Showing posts with label Desserts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Desserts. Show all posts

Monday, May 26, 2014

Hidden-Veggies Brownies

Hello, and long time no see!  Where have you all been?  I'm sure it's you that's been away, am I right?  Anyhow, I wanted to put up this post before another major holiday came and went because I made these brownies for Easter.  (Did I just say that?  Easter?)  Yes, Easter!  Argh, anyways, I'm back, I'm back.  A few years ago, both my mom and SR gave me the same cookbook for my birthday.  I kept SR's because she inscribed hers, and traded Mom's in for something else.  Anyhow, it's by Jessica Seinfeld, ol' Jerry's wife, and she made a cookbook hiding pureed veggies in food for her kids, Deceptively Delicious.  I've tried making several of the recipes, and some have turned out "eh," and some have turned out "yikes!," and some have turned out "mmm."  I will share my veganized versions of the "mmm" ones with you.  I did get the idea for my Banana-Flax French Toast from her.  So, like I said, I've veganized these recipes and adjusted the ingredients to suit our tastes, etc.  One important note on these brownies, she says not to eat them warm; I will go so far as to say, eat them CHILLED.  They are a completely different flavor room temp versus chilled.  Yuck versus yum.  I brought these over to the family at Easter and told none of the relatives the secrets hidden within, and all they could taste was deliciousness and cocoa.  They were very surprised when they found out these were healthy!  Yeah!  Enjoy, and I hope to be more regular here, without Miralax!


  Hidden-Veggies Brownies.  These are the brownies cut into 24 squares, and they are huge.  You can easily make 48 squares and be satisfied.  Serve them chilled!



Hidden-Veggies Brownies

Ingredients:

Non-stick spray
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate baking squares
2 cups of carrot puree (about 4 or 5 carrots steamed then pureed)
2 cups of spinach puree (about 8 or so cups spinach steamed then pureed)
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup cocoa powder
2 Tbs. margarine, room temp or softened
2 Tbs. vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 baking pan with the non-stick spray, and set aside.  Melt the chocolate in the microwave, stirring frequently, being careful not to burn it.  In a large bowl or large pot (you'll need something large!), whisk together the chocolate, carrots, spinach, brown sugar, cocoa, margarine and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth.  You can use a hand mixer on low, if you wish.  Add the flour baking powder and salt, and stir with a wooden spoon until well blended.  Pour the batter in the pan, and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool completely on a cooling rack.  Can cut into 24 large squares or 48 smaller ones.  Must be chilled before being enjoyed.  Do not eat at room temperature in order to appreciate the full-deception.  Kids and grandparents alike will love these!  Feeds well more than five hungry vegans.
 

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Graham Cracker Bar

I made a graham cracker bar for dessert for my family, and they all loved it!  G said it wasn't mustache-friendly, but that didn't stop him from chowing down.  I made this once before, but it was a few years ago.  The response was so positive, we'll have to do this again sooner rather than later.  You can look for Nabisco Original graham crackers for a vegan choice, or my store (Raley's) has their own chocolate graham, which is vegan.  Either way, everyone got to top their crackers just the way they wanted them, and it was fun to boot!

 Graham Cracker Bar:  Chocolate graham crackers (Raley's brand), homemade chocolate and vanilla frostings, vegan chocolate chips, two type of sugar crystals and white sprinkles, shredded sweetened coconut, bananas and strawberries.  The crackers had corn syrup, and the pink sugar crystals had coloring; other than that everything else was natural and free of colors and artificial flavors.

Here are my two crackers and my quota of sweetness for a month!  On the left, a cracker is smothered with chocolate frosting and has bananas and strawberries and white sprinkles.  On the right, a cracker is smothered with vanilla frosting and has coconut, chocolate chips and more white sprinkles.  Flossing is a must to get rid of those sugar bugs!

Graham Cracker Bar

Ingredients:

Vegan Graham Crackers
Various toppings - We used: 
Homemade chocolate frosting
Homemade vanilla frosting
Vegan chocolate chips
Pink sugar crystals
Blue sugar crystals
White non-pareil sprinkles
Shredded, sweetened coconut
Chopped bananas
Chopped strawberries

Directions:

Lay everything out in a fun, accessible way.  Grab a cracker, and get going!  Feeds five hungry vegans in this house!  Yum.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart

This is a recipe that I came across and veganized, tweaked, adjusted measurements, and rearranged, as is my usual way, to get the end result I want.  And...that result is delicious!  Like some of my other desserts, this does have a few steps, but they are not overwhelming.  Just go steady like the tortoise, and before you know it, you'll be enjoying a slice of this wonderful treat.  Just a note: I find that using the freshest juices and peels possible creates the best flavor; if you've got fresh citrus, use them first before other sources.  Of course, it goes without saying, that the best flavor ever for this tart will come from the freshest strawberries.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart

A beautiful slice of said tart, mm-mmm!


Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. vegan sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
6 oz. vegan stick margarine, chilled
6 Tbs. fresh orange juice (from fresh oranges, if possible)

Filling:

2 pkgs. Tofutti cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup vegan sugar
1 Tbs. freshly grated orange rind
12 - 14 strawberries, thinly sliced lengthwise

Glaze:

3 Tbs. strawberry preserves
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice (from a fresh lemon, if possible)

Directions:

Crust:

In a food processor with the pastry blade, put in the flour, sugar and salt.  Process for a few seconds to mix.  Cut up the margarine into chunks, and add those to the dry mix.  Process again, until you get a grainy consistency.  With the machine running, pour the orange juice through the feeder hole.  Your dough should clump together into a sort of ball in about a minute.  Take this ball out, shape into a disc, wrap in wax paper, and chill for ten minutes.  (Alternately, you can use a pastry cutter or fork, if you don't have a food processor.)  Take dough out of fridge and place between two large squares of wax paper.  Roll dough out to a circle about thirteen or so inches in diameter, large enough to cover your spring-form tart pan and sides.  Note:  My pan is 11.5 inches; if yours is smaller you can adjust your circle and even your dough amount, if you wish.  Take top sheet of wax paper off dough, and gently flip the dough over your pan.  Press down to cover the bottom and sides completely.  If you have bare patches, and you have extra dough in other areas, take the extra dough to cover the patches.   Anything else that is extra, you can fold down into the pan, or take a sharp knife and trim the top of the pan to remove excess dough.  Prick the bottom of the crust several times with a fork.  Chill for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line the crust with wax paper, and layer a pound of dried beans on it, making sure the entire bottom is covered.  Bake for eight minutes.  Take out the tart from the oven.  Remove the beans into a container for future use, and remove the wax paper as well.  Bake crust for another eight minutes.  Place on cooling rack to cool completely.

Filling:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese, sugar and orange rind, until well combined, about two minutes on low to medium speed.  Pour the mixture into the cooled crust.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Cool completely on cooling rack.  When crust is cool, release the sides of the tart pan, and place tart on serving dish.  Layer your strawberry slices on the crust in a circular pattern, starting from the outside and working your way in.  With any extra slices you may have at the end, fill in any gaps you see.  You want the top of the tart to be screaming strawberries!  

Glaze:

Heat the strawberry preserves and lemon juice in a small pan over medium low heat, until well-mixed and runny.  You can strain this through a mesh sieve to leave out any lemon bits.  With a basting brush, paint the glaze all over the strawberries.  Chill for at least one hour before serving.  So good, and it feeds five hungry vegans for a couple of desserts!



Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Root Beer Floats!

Who says vegans can't enjoy creamy, sweet goodness? Not us!  Every now and then, I love to make root beer floats for my family.  They are so simple, it's kind of silly to post a recipe.  But, think of this as a gentle reminder or encouragement to not give up the stuff we loved as kids or before we became veggie.  Drink on!


Here is my float.  As you can see, I don't have fancy tall glasses in which to serve them, so we used our Magic Bullet mugs.  I do have the long spoons for iced tea, though, which work great for scooping out ice cream.  And, of course you gotta have the crazy straw!

Here it is again from how it looks as I'm aiming for that straw.  Mm-mmm goodness.


Root Beer Floats

Ingredients:

Vegan vanilla ice cream - we used Soy Dream
Natural root beer soda with no corn syrup or artificial colors or flavors - we used Hansen's

Directions:

In a large mug or glass, scoop two large scoops of ice cream. Top with root beer.  Wait for the fizz to die down a bit, and add some more root beer.  Enjoy with a spoon and straw.  Feeds five hungry vegans or however many you have in your home.




