hot for food

Did you get enough of those pretty pictures? Here’s the recipe for the basic chocolate cupcake, which could also be used to make a whole cake if you like. I did a little experimenting with replacing soy milk with water, and they turned out the same, but took twice as long to bake for some reason?

Chocolate Cupcake

Ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup raw cane sugar
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

In a large bowl whisk apple cider vinegar and soy milk and set aside. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt. Add to the soy milk and vinegar mixture the sugar, vanilla extract, and coconut oil (make sure to melt it to liquid. You can also sub in canola or vegetable oil). Add half the dry ingredients to wet and beat together until smooth, add in the rest and combine well. There should be very little lumps in the mixture. Pour into muffin pan with liners, each about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
1 cup  Earth Balance
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup frozen raspberries
1 tsp vanilla extract

Allow Earth Balance to soften to room temperature and raspberries to thaw. I just run and drain them under water. You want to push the raspberries through a sieve to get rid of the seeds and just use the juice/puree. Beat this with the Earth Balance and vanilla extract until fluffy. Add sifted powdered sugar until you get a stiff frosting. I estimated it was about 3 to 4 cups, but I just kept adding bits at a time until it was the right consistency. If you get it too stiff then just add a bit of water or soy milk and continue beating.

I topped my cupcakes with these colored vegan, gluten free sprinkles available at most health food stores. They just happened to be the right color match!

The vegan sugar cookies were good but not quite as soft as I had hoped they would be. I need to experiment with these, but here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 cup raw cane sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Earth Balance
3 tbsp soy milk
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Mix in Earth Balance with your hands until just combined, then add other ingredients. I continued to blend thoroughly with my hands. Divide the dough into two, flatten a little bit and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for about an hour.

Using a rolling pin, roll on dough on floured counter surface to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out and put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for approx. 8 minutes at 400 F. Remove the cookies from the oven as soon as you see them turning color at the base. Let cool completely before frosting. I just made a simple royal icing and added pink food coloring.

I have my best friend’s baby shower today, and I am so excited! I also got to provide the treats for the party, which is even more exciting for someone like me. I think its official. I am going to open a bakery… what do you think!? All I need is a name, money, and time. Should be easy enough.

Anyway I wanted to show off the pretty pink treats with you. Btw, it’s a girl obvi, and these treats are vegan. More on that later. I’ll post the recipes with an update.

I seriously LOVE cake so much. Any kind, doesn’t matter. My last meal on earth would be a whole cake… all to myself. Anyway, I had so much fun making my first vegan birthday cake! It resulted in having extra cakes though, because I ended up trying different recipes. So I had even more fun using my extra cakes, concocting different icing and presentation ideas.

It was my bf’s birthday and all he wanted was a simple vanilla/white cake with chocolate icing. Looking online for vegan cake recipes I opted to try this one first at The Vegan Chef. I thought it turned out to be too heavy or dense. It has so much flour in it. And it was to puffy. Too much rise. I had to trim the tops to make them flatter, as I decided I was going to make a round 2 layered cake. It tasted good, but I was being extra picky. After some debate and anxiety I thought I should try a different recipe to get a lighter fluffier texture. I used a regular white cake recipe calling for butter, milk, and eggs, and just replaced those with Earth Balance, soy milk, and egg replacer powder. It was lighter, but it sunk in the middle. I don’t really know why it did that. And after searching online… no one else seems to know either. Some answers might be over beating the mixture, and get this, jumping around the oven? All very weird. But it still tasted good. I made an easy buttercream chocolate frosting by mixing powdered sugar, cocoa powder, earth balance, and soy milk.

See how lopsided it looks! The real fun and the following tasty photos were done using up the extra cake. What are these messy, stacked cakes like? Napoleons? I don’t know. There’s a fresh strawberry frosted one, and a peanut butter chocolate chip one. They were YUMMY!

Using fresh strawberry or raspberry puree is a good way to dye your icing (pink only) without using food coloring…plus it tastes better! I also had so much cake that I made some of these trifle-like cakes in wine glasses. They’re in the fridge waiting for a craving. I definitely have not found the perfect vegan vanilla cake recipe. There’s others out there. Some call for apple cider vinegar, which I guess reacts with the baking powder. I’m looking forward to more cake experiments in future!

