Guest Post: By Susmitha Subbaraju

Susmitha is perhaps one of the friendliest people that I have encountered online and has accepted me into the group "Vegan Temptivists" on Facebook, which is truly an honor - especially since she is my first guest blogger! She is an extremely talented artist in practically all of the mediums and makes amazingly mouth-watering recipes. Her blog, http://blog.veganosaurus.com/ is full of delicious, stunning and unique recipes - she isn't afraid to veganize and is most definitely outgoing when it comes to the things that she loves. Check her out because you won't regret it! ^^

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Before I became vegan, 9 years ago, I was never interested in baking and barely interested in cooking. But turning vegan opened up a whole new world of ingredients and possibilities to me and I couldn't help but be inspired to get creative in my kitchen. That's when the baking bug bit me and ever since then there's been no looking back.
Since I'm vegan for ethical reasons, for the longest time I had the attitude that I'd rather use a few less than healthy ingredients in my baking (all purpose flour, processed oils etc...) than compromise on the taste and texture of the finished goodie. My main focus was to have people taste my cakes and pastries and be blown away by the deliciousness of vegan desserts.

When my more health inclined vegan friends spoke of using date syrup or whole wheat flour in their cakes, I used to turn up my nose and say, "those healthy cakes won't impress non-vegans into turning vegan so what's the point?" I even tasted a few of those healthy cakes and cookies with an open mind but was left unimpressed which further strengthened my belief that good cakes had to be made of all purpose flour and contain a generous amount of oil.

Then a few months ago, my friend Arun kicked that attitude right out of me by bringing this amaaaazing chocolate cake to our monthly Vegan Bengaluru potluck. I thoroughly enjoyed it. He told me that it contained absolutely no oil, was made of whole wheat flour and was made without an oven! My jaw would've dropped hearing that last bit except that I was busy gobbling up the cake.

Since I associate Bou Shin's blog with healthy eating as much as the cute bentos, I figured a healthy cake recipe would be perfect for my guest post here. :)

I made a bunch of changes to Arun's original recipe based on the ingredients I had at home.

(Here's my version of the Healthy Chocolate Cake recipe)

• 1 1/2 C Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 C Jaggery Powder (can use Sugar if you can't find jaggery but it's less healthier that way)
• 1/3 C Cocoa Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 Small Mashed Bananas + 2 tsp Flax Seed Powder+ 1/4 C Water (whipped together for a few minutes)
• 3 tsp Lime Juice
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 C Water
• 1/2 C Walnuts - broken into little pieces
• 2 Small Mashed Bananas + 2 tsp Flax Seed Powder+ 1/4 C Water (whipped together for a few minutes)

(Directions)

• Bring 3 to 4 C of water to boil in a large pan/pot/steamer (the baking dish should easily fit inside).
• Line a baking dish with aluminum foil and lightly grease with a few drops of olive oil.
• Mix dry ingredients (except sweetener and walnuts) and sieve a few times to make the flour airy.
• Mix jaggery/sugar with wet ingredients and whip for a few minutes to create air bubbles.
• Mix wet and dry ingredients quickly until there are no large lumps (do not over mix).
• Stir in the walnuts and transfer to baking dish.
• Place an upside down the plate or bowl inside the steamer pot (to add height) and place the baking dish inside it.
• Cover the pot and steam on medium-high heat for 30 minutes.
• Uncover and continue steaming for another 15 minutes.
• Remove the baking dish from the pot and keep aside for 10-15 minutes.
• Gently lift the cake along with the foil out of the dish and place on a cooling rack.
• After the cake has cooled completely, peel off the foil.
• Slice and serve plain or with melted chocolate poured over it.
• Enjoy!

Thanks Bou Shin for having me over on your blog.

Chocolate-Gingerbread Cake

The thing that inspired me to make this cake was the surplus of ginger-ale I had in the fridge. I had a stomach ache earlier in the week for whatever reason but a small amount of baking soda fixed that so I had no need for the carbonated drink. I tried to think of something to use for it, as none of us require any soda or similar drinks...so I baked a cake - which we need, right? I originally saw the "base" of this idea from Veganlovlie's Irish Tea Brack but obviously went way out on this.

