Hell Yeah It's Vegan!

Once upon a time, not so long ago, the dumpster gods rained down 10 pounds of candied macadamia nuts. In the same run, we scored something like 25 pounds of unsalted peanuts, which we’ve been cooking with and grinding down into peanut butter for quite some time. The macadamia nuts, however, have been sitting around, mostly uneaten — because you can only eat so many at a time, and what the hell do you do with macadamia nuts?

First, there’s the obvious choice: white chocolate-macadamia nut cookies. The problem is that I’m not really into them. Though, that might be unfair, considering the only time I’ve ever eaten them was when they came from a “refrigerated dough bar”, manufactured by a certain company with a burning desire to take the “homemade” out of homemade. Forget the resource-exhausting brownie-mix-in-a-box, forget the muscle-straining hazards of slicing refrigerated cookie dough — did you know that you can purchase pre-mixed, pre-sliced brownie dough that needs nothing but to be broken apart with your hands and thrown in an oven (or microwave)??? Eugh.

I’ve also made a Carrot Coconut Ginger Macadamia (with pineapple!) layer cake by a famed vegan cookbook author, a sickeningly sweet tropical explosion which just about made me vomit from flavor onslaught and sugar overload — an adventure I’d prefer not to repeat.

When in doubt, just throw everything in the food processor and see what happens. The macadamia nuts in my possession were roasted and then coated in fine sugar, so for my nut butter purposes, I rinsed them well to remove the sugar and let them dry out again (in the oven). I then threw them in a food processor and ground them down to a smooth paste, adding a little salt to bring out the flavor. It’s actually really delicious; rich, creamy, and mild.

First I whipped up a small batch of coconut-macadamia nut butter frosting, and was impressed… but that meant I had to whip up something to put it on. With a ton of pineapple juice sitting in my attic from previous trash-picking adventures, I decided a light pineapple cake would be best.

I really like this cake recipe. It’s probably not something I’d use as is to impress the fam, or anything, but this cake has a characteristic density that I often find is missing in vegan cakes. Fluffy cakes are fine, and certainly have their place, but I think sometimes vegan cooks are so busy worrying about getting that batter to RISE that other textural elements are sometimes overlooked.

I also like this cake because anyone’s grandparents would have all the necessary ingredients on hand. And lastly, it’s not overly sweet. The flavors here are subtle, and I would happily eat this plain. Feel free to swap out the pineapple juice for o.j. and top it with a tart, fruity glaze.

Light Pineapple Cake with Coconut-Macadamia Frosting

Yield: One large bundt cake, or 2 9″ round cake pans. My bundt pan is thick, dark metal, but if you’re using a regular, light-colored cake pan, go ahead and bake at 375º for the same amount of time.

Cake
3 c flour
1½ c white sugar
3 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 c oil
1¾ c pineapple juice

Frosting
½ c macadamia nut butter, unrefrigerated (salted is fine)
¼ c soy margarine, softened
2 c confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut extract
½ c shredded coconut (preferably sweetened)
2 tbsp water, plus more as needed

Grease and flour your pan(s) — this is especially important when using a bundt pan, as the cake can get stuck on any ungreased crevice.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, soda, and salt. Add oil and juice and stir til just mixed (lumps are fine). Pour into prepared pan(s) and bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes. Let cool before frosting.

For the frosting, mash together the butter and nut butter. Add confectioner’s sugar and extracts and stir; add water tablespoon by tablespoon, whipping until you reach your desired consistency.

I’m going to have a giant pile of macadamia nuts for a while. I’m thinking some light, delicate, nutty cookies are next. Have any ideas on what I should make with macadamia nut butter (or ground macadamia nuts, or macadamia nuts generally)? Post them here!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Desserts, Food Preservation, Recipes, Sauces and Condiments, Vegan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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