Ok, I can get used to this vegan thing now that I’ve made and devoured a couple of delicious staples in life. Made into vegan friendly versions in the hot for food kitchen were chocolate ice cream and macaroni & cheese. Yes, you heard me right!

I can safely say I’ll never eat real ice cream again now that I’ve tasted this creation by SweetOnVeg. Jennifer, you are a genius! Go check out her recipe after you feast your eyes on my photo (although her photo is way prettier).

It’s ridiculously easy to make this, and it’s even perfect for people who eat raw. I saw this recipe a while ago, but it took me a while to figure out what I needed to buy… RAW CACAO powder. As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s not the same as COCOA powder. I found Navitas Naturals at Whole Foods, so it’s definitely around and abundant – now that we all know what a superfood REAL, RAW chocolate is.

Next up, Mac & Cheese. I was never a fan of Kraft Dinner. Unless, of course I was drunk… come on, we all do it! But I love CHEESE, and I can say with 100% satisfaction this recipe is killer. Proof… my boyfriend, who would live on KD if he could, said it was so delicious and will definitely eat it again… and again, and again. So HA!

It’s from VeganYumYum, another new fave blog that I recently mentioned. It’s in Lauren’s new cookbook (that I also mentioned), but she was kind enough to post it online, for all to make! It’s amazing. She calls it alfredo, but after looking up a number of vegan mac & cheeze recipes, this seems pretty close. I used macaroni noodles so in my books, it’s mac & cheeze. Check out the recipe here. Again, the hot for food photo is not as pretty, or should I say “hot”, as the original.

As promised… my post about making my first vegan cheesecake.

It was a success! However, after sharing this with my bf and another couple of friends, we’ve decided it’s not so much a cheesecake – or CHEEZEcake – as it is a Chocolate Tart, or Chocolate Mousse Tart, maybe. Real cheesecake has such a distinct texture and bite, and when you make it with Tofutti/Silken Tofu etc. it loses that distinguishing factor. So after some thinking I’m going to call a Choco-holic Vegan Tart! The recipe I followed is from Dairy Free Cooking. But I ended up having to make some modifications because I didn’t buy enough Tofutti and couldn’t get all the way back to Kensington Market to buy more, so I subbed in 1 cup of silken tofu blended with chocolate soy milk for 1 cup of Tofutti. Perhaps this is what made it more like a mousse as opposed to a cheesecake?! But for a vegan dessert, this thing is satisfying, rich, and oh so chocolatey!

Choco-holic Vegan Tart

For Crust:
3/4 cup finely ground almonds
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut oil (or canola)
1/3 cup maple syrup

For Filling:
2 1/2 tbsp ground flax seed
1/3 cup water
2/3 cup dairy free chocolate chips
1 tbsp Earth Balance
4 cups Tofutti “cream cheese”
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Grease your pan with non-stick cooking spray. I used a quiche pan instead of a spring form pan, but it worked well. You could also use 4 small tart/quiche pans. For the crust combine all ingredients in bowl and press evenly into your baking pan. Poke the crust with a fork all over to prevent it from bubbling up. Bake at 375 F for 7 minutes. Allow to cool while you prepare the filling.

Reset your oven to 400 F. In a bowl combine/beat the Tofutti with sugar and vanilla. Melt the chocolate chips with the Earth Balance either in the microwave  or in a double boiler on the stove. Mix flax seed and water (or egg replacer powder) in a third bowl. Add the flax mixture and chocolate mixture to the “cheese” mixture and combine well. Pour this mixture into your baked crust and bake for 5 minutes. Then turn down the oven to 275 F and bake for 40 min. (Leave oven door open for a few minutes while the temp comes down to 275 F). Allow the cake to cool and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.

