Putting this blog back in action for 2010!

So I don't normally do new years resolutions, but this blog has been seriously neglected and so has my baking. So my resolution is to update this blog twice a month in 2010, with my baking, cooking, or traveling vegan food adventures. Hopefully some of you out there will enjoy it!

Vegan Donuts!!!

For our April potluck, the theme was breakfast. I decided to make donuts, I used the recipe found on Vegan Yum Yum (but added a few touches suggested by The Urban Housewife) The recipe was super easy and the donuts came out great. I can't wait to start experimenting with different options (like a chocolate cake donut).

Here is the recipe:

Dry Ingredients:
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp (scant) Nutmeg
1 tiny pinch or shake Cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Soymilk
1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Egg Replacer for 1 Egg (I used Ener-G Egg Replacer.)
4 Tbs Earth Balance

Preheat oven to 350º F

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients with a whisk to mix thoroughly. Combine wet ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium low heat and mix until earth balance is melted. This mixture should NOT get too hot, you should be able to stick your finger in the mixture. It should feel slightly warm.

Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out dough into your ungreased nonstick mini-donut pan. If using a regular sized donut pan (like I did), fill them until just below the rim. Smooth out the top of the dough with your fingers, this will make for more even, prettier donuts, but isn’t crucial. If you over fill, your donuts will come out looking like it has a little muffin top. Not the end of the world, but not very donut-like either.

Bake for 12 minutes. They should not be browned on top, but a tester will come out clean. Invert hot pan over a cutting board or cooling rack to release donuts. Allow to cool completely before decorating.



Glaze for Donuts & other confections
Ingredients:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon soy milk
a splash of vanilla (optional)
a bit of agave nectar (optional)
wilton gel color in rose (optional)

Instructions:
Whisk all of the ingredients together.

Dip half of the donut into the glaze, let some drip off, then dip glaze-side down into sprinkles.

Transfer the donuts to a wire rack with parchment paper underneath, the excess glaze will drip through the rack onto the paper for easy cleaning later.



Chocolate Ganache topping for Donuts
Ingredients:
vegan chocolate, approximately 6 ounces. (I use whole foods vegan semisweet chocolate chips)
1/3 cup soymilk
agave nectar
sprinkles

Melt the chocolate, soymilk and agave nectar over a double boiler & remove from the heat being careful not to get water in the chocolate.

Dip your donuts into the chocolate until completely covered & place on a wire rack to drip off excess chocolate. add sprinkles.

Fauxstess Cupcakes

This post is loooooong overdue. For our December potluck the theme was stuffed foods. I saw this as a great opportunity to make the Fauxstess Cupcakes from Vegan with a Vengance. They were a big hit at the potluck and a big hit with all my non-vegan friends.


Step 1: Make chocolate cupcakes



Step 2: Stuff with fluffy white icing



Step 3: Cover with chocolate ganache



Step 4: Draw on icing squiggles



Step 5: Enjoy!!!

Vegan Root Beer Ice Cream

So a few months ago I came across Vegan Ice Cream Paradise and decided that I wanted to give making my own vegan ice cream a try. I bought this ice cream maker and I was on my way. I looked around for various veganize ice cream recipes but they all seemed too complicated (to me) so I decided to just veganize the recipes that come with the maker and it worked perfectly! (when the ice cream comes out of the machine it's the consitancy of a frosty from wendy's, if you want a firm ice cream you can scoop you have to put it in the freezer for 3-4 hours to harden) We've done basic vanilla, chocolate almond, cookies and cream, mint cookies and cream, and last night for my party I decided to make root beer ice cream, it tasted just like a root beer float!

Here's the recipe:
2 cups of silk creamer (plain)
1 cup of silk soymilk (plain)
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp root beer extract (I used zatarain's)

mix the ingredients together and pour into ice cream maker.
run maker for 20 minutes and then put ice cream in freezer to harden.
(not sure how this would work with other ice cream makers but i think any that have the freezer bowl would be able to use this recipe)

Vegan Checkerboard Cake/my 26th Birthday cake

Today I had a party for my birthday. During our Thanksgiving vacation in Dallas I came across Wilton's checkerboard cake kit and decided I would make it for my birthday party. So today I revamped my almond cake recipe a bit and gave it a go. I decided I wanted the cake to be super bright so I dyed the batter pink and purple (I used wilton's color gel paste in rose and violet)
then I topped it off with vegan buttercream dyed teal with a hot pink robot on top.

