Vegan Fondant OMYUM!

OK, I promised you all the recipe to my Dark Chocolate Cake Truffles that I made for Valentine's Day and entered in Dessert Wars ( see previous post)...here it is!

First off, remenber these?        These were scrumptious!

 
Now you can make these your own.

First, I made a dark dark rich chocolate cake . You can add cold brewed coffee instead of the water if you like. We gave up coffee several years ago so I left it out. 

Dark Chocolate Cake

 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour  

1/3 cup cocoa powder  

1 teaspoon baking soda  

1/2 teaspoon salt  

1 cup raw sugar  

1/2 cup vegetable oil  

1 cup cold water  

2 teaspoons vanilla  

2 tablespoons vinegar  

 Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and sugar into an ungreased 8 inch square or 9 inch round baking tin.

In a 2 cup measuring cup, measure and mix the oil, water and vanilla.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the baking tin and mix the batter with a fork or small whisk.

When the batter is smooth, add the vinegar and stir quickly. Pale swirls will occur where the vinegar and baking soda react. Stir just until the vinegar is even distributed throughout the batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Set aside the cake to cool then cut into quarter sized rounds. Refrigerate.

 While the cake baked I made a simple dark chocolate ganache...you can use whatever chocolate that you like, just make sure it is quality.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup Mimic cream

Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Cool slightly then fill a syringe with the sauce and inject a little into each piece of cake. Return to the frig.

 If you like you can even add a teaspoon of rum, brandy or what floats your boat...all for an extra kick. 

Now, for the FUN part!

Vegan Fondant

 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoons agar agar powder

1/8 cup cold water

1/4 cup glucose (There is a vegan glucose mixture that Wilton sells, but I used light corn syrup)

1 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening

1/2 tablespoon vegan glycerin

3 cups powdered sugar

Cherry Flavoring

Beet juice for color

Combine agar and cold water; let stand until thick. Place mixture on stove and boil 5 minutes, or until dissolved. Remove from stove add glucose and shortening, and mix until shortening dissolves. Add glycerin, flavoring and color. Cool until lukewarm then place 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar in a bowl and make a well. Pour the lukewarm agar mixture into the well and stir with a wooden spoon, mixing in sugar and adding more, a little at a time, until stickiness disappears. Knead in remaining sugar. Knead until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands. If fondant is too soft, add more sugar; if too stiff, add water (a drop at a time). Add flavor and coloring and knead until the color is uniform.

Roll out and cut. Cover those cakes and decorate with more chocolate.

 As you can imagine, these took a bit of time but they were well worth it! Why not give it a try!

Like I said, OMYUM!

Comments

[Holly Brown]

Hi,

Thanks for this post. I have tried vegan fondant several times, first with the agar flakes, and later a couple times with powder. I always have the problem of flecks of agar that are in the final product. The last time I did it, I followed the time-consuming directions I found on another blog, that had me standing over the simmering agar/water mixture, stirring it until it looked like everything was dissolved (about 10 minutes). I was so hopeful, but I still had the fleck problems.

When I use fondant, it is usually for a cake someone is paying me for, so I am currently using Satin Ice, but would much prefer to be able to use a higher-quality homemade fondant, so I don't have to charge so much extra for the cakes (also because of the superior flavor, of course!). Your picture is large and high quality, I couldn't see any flecks. Have you ever had this problem, or do you possibly know what I could do differently? This is where I found the last recipe: http://www.missionvegan.com/boozy-pirate-cake/ I used the white version. Her recipe doesn't seem that much different from yours. Thanks so much for any advice you can give.

Warmly,
Holly

[Janet Hudson]

Hi Holly,
I use agar agar powder...not the flakes. The flakes will leave flecks. Try letting the agar sit a little bit after you see that it is dissolved and then stir more while it is still warm.
Patience and practice will send you rewards!
Happy baking!
Janet