Thank goodness rum is vegan! LOL!

It's birthday month again! And though it took me about a whole month to come to a mutually satisfying decision on what to bake, it was so worth it. With every passing year it gets a bit more tricky. Because I don't want to make the same cake again ... if I can help it, because it has to please the birthday boy/girl, and because all four cakes need to be not only different, but complement each other in flavour.


This one screams Monique all over ... it's vegan, it's got cookie butter, and did I mention rum? Yes, that's where all the rum's gone. In the interest of full disclosure, all our cakes are boozed up. Some more than others, but all really 'spirited'. We came back from CDMX with a nice bottle of Bacardi Ocho and probably 'spilled' a little more than needed of the recipe :D and it was so so good!

The cinnamon and ginger notes made this a warming and hearty cake, ideal for fall. It went perfectly alongside our other cakes that evening. Because we're so extra, we made our own cookie butter, something whipped up at a moment's notice in absence of speculaas spread.



The decor was kept very simple with kruidnoten, ginger spiced 'buttons' on the side and speculaas crumbs on top.

Ingredients:

A) Bacardi Cake Syrup
240 ml (1 cup) water
100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
30 ml (1/8 cup) Bacardi Ocho rum

B) Vegan Cookie Butter Cake
540 ml (2-1/4 cups) almond milk, at room temperature
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
330 g (2-3/4 cups) all purpose flour
30 g (1/4 cup) cornstarch
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
300 g (1-1/2 cups) granulated sugar
160 ml (2/3 cup) grapeseed oil (or any other vegetable oil)
80 ml (1/3 cup) Speculoos cookie butter
2 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp Bacardi Ocho rum

C) Bacardi Buttercream
450 g (1 lb) icing sugar, sifted
50 g (3 tbsp) vegan butter (Becel or Alpro)
3 tbsp almond milk
2 tbsp Bacardi Ocho

Directions:

A) Bacardi Cake Syrup
1. In a small saucepan, place the water and sugar.
2. Bring to a boil, then set aside to cool.
3. When cooled, stir in the Bacardi Ocho rum.

B) Vegan Cookie Butter Cake
1. Butter and flour the sides of 3 20-cm (8-inch) round cake tins, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Preheat the oven to 175C or 350F.
3. In a medium non-reactive bowl, combine the almond milk and the apple cider vinegar. Set aside to curdle.
4. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, cookie butter, vanilla extract, and rum until homogenous and resembles a paste.
6. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, folding until just combined.
7. Divide the batter into the 3 prepared tins and bake for 22 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
8. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before inverting it onto a cooling rack.
9. When cooled, level the tops with a serrated knife or a cake leveler.
10. Brush with Bacardi cake syrup.

C) Bacardi Buttercream

Ever since I was gifted a package of Cotswold's Lavender, I've been waiting for an opportunity to bake with them. And I've always wanted to make a cake! I can only imagine the delicate aroma infused in a light vanilla cake, much like a Victorian sponge, a blissful floral note, a bit on the girly side (then again, why not?) evoking memories of a distant Provençal summer. It would be glorious.



I pitched this idea to the kids, and every time it is Max who gives me the carte blanche. I couldn't be more relieved. It wasn't just simply making all these cakes, it was also making sure that the flavours, the colours, and even the textures, were unique enough so each one would be appreciated for its virtues.



A lavender cake would be lovely, but it was the pairing with St. Germain, an elderflower liqueur that would heighten its appeal and complement its taste. Lavender, on its own, may be singularly used for a cookie, a loaf, or even a cupcake. It has the capacity to shine in a bite sized delight. However, a slice of cake is like a dish in itself. It has to have varying textures, flavours that augment each other, and colours that complement or contrast. And with this cake, I am convinced that lavender and elderflower do make a magnificent Victorian match.



There are various components that make this cake special. Because the individual flavours are subtle, I found that layering them in an infused milk, the cake itself and the syrup that soaks the cake all contribute to making the whole so much greater than the sum of its parts. It's a bit laborious and I did it over a few days. Cake for celebrations call for that, after all it is a labour of love.