Here is a shot of the cake once cut so you can see the finished checkerboard pattern.

Here's the recipe for the cake:

Almond Cake

Dry Ingredients:

* 3 cups unbleached white flour
* 1 3/4 cups unbleached granulated sugar
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 3/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

* 1 3/4 cups almond milk
* 1/4 cup amaretto syrup
* 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
* 2/3 cup melted soy margarine
* 2 TBSP almond extract


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Put some parchment circles on the bottom of each pan.
2. Mix together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.
3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and beat well until smooth (I use my kitchenaid stand mixer).
4. Divide the batter evenly among the pans.
5. Check for done after 30-35 minutes with a toothpick watch carefully! It should come clean when you poke it into the very center of each cake. (but watch closely so it doesn't brown too much.)

Buttercream Frosting

* 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
* 1/2 cup vegan margarine
* 1 tsp almond extract
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 4 cups powdered sugar
* 2-3 TBSP soy milk

Directions:

1. Cream margarine and shortening until light and fluffy
2. Add almond and vanilla extract and beat until combined
3. Add powdered sugar (one cup at a time and beat until combined well)
4. Add soy milk and beat until light and fluffy.

Cake Party Madness!!!

This weekend I made two cakes for two friends joint birthday party. The first was a Yellow cake with chocolate chips inside and chocolate frosting on top for my friend Lauren. The other wasn't technically a cake, I made red velvet cupcakes for my friend Melissa. Both of these recipe's came from Kittee. What would I do without her cake recipes? I'll tell you not eat delicous vegan cake that's what!!!

In Cookie Wars news, we made these delicious pumpkin cheesecake squares for the october article, too bad I got in a wreck on the way home and mine landed on the floor of my car : ( I guess I'll have to make them again!

I love sugar cookies!!!

Sugar Cookies from all recipes
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup earth balance sticks, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp EnerG egg replacer + 2 1/2 TBSP water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the earth balance and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg replacer and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Fried Mozzarella Sticks

Haven't done too much baking lately. So I decided to post an old potluck recipe from our "fast food" potluck.

Fried Mozzarella Sticks

Ingredients:
* Plain Soy Milk
* Flour
* Italian Breadcrumbs
* Tofutti Mozzarella Singles

Directions:
1. Fold each single in half and then in half again; gently press pieces together forming a "stick".
2. Batter cheeze stick by dunking in soy milk then coating in flour and repeat this process.
3. Dunk in milk one last time and then coat with breadcrumbs.
4. Fry in olive oil until the sticks are golden brown and soft to touch.
5. Let cool for 5 minutes; Serve with marinara sauce (or my personal fav BBQ sauce) and Enjoy!

Jerk Seitan

For this month's potluck the theme was Caribbean Food. I decided to make Jerk Seitan. I used Bryanna Clark Grogan's Tender Chicken seitan recipe and converted a Jerk Chicken recipe I found here. It was a big success.

Jerk Seitan

Seitan

DRY MIX:
2 and 1/4 c. pure gluten powder
1/2 c. Minute tapioca (buy in any grocery store—unflavored)
1/2 c. TVP flakes
2 T. nutritional yeast flakes
2 tsp. garlic granules
1/2 tsp. onion powder

WET MIX;
2 and 1/4 c. cold water
1/4 c. tahini
3 T. soy sauce

COOKING BROTH:
Mix in a large pot and bring to a boil, then keep at a simmer, covered
7 c. HOT “chicken-style” vegetarian broth
7 cloves garlic, chopped
3 and 1/2 T. soy sauce
3 and 1/2 T. nutritional yeast flakes

Mix the Dry Mix ingredients in the bowl of your electric mixer with dough hook attachment. Add the Wet Mix and knead for about 10 minutes. Let rest for about 1 hour, covered. You can make your Cooking Broth at this time and have it ready. Then knead it for 10 more minutes.

