Sinless cravings - eggless maple cake

Dear foodies,

Yes, I went off again, and this time I was not planning on doing that. I don't know what came over, I was checking my blog everyday looking for comments that were surely not there. I was coming by all the other blogs to0, but I hardly delurk. I don't know why. Just din't feel like it, I was still cooking and taking photos now n then, but somehow I lost interest. Suddenly nothing I cook pleases me and I've been getting home soup from Panera bread and calling it a day. Much more comforting that cooking something, disliking it from spoon two and then having to find ways to get rid of it! I guess its one of those phases, atleast I hope so :(

So well, a few weekends back I suddenly felt like eating something sweet and baked. A yummy cake if possible, I wish we got pastries here like we did in India. But I was not going to get any of the eggy, butter laden stuff from the store. I went into the kitchen and randomly put together ingredients to come up with this little coffee cake and was surprised by how it turned out given the lack of any butter or oil or eggs or sugar for that matter! I present to you a eggless coffee cake flavored by maple syrup. Pardon the quantities though, I was baking just for myself and so the tiny portion :)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup - whole wheat pastry flour
  
• 1/4 tsp - Baking powder
  
• 1/8 tsp - Baking soda
  
• 2 Tbsp - Apple sauce
  
• 1 tsp - ground flax seed + 2 Tbsp soy milk
  
• 1 tsp - Vanilla essense
  
• 11/2 Tbsp - Maple syrup
  
• 1 Tbsp - orange blossom honey (or use more maple syrup)
  
• 6-8 - Blackberries ( or any berry you like)
  
• Slivered almonds for the topping
  

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F and grease a cake pan, (mine was a 1 1/2" deep 6" dia bowl, seen in the first pic)
   
2. Combine ground flax seeds and soy milk in a bowl and heat for 30 secs in the microwave, remove and mix rigorously with a fork, heat it for another 30 secs and mix again. Set aside to cool.
   
3. In another bowl sift together all the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to it and combine lightly. I like it less sweet so taste and add more maple syrup if you want.
   
4. Add the berries and fold them into the batter, if using frozen (like I did) add them directly into the batter so they thaw in the oven while cooking.
   
5. Smooth the surface and top with the slivered almonds. Bake for about 15-18mins. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center, it will come out clean when ready.
   

This was a more like a expt while baking, I kept a note of what I was adding just so I know if its gonna work or not. I am glad it did! No eggs or butter or oil or sugar and still you get to eat a cake, now thats really nice :) Its not cloyingly sweet and so is a perfect coffee/tea time cake, it was good for breakfast too. I'm going to try other flavor combos retaining the method, I got a few more cans of the applesauce too, the brownie trial is paying off more than I expected :)

And hey, this is perfect for Vaishali's Sweet Vegan event featuring what else but mouthwatering Vegan desserts! Her blog is filled with yummy recipes from all over the world but with her own spin on them. She makes them sound so simple & delicious you won't even realize they are all vegan, hop on to her blog for details.