Flops and Fruition: The "Fudgiest" Brownies I’ve Ever Tasted

A month after my first cupcake experiment, I made the announcement that I was going to bake a cake for my Mom’s birthday the following month.  At the time, I was adhering to the “Superhero” phase of Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet, which is a strict macrobiotic Vegan plan.  Because I suffer from an obsessive personality, I was determined to create a delicious and healthy version of my Mom’s then favorite cake du jour: Red Velvet Cake.  I was up to my ears in substitutions: how to substitute non-gluten flour mix for all-purpose flour, agave syrup for white sugar, beet juice for food coloring, in addition to the normal substitutions for dairy and eggs.  It’s no surprise that the cake flopped.  It baked fine around the outer ring, but the inside of the cake was a mass of red goop.  Thankfully, it tasted fine (concern with beet juice in baked goods diminished), but there was no way to salvage that molten lava of a disaster.  So I made a few changes and gave it another chance, resulting in another kitchen disaster.  I desperately tried to save it, foolishly stacking and frosting the second attempt, but it ripped apart and thick sticky glop was all over the counter top. Blood red cake was everywhere: on my face, in my hair, in my fingernails, and probably even in my ears. One quick glance in the mirror, and I could have been easily mistaken for a cold stone serial killer caught fresh after stabbing his victim multiple times in the back.  Okay, so I exaggerate.  But I, like the cake, was a hot mess.  Disheartened, I scrubbed away the final remnants of failure, admitted defeat, and slowly succumbed to purchasing a cake at the local bakery for my Mom's birthday.  I gave up on Vegan baking.  It just wasn’t meant to be.  That is, until along came a beacon of hope.

Three months ago I was experimenting with the wonders of homemade seitan.  In order to convince friends to be my guinea pig taste testers, I offered a complete Vegan dinner including dessert.  From my perspective, having a Vegan dessert ready to serve was nothing more than insurance if a seitan mishap were to occur, leaving only side dishes to eat.  Luckily, the seitan experiments were successful.  For our first "Seitanic Feast" (get it?), we scarfed down a no-bake Vegan Chocolate Kalhua Silk Pie. It rocked!  For the next feast, I wanted to bake Vegan Brownies.  Really?!  Baking from scratch with all the headache-inducing Vegan substitutes again?  I must be crazy.  But to my rescue came the glorious Punk Vegan Cooking Goddess Isa Moskowitz and her kick-a** recipe for the “fudgiest” brownies I’ve ever tasted, which also happen to be Vegan.  For a few weeks I couldn’t stop baking these delicious chocolate-packed morsels.  Anytime an excuse arose for me to bake up a batch, I did.  And everyone who tasted them couldn’t tell they were Vegan (the mark of success for any Vegan cook).

With each batch of brownies baked, I was building the confidence to give Vegan cake baking another shot.  It hasn’t been easy, but at least I had the tools to start figuring out why some recipes worked splendidly, and why others flopped dreadfully.

The Fudgiest Brownies I’ve Ever Tasted

(Heavily based on Brownies by Isa)

1/3 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

2/3 cup Water

1 12 oz. pkg Firm Silken Tofu, vacuum packed (I use Mori-Nu brand)

1 cup Vegan Chocolate Chips (I use Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips from Trader Joe's)

1 3/4 cup Sugar

3/4 tsp Sea Salt

1/2 cup Canola Oil

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

3/4 cup Cocoa Powder

3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 cup Vegan Chocolate Chips

Preheat Oven to 350ºF.  In a blender, puree 1/3 cup flour, water and tofu until smooth.  Pour into a medium size saucepan over low heat, and whisk constantly until thickened (8-10 minutes).  Turn flame down if mixture comes to a boil.  Do not allow to come to a boil.  Once thickened, remove from heat and stir in 1 cup chocolate chips, sugar and salt to melt and combine.  Allow mixture to cool enough (20-30 minutes) to mix in oil and vanilla.

While mixture cools, sift together remaining flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.  Fold dry ingredients into cooled tofu mixture until well combined.  Stir in remaining chocolate chips and spread into a greased 9x13 Baking Pan.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

(BTW, the brownies are even better the next day.)