The dough should be quite shiny and smooth. Avoid breaking it up when you take it out of the bowl. Knead by stretching and patting or rolling into a flat rectangle. Fold in half and repeat, doing this 6 times, and folding so that the gluten strands are always going in the same direction. If the dough gets stubborn and won’t relax, just cover it and go away for about 20 minutes, and it’ll be fine. Form the dough into a piece that will fit into your pot, only about 1” thick, however. Wet your hands from time to time to make the dough easier to handle. (You can cut the roast in half, if you like, and shape like two large “breast” pieces.) Oil or spray lightly and let rest while you get the pot ready.

Oil or spray the inside of your slow-cooker or pot. It has to have room for the roast to expand. Pour about 1 c. of the hot Cooking Broth in the bottom of the pot, then place the roast in. Cover with the rest of the broth. It should just cover the roast—if not, make a bit more broth (say, 1/4 of the recipe). Cover tightly and simmer on LOW (180 to 200 degrees F) for 6-8 hours , turning once halfway through if you are awake.

Remove from broth and refrigerate overnight

Jerk Marinade/ Sauce:

6 sliced jalapenos
1/4 tsp Thyme
2 TBSP ground allspice
8 Cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 Medium onions, finely chopped
2 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP salt
2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
Juice of one lime
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup white wine vinegar

Chop the onions, garlic and peppers. Blend all of the ingredients in a blender to make the jerk sauce.

Cut seitan in to thick slices and poke each piece with a fork. Place pieces in a large bowl and poor in marinade. Let marinade for at least 1 1/2 hours.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Place seitan on lightly oiled aluminum foil directly on the oven rack.
Cook for 30 minutes, flip seitan over, add a little more marinade and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
Heat leftover marinade and spoon over seitan chunks and enjoy!!

Herbivore Magazine

So I have been helping with this column for Herbivore Magazine called Cookie Wars. I am part of the fake egg squad. We take a standard cookie recipe and veganize it, using 4 different egg replacement products/methods. It's a really great way to learn which egg replacement methods yield the best results. If you are interested in this column or veganism in general you should get a subscription to Herbivore Online.


Here are the pics of my cookies from the past two months:

Chocolate Hazelnut Orange Checkerboard Cookies



Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

Vegan Buttered Almond Cake

For Scott's 31st Birthday he wanted a buttered almond cake like he used to get before he was vegan. I used Kittee's Strawberry Kake recipe and subbed a few things. Here is the updated recipe.

Almond Cake

Dry Ingredients:

* 3 cups unbleached white flour
* 1 3/4 cups unbleached granulated sugar
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 3/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

* 1 3/4 cups vanilla almond milk
* 1/4 cup amaretto syrup
* 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
* 2/3 cup canola oil
* 2 TBSP almond extract
* 1/4 cup almond paste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 8" cake pans (these stick sometimes, so you might want to put some parchment circles on the bottom of each pan, but I never do).
2. Mix together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.
3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and beat well until smooth (I use my kitchenaid stand mixer).
4. Divide the batter evenly among the two pans.
5. Check for done after 30-45 minutes with a toothpick (I think my oven might be under temp, so watch carefully! It should come clean when you poke it into the very center of each cake. (but watch closely so it doesn't brown too much.)

Almond Buttercream Frosting

* 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
* 1/2 cup vegan margarine
* 1 tsp almond extract
* 4 cups powdered sugar
* 2-3 TBSP vanilla almond milk

Directions:

1. Cream margarine and shortening until light and fluffy
2. Add almond extract beat until combined
3. Add powdered sugar (one cup at a time and beat until combined well)
4. Add almond milk and beat until light and fluffy.

Beef Stroganoff

This month's vegan potluck was to make one of your mother's recipes. I made beef stroganoff because it was my favorite meal my mother made when I was growing up. It tasted just like I remembered!

MOM'S BEEF STROGANOFF

"Beef":

1 Lb seitan *See seitan recipe below*
2 - 3 TBSP Flour
4 TBSP Vegan Margarine
1 Onion
4 - 6 toes of garlic
Kitchen Bouquet


l lb beef cut into 1/4 strips
2-3 tablespoons floor with salt and pepper mixed in
dredge meat in flour
heat skillet, add 4 tablespoons butter/canola oil,
add beef strips and brown quickly on both sides.
saute' 1 onion and 4-6 toes of garlic minced for 3 minutes, crisp and tender.

