For the 4th of July, I had my heart set on baking. As I try to eat healthy as a norm and confine my consumption of treats such as ice cream and baked goods to special occasions (birthdays, Christmas, etc.), I rarely bake. However, in spite of my commitment to "clean" eating, I actually love baking and all of the associations that come with the ritual as well as its yieldings, from the comfort of a simple vanilla-frosted plain cupcake to a trendy, pastel-hued French macaron. Baking can be fun and silly (think Funfetti mix) or elegant and refined (a classic creme brule). It can yield the most visually appealing of gastronomic creations -- smooth, spongy surfaces of cupcakes toped with a perfect tubed spiral of frosting -- or goods that were made with scant regard to aesthetics, but baked with plenty of love and the ideal combination of pleasure-inducing ingredients, such as mom's peanut-butter/chocolate-chipped cookies.
I knew that my Independence Day treat had to contain the cliche patriotic berry medley of strawberries and blueberries, possibly blackberries or raspberries if I was feeling adventurous, and also not be extravagantly unhealthy (no cheesecake!), so I found a recipe that matched my criteria in this vegan Lemon Berry Cake (from the visual knockout of a blog, Fragrant Vanilla Cake.
This was the first time I baked with berries, let alone vegan, and I'd say it was a success. The cake was very moist, probably due to the high concentration of fruit in the batter. While the recipe called for plenty of vanilla in addition to lemon juice, the latter overwhelmed the former. If I were more knowledgable with regard to baking, I'd tweak this recipe in the future so that the vanilla stands out more, probably by using less lemon juice. Otherwise, the cake was delicious and a hit with those with whom I shared it.
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