Coconut-Key Lime Bundt Cake...OMG!

Last night I decided to try the Coconut-Lemon Bundt Cake from the Veganomicon. I made a few modifications, because the lemons I had were no good, and it turned out I was out of flaked coconut. Oops!

So it became a Coconut-Key Lime Cake. But it came out beautifully. Seriously: super-duper delicious cake! It's fine by itself, or with powdered sugar and strawberries. I bet it would be awesome with coconut frosting. Or a citrusy glaze of some kind.

All the cake recipes I've tried from these authors have turned out not just good, but REMARKABLY good, as in "professional bakery good".

With the coconut flakes left out, all I could taste was the key lime. Yum. So, here's my very slightly tweaked version:

You'll Need This Stuff:

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup canola oil or applesauce

14 ounces coconut milk

1/4 cup key lime juice

1/4 cup rice or soy milk

3 tablespoons finely grated lime zest

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp butter flavor extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

(The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut, which I left out because I didn't have it. But if you have it and you dig coconut, by all means, add it).

a few tablespoons confectioners sugar for topping

Make the Cake:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and oil a 8 or 10 inch bundt pan.

2. Mix in a large bowl the sugar, oil, coconut milk, soy milk or rice milk, lime zest and lime juice together.

3. Mix in another bowl the flower, baking powder soda and salt

4. Mix the ingredients of both bowls together. When it is well mixed you add the shredded coconut, if you happen to have any!

5. Put the mixture into the prepared pan, and bake for 45-60 minutes at 350.

6. Take the cake out the oven and let it cool for 15-30 minutes.

When the cake is completely cool, you can flip it out of the pan and sprinkle it with sugar and messily devour it, because it is wonderful.

Something We Can All Do

This report appeared on WBAL, the local Baltimore news channel yesterday (and again this morning). Someone abandoned at least 29 dogs in the freezing cold in Frederick, MD. They are all small dogs, like Poodles, Yorkies, Chihuahuas, and Cairn Terriers, and NONE were spayed or neutered. I say "at least 29" because 29 were found, but obviously it's possible that not all the abandoned dogs have been found. One of the dogs was struck and killed by a car.

This story just screams "puppy mill" to me. It's a total outrage and I think that, vegan or not, all thinking and feeling people are against these.

So what can the average person do to help stop things like this? Not just puppy mills, but the pet overpopulation problem more broadly? I'm happy to say that there are things you could do right now, easy things.

If you're not familiar with the International Society for Animal Rights (ISAR), I strongly suggest that you check out their website and blog and read about their activities.

Here's a link to their Model Mandatory Spay/Neuter Statute. I think it makes a lot of sense, and I think you will probably agree. And now here's the "action" part. I quote from the ISAR blog:

A participant in ISAR’s 2008 Homeless Animals’ Day from Florida has informed us that: “Just so you know, I copied the great model spay/neuter statute you wrote in your blog and forwarded it to all Fla state senators. I’ll do the same with the state reps tomorrow.” The Executive Director of Animal Law Coalition has requested “permission to reprint this wonderful monograph”—which ISAR gratefully granted.

So here's what I suggest:

1) Find out who your senators and representatives are. You can do that here.

2) Contact them by e-mail or, if you have the time and energy, by traditional, classic, paper-based mail, and let them know that you support a statewide mandatory spay/neuter statute.

3) Of course there's always MORE you can do. You could start by passing this on and encouraging others to contact their elected officials and urge them to take this issue seriously.

Voila! You're an animal rights activist! Now you can eat tofu for lunch and sit around feeling morally superior!