Chocolate Redemption

Weeks ago, Rob and I were invited to have dinner at the home of one of Rob's colleagues.  We later confirmed the plans for tonight and offered to bring dessert.  In anticipation of this, we'd already gone by the store a few days ago and picked up the ingredients for Moosewood's incredible Vegan Chocolate Cake...yes, that's right: a vegan creation that's as delectable as any reg'lar chocolate cake you can dream up!  The recipe promised to be quick and simple--even better--so just for kicks, we decided to make it a double decker and use a chocolate orange glaze (a recipe found in Moosewood Restaurant New Classics) as both a filler between layers and a decorative mess on top.

We set to work early, passed the time in between around a scrabble board (I won by the way: 314 to 298:), and took a quick lunch break during which I whipped up a scrumptuous wild rice and sausage version of Dad's classic "Rice Stuff."  I think Rob and I both surprised ourselves by how well we collaborated on this little venture.  Rob was brilliant with his parchment-paper origami (parchment paper works REALLY well for getting cakes out of pans without anything sticking), and I turned out to be the master refiner of the fresh-orange-zest-infused bitter-chocolate glaze.  After a dusting of powdered sugar, and some attempted artsiness with our remaining orange slices, here is the result...

Don't worry...we'll also be bringing vanilla ice cream.  I guess that spoils its vegan-ness, but we worried our hosts might be overwhelmed by such a chocolatey monstrosity, and would appreciate a bit of tempering on the side.

I can't WAIT for dinner tonight!