Grab a Latte and Cupcake This Week at Planet Earth Eco Cafe

I made these cupcakes for Planet Earth Eco Cafe. It is the first time you will find my cupcakes there. One is a carrot cake cupcake sweetened with pineapple, carrots, maple syrup, and coconut and topped with buttercream frosting and cinnamon...mmm heaven. The other is a lemon cake with crunchy nut butter and the sweetest lemon frosting you have ever tasted. Go get yourself one if they haven't sold out yet!

Planet Earth Eco Cafe is an awesome local coffee shop with organic fair trade coffee and some of the nicest owners you will ever meet. The ambience is warm and friendly and their coffee from lattes to pirate's chai are uncomparable. They are located at 509 Pier AveHermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Baking With Agave Nectar

I just bought a new book - Baking with Agave Nectar, by by Ania Catalano on Amazon.com. The book is fabulous, especially considering my latest obsession is with agave nectar. For Easter brunch I decided to dive in and make my first recipe out of the book. 99.9% of the time I bake cupcakes, because I am obsessed with them but I decided to make the "Peach Melba Cake" recipe. It's vegan, sugar-free, and very tasty! There are three layers to the cake - the bottom a peach cake, the middle a peach custard, then a strawberry topping with a jello-like glaze.

It turned out great (see pictures below). It was very lightly sweetened and very fruity. If I was having a craving for sugar, I could have substituted sugar for agave in the cake but me and my brunch guests (family) loved the lightness of it.