THIS CAKE!

man!
oh man!
OH MAN!
i made something especially good,
and i can't say for sure what it was that did it,
but whatever it was-
it worked like a charm.
a cake so tasty, so moist, so spongy, and so flavorful,
that everybody who had a slice was actually excited to have another.
that's the best compliment i can get-
because when it comes to treats, in actual real life,
as they are being eaten up,
the object is MORE.
yup.
and when my guys are all over that?
i've got to take a minute to see what i did right.
i mean,
those are the results worth replicating.
bringing treats to work is kind of self-serving.
on the one hand,
there's something so comforting about a whole flippin' cake just hanging out,
with it's sole purpose to make my face happier with bite after bite after bite.
and knowing that it's been made vegan, and decadent,
and by my own two hands is just about as awesome as it could be.
for realsies-
it's not like vegan cakes are falling from the sky around here.
and on the other hand,
my generous provision of cake also keeps me from eating the whole cake,
which, if left to my own gluttonous designs,
i would absolutely do.
i'm a nice-ish guy,
but mostly because i wouldn't want to be a big ol' fatty ever again
...
ANYway,
i have a springtime cake,
a mama-type berfday cake,
a strawberry-upside-down lemon ring cake,
the hottness is happening at a pretty fantastic level with this one-
check the teleport:

RINGO DELUXXXO!!!
c'mon.
setting some strawberries down on the bottom of the pan
meant enjoying baked strawberries on top of the cake!
expert!
neighbors,
i think the makeshift cake flour might've contributed to the improved texture.
also,
i assume that steam escaping from the berries buried at the base might've been
a factor that activated and accentuated the moistness of the crumb, as well.
i love a good cake,
but i might very well be IN love with this cake.
it is so good, it doesn't even need frosting,
but rules is rules, y'feel me?
no, really.
after all,
if you can make it look better, you should-
or else you're sort of selling yourself short.
and that's not how we doo-doo that freaky sh!t around these parts, bud.
too much is the right amount.
it is.
and i'm a firm believer in and strict adherent of that mindset.
otherwise, i'd maybe get busy doing something else once in a while.
ha.
ok.
so, here's how you can make your very own equinox cake:
-
*
preheat your oven to 355F.
grease and flour a flat-bottomed ring cake pan.
-
in a medium saucepan,
combine 2 cups sliced frozen strawberries;
1/4 cup powdered sugar;
vanilla;
a splash of lemon juice;
and 2 T cornstarch.
let that all melt together over medium-low heat,
stirring regularly to prevent clumps in the starch.
when a jammie-jamlike consistency is in effect,
remove it from the heat, and let it cool off a little baby bit.
-
in a stand mixer (preferably),
or,
in a large bowl with an electric mixer if you're not serious about this bakery life,
or worse,
with a pastry cutter and a whisk,
because it's the year 1807 in your house for some reason,
blend-
1 cup sugar;
1/4 cup brown sugar;
1/2 tsp salt;
2 tsp vanilla;
3/4 tsp lemon extract;
8 T vegan butter-
when thoroughly muddied,
add in 3/4 cup non-dairy yogurt,
and whisk it all together until smooth and creamy and aerated as much as it can be.
now, stir in:
2 1/2 cups flour sifted with 3 T cornstarch;
2 tsp bakey powder;
1 tsp bakey soda;
1/2 lemon's zest;
and
3/4 cup non-dairy milk, curdled with 1/4 cup lemon juice-
and mix all of that on high if you're luxurious, of forever if you;re not,
until it's the fluffiest batter you've ever made.
word.
-
now,
the berries go in first, and the cakestuffs go on top,
and all of it gets baked for at least 45 minutes,
or until it's done enough, however long your oven decides to take to do it.
...
once it's cooled completely,
you can remove it from your ring-form.
if you do it too soon, it might fall apart,
or the berries might adhere to the bottom and ruin it.
don't do that.
however,
when you've flipped it over,
and you;re staring at that glazy, glassy berry blop-on-top slop,
you might want to activate some exxxtra hottness.
it's up to you.
it doesn't need it.
nope. not one bit.
but,
if you're like me, you won't want to leave it alone until it's really pretty.
mmhmm.
melted chocolate drizzle spokes, with  little extra built up around the edges,
is what i was reppin' right away.
i've been using sandwich baggies with a pinhole in one corner to get
the nicey-nice thinness to the drips and drops.
thought they'd trickle down the sides and look all sophisticated,
but the sauce was too thick to play like that.
it's cool, it doesn't taste even one percent less awesome for the thick chox.
and that creamchee' frosting?!
chocolate and vanilla styles, flipped and flopped and activated like a champ????
yeah!!!!
i told you:
too much is the right amount.
everything else is just playing games with my emotions.
***********
this is it.
i mean it.
today is the day.
the last day before i remove myself for three whole days from the studio.
yes, i am serious.
what?
no.
i am NOT relaxing.
ew.
i've got to go see maple in the high school musical, man.
hmm?
singing in the rain.
that's what's up.
i'll be round-trip roadtrippin'
from here to there and back again,
for something like sixteen hours of connecticut,
and another nearly ten of just driving there and back again....
that's how it's done...
and if that is how it is done,
that's what you DO.
so,
it's two days of loss and labor without profit,
but,
there will be about two hours of family togetherness,
and another two of stage-time audience appreciation,
so that's good news.
i miss the heck out of my daughters most days,
and as they develop into more independent people,
i think that's bound to get worse before it gets better,
a few hours of real-time actual happenings
is much better than just missing their faces all the time
but,
that's how life works.
i think i'd do well to remember that they're still growing,
and becoming,
and gaining their own sense of themselves.
the best i can do is always allow for that.
uh-huh.
i can vividly recall how frustrated i was (and remain)
with family failing to note the progressive additive process,
beyond their own point-of-sale contact with the version of me they remember.
memory is a F* of a thing, anyway.
and the little kid you miss has little to do with the person they will become.
time and age are a couple of real bastards in that regard.
allow me to better explain that:
just because you haven't seen someone in a little minute doesn't mean
they're likely to be just the same as they were the last time you did...
and that's absolutely reliably true,
even if you've done nothing different in your own life.
the hardestthing about watching kids choose their path
is the knowledge that you cannot do it for them.
they'll find their way, or not, as they see fit.
in the meantime,
i'll find myself in connecticut,
addressing the exact same issue with the elder generation.
we're all gonna come together for the kid, tho.
or, at least, i'm gonna be there,
from way up here,
because any other option is a make-believe diaperbaby excuse.
i'm ready to see what's good with these girls,
and to show them a thing or two about what's good with their dear ol' dad.
it's all really happening,
and i think we are all choosing to make the minutes and moments matter the most;
never quiet, never soft.....