Latest news with #NoraTaylor
New York Times
23-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
The Chocolate Cake That Made a Times Reporter Go Vegan
The Climate Fix is our twice-a-month guide to the most important solutions to climate change across the world. Have comments about what we should cover? Email us at climateforward@ There are good reasons, even noble ones, why people stop eating dairy and meat. Animal ethics. Health concerns. Lessening one's impact on an overheated planet, because plant-based is the most environmentally-friendly diet around. I, meanwhile, went vegan because of a chocolate cake. I wrote about the cake in a recent dispatch for our 50 States, 50 Fixes series, which highlights an environmental solution in every state. The cake was created in 2018 by Nora Taylor, a vegan food blogger and mother of three who lives outside Portland, Ore., a hot spot for plant-based food. The recipe has since become a sensation, with more than 1,900 five-star reviews. I first encountered the cake at a backyard wedding in 2018, where it sat under a tent with other desserts. I'd been chocolate obsessed since childhood, spent in Ireland, where Cadbury was balm against the cold and rain. I was drawn to Taylor's cake like a sailor to a siren. It was sumptuous, and when I learned that it contained no dairy or eggs, I was stunned. At the time, I was wrestling with climate anxiety, as well as society's profound disconnect from the destruction of the natural world. My dismay was amplified by the ways we condemn billions of farmed animals to hidden, cramped dungeons and violent deaths. Animal agriculture also pollutes waterways and drives greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation. I didn't want to be party to any of it. But I was still focusing on everything I'd have to give up. Sure, I like a livable planet. Yes, I'd prefer to eat food that didn't entail putting other sentient beings through hell. But what was life, really, without Dubliner cheese? Taylor's chocolate cake, a decadence, helped shift my framing. I realized plant-based eating could be delicious. Taylor went vegan in her mid-20s, after a co-worker made peanut butter stuffed vegan chocolate cookies. She had been vegetarian, having never really liked meat, but then researched what the dairy and egg industries involved. 'It hit me, that animal connection,' she said. I began making the cake with regularity. Like many of Taylor's recipes — her other hits include chocolate chip cookies, lasagna, and marry-me chickpeas — it's pretty easy to make. 'I'm honestly quite lazy in the kitchen,' said Taylor. 'That's really part of the goal. I want to make even my dinner recipes just as easy as possible, using as little dishes as possible.' Last week, for the sake of journalistic integrity, I decided to see what my workers thought of the cake. So I baked it, popped it into a container and schlepped it by subway to the office. The cake has always drawn raves. I've even been stopped on the street by someone who'd had it at a party I'd brought it to. 'That cake!' she said. But my colleagues could prove a tougher crowd. A lot was riding on the cake. But once again, it wowed. We took the cake review discussion to Slack. Here is some of that conversation, edited for brevity: Claire O'Neill (visual editor): I don't really have a sweet tooth. More of a salty snacks (Doritos) gal. But I really liked this cake, especially the texture, which was almost brownie-ish? Claire Brown (reporter): The texture of this cake blew me away. I've had many fantastic olive oil-based vegan cakes, but this is the closest one has ever come to my platonic (but non-vegan) ideal — the Costco sheet cake. Christina Kelso (reporter): I also wasn't surprised this was good, but I was delighted! It had a nice cake/frosting balance. Elijah Walker (photo editor): I am usually more of a pie guy myself BUT this cake could change my mind. I am not being hyperbolic when I say it was one of the top tier cakes I have had. Doug Alteen (editor): What I especially liked: The tangy note that came from the applesauce and the vinegar. And the texture. It was lovely. Jesse Pesta (editor): Years ago I was at a cake-centered event on a rooftop and, as we all ate some a really delicious cake, one person blurted out: 'Wow this cake is juicy!' When I had this one I immediately thought of that — that cake sure was juicy! It was better than lots of normal cakes in terms of richness and moistness. Maybe it's the applesauce trick? David Gelles (reporter): I say with no hyperbole or exaggeration: This was the best cake I've ever had. As an indiscriminate eater of cake and other foodstuffs, the absence of animal products is, to me, a curiosity more than a call to action, and is unlikely to inform my future eating habits. Nevertheless, the cake was a revelation. An Illinois building was a bird killer. A simple change made a world of difference. Researchers have estimated that hundreds of millions of birds die hitting buildings every year in the United States. These strikes are believed to be one of the factors behind an almost 30 percent drop in North American birds since 1970. Chicago is one of the most dangerous cities in the country for migrating birds, according to research by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. And no building was known to be more lethal than McCormick Place's Lakeside Center. But last summer, the vast glass windows and doors of the building were overlaid with a pattern of close, opaque dots to help birds perceive the glass. The treatment's early results are nothing short of remarkable. During fall migration, deaths were down by about 95 percent when compared with the two previous autumns. — Catrin Einhorn Read more. And read more from the 50 States, 50 Fixes series: Thanks for being a subscriber. Read past editions of the newsletter here. If you're enjoying what you're reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here. Browse all of our subscriber-only newsletters here. And follow The New York Times on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and TikTok at @nytimes. Reach us at climateforward@ We read every message, and reply to many!