Additionally, I decorated the top of the chocolate tart with a mixture of melted dark chocolate and raspberry jam, and topped with fresh raspberries before serving. The crust is especially fantastic, and it could be used for any tart filling. I have to start brainstorming future uses for it. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Alright, so recently I saw something on Rachael Ray that I thought was totally ridiculous. There was a guest on the show with a book called 101 Recipes for Microwave Mug Cakes. First thoughts: what a stupid novelty, of course RR would feature this on her show, great… another cheap, quick, and easy AMERICAN food gimmick to make us fat, and eww kind of gross – just like eating instant soup or mr.noodles.

The idea of Mug Cakes being, now you can satisfy that sweet tooth in a portion controlled way, and do it all in under 10 minutes. Now, even being skeptical about the idea of making a homemade cake in the microwave, I had to try it out. But with 101 recipes for this thing there’s definitely some not so appealing ones in the book. I have no interest in using things like instant pudding mix and hot chocolate mix. barf!

I did make a rather moist and delectable double chocolate almond cake with pretty wholesome (and vegan) ingredients.

Combine ingredients in a microwaveable mug, stirring well, and microwave for 2 1/2 – 3 minutes.
4 tbsp all-purpose unbleached flour
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tbsp melted Earth Balance
3 tbsp soy milk
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
non dairy chocolate chips & chopped almonds (optional)

Now everything worked out perfectly and it tasted great, so I’ll take back my initial rude thoughts, but I wouldn’t consider this a replacement for REAL baking. But if you are challenged in the kitchen this is a neat way to present dessert at a dinner party if you want to cut some corners and save some time. Or if you have a desperate chocolate craving that must be quenched, it’s better than resorting to eating a chocolate bar or a gross grocery store cake.

In my quest to become vegan I’ve been relying heavily on the Post Punk Kitchen. I’ve always cooked from it, even before I blogged or decided to make this change in my life, because it’s an AMAZING site. Whether you’re vegan or not, it’s good for some inspiration, techniques, and tips. There’s so many recipes!!

I made these Coconut Cookie Bars or some friends. They’re just one of many vegan cookie recipes in a book, aptly called, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

Check out the recipe here. Plus there are a few more cookie recipes from the book posted on the ppk site if you want to try before you buy… either way, get baking!

Unrelated to this blog, the season premiere of Lost was on tonight! But because of such a momentous occasion, I felt it deserved a cake. I’ve been eye’ing the dessert section of The Conscious Cook pretty much everyday, waiting for the perfect moment to make a something scrumptious to share with friends. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake & Berry Sorbet was the winner today. Mmmmmmmmmm! I have some slight modifications from the original recipe seen here, but amazing none the less!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake (Vegan)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup all purpose unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup all-natural chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup Earth Balance
pinch of salt
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup almond milk
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup non-dairy chocolate chips

NOTE: The Conscious Cook uses Spelt flour, which I didn’t have. I added chopped unsalted peanuts to smooth peanut butter. And any nut or soy milk would work, but don’t use rice milk as it’s too watery.

Pre heat oven to 350 F and grease a 9×9 (or 10×10) cake pan and set aside. In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, peanut butter, Earth Balance and salt. Work the mixture with your figures until it is fluffy crumbs. Don’t over work. Set aside, removing 1/4 of the mixture in another bowl reserved for topping the cake. In another bowl whisk the flax seeds with water until frothy, then add soy milk, vanilla extract, baking powder, and baking soda. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and fold until combined, not over working. The recipe in the cook book says to top the cake with the reserve crumble and the chocolate chips. In hind sight I would stir half the chips into the batter and sprinkle the other half on top with the reserve. Bake for 30 min.

The Berry Sorbet is SO easy and its delicious. A big hit with everyone, and now I want to make all different kinds of sorbets! Contrary to The Conscious Cook complicating things by saying you need an ice cream maker, you do not. Just a blender, tupperware container, and a freezer.

Berry Sorbet

Ingredients:
1 bag frozen mixed berries (or any frozen fruit)
1 cup water
3/4 cup agave nectar
3 tbsp lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a blender. In the case of using berries, strain the blended mixture through a sieve into the container you’re going to store it in, in the freezer. Freeze until solid, but soft enough to scoop. If it gets too hard you can always let it thaw for 10 minutes or so before serving.

