We have finally moved! After many weeks going from hosting to hosting, I found one (thanks, Jay!) and could move everything without problems. The design is something different: it took me a ridiculously huge amount of hours to do that thing you’re seeing. And I’m not happy with the result, but I have an overbooking of exams next week so the only thing I am going to see since this weekend until I finish them are text books. Maybe you will see some tweets, but that’s because computer is a too big temptation to avoid it completely.
I am incredibly late (as always): my birthday was more than half a month ago, and just now I posting the recipe. If anyone is interested, I came to this world on a very cold night the 1st of February nineteen years ago. My mother is still joking at the fact that I she was almost afraid of touching the little, blue-yellow, skinny and tiny thing I was at that moment.
At the beginning I didn’t want to celebrate my birthday but my friends convinced me. At the end, we did a party…for two: another friend of mine was turning eighteen on 5th February, so we celebrated it together. The best of all? I had an incredible time and I could eat cake because I did it myself. Usually I don’t mind not eating cake at other people’s parties (vegan birthday cakes? Impossible…), but I wanted to be able to do so at least on my birthday.
Actually, it was the first time I baked something vegan for all my friends. Their face of astonishment when they tried the cake was the best present I could have had; they couldn’t believe that it was vegan! I also baked my Jamaican coffee chocolate brownies and they were a hit too: even people who didn’t like coffee enjoyed them.
By the way, my veganised coffee brownies were reviewed by Chris, from Vegalicious. I baked them twice and liked the result, but I was not sure whether they tasted like real brownies or not because I didn’t have anything to compare with. But judging by the comments and Chris verdict, they were close to it 
It encouraged me, so expect more veganised sweet treats soon!
About the new design
I have improved the organization. Now you have fewer and clearer categories (actually, the same you have in the recipe index) but also tags; the tag cloud is on the right column navigation. I decided to include some major tags, like recipe, (where you will find all the posts that actually have a recipe in it), sweetand savory. Other tags give you information about the cuisine (Asian, Indian, Russian…) or the extra information you have in the post (design, travelling, health….). I am working in a improved Index recipe, About me section and a contact form.
Also, I would like to choose one day a week to publish my posts and stick with it. Which day would you like to see the posts published? On Saturday, so you have the weekend to test the recipe? On Monday, to start the week?
By the way, don’t forget to change the links to Tales of a Spoon on you blogs, please!
Birthday Lemon Cake with Chocolate Ganache
Vegan baking can be a little bit tricky. Sometimes the batter won’t rise, and the result will be more fragile and delicate than with eggs and dairy. This cake really had a very delicate, spongy texture but it rose perfectly. I suppose it was because of the soy yogurt, which I never used as a binder before but that worked perfectly this time. Just be careful if you have to transport it (like I did). I doubt you can call it a Sacher Torte anymore (which was what Celine’s was trying to replicate, an Austrian dessert and a non-vegan childhood favorite): I left out the cocoa powder and substituted with ground almond, coconut and lemon zest. I also added lemon juice and olive oil instead of canola oil; used plum jam and lemon icing for the filling and a more solid chocolate cover.
I’m sure that Celine’s version was excellent, but this one was a hit too. It looked so good that my mother has already ordered one like this for her birthday!
Yield: one 8-inch (20-cm) cake
Inspired in Celine’s Chocolate Cake (with Sacher Torte variation and Chocolate Ganache)
1 cup (240 g) vanilla soy or other nondairy yogurt
1/2 cup (120 ml) olive oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 1/4 cups (155 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
2 Tbspoon powdered almond
2 Tbspoon dry coconut
Zest of one lemon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup (20 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grase a 8 inch (20-cm) round cake pan with margarine or oil.
In a big bowl mix first the wet ingredients: soy yogurt, oil, vainilla extract and lemon juice.
Sift in the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. I substituted the cocoa powder with powdered almond, dried coconut and lemon zest. The ingredients must be incorporated, but be careful no to overmix it.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave in pan to cool a little bit before attempting to remove.
Sacher Torte Variation:
Double the cake recipe, bake in two separate 8-inch (20-cm) round cake pans or in one but twice (which was what I did). Spread with your favorite filling one of the cakes and top with the second. I used plume jam and lemon-soy milk icing, but you can use the one you like the most (Celine’s recipe called for all-fruit rasberry jam, about 1/4 to 1/2 cup, if you want a Sacher Torte)
**I added two tablespoon of cardamon-cocoa powder to one of the layers to create a contrast, but it’s optional.Decorate with…..
Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup (120 ml) plain soy or other nondairy milk (**I used a little bit less because I wanted mine to have a hard layer of chocolate)
1 cup (176 g) nondairy semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons (30 ml) pure maple syrup or (42 g) agave nectar
Bring the milk to boil in a saucepan and remove from heat. Add the chocolate and stir until meled. Add the maple syrup or agave. Let cool a little bit, or it will be too liquid to spread on the cake.
You can cover absolutely all the cake (like Celine did) or only the top; I did the last because it was easier to transport. Decorate or write your “happy birthday” if you want to at this point, before it cool and solidify completely; I used kiwi slices, pine nuts and coconut.
Gooey Lemon Cake
Your cake looks AWESOME!!!! I absolutely adore lemon cake, it is by far my favorite!!!
Well Happy Birthday…better late than never right!!!
That cake looks fantastic! And it doesn’t need to be compared with Sacher torte at all, it looks perfect the way it is.
I like your new blog design and thanks for working so hard on it.
Wow, you posted great pictures! The cake looks absolutely wonderful. I would surely love to try making this cake at an upcoming party. I have tried making lemon cakes before but your recipe is new to me and Im sure that this would taste really great. One for my friends who work for a coffee making machines company suggested that this cake would really go well with a hot cup of espresso. Thanks for the post!