Clara Polito, also known as Clara Cakes, is only 19 years old, but she's been baking for over seven years. And when you bake that much, eating cake for breakfast isn't out of the question. "Yeah, especially when I was making this cookbook," she laughed in an interview. "I took a lot of the dessert photos, so I would have at least half a cake around, so I’d be like, 'OK, I guess this is breakfast.'" The cookbook in question is Clara Cakes: Delicious and Simple Vegan Desserts for Everyone!, forthcoming from powerHouse Books, and it's full of dozens of recipes for plant-based pies, cookies, frostings, and, of course, cakes.Though Polito takes her politics seriously—"I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if it weren’t for becoming vegan," she writes in the book—she doesn't actively advertise that her desserts are vegan. "First, I wasn’t into the idea of being vegan," she admitted, despite growing up in a vegetarian household. "Then I just educated myself more about why I would be vegan and different factory farm cases that I had read about and that’s what really made me start not eating eggs or dairy." She finally made the switch to vegan at 14, shortly after her mom did, and started baking and selling her baked goods at punk shows in and around Los Angeles.She quickly became known for her so-called "Inception Cookies" at these shows, which, she explains, often tricked people—and not just because they were secretly vegan. "People buy what they think is just a giant chocolate chip cookie, walk away from the table, bite into it, and make some sorta pleasantly surprised face when they discover the harmony of the Oreo and chocolate chip cookie all in one package," she writes." Then, they turn around, point at the cookie, and give me a thumbs up."Each recipe in this book comes with these types of loving details, about her life in L.A., her family, the DIY punk scene in which she came up. "There’s a story attached to every recipe," Polito explained, "and I think with most people, you connect with food over memories." The chocolate and ricotta cheesecake with a pine nut and white cornmeal crust, for instance, is a vegan take on her favorite Italian dessert. (The ricotta is vegan, of course, made by blending cashews and almonds and some lemon.) The breakfast cake was inspired by a bowl of corn flakes with bananas and milk—"or soy milk, in my case," she added.And this banana breakfast cake, which comes stuffed with maple pudding and smothered in a not-too-sweet yet still dense maple frosting, is probably the best way to eat cake for breakfast. Polito does have some tips for anyone who wants to attempt this recipe at home. "The corn flakes, just make sure they’re cooked long enough, and they’re nice and crunchy. And let them cool completely before you put them on the cake, so they’re not soggy or anything." As for the bananas? "You have to buy ahead of time, you really need to have close-to-brown bananas or with brown speckles," Polito insists. "It’s best for baking because all the sugar is ready for you, and the flavor’s way more prominent."For Polito, though, this cookbook is only the start. "I dream about a lot of things. I would definitely like a shop, another cookbook, a baking show, just everything. Everything all in one." Just like this breakfast cake.Note: If you're making a two-layered breakfast cake, double the amount of ingredients Banana Cake Batter and Maple Frosting.Clara Cakes' Breakfast CakeIngredients