Had my two good girlfriends over last night, who I love to cook for, and they love that I cook for them! We did it up vegetarian (but not vegan) in lieu of my 2010 resolution. Here’s the menu and the recipes of the new creations.

STARTER: Sweet Potato & Herb Fritters with Tzatziki

Homemade Tzatziki is EASY to make and is so much better for you then store-bought. Just mix shredded cucumber, lemon juice, minced garlic and S&P into 1 single serving size container of plain Greek style yogurt.

For the Fritters, shred one large sweet potato and 1 or 2 white potatoes. Combine with 2 eggs lightly beaten, freshly chopped parsley, chives, and oregano, and S&P. Drop heaping tablespoon fulls into a bit of olive oil coating the bottom of a frying pan. It takes about 3-4 minutes each side. Make sure to pat dry the excess oil on paper towels before serving!

MAIN: Orange Scented Couscous Salad with Cranberries & Almonds

The key to any successful couscous salad is allowing the un-cooked couscous to absorb a hot, heavily flavored liquid… not just plain water and salt! For this recipe combine the following in a pot and boil.

3/4 cup of O.J
1/4 cup water
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cinnamon
S&P

Once this is boiling remove from heat and stir in 1 cup uncooked whole wheat couscous and 1/4 cup dried cranberries. Set this aside until all the liquid has absorbed. Then add the following (or whatever you like): sliced, toasted almonds, chopped cucumber, chopped red pepper, chopped red onion, shredded carrot, and chopped cilantro. Make a light dressing with 1/4 cup O.J., lime juice, Dijon mustard and whisk in olive oil. Mix this with the couscous salad. We also ate my Roasted Edamame Salad!

DESSERT: Apple Crisp

Easiest dessert ever, but one of my favorites! Look, I don’t know the diff between crisp, crumble, cobbler… do you? But I think this is crisp because it has oats, butter (Earth Balance), and brown sugar. No “crumbly” flour topping (which I don’t much like). Anyway, here’s how I do mine.

Coat sliced apples (Macintosh) with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, lemon juice, and a small amount of sifted flour. Put in a baking dish and cover with this topping. Combine large oats, brown sugar, cold Earth Balance / margarine/ butter, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes or until bubbling. YUM! oooh and I have one serving of left overs… eating it now!!

Cookies are my fave! Here’s a couple batches of cookies I made over the weekend for a family get together. Shhhhh don’t tell them they’re both VEGAN!

I made these Ginger Cookies incredibly gingery because that’s the way I like’em! By adding a bit more ginger, cloves, and cinnamon then a traditional recipe calls for and pieces of candied ginger I got the perfect bite.

2 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
3 tsp Ground Ginger
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 cup Canola Oil
1/4 cup Unsulfured Molasses
1/4 cup Soy Milk
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup (approx.) White Sugar for coating

Sift the dry ingredients and set aside. in another bowl combine the wet ingredients, including brown sugar and whisk or beat until blended. Mix in the dry ingredients. Roll dough into balls and roll around in white sugar until coated. Slightly press the cookie once it’s on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes.

These Chocolate-Cran Oatmeal Cookies are amazingly yummy and chewy. Made with 80% cocoa dark chocolate means they’re virtually vegan. If you’re REALLY picky then use carob. I have made them with carob, which I also love, and it works just as well.

2 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 cup Earth Balance
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup White Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
1 mashed Banana
2 cups Large Oats
1 cup dried Cranberries
1 cup chopped Dark Chocolate or Carob Chips

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl combine the Earth Balance (thawed to room temperature) with the sugars and beat until creamy. Add vanilla, soy milk, and banana and beat until combined. Add the dry mixture to the wet and once mixed stir in oats, cranberries, and chocolate. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets for 10-15 minutes at 350 F. Bake time will vary depending on the size you make your cookies. I’ve made really large ones before and they took between 15-18 minutes. Space them apart as they will melt/spread out quite a bit.

Happy Baking!