To Live and Eat in L.A.

Tis the season and I’ve got pumpkins on the brain. My mom had asked me to make her a vegan pumpkin cheesecake, but while I was browsing through my cookbooks for a good recipe I came across another pumpkin based treat that grabbed my attention instead and wouldn’t let go. Luckily I just so happened to have all the ingredients on hand to make the Pumpkin Crumb Cake with Pecan Streusel from The Veganomicon (don’t worry mom, you’ll get your cheesecake eventually).

I made it and it was awesome. This is a big deal for two reasons:

1.) It’s the first dessert item I’ve made from The Veganomicon, I’d previously only tried making savory dishes, and
2.) This is the first cake I’ve ever made in my life.

It’s true. Insert collective shocked gasp here. You already know this whole cooking-for-real thing is pretty new for me still… there’s just never been an occasion ever which required me to make a cake. In my world cakes are things you buy or which other people who are far better at baking make for you… making one from scratch is all new territory as far as I’m concerned. Sure, I think I may have participated once or twice in some cake action that began as a powdered mix poured from a box, but a real cake, made with real ingredients from start to finish? Nope, first time!

You can imagine I was absolutely stoked that not only was this cake super easy to make, but it’s also exceptionally delicious. Cake success!

I had a tiny freak out when I realized that I didn’t have the full amount of oil the recipe calls for, but I made a last minute executive decision and substituted the amount I didn’t have with the same amount of apple sauce. This seems to have been the right thing to do because this cake was so freakin’ fantastic that I wouldn’t change a thing about it. The texture is very soft and crumbly, perhaps slightly more fall-apartish than it should have been due to the applesauce/oil switcheroo, but that’s it’s only minor flaw. If anything that made it even more tasty because the cake came out exquisitely moist. Everything about this cake was fantastic, from the full-bodied flavor of the pumpkin which really comes through, to the crunchy, sweet and sugary pecan streusel that it’s topped with… SO DAMN GOOD!

The cake is made in a 9 x 13 baking pan, which is pretty big, and it’s just me here… so, um yeah, I’ve eaten nothing but pumpkin cake for the past three days: breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night snacks included. It just gets better and better too the more it sits around. By the second day it had firmed up somewhat and it started reminding me a bit of the tasty honey cakes my grandmother used to make.

If you own The Veganomicon I implore you to give this cake a try (and if you don’t own it I implore you to buy it!). It’s a perfect treat for Halloween in this cool weather we’re enjoying in Los Angeles right now, and I’ll also suggest that it would be an excellent treat to make and share for Thanksgiving or any other sorts of gatherings you might have coming up… one cake will feed at least 16 people. Or just me if you leave me alone with it for a few days.

Happy Halloween everyone… have a spooky and delicious weekend!

Mani’s Bakery Cafe on Fairfax, which has been in business for over 20 years, is one of those places that people seem to either love or hate. I haven’t come across anyone who’s neutral about it. Me? I’ve got my foot firmly on the LOVE side, which is why I was sad to learn that Mani’s is having a hard time staying in business during this lameass economic meltdown.

Back in January the founder of Mani’s posted on their blog in regards to being in dire straights, basically putting out a plea for help in the form of business and feedback. The story was picked up by Quarrygirl who wrote a great review and helped get the word out that Mani’s is in urgent need of support. The story was also picked up by Eater L.A. where a bit of a backlash started to go down in the comments, a.k.a, those with their feet firmly on the HATE side. Poor dear Mani’s basically got shredded by Eater L.A.’s commentors… so much so that Mani’s then in turn responded to this back on their own blog. Wow… such drama!

While it’s always helpful to take into account the feedback that’s out there whether it be from online reviews or word of mouth, ultimately you won’t know if you like a place unless you try it for yourself. One mans trash is another mans treasure, and vice versa. While I don’t doubt that there is some truth to the negative stuff floating around out there, I for one have only had great experiences each time I’ve been to Mani’s, including great food (it’s more than a bakery, it’s also a full service, vegan-friendly restaurant) and a nice staff. If you were to avoid Mani’s soley because of the gangbang they just received on Eater L.A., you’d be sorely missing out on what for many has become an established local favorite. It’s an awesome place worth saving… just look at some of this excellent food:

Let’s start at the most logical beginning: breakfast. This is the Breakfast Wrap: “The whole enchilada’s wrapped up for your morning meal. Black beans, guacamole, spinach, mushrooms, garlic, cilantro, and your choice of turkey ham & scrambled eggs or vegan tofu scramble in a whole wheat tortilla. Served with our Ranchero Sauce and Pico de Gallo.”
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Sure, you might think of Los Angeles as a mess of freeways, traffic and smog… an urban sprawl nightmare. And you’d be right. But along with our near-year round perfect weather (present incoming storm not withstanding), we Angelenos have a few other gems to boast of which help give us the fortitude necessary to stay here. One of those is Griffith Park, the largest urban park in North America. People who do not live here don’t realize that along with all the car chases and crazy city hustle & bustle, our humble metropolis is also home to this wonderful natural wilderness area right in our own backyard (well for some it’s actually their front yard).

Just off Los Feliz Blvd., turning north onto Fern Dell Drive sets you on your way to exploring the various trails the park has to offer, including the hike up the mountain that will take you straight up to the Griffith Park Observatory and it’s accompanying spectacular views of Hollywood and all the way out to the sea. But what’s a hike without some nourishment in your belly first?

That’s where The Trails Cafe comes in. The Trails is located in a converted old snack shack along the left side of the main road leading up the Observatory, almost directly across from the shady fern forest. The setting is really beautiful, situated in clearing among the trees. They’ve taken the concept of a snack shack and kicked it up a quite a few notches… instead of serving crappy junk food they serve freshly made baked goods such as fruit & savory pies, muffins and scones along with other stuff like avocado sandwiches, salads and chili. There’s also all the coffee drinks you might expect from a cafe such as lattes and espressos (though I didn’t check to see if soy milk was available, sure seems like it would be).

The big news as far as we’re all concerned here today is that they’ve got a few vegan specialty items on the menu which are great, and much higher quality than you’d ever expect to get from a shack in the woods.

What we’ve got here is the Vegan Pie, the vegan version of their savory meat pie, which if I remember correctly was made with mushrooms, tempeh and cashews, yummy spices and baked in a flakey vegan crust. This seemd to be slightly different from the vegan pie described on their menu, but it was really good all the same… I think they often come up with new stuff that’s not going to be listed on their permanent menu. It came with a dipping sauce which I think was also mushroom based. It was fantastic. One bite and I could tell that the person who made these really knows how to cook, this tasted like something created by a real pastry chef.
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