New York Times
21-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- New York Times
From Oregon, a Chocolate Cake That Changes Hearts and Minds
In Oregon, there's a through line from 19th century saints to 21st century sinners. They both sought salvation, of a sort, by eschewing meat. It was in Portland, in the 1890s, that Seventh-day Adventists opened one of the first vegetarian restaurants in the country, in line with their belief that a Godly diet was one of fruit, vegetables, legumes and grains. It was also in Portland, more than hundred years later, that Johnny Diablo Zukle opened a vegan strip club, now in its 18th year. Portland, highly praised for its food scene, is a hot spot for vegans, who don't eat dairy or meat. The maker of Tofurky, the vegan holiday roast, is headquartered nearby, as is Bob's Red Mill, global purveyor of artisanal whole grains. By one count, Portland has the most vegan businesses per capita. The city is home to vegan tattoo parlors, where stencil paper and ink contain no animal products, vegan food trucks and loads of vegan-friendly restaurants. Vegan diets are the most climate-friendly because they generate far fewer greenhouse gas emissions and environmental harms compared with diets that include animal products. But about the cake The region is also home to Nora Taylor, a mother of three and former nurse who lives outside Portland and runs a vegan food blog called Nora Cooks. In 2018, Ms. Taylor posted a recipe for chocolate cake that changed my life. For her 35th birthday, Ms. Taylor decided to concoct the perfect vegan chocolate cake, having found other recipes too dry or too dense. Her recipe included ingredients sure to confound egg and butter die-hards: Applesauce, nondairy milk, apple cider vinegar. But she had doubts about posting it online because it also called for sugar and vegan butter, and she'd been trying to keep her blog healthy. 'I told my husband, 'Maybe I should try some avocado frosting.' And he was like, 'Can you just post the cake? Because it's incredible,'' Ms. Taylor said. She did. Not long afterward, I was at a casual backyard wedding where someone brought Ms. Taylor's chocolate cake. It was a stunner, layered, dark and rich, and after one bite, I was in a swoon. 'It's vegan,' a server told me. 'It can't be,' I shot back. At the time, I was a conflicted omnivore, haunted by what humans put billions of animals through, yet unable to imagine a life without cheese or eggs. Ms. Taylor's cake opened up epicurean possibilities. A month after trying it, I committed to going plant-based. Ms. Taylor, 41, gave up meat and dairy in her mid-twenties, as Portland's vegan scene was surging. The city's meatless leanings were amplified by hippies in the 1970s, followed by a vibrant punk scene that embraced animal rights and veganism as resistance to consumer capitalism. Vegan business boom In 2003, a young couple, Emiko Badillo and Chad Miller, opened a vegan grocery store called Food Fight! It became a community hub, hosting punk shows and events, including a cookie contest judged by onetime presidential candidate (and vegan) Dennis Kucinich. It also inspired other like-minded shops. 'Vegan businesses in general just started popping up everywhere, which was great,' Ms. Badillo said. In 2006, Heman Bhojwani opened a vegan food distribution business, Earthly Gourmet, supplying hundreds of restaurants. 'People are very open-minded about vegan food here,' said Alex Felsinger, co-founder of Mirisata, a vegan Sri Lankan restaurant in Portland. 'They're used to seeing this food around. It's not weird.' Mr. Zukle opened his vegan strip club, Casa Diablo, in 2008, after an earlier endeavor, a vegan family restaurant, foundered. Mr. Zukle, 61, gave up meat and dairy in his early 20s, initially for health reasons, and committed to it after learning about animal mistreatment. At his club, dancers aren't allowed to wear fur, feathers or leather onstage and the most-ordered dish is the vegan crunch wrap. 'There's different ways that we can make an impact,' Mr. Zukle said. 'Every little bit helps.' Still, across the country, the popularity of plant-based foods has been wobbling. Mr. Bhojwani, the wholesale distributor, said that his sales had dipped 10 percent over the past two years, which he attributes to increased costs of labor, shipping and ingredients, and businesses closing as a result. There's also been an upsurge in meat consumption, with sales hitting record highs and a political moment that favors 'carnibros.' Ms. Taylor has even seen a recent surge in anti-vegan attacks on the recipes she posts to Facebook. 'Really disheartening,' she said. But Eric Brent, founder of HappyCow, an app for vegan options worldwide, said that Portland's strong vegan community made its plant-based food scene resilient. HappyCow found that the number of vegan businesses in the city held steady for much of 2024. And Ms. Taylor said the traffic to her website has grown 25 percent compared with a year ago and now averages 3 million page views a month. 'In reality, many folks continue to be interested in becoming plant-based, but we aren't the loud ones right now,' Ms. Taylor said. While she's since added tons of other recipes, her chocolate cake was her breakthrough, with more than 1,900 five-star reviews. I've made it at least a dozen times, watching peoples' eyes widen after they taste it, and again after learning it's made without eggs or dairy. Ms. Taylor said positive feedback to her recipes vastly outweighed the negative, with people thanking her for helping them go plant-based, or at the very least to cut down on meat. 'They say it made it possible for them to make this change,' Ms. Taylor said. 'It makes it feel meaningful for me, like I'm doing my part for goodness in the world. For the animals, for the earth, for people.'