Thursday, September 5, 2013

Three-Layer Neapolitan Cake and SR's 16th Birthday

Back on July 20th, SR celebrated her 16th birthday!  It was a great day, and I threw her a surprise birthday party.  My parents were gracious enough to let me use their home for SR and her friends.  SR thought we were just going over to Grannyma and Poppy's to drop off JK, so she could have a teen rollerskating party.  So, she was more confused than surprised when she saw her friends; she told me later she stood there wondering for a moment if we were picking them up from there to take them to the rink.  Anyways, we had a lot of fun, a lot of behind-the-scenes planning and baking, and a great, wonderful cake!  Now, this is definitely a sugar-filled cake.  I am going to dabble with other ways of sweetening, but I didn't want to practice on her cake.  So, be prepared: sugar!  I used my White Cake recipe for the white layer, and a double portion of the White Butter Cream Frosting that I made with it to frost the entire cake.  I adjusted my Big and Little Pink Strawberry Cakes, Naturally recipe for the pink layer.  I'm still working on creating the perfect natural pink color, so you'll see what I did below to achieve this pink look.  It was very good, but it's still a work in progress.  And for the chocolate layer, I used my Dark Chocolate Mini Cupcakes recipe .  I think the end result came out beautifully visually and taste-wise.  Let me know what you think!

Three-Layer Neapolitan Cake

The cake layers are cooling on my mom's counter.  

Stacked and ready for the outer layer of frosting.  The lighting here makes them look yellow, but look below to see their real colors in natural light.

Cake all finished and waiting to be devoured.

 Another shot of sacrificial cake.


I had to show a shot of one of the games I planned.  I asked each guest and SR if they wanted to either be a "thrower" or a "lander."  I gave them no other clues.  SR chose to be a lander, and her friend and teammate Brandon was the thrower.  Landers had to wear shower caps while throwers covered their heads with shaving cream then threw popcorn at the piles of cream.  The team with the most popcorn stuck won.  By the way, little JK played all the games too; he wasn't left out.  :-)  This is one of my favorite photos of the whole day.  I love the smiles!

 SR blowing out her candles.

SR enjoying her cake.

 A shot of the cake with vegan Neapolitan ice cream.


Three-Layer Neapolitan Cake

Ingredients:

For the White Layer:

2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 and 1/2 cups vegan sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer
4 Tbs. water


For the Pink Layer:

2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 and 1/2 cups vegan sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup soy milk
Juice from one can of beets, about one cup

3 Tbs. strawberry extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer
4 Tbs. water


For the Chocolate Layer:

Non-stick spray
A little flour for dusting
2 cups vegan sugar
1 and 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup dark cocoa
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer
4 Tbs. water
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For the Frosting:

1 cup vegan margarine, room temperature
1/4 tsp. salt
7and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 Tbs. soy milk


Directions:

For the White Layer:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12x9 inch cake pan with an oil spray, and lightly flour its bottom. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, cream the shortening to soften it completely. In a small bowl or mug, whisk together the Egg Replacer and water. Alternate the flour mixture and the milk into the shortening, beating with a mixer on medium speed. With the last addition of milk, add the Egg Replacer mixture and the vanilla extract. Beat for three minutes, until completely smooth. Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for fifteen minutes in its pan on a cooling rack. Then carefully invert the cake out onto the rack to finish cooling.

For the Pink Layer:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12x9 inch cake pan with an oil spray, and lightly flour its bottom. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, cream the shortening to soften it completely. In a small bowl, whisk together the Egg Replacer and water. Alternate beating the flour mixture and the soy milk into the shortening, beating with a mixer on medium speed. At the end, add the beet juice, strawberry extract, Egg Replacer mixture, and vanilla extract. Beat for three minutes, until completely smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool for fifteen minutes in its pan on a cooling rack. Then carefully invert the cake out onto the rack to finish cooling.

For the Chocolate Layer:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 12x9 inch cake pan with an oil spray, and lightly flour its bottom. Set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a mug, whisk together the Egg Replacer and the water.  Pour that mixture and the soy milk, oil, and vanilla extract into the large bowl with the dry ingredients.  Mix with an electric blender on medium speed for two minutes.  Pour in the boiling water and mix on low, until the water is blended in.  Batter will be thinner than you might expect, but it's okay.  Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool for fifteen minutes in its pan on a cooling rack. Then carefully invert the cake out onto the rack to finish cooling.

For the Frosting: 

When the cakes have completely cooled, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and salt. Starting on low speed and working up to medium, beat in the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla extract and the soy milk, and beat on medium speed for three to five minutes, until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Makes enough frosting for a giant triple-layered cake. Feeds lots of people, including five hungry vegans at one big party or for several regular days.  Recommend to serve with vegan Neapolitan ice cream.  So good!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Lemon Cherry Sunset Pie

