Birthday Cake Experimentation Begins!

I'm writing about this cake because it's just splendid, and I know I'll want to make it again. It's completely easy and is delicious above all, and also happens to be vegan and essentially sugar free. As I made it, the cake contains no refined sugar. All the sweetness comes from fruit (raisins and some of our Maine applesauce). I made a German Chocolate filling and frosting off the cuff, an experiment that turned out heavenly! That filling uses 1/3 cup of grain sweetened chocolate chips...you can use whatever you like. it's chocolate, after all, so it will be amazing however you like it best!!

This is definitely a keeper and totally satisfies the part of me that really likes a hearty, fruity cake that is not super sweet and yet is complex and fabulous to eat. I once tried a Lady Baltimore style cake that a very talented baking friend made for a birthday party - it was full of fruit and had a splendid, hearty, grown-up taste to it that was SOOOO satisfying. This is kind of in the same ball park, but totally different. It's got that "grown-up" feel to it...I can't think of a better way to put that, and it sounds a little silly, but
that's the best I can come up with. :-)
The cake recipe comes straight from Edward Espe Brown's very enjoyable and often hilarious Tassajara Bread Book. It's called Fresh Fruit Cake. It makes 2 9 inch round cakes. It is incredibly easy to make! Preheat the oven to 350.

Fresh Fruit Cake (from EE Brown's Tassajara Bread Book)

1 cup oil (I used canola)
1 cup nut pieces (I used almonds and chopped them up roughly)
1 cup raisins
1 cup coconut
2 cups rolled oats
2-2 1/2 cups flour (I used a soft winter wheat, freshly ground)
3 cups crushed fruit (I used homemade applesauce, you can use anything on hand/in season- you may have to adjust the flour amount based on how wet the fruit is - keep that in mind...)
1/2 tsp salt (just use a little bit)

1 tsp vanilla (or more!)

Mix all of the dry together and then mix in the wet. Mix well, but don't overmix and get the gluten too charged up. Prep two baking pans and press in the batter. Bake 40 minutes and add some more minutes if you need.

Mr. Brown recommends a date filling for this cake. This seemed very interesting and innovative to me. I had date pieces in oat flour on hand, as medjools don't last more than a minute around Shawn and me. I took 8 ounces of date pieces, covered them in water and simmered for fifteen minutes, as directed.

The dates completely melt down!! It's neat to see! It becomes a thick soupy sort of mix and that's when the idea started coming...you won't be surprised to read that what I thought really belonged in this date filling was some....CHOCOLATE!! So I added a robust third of a cup of grain sweetened chocolate chips. And they melted in perfectly, so then I thought I'd throw in the last of our shredded coconut, which just happened to be a half a cup, very nearly. And...choco-coco-voila! German Chocolate Filling!!

So, here's the "recipe" - my very own inspired and deliciously gooey creation, if I may boast!

Jamie's Incredibly Delicious German Chocolate Filling with nods to Mr. E.E. Brown!!!

8 ounces date pieces with water to cover
1/3 cup chocolate chips or chocolate in whatever shape you like
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Method:
Simmer dates in water 15 minutes or until soft and creamy. Add chocolate chips, allow to melt, mix. Mix in coconut. Set aside to cool before spreading on cake.

For decoration, I made an improvised double boiler and melted some more chocolate chips. I added a small amount of oil to the melted chocolate so it would blend together and be "drizzle-able." After I frosted the cake, I drizzled the chocolate over top and placed the almonds so it would be easy to cut ten huge pieces out of this delectable cake.

I was really curious how the cake would turn out with no leaveners in the batter. I don't have any particular issues with leavener, but this didn't use any. Well, it's marvelous. The cake is dense and very fruity, the chunks of nuts and raisins and the texture added from the oats and the coconut are very enjoyable. The german chocolate frosting was a fun addition and actually worked really well with the fruity cake - this was darned good! The german chocolate filling was decadent and delectable and had an incredible plus built right in, it never gets hard and unmanageable the way one made with butter and condensed milk (which is just too much, if you ask me) does. This is eminently spreadable (a definite plus for someone who works with her hands as much as I do and doesn't need to spend the night wrestling with sweet coconut concoctions) as well as fantastic tasting.

I'll be making this cake again, for certain. Very moist, not at all dry, very fruity, sweet without being weird and cloying....so many good attributes! Yipppeeee!!!! I think there's something very satisfying about experimenting with cake making.