes, especially after having cut my thumb on one earlier this week.

Besides, the zester worked like a charm. It's my new favorite gadget.

Anyway, I mixed it all together, blah blah blah.

Then I poured it into the Bundt pan.

Thirty five minutes later at 350 degrees, I was proud to report that the cake had indeed risen.

All signs pointed to success.

But now the moment of truth...

Ta-da! Perfect Bundt!

Next it was time to make the glaze. Here I've got sugar and cocoa powder, ready to be mixed with orange juice.

The aforementioned orange juice.

For a second glaze, I mix only sugar with orange juice.

The chocolate glaze goes on first.

And then I apply the more suggestive second coating of glaze.

I'd never glazed anything before. I was quite proud of my work.

At last, it was time to try this chocolaty creation.

In the absence of a proper cake knife, I used a significantly more severe implement to get the job done.

Success!

My humble slice.

My friends Julie and Greg came over to sample the cake as well. I let Julie take over camera duty while I prepared slices.

Hamming it up with the presentation.

Further slicing excitement. You'll notice I've since downsized to a less lethal knife.

Excitement mounts.

Before taking a bite, I appear to have fallen into a zombie-like vegan trance.

Final result: pretty good... for a vegan cake.

Considering this was a fat free concoction, I'd have to say this recipe was very good. The cake was moist, flavorful, and generally pleasant. On the down side, the orange was a bit too strong, and the general flavor resembled more a coffee cake or a pound cake than a traditional cake. It could have used some chocolate chips in the batter to really bring the chocolate flavor out a bit more. Ultimately, this dish was a far cry from the rich, chocolaty goodness of fat-laden, non-vegan Bundt cakes (the high benchmark being Costco's notorious offering). As much as I like the concept of a fat free and cholesterol free dessert, I think in the future, I'll probably eschew this recipe in favor of a more decadent cake. Those of you trying to be healthier than me, however, should certainly give this cake a whirl and see if it's up your alley. I should add it was extremely easy to bake.