Sauce:
2 - 3 TBSP Vegan Margarine
4 TBSP Flour
2 - 4 TBSP Ketchup
2 Cups Broth
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 TBSP Kitchen Bouquet


Remove meat and onions from pan set aside. Add 2-3 tablespoons of butter to pan drippings and blend 4 tablespoons flour on low heat and stir frenquently. Add 1-2 tablespoons tomato paste, or 2-4 tablespoons of ketchup, same thing! stir until all blended. stir in 1 and 1/4 to 2 cups of beef broth, you can use vetegable broth. Cook over medium heat till thickened. Return meat, onions, etc to skillet and cook till heated thru. Add 1 cup sour cream until warm, DO NOT BOIL AFTER ADDING SOUR CREAM.

*BRYANNA CLARK GROGANS’S NEW BEEFY SEITAN

(You will only need a 1/3 of the cooked seitan for the stroganoff)

KNEADING, use an automatic bread machine or a mixer with a dough hook (I have a Bosch). You can knead by hand, too, but it’s tougher than bread dough. If you do this by hand, let then gluten mixture sit for a while to soak up the flavors.
IF YOU DON’T HAVE A SLOW-COOKER, use a sturdy covered pot in a 200 degree F. oven, or, as I do, an electric skillet at 180 degrees F (I have a ceramic liner in mine, too).

You can make this in the morning and it will be done at night (figure about 10 hours total preparation time—most of that time you don’t even need to be around); or make before you go to bed a night and it’sll be ready in the morning.


DRY MIX:
2 and 1/4 c. pure gluten powder (Vital wheat gluten)
1/2 c. Minute tapioca
1/2 c. granulated TVP
3 T. nutritional yeast flakes
1 and 1/2 tsp. onion powder
3/4 tsp. garlic granules

WET MIX:
2 c. cold water
1/3 c. vegetarian “oyster” sauce
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. Kitchen Bouquet

COOKING BROTH:
5 c. very hot water
5 T. soy sauce
5 T. ketchup
5 tsp. Kitchen Bouquet


Mix the Dry Mix ingredients in the bowl of your electric mixer with dough hook attachment, or place them in the bread machine in the order given. Add the Wet Mix and knead for about 10 minutes. (If your bread machine has a dough cycle—two kneads with a long rest in between—use that cycle. Otherwise, just run it through the kneading part and then unplug it and let it rest in the cover container, then plug it in again for another knead, then remove it,) Let rest for about 1 hour, covered. You can make your Cooking Broth at this time and have it ready. Then knead it for 10 more minutes.

The dough should be quite shiny and smooth. Avoid breaking it up when you take it out of the bowl. Knead by stretching and patting or rolling into a flat rectangle. Fold in half and repeat, doing this 6 times, and folding so that the gluten strands are always going in the same direction. If the dough gets stubborn and won’t relax, just cover it and go away for about 20 minutes, and it’ll be fine. Form the dough into a piece that will fit into your pot, only about 1” thick, however. Wet your hands from time to time to make the dough easier to handle. (You can cut the roast in half, if you like.) Oil or spray lightly and let rest while you get the pot ready.

FOR “STEAKS”, roll or pat the dough into a thin rectangle. Cut into several pieces, then flatten those pieces some more. Cut into as many pieces as you like, as thin as you like (they should double in size and thickness).

Oil or spray the inside of your slow-cooker or pot. It has to have room for the roast or cutles to expand. Pour about 1 c. of the hot Cooking Broth in the bottom of the pot, then place the roast in. Cover with the rest of the broth. It should just cover the roast—if not, make a bit more broth (say, 1/4 of the recipe). (For steaks, put all the broth in the pot first, then slide in the steaks.) Cover tightly and simmer on LOW (180 to 200 degrees F) for 6-8 hours , turning once halfway through if you are awake. If steaks are not covered by broth after a few hours, you may need to add more—make it boiling hot. After a while you will know how much broth to put in with steaks so that they stay covered.

Cool in the broth, then refrigerate well-wrapped. It freezes well, too. Any leftover broth can be frozen for using again, as noted above. Steaks can be cut into chunks or strips for stews, stir-fries, etc.

Strawberry PIe

This weekend Scott and I made strawberry pies for our mothers. We got the recipe from Kittee and boy were they delicious!