02 December 2007

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

Today I had a party for my 26th 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) Checkboard cake before baking
then I topped it off with vegan buttercream dyed teal with a hot pink robot on top.
Robot Cake for my 26th birthday party!
Here is a shot of the cake once cut so you can see the finished checkerboard pattern.Inside view

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.

Birthday girl with cake