[vegetarian] chocolate p.b. icing

I hope you got a good laugh out of the title.  Nope, there is no meat in the frosting recipe.  Not in this particular one, at least.

Look at what Katy brought me last night.

Take another guess.

“It’s A Cake In A Bag” – SNL, anyone? anyone?  (sorry Mom!)

I think Katy calls this stuff, “cake droppings“.  Sounds gross…tastes delicious!  It’s basically the shavings that come off of a cake that is being decorated.  Katy happened to be making three birthday cakes yesterday and this is what she shaved off to make them nice and pretty.

Not sure what I did to deserve TWO cakes in one week, but I’ll take it!!

Let me clear something up though:  If you’re a new reader (welcome!), judging by my posts of late, you may be under the impression that I’m a sugar-holic.

I am.

Kinda.

For the most part, I eat a balanced diet, high in protein and fiber.  I eat 5-6 meals a day, getting roughly 1600 calories.  I try to eat lean protein, fresh vegetables and fruits, and healthy fats.  I DON’T measure out food or calculate calories though.  I USED to do that, and was maniacal about it, but that’s a story for a different day.  Today, I try not to restrict my eating whatsoever, and instead, choose healthy foods first, and save room for dessert.  Moderation is key!! 

I indulge EVERY SINGLE DAY!  But I also exercise hard EVERY SINGLE DAY (minus rest days).  Life’s too short to live in restriction.  If I had a weight problem, I probably wouldn’t eat as many sweets.  But I don’t, and I feel energetic and healthy with the way that I eat.  It works for me. 

Glad we cleared that up.

Try as I might to resist, Katy forced the “cake in a bag” on me and made me take it home.  Tie my hands, why don’t you!  I still had some gorgeous peaches that were begging to be made into a cobbler or a crisp.  But peaches freeze well.  Cake, not so much.  The memory of our freezer-burnt wedding topper still haunts me 5 years later.  So I cut up the peaches and froze them.

But what to do with my cake bag?  A parfait?  A trifle? Pour it into a bowl and make “cake cereal”?  The possibilities were endless.

But I actually had just the perfect topping in mind.

[Vegetarian] Chocolate Peanut Butter Icing

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp. natural peanut butter
• 1/3 cup milk (I used Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Melt butter in the microwave.  Add the cocoa powder.

Place bowl in sink…you know, because A) you don’t have a fancy schmancy Kitchen Aid mixer and B) you’re a crazy, psycho neat freak. 

Add vanilla and cinnamon.  Add peanut butter to taste.  I used about 1 tablespoon, but next time, I’ll add 2.  Mix well, until peanut butter is incorporated.

Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating well after every addition.  Cringe at the thought of people seeing your grundgy Hamilton Beach mixer. 

Ta-da!!  My finished product actually turned out to be a little runnier than I would have liked.  Less almond milk next time.

Take your “cake in a bag” and place in 8×8 pan.

Smush down the cake with clean hands.  Tempted as you might be, do not take your anger out on the cake.  It’s not the one who kicked the back of your seat with dirty shoes and asked the same question 34 times!

Drizzle icing over cake base.  Second cake in a week.  I’ll take it!!

But seriously Katy, I’m trying to run a healthy living blog over here! 

[Let’s take two weeks off….then come talk to me.]

 

splendid…lindsay