(Chocolate-Gingerbread Cake Dry Ingredients)

• 3 cups of Rye Flour
• 1 tsp of Baking Powder
• 2 tsp of Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp of Ground Cloves
• 1/2 tsp of Nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp of Cardamom
• 1/4-1/2 cup of Cocoa Powder
• About 2 cups of Confectioner's Sugar
• 1/4 tsp of Sea Salt
• Dark Chocolate Chips
• A dash of Black Pepper

(Chocolate-Gingerbread Cake Wet Ingredients)

• 1/4 Cup of Blackstrap Molasses
• 3/4 cup of Vegetable Oil (sub half with banana for low-fat)
• 1 cup of Vegan Buttermilk
• 1 cup of Ginger ale
• Minced Ginger (optional)

(Directions)

• Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
• Mix your wet and dry separately, then fold your wet into your dry about 15 times or until fully incorporated.
• Place into a well-greased baking dish and tap about 5 times to keep the air bubbles from forming.
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-45 minutes or until the middle is no longer gooey and the knife comes out clean when you do your "finished" test.
• Let it cool overnight or chill in the fridge for about four hours.Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with an orange wedge and enjoy!

5-Minute Chocolate-Peanut Butter Marble Cake (Low-Fat w/ Gluten-Free Option)

This is a really soft cake recipe and is quite reminiscent of Chinese Steamed Cakes. It is also low-fat, lightly slight and full of choco-peanutty flavor. With a denser peanut butter mix to add to the cake for swirling, it is easier to control and makes it so surprising when you cut into the cake. Its sure to be a hit and is especially good with extra crunchy peanut butter.

(Chocolate Cake Batter Ingredients)

• 1/2 cup of White Whole Wheat (or whole grain flour mix)
• 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
• 1/4 cup of Raw Sugar
• 2 tsp of Stevia
• 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp of Organic Canola Oil
• 1/2 cup-3/4 cup of Rice Milk

(Peanut Butter Swirl Ingredients)

• 2 tbl of Low-Fat Peanut Butter
• 1/4 cup of White Whole Wheat (or whole grain flour mix)
• 4 tbl of Raw Sugar
• 2 tsp of Vanilla Extract
• 2 tsp of Stevia
• 1/4 tsp of Turmeric
• Enough Water to make a thick batter

(Directions)

• Mix your cake ingredients together as you normally would and (making sure that the chocolate batter is quite liquidy but has a feel. Pour into a microwave-safe dish.
• Mix your peanut butter swirl ingredients in a different bowl, then spoon it batter into the middle if the cake batter. Take a fork or knife and cut through it to swirl it through the cake.
• Put it into the microwave for about 2 minutes and 15 seconds, check. If that side is done you may need to flip it over to cook the other for another 2 and 1/4 minutes to have the full steamed cake effect.
• Enjoy!

Low-Fat Thunder Cake with Avocado Icing

I first had Thundercake in the second grade, as most people have. I was so disgusted as the teacher read us a story about putting tomatoes into a chocolate cake. But I was entranced by the rest of the story (as rain is my favorite weather condition) and the description of it, so I gobbled my large slice down and was in heaven. It was absolutely chocolatey, fudgy and above all - moist. You couldn't even tell there were tomatoes in the cake and I as I side-eyed my teacher, I noticed the huge tin of tomatoes to the side of the empty cake mix box. I'm so sorry for doubting you, my wonderful teacher.

(Low-Fat Thunder Cake Ingredients)

• 1 cup of Raw Sugar
• 1 and 1/2 cups Cocoa Powder
• 1 and 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup of Black Chia Seeds (soaked in cold water)
• 4 tbl of Coconut Oil
• 1/4-1/2 cup of Veggie Oil
• 1/2 can of Tomato Soup (or 3/4 cup of Pureed Tomatoes)
• 1 cup of Non-Dairy Milk
• 1 tsp of Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 scraped Vanilla Bean

(Avocado Icing Ingredients)

• 2 Mashed Avocados
• Juice of 1 Lemon or Orange (and a tsp of zest)
• 1 pound of Icing Sugar

(Directions)

• For the icing/frosting: Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
• Mix together as you would with any other cream.
• Place in the fridge to absorb flavors and then serve on top of cake later.


• For the cake: Sift your dry ingredients (except the sugar and cocoa powder) together and set aside.
• Then, cream together your sugar, the veggie oil and coconut oil.
• Mix in your seeds once they have fully absorbed the water and then add in your tomato soup and cream together until the soup has blended somewhat.
• Stir in all of your cocoa powder.
• Alternate mixing in the rest of the wet and the dry ingredients.
• Place into a cake pan, tap on the kitchen counter or table about 20 times and bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean from the middle.
• Let it rest for about 2 hours, serve with your frosting and enjoy.