This has been a post I've been wanting to write for a long time, and in a moment, you'll see what I mean.  About five years ago I bought a GT Express after seeing an infomercial.  If you don't know what that is, it's a cooking device that you plug in, and it has two wells in which food cooks.  I bought it, well, because I'm a sucker for gadgets, but I thought my girls were old enough at that time to make stuffed burritos in it, vegan grilled cheese, etc.  We've used them quite a bit.  I also posted a recipe for GT Express Pizzas  where you can see a photo of what one looks like.  Anyhow, the product came with a booklet of recipes, hardly any of which, of course, are vegan.  So, I've had fun tweaking them to see if I can change them up.  I have been working on their Lemon Cherry Pies recipe for over a year.  I've actually posted a photo of their original recipe for you to see.  And, I thought it might interest some of you how I create a recipe on my own.  Granted, I got the inspiration from their name, but as you'll see, my notes look nothing like their original.  Anyways, the pie has been tested multiple times on my family, and I've changed it and changed it again.  Most recently, my parents got in on the testing act, and everyone agreed that it's finally ready to post.  One of my challenges was to make sure the fillings were soft like the canned versions, so not too firm. The end result is a creamy, unique pie flavor that I think you'll really like.  Let me know what you think!  (By the way, I often spend several tries trying to get a recipe right before posting it.  I just thought of finally posting that process for fun.)

Lemon Cherry Sunset Pie

This is the original recipe.  Notice just three ingredients are required.  Since we don't eat colorings or corn syrup, the pie fillings were out.  Even if there ends up being a more "natural" brand out there, I wanted to make this from scratch.  Also, I don't use refrigerated pie crust, so I knew I couldn't use the GT Express.  This would be baked in a regular pie pan.

Here are my notes to create my recipe.  The pink slip on the left is actually my sweet pie crust recipe I use for a double crust pie that I just halved for this recipe.  Don't you just love how I keep recipes for myself?  The sheet on the right is the birth of the Lemon Cherry Sunset Pie.  Lots of tweaks and changes over a period of about ten attempts at making this pie.

Finally, a slice of Lemon Cherry Sunset Pie!  At last.

Lemon Cherry Sunset Pie

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup vegan sugar
1/4 cup cold (stick) vegan margarine, cubed small
3 Tbs. cold water
Flour for rolling out crust
(Beans or rice for weighing down)

Pie Filling:

1/2 cup vegan sugar
2 Tbs. corn starch
1/3 cup water
1 and 1/2 cups frozen cherries, halved
1 and 1/2 pkgs. (12oz. each) of silken firm tofu
1/4 tsp. turmeric
2 tsp. lemon extract
1 cup vegan sugar

Directions:

Crust:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a food processor with the pastry blade installed, add the flour, salt, sugar and margarine.  Run the machine until blended and it looks like pastry granules.  With the machine running, pour the water into the feeder hole.  Run until the dough clumps up together; it's perfect if it sort of balls up.  If you need to add a few drops of water more, do so with restraint.  [Alternately, you can put the first ingredients into a bowl and mix with a pastry cutter or fork.  Then mix well with the water.]  On a lightly floured surface, roll out your crust evenly into a circle large enough to cover your pie pan, about nine inches across.  Lightly fold your crust over in half and lift to the pie pan.  Carefully unfold and lightly press into the pan, making sure that all parts of the pan are covered by crust.  If you've got sections of crust hanging over the edge of the pan and other areas that are missing crust, simply cut away one part and press onto the other.  Take a paring knife and run it along the edge of the pan, removing any uneven crust edges.  Then pinch the crust edge between your fingers creating a scalloped look.  Lay a piece of wax paper on the bottom of the crust and cover it with a layer of beans or rice to weigh it down. You are prebaking the crust at this stage.   Bake for 15 minutes.  Pour off the beans or rice into a bowl - these are still good to prepare in a later meal.  Discard the wax paper.  Cool the crust on a cooling rack.

Pie Filling:  In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, corn starch and water.  Add the cherries, and turn the heat on to medium.  Heat to boiling, which will take five to seven minutes, stirring frequently to constantly.  Watch carefully, for this will thicken up quickly.  When it thickens, remove from heat and cool down.  After about a half hour, chill cherry filling in refrigerator until needed later.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  While the cherries are chilling, prepare the lemon filling.  Using the food processor again, this time with the cutting blade, add the tofu, turmeric, lemon extract, and sugar.  Blend until well mixed, at least a minute.  You are looking for a completely smooth texture.  Pour the  lemon filling into the pie crust and bake for 30 minutes.  Cool on rack for a half hour, then chill for at least two hours in the refrigerator, longer if you have the time.  Take the pie crust with the lemon filling out of the fridge, as well as the cherry filling.  Carefully layer the cherry filling on top of the lemon filling...and...chill again, for at least 30 minutes.  The longer you can chill, the better this will set up.  This will still be soft when cutting, so use a gentle hand.  If some cherry topping slides off during the slicing process, deftly replace it, and no one will suspect a thing.  A unique flavor, one that my family loves, and I hope you do too.  A beautiful end result.  Feeds five hungry vegans and a couple of grandparents.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Easter, 2013 and my Four-layered - Coffee frosted - Chocolate Chip - Chocolate Cake!

