Must...Have...CAKE!

Dinner tonight was the always drool-worthy "Flagship" sandwich from Le Beau, my neighborhood grocer. They also sell fresh Mission Minis cupcakes, so I got a Red Velvet one for dessert. But, the thing about Mission Minis? They're mini. It left me with an insatiable need for more cake.

Alas, most cake recipes require eggs (of which I do have some in the fridge), milk (which I almost never have), and butter (half a frozen stick wasn't gonna cut it). So I was in search of some kind of milk-less, butter-less cake recipe when a search yielded this chocolate cake. Flour, sugar, oil, cocoa, vinegar, baking soda, salt, vanilla, and water? All at hand and accounted for. Looks like we've got cake!

All in all, it was pretty easy to put together. Just mix the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients, mix by hand, and ta-da! Cake batter!

I was afraid to use my bundt pan because some of the reviews of the recipe said the cake stuck, even in a well-greased pan. So I went the cupcake route, since I had cupcake liners at hand. I did both minis and full-sized.

Result? A surprisingly light and cakey-cake. It rose well, and has a good crumb consistency. But...the flavor was a little off. I don't know if it's the lack of dairy that is to blame, or just the fact that some of my ingredients were a little old. I didn't have enough all-purpose flour, so I had to use some leftover cake flour that technically expired in 2010. My cocoa was also old, but was well sealed, so I don't think it should taste bad. And, finally, I had to use rice vinegar instead of white vinegar, since that's all I had; there's not that much in the recipe, though, so I had hoped the taste wouldn't be affected.

Also? We're dealing with unfrosted cake here. Cake is always better with frosting! Alas, because of the aforementioned lack of butter, and no cream or cream cheese, frosting will just have to wait. I'll have to freeze the majority of this batch and try them out with some kind of frosting in the future. Stay tuned...