Chocolate Skillet Cake

VNV Nation is the official dishwashing music of Gothic Granola.



 

There's nothing particular about Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson's synthpop that makes me want to wash dishes; their music has a way of keeping up my momentum. I don't have any issues with dishwashing motivation, but I like music while I work.

Why Pandora thought I should revisit my "old favorite" station that I created last year, I don't know. Perhaps I had a pile of dishes in the sink.

 

My brother is in DC today, celebrating his birthday, and I am mad jealous. We were chatting recently on the Interwebs how we both had "mad DC feels" since we both live outside (welllllllll outside) of the DMV area. I don't think I could tell him to go to Spellbound and dance to a song for me. The first time I went to Spellbound, some preppies were trying to petition for Goth-prep unity (and no cover). "Is this a leather event?" I heard one chick say, as my date and I walked by with motorcycle gear. Uh-huh. This is why we don't mix the mainstream with the subculture, people, at least not without proper education first. Anyway.

 

TC also says I can't refer to the household as "Gothic Granola" since he's not part of the GG entity. Whatever.

 

So you think you can't mix paleo and veganism? Guess again! This recipe said there was no substitute for eggs, but sticky rice flour and psyllium husk go a long way (and the final product is not paleo, but I was out of tapioca or arrowroot starch). The instructions also advised against freezing the cake. If I had put strawberries on top, they'd melt when the cake was defrosted, but since I left the cake plain (kind of like a brownie), I decided to live dangerously and froze the last piece.

Chocolate Skillet Cake/Brownie

Veganized from Healthful Pursuit/Spunky Coconut

• 1 tablespoon solid coconut oil for the skillet


• 1 cup nondairy milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond)


• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar


• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted


• 2/3 cup warm water


• 3 tablespoons psyllium husk


• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (or cacao nibs!)


• 1/2 cup coconut sugar

 

• 1/2 cup almond meal


• 1/2 cup coconut flour


• 1/4 cup sticky rice flour (substitute 1/4 cup arrowroot or tapioca starch to be paleo)


• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum


• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt


• dash cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in the skillet and place the skillet in the oven to preheat.

In a high-speed blender or food processor, blitz the nondairy milk, vinegar, melted coconut oil, warm water, psyllium husk, cocoa, and coconut sugar until uniformly combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, xanthan gum, leavening, and salt.

Add wet to dry and mix well (don't leave dry patches like me).

Remove preheated skillet from oven, swirl around the melted coconut oil, and spread cake batter into pan.

Return pan to the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched.

Cool in the pan for 30 minutes before removing to a plate to cool completely. You may need to loosen it with a spatula to get it out of the pan.

 



 

Served with TC's strawberry compote!

 

 

Strawberries are unfortunately not friendly to my bro. If you see the older, taller, male version of me (I used to be called mini-James) in DC tonight, give him a 27th-birthday pat on the back.