BLACKSTRAP!!

i got cakes on cakes, man.
that's no joke.
when i want a cake,
i just make and bake a cake.
it's that simple.
i mean, c'mon,
who's going to tell me not to cake it up?
right?
so, when the feeling takes hold, the oven gets preheated,
and cake becomes a matter of fact.
in september, we use a lot of apples.
that's a thing that happens, because september is apple season, guys.
rules is rules.
and apples on cake is a good look.
i made myself a thing.
a damned good thing, actually.
and it came out better than i'd have anticipated, if i was the sort to anticipate.
what do you know about spice cakes?
me neither, but i think this is sort of that.
check the teleport:

THE SPICY SPICES THAT AREN'T CALIENTE AT ALL, Y'ALL.
mmmhmmm.
apples and ginger,
cinnamon and allspice and nutmeg,
and a big ol' glug-up of blackstrap molasses.
y'gotta put the fancy to it.
for realsies, or else you're just effing around.
and who wants frivolous cakery?
not me.
i want the superfancy unnecessary jauns, but not the superfluous frippery.
that's the truth.
you wanna do a spice-up cake bake too?
ok.
here's what happened, feel fee to recreate, or not:
-
*
GINGER-MOLASSES APPLE-TOP CAKE!
-
preheat your oven to 350℉
-
in your stand mixer, whisk together:
1 stick (8T) earth balance buttery spread;
1/2 tsp salt;
3/4 cup light brown sugar;
2 tsp vanilla;
3/4 cup non-dairy yogurt;
combine thoroughly, and whip in:
1 cup non-dairy milk.
then add:
2 1/2 cups a.p. flour;
4 T tapioca flour;
1/4 cup molasses;
2 tsp bakey kapowder;
1 tsp baking soda;
1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/2 tsp nutmeg.
mix until aerated completely, and pour into a 9"springform
(a.k.a the go-to single layer Folk Life cake circle.)
top it off with a ring of overlapping sliced apple,
and activate all the big crystal sugar sprankles.
*
sidebar:
i've found that pithy apples bake better on top of a cake.
crisp ones just get rubbery, but open-cell fleshed F*ers get rad, instead.
try a couple of your own, and decide for yourself,
i'm just sayin' about what i think to be true and preferable.
word up.
*
bake that baby-b!tch on convection, if you've got it, for roughly 40 minutes or so.
hey, maybe try the center, and make sure it's all-the-way-done, after 35 minutes, man.
turn off your oven, take out that cake, and let it cool.
when it's no longer a piping hot fluffbomb, decorate the top, if that's how you get down.
it's how i get down, no doubt-
heck,
i freaked it off with my signature cinnamaple betterthanevercreme frosting,
because MORE sweetness is good for you.
and anyway,
too much is the right amount.
that's a thing.
the crumb on this was akin to a fluffy muffin.
i did not expect that, but i sure was excited about it.
the sugar on top caramelized in places,
and stayed spranky in others,
so that the apples had alternate patches of sweet crispness,
and even sweeter squish melted across their surface...
all in all,
i give this autumnal treat a gold medal,
and i'll likely make it again.
that's a vibe!
***********
we've got weird patches of work to do.
bursts, i guess you could call them.
when it's busy, it's more than we can manage in the time allotted.
when it's slow,
there's still tons to do.
the only issue is that art-making is fully immersive,
and much harder to stop and start between clients.
of course,
at home,
crabtree does his damnedest to derail all my best efforts to produce elite imagery
and illicit iconography for the luminous lexicon of AMPERSAND TATTOO.
that's a tough look, kids.
he needs attention, for sure, but, at a level i canot maintain,
nor, i believe could anybody else.
on the ones,
i walk him,
and i walk him,
and then i walk him some more....
so it's not exhaustion, but rather, something more like spite,
that keeps him from being cool about art.
who knew i'd have such a critic on my hands?
hard styles are my best-case personal style.
i s'pose he knows, and is being supportive of THAT if an obstruction in all other ways.
y'get what y'get and you don't get upset.
that's what they say,
and that's how it is.
it's all really happening,
except that some of it is NOT.
is that what real life feels like?
i think so;
never quiet, never soft.....