We had a busy but wonderful Easter celebration.  On Saturday, we went once again to Animal Place like last year, where JK participated in an animal-friendly egg hunt, we all went on a self-guided tour of the pigs, chickens and bunnies, and we enjoyed a lovely picnic afterwards.  The egg hunt is for children two years to seven years old, so JK has only one year left of this event.

We joined a small group for dinner at my parents' home.  I brought my Tropical Seitan Pasta Salad , and we enjoyed burgers, a fruit salad and a green salad.  We also had vegan desserts as well: chocolate chip cookies, fruit cake, and a new cake I introduced to everyone, which I call my Four-layered - Coffee frosted - Chocolate Chip - Chocolate Cake.  It's Easter right?  It has to be something special!  I kept the frosting on the thin side, much to G's utter disappointment, because I thought it was rich enough already.  I'm not a fan of coffee by itself, but I occasionally  like a slight flavor of it in ice cream, and it turned out nicely here, too.  I like the bumpiness of the end result and the bits of brown cake peeking through the frosting.  I could have evened out the tops to make them lay flatter, but I like this look.  It reminds me of old-fashioned times, for some reason, before there were specialty frosting spreaders and electric mixers. This was a  humongous cake, but it was enjoyed by all.  Hope you all had a great holiday, too.

Four-layered - Coffee frosted - Chocolate Chip - Chocolate Cake!

My Easter feast: Boca burger, Tropical Seitan Pasta Salad, Green Salad, Fruit Salad

Our dessert choices: chocolate chip cookies, fruit cake, and my cake.  The licorice that snuck in the picture is from Grandma to little JK.  Artificial flavors and colors are sometimes allowed on holidays, especially if they're from Grandma.  :-)

To make the four layers, place each layer on a cake stand.  With a serrated knife, cut through the cake horizontally, while slowly turning the cake stand.

Here's a slice of that tasty treat!

Four-layered - Coffee frosted - Chocolate Chip - Chocolate Cake!

Ingredients:

Cake:

4 and 1/2 cups flour
2 cups vegan sugar
1 and 1/3 cups cocoa
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. baking soda
3 cups Vanilla Almond milk
3 Tbs. white vinegar
3/4 cup canola oil
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
2 cups vegan chocolate chips

Non-stick spray
Extra flour for dusting

Frosting:

1/2 cup (stick) vegan margarine, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1/3 cup brewed French Roast coffee, cooled completely

Directions:

For the cake:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray two round cake pans with the non-stick spray and sprinkle with flour.  Tap out any extra flour, and set pans aside.  In a very large bowl or even a large pot, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and baking soda.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar and almond milk and set aside to curdle for about five minutes.  Add the oil and vanilla extract to the milk mixture and whisk.  Pour into the flour mixture.  With an electric mixer on low, blend until the ingredients are somewhat mixed.  Turn up the speed to medium and mix for about another minute until completely blended.  Pour into waiting pans.  Pour one cup of chocolate chips over each of the pans of batter.  Take a fork and gently press the chocolate chips down a bit into the batter.  (When baked, the tops of the cakes will be bumpy.  When sliced in half, most of the chips will be in the top half of each cake.  This will make the end result: chippy, not chippy, chippy, not chippy.)  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool in pans on cooling rack for fifteen minutes.  Remove cakes from pans and finish cooling completely.  When cooled down, chill cakes in refrigerator for at least a half an hour, preparing them for slicing.  When cakes are chilled, place one on a cake stand.  Position a large serrated knife in the middle horizontally.  Slice a couple of inches into the cake, then turn the cake stand, repeating the process.  The cake should be sliced all the way through by the time the stand makes a complete revolution.  If not, just carefully slice through whatever little piece is hanging on in the middle.  Repeat process with second cake.

For the frosting:  In a medium bowl, beat the margarine on low speed until creamed.  Add the powdered sugar and continue to beat on low speed until combined.  Add the vanilla and coffee.  Starting on low speed, mix until blended, then work up to medium speed and mix for another four minutes to thicken.  Place the first bottom layer on the cake stand.  Take about four tablespoons of frosting and put a dollop in the center of the layer.  Spread out the frosting, kind of like spider legs, then smooth out over the layer.  Top with the first top layer of cake and repeat process until you reach the last layer.  Use the same method with the top of the cake.  Frost the sