Oh yes, more May birthday madness! The birthday girl in question also asked me to bring over some other vegan sweets to her little tea party on Sunday, so I have quite a bit of baking to do today… But it’ll be a fun challenge, thank goodness. I just need to figure out what to make next!

I don’t remember exactly what my inspiration was for this one, but I knew that no matter what, I wanted to find something that went well with chocolate, because I just happen to have tons of leftover chocolate ganache for some reason. This particular friend didn’t appear to be particularly fond of fruit flavors, so I tried to look in a different direction. Standard vanilla was considered briefly, but the urge to experiment soon became all-consuming when I dreamed up the thought of peanut butter cupcakes. Sure, I’d seen some “peanut butter cupcake cakes” before, but they were chocolate cakes with peanut-buttery orbs stuck in the centers.

These bad boys make no excuses. Loaded up with nothing but peanut butter, it really gives the nutty flavor a chance to shine through instead of playing second fiddle to the chocolate topping.

Of course, fate has a way of working against us…

The cupcakes were fine, but on the morning they were to be delivered, I was not exactly the most cheerful little girl around. Sleep had eluded me for all but 30 minutes before I had to run out the door to catch my train – Some how I had managed to avoid getting a single nod all night, but then mysteriously passed out on the living room carpeting right before I had to start moving again. I honestly have no idea how I even got there.

So now I was rushing around toasting up bread, packing lunch, carefully wrapping up the cupcakes because – Oh look – It’s raining yet again. In the car, I singe the taste buds off my tongue with a gulp of molten hot coffee, and then spill what remains all over my lap when we stop short. By the time we made it into the station, I was no prepared to deal with much. Knowing that this friend sometimes has an issue with making it to school on a daily basis, I worried that my efforts would be for naught.

“If she’s not here today, I swear to god, I’m throwing these cupcakes into the train tracks.” I threatened in my mother’s general direction.

My mom was slightly taken aback, “No, you won’t.”

“Oh you just wait and see.” I was a bomb just waiting to go off, and who was going to tell me what pastries I could or could not destroy?!

“No, seriously, if she’s not here, bring them back home and I’ll eat them,” she clarified with a grin.

Luckily, sleep deprivation and 3rd degree coffee burns aside, it all went off without a hitch. The birthday girl showed up just as I had made her repeatedly promise throughout the week, and I believe she even enjoyed the cupcakes. Well, I can’t be sure about that, but I’m pretty sure if she didn’t like them, she probably would have stopped at her second or third.

Every year around the middle of May, our little town holds its annual Dogwood Festival, to celebrate our [State? Town? Not sure, actually…] flower / tree / plant like vegetation. It’s mostly just a place where artisans can sell hand crafted goods, people eat fried food, and smaller children can participate in the rather under-whelming carnival type games. Sound great, huh? Well, if that doesn’t just make you want to run out of the house and join in, never fear; It does get better. For the first time last year, the town decided to organize a little baking competition, in which anyone could enter home baked goods into two categories: Cakes and Cookies. In the 2005 event, I entered a cheesecake and took second in cakes. As the date approached for a potential rematch, I regretted my past decision and lack of confidence in vegan baked goods in general. There was no option for me to feel even slight redemption for my old submission: Enter this again year, but with a vegan cake.

I was chomping at the bit to get started, reviewing old recipes and skimming through new, collecting ideas, ingredients, and inspiration. It was all or nothing, take no prisoners.

Finally, after much painfully deliberation, I had created the ultimate cake, combining some of my favorite flavors and displaying a copious number of calories with reckless abandon. Yes, the Chocolate – Espresso Devastation Cake had been born…

Two layers of rich chocolate-esspresso cake, with a creamy smear of coffee “buttercream” frosting sandwiched in the middle…

…Smothered in two coats of decadent chocolate ganache, topped with crushed chocolate-covered espresso beans, and then garnished with more frosting around the edges, each dollop lovingly cradling one whole bean.

So, to sum it all up…

Devastation Cake. Not for the fat phobic or calorie counting. No corners were cut, nothing sacrificed or avoided, only this time, it was completely, 100% vegan. All things considered though, it still has no refined sugars or “bad” fats. Vegan food isn’t necissarily health food, and I think it’s time for the world to see just how sinful and mind-blowingly delicious it can be, when executed correctly.

With that in mind, I want to share this recipe with all of you, in hopes that you can open someone’s eyes to what it really means to be a compassionate cook, or at the very least, what a devine cake this is. I struggled for a long time, trying to decide whether I would post the recipe or keep it to myself, so I hope that someone out there appreciates it and enjoys it very much! After all, we all deserve to have our cakes and eat them, too.

Oh, and the results of the bake off…?

…. I stole first place this time around. No joke.