Ingredients:

A) Lavender Milk:
480 ml (2 cups) milk
2 tbsp lavender buds


B) Lavender Elderflower Syrup:
240 ml (1 cup) water
2 tbsp lavender buds
100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
60 ml (1/4 cup) St. Germain elderflower liqueur


C) Lavender Elderflower Cake:
405 g (3-1/3 cups) all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp lavender buds, ground
1 tsp salt
255 g (1-1/8 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
400 g (2 cups) granulated sugar
4 large eggs + 1 yolk, at room temperature
1 tbsp St. Germain elderflower liqueur
360 ml (1-1/2 cups) lavender milk


D) Elderflower Italian Meringue Buttercream:
425 g (2 cups + 2 tbsp) granulated sugar
90 ml (3/8 cup) water
6 egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
510 g unsalted butter, just slightly softened, cut into 1.5 cm (1/2 inch) cubes
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp St. Germain elderflower liqueur

Directions:

A) Lavender milk:
1. Combine the ingredients in a medium saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and steep for 5 minutes.
3. Strain and let cool completely before using. You will need only 360 ml (1-1/2 cups) for the cake.
The milk can be kept, covered, in the refrigerator for a day.

B) Lavender Elderflower Syrup:
1. In a small saucepan, place the water, lavender, and sugar.
2. Bring to a boil, then set aside to cool.
3. When cooled, stir in the St. Germain elderflower liqueur.
The syrup can be kept, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week.

C) Lavender Elderflower Cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 175C or 350F. Butter and flour the sides of 3 20-cm (8-inch) baking tins, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, ground lavender buds, and salt together. Set this aside.

Four cakes are going to be on a table this day, and you can be sure there will be one chocolate cake among them all. Right on! But in no way should I resign myself to the tried and true, the fail-safe, the fool-proof Devil's Food Cake, should I? Oh gosh, no! Life would be utterly boring. Even the best chocolate cakes would cause one's palates to become immune to its pleasures if it were to be served on one too many occasions. Hence the chocolate chocolate chunk coffee cake.

Tedious and tongue twisting the name may be, it does give a comprehensive description of the delight to follow. The cake is essentially a chocolate cake, we got that. Then there's chocolate chunk, mind you, not those over-processed chips that contain stuff we do not need, rather chunks dark (over 70%) good quality chocolate, good enough to gift, good enough to pair with wine. Yes, that good, the stuff that is about four or five times the price of generic chocolate. Trust me on this! It is a birthday cake, go ahead, you can splurge!



Then I included the word coffee, and not in the sense that it's an afternoon tea accompaniment, but actually using espresso powder and coffee stout in the cake. Why? Because coffee intensifies the chocolate flavour like no other. Then there's a secret ingredient! You can scroll down to the recipe to find it, but don't turn up your nose just yet! It's egg content and emulsifying properties lend so much richness to the cake and rounds it off nicely.



This recipe is adapted from Tasty's Ultimate Chocolate cake, and true to their word, it is an ultimate version of your home-made chocolate cake. I amped it up with Kahlua to bring out the coffee even more, made a cake syrup to intensify the chocolate flavour, then frosted it with my favorite buttercream - Italian meringue, chocolatized! Yes, it's now an official word. I just submitted it to Oxford English Dictionary. And yes, you can do that! I just did! :D



So then what does one call a cake that's more than Ultimate? Rather than calling it Supreme or Superlative Chocolate Cake, which could be just click-bait, how about Chocolate Chunk & Coffee Cake with Chocolate Buttercream? Now you're really salivating, aren't you? ;)

Ingredients:

A) Godiva liqueur cake syrup:
240 ml (1 cup) water
100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
30 ml (1/8 cup) Godiva Chocolate liqueur

B) Chocolate Chunk Coffee Cake:
225 g (1-7/8 cups) all purpose flour
150 g (1-1/4 cups) Dutch cocoa powder
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
450 ml (1-7/8 cups) coffee stout
1-1/2 tbsp Kahlua coffee liqueur
1-1/2 tbsp espresso powder
285 g (1-1/4 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature
375 g (1-7/8 cups) granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
150 ml (5/8 cup) mayonnaise
170 g (6 oz.) dark chocolate (from a chocolate bar), chopped

C) Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream
425 g (2 cups + 2 tbsp) granulated sugar
90 ml (3/8 cup) water
6 egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
510 g unsalted butter, just slightly softened, cut into 1.5 cm (1/2 inch) cubes
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
60 g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder, sifted

Directions:

A) Godiva liqueur cake syrup:
1. In a small saucepan, place the water and sugar.
2. Bring to a boil, then set aside to cool.
3. When cooled, stir in the Godiva chocolate liqueur.

B) Chocolate Chunk Coffee Cake:
1. Butter and flour the sides of 3 20-cm (8-inch) round cake tins, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Preheat the oven to 160C or 325F.

3. Into a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the coffee stout, Kahlua, and espresso powder. Leave to rest. Before using, whisk again, then strain this mixture into another bowl.