29 May 2007

Vegan Buttered Almond Cake

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.

Vegan Buttered Almond Cake

24 May 2007

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.

14 May 2007

Strawberry PIe

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

Vegan Strawberry Pie