Cardamom Orange Coffee cake (Vegan)

Oh my, num num.

You know what I love?  A cake batter that I can lick the spoon and a little more without concern of the instilled phobias passed onto me via mom, health class and the FDA.  I know my chicken buddies don't have salmonella - that is rather a factory farm poor care issue.  But the phobia lingers... I still lick the spoon of other cakes because I'm a pig... but still.

No guilt, no fears.

I looked and looked for an orange cardamom cake that sounded nice.  Nothing.  I got excited when I found a link to David Leibovitz' version and then it ended in a broken link.  Cuter, because of his cursing in French error page.  Alas,  no recipe sounded good and Liebovitz couldn't throw me a bone.

I wanted to bring something into the office, yeah I'm on occasion in an office these days.  It is a borrowed space and I like to leave treats in mortal fear that everyone there hates me.  There are a few nut allergies and a few vegans so to please all I made a No nut, no animal product dish.  Here is to hoping they like coffee, oranges and cardamom.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

What you'll need:
All in one bowl, the following:
2 Giant/Large oranges - zest into bowl and then juice well  (To maximize the juice yield from your oranges roll them around on your counter or cutting board until they are squishy then halve and pulverize picking out seeds)
1/2 Cup Olive oil
1/2 -3/4 Cup applesauce
1 and 1/3 Cup vegan sugar
1 TBSP Orange liquor, liquer ( I used some young and not ready yet 44 which has cinnamon,orange and coffee in it )
Whip smooth and add to dry ingredients once they are mixed and complete.

 ***UPDATE***
If it isn't a smooth/gooey pourable mix, then add in a little extra applesauce, water, tea, or liquid coffee to get the consistency to pour.  Since Orange sizes vary so wildly and juicers also do, then the amount of juice yield could be low one time and high the next.

All Dry ingredients in another larger bowl:
3 Cups flour total (Organic if you have it)
    I did 2 Cups unbleached white and 1 Cup whole wheat
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 TBSP coffee ground finely and sieved into the flour
1 tsp cardamom seeds from their pods.  I think about 12 pods?  I forgot to count while cutting them open.  It is a kind of joy to open the cardamom.  I ground the seeds in my coffee grinder with some coffee so the cardamom doesn't dominate my grinder.  If you have a dedicated grinder for spices then go for it.  My spice grinder is used for hot peppers... that and cumin will flavor everything.  So beware.

Nice color with flecks of coffee, and zest. Mmmm

The batter should run off the spoon easily and not have many significant chunks, but no need to beat too much.  It also pulls together so nicely and quickly that it doesn't warrant getting a mixer dirty.

Pour this into an oiled and floured pan.  I used a bundt pan and it took 35 minutes at 375.

Serve warm or the next day with coffee or tea.  I like it warm with the perfume wafting through the room!

Chocolate Schwarzbrot (Blackbread)

This is truly a bread and not a cake.  It is a decadent and lovely bread, but make no mistake it is an adult's delight.  This recipe makes 2 loaves

You'll need:
3 Cups Organic kamut/khorasan flour  - Two names for the same flour.
2 1/2 Cups white unbleached flour
1/2 Cup whole wheat flour
1/2 Scant Cup Cocoa powder
2 TBSP finely ground dark roast coffee I used Italian Roast Stumptown (a local roaster here, chances are there is a good one near you)
1/3 Cup vegan sugar (or demerara or other raw sugar or other less refined) you wont want to skip this little bit as the darkness of the real chocolate needs a hint of lightening and this doesn't make the bread in anyway too sweet.
1 egg both yolk and whites (you can replace with butter or oil but a good sized egg is a perfect amount so it seems a bit more difficult to get right with anything else.  Go easy on oil as it can make your bread a little oily like a cake.)
1 heaping tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
A tiny handful -1/4 Cup of the darkest chocolate chips you can find.  At least 70 % cocoa solids chop and fold in while kneading.

Approx. 2 1/2 Cups Tepid water and 2 heaping tsp yeast
I dissolve the yeast into 2 cups and add water as I go so there isn't too much.  If there is too much just add more flour.

Run all dry ingredients through a sieve or flour sifter.  Do the coffee alone through the sieve so you can throw out any large chunks, you want just the dustiest pieces to go through.

Mix all ingredients.

Turn out dough onto floured surface, knead until nice and elastic.  Cut into two equal pieces. Knead and ball up then let rest on floured surface and sprinkle lightly with flour and cover with a clean towel to rise.  I like to let it rise twice for half an hour at a time.  Knead in a sprinkle more flour and lightly shape to your pan's shape, flour top and cover again for the second rise for another 30 minutes.  Your oven should be preheating at this point to 480-500 degrees. Grease your bread pan.  I used pork fat, but butter or olive oil should work as well.  Bake for 20 minutes (watch it closely and remember the top will look darker than normal bread like it is burned, but it is just the darkness of the ingredients).

Let sit for a couple minutes in the pan and remove by turning over.  Bread should slide out easily.  Knock lightly on the bottom and it should sound hollow.  Done.  Das ist alles!  Let rest for 5 minutes at least!  The center will do a lot of finishing in this time, it is vital.  If you cannot wait and rip into it, at least place cut side down against the board as this will let the rest finish and keeps moisture in. ;)

I served this bread alongside lavender raspberry pork tenderloin and sweet potatoes over rice and a big glass of mead.  This bread is substantial enough to have for breakfast with coffee or a strong tea.

Excellent for cheese sandwiches with some good beer! Not kidding!

So...