It goes without saying that I spend a lot of time at the grocery store.  I pop in and out for ingredients almost daily; therefore, I know my way around the cashiers.  I avoid the slow cashiers and opt for those whom I know to be friendly and fast.  Subsequently many of the cashiers know my face, and I theirs.  While purchasing ingredients recently for a dinner of gnocchi and vegetarian sausage, one of the female cashiers, whom I’ve seen many times, rang up my purchase and said, “You always buy the healthiest stuff.”  I thanked her and then stuttered, somewhat surprised to hear what everybody knows but no one wants to say: cashiers pay attention to what you buy.   She took it one step further by commenting, “It’s only once in a while that you splurge with a bottle of wine or some chocolate.”

I was suddenly reminded of being in High School while my older brother was working as a bag boy at our local grocery store.  When he told me that a friend of ours from school had come in to the store to buy deodorant and a candy bar we were cracking up.  I remember wondering if he just threw in the candy bar because he was embarrassed about buying deodorant.  We all have moments when we have to buy something we don’t want anyone else to acknowledge, and we all pretend like the cashier doesn’t give two cents about our purchase.  Apparently they do.

Naturally I was inspired by this incident to buy something other than organic produce and healthy vegetarian products, so I decided to mix things up a bit with this recipe for brown sugar-toffee cake.  Thank you Vegetarian Times for providing this delicious recipe.  The cake batter is whisked with non-fat plain yogurt which means that it is incredibly moist.  A dash of coffee gives the cake a little extra oomph which is elevated once more by the robust sweetness of the crumbled toffee.  I fight a battle every day to avoid caffeine, but I feel obligated to write that this cake would be fantastic with a cup of coffee.  It also pairs well with vanilla ice cream (regular or soy) or can simply be eaten the way it is. 



Brown Sugar-Toffee Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2      Cups all-purpose flour
1/4         Tsp baking soda
1/8         Tsp baking powder
1/8         Tsp salt
6              Tbsp butter, softened
1              Cup dark brown sugar
1/2         Cup sugar
2              Eggs, at room temperature
1/4         Cup cold strong coffee
1              Tsp vanilla extract
1/2         Cup fat-free plain yogurt, at room temperature
3              Milk chocolate-toffee bars, such as Heath (pulsed into small & large chunks)


Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 325⁰ F and coat a 9-inch round baking pan with cooking spray.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3) In a separate bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar with an electric mixture until smooth.  Beat the eggs in one at a time; then beat in the coffee and vanilla extract.

4) Add 1/4 cup of yogurt and beat until smooth.  Add half of the flour mixture and beat until smooth.  Beat in the remaining 1/4 cup of yogurt and then the remaining flour mixture.  Beat 2 to 3 minutes or until batter is smooth.

5) Spread the creamy batter in the prepared cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes (or until a toothpick dipped in the center comes out clean). 

6) While cake is still hot, sprinkle the chocolate-toffee bits over the top of the cake.  Allow the cake to cool completely before serving.  (Cake pairs well with vanilla ice cream and/or coffee). 



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