So the other night I poisoned myself with vodka and orange juice to try and shake this bad case of writer’s block I’ve been dealing with. I did shots and typed. I giggled till I cried and typed and ate pizza and drank more shots. Did it help? Was I able to make some progress on the anecdotal sections of the book? I’m embarrassed to say it did. Though what I wrote needs way more editing than my usual random typing. I know there is a lesson here and I’m hoping it’s “don’t fall into bad habits like thinking every time I’m stuck on something the answer is doing shots of alcohol so strong it can eat the stain off a table”*.

My Weapons.

Will I be drinking again anytime soon? Dear God No. Yesterday was just awful. What was left of my brain vowed revenge for their fallen brethren and punished me severely for most of the day. I think that although my experiment was a success, it’s something that I should hold on to for those rainy brain days. I guess you’re also wondering where the cookies are. Well, I made this cake yesterday and it was just too fun to keep to myself and much cuter than the brown on brown hazelnut latte cookies. I already love campy bunt cakes but this one has a brightly colored and flavored peppermint swirly ribbon inside it that is pretty cool too. It’s a super sweet treat to bring to a holiday party or make for someone who has a Christmas birthday. It’s also super easy.

Don’t press on the cake when you cut it – it will crush the prettiness.

‘Tis the season for sharing…

Candy Cane Cake

3 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour (you’ll need a little more to dust your cake pan)
1/2 teaspoon Crushed Pink Himalayan Salt
1 Cup Margarine
2 1/2 Cups Sugar
5 Tablespoons Applesauce
2 teaspoons EnerG Egg Replacer (just powder not prepared how they instruct on the package)
1 Cup Coconut Milk
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon Cherry Juice or Red Food Color
1/2 teaspoon Peppermint Extract
Vegetable Shortening for greasing your cake pan

Peppermint Glaze

1 Cup Powdered Sugar
2 Tablespoons Almond Milk
1/4 teaspoon Peppermint Extract
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
5 Crushed Candy Canes for decoration

Heat oven to 350.

Generously grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube cake pan. To make your cake batter blend all cake ingredients except Cherry Juice, Food Color, Peppermint Extract and Vegetable Shortening until it is smooth.

Pour about 2 cups batter into greased pan. In small bowl, mix 1 cup of batter, Cherry Juice/Food Color and Peppermint Extract. Carefully pour pink batter over white batter in pan and then very gently spread it out with a spatula so that you can’t see any white batter. This will create your color ribbon and keep you from getting a a big blob. Carefully pour remaining white batter over pink batter. With a clean spatula, spread the white batter for the pink batter. It might start to blend a little but try not to. It will bake into a marbled effect if you don’t blend the two batters too much.

Bake for 30-45 minutes. Different cake pans have different patterns and depth so some will take longer than others. You’ll know your cake is ready when the top is golden brown and you can stick a bamboo skewer in the cake and remove it cleanly. Using the bamboo skewer, make a dozen or so little stabs into the top of the cake.You’re releasing moisture from the cake to help it cool and also release from the pan. Let your cake cool for 10 minutes and then turn your cake pan upside down on a large serving dish.

While your cake is baking, make your glaze. In small bowl, mix all the glaze ingredients except the crushed Candy Canes with a whisk until creamy. Then drizzle your glaze over the cake. Sprinkle crushed Candy Canes on top.
Serve slightly chilled with hot chocolate. I really like the juxtaposition of the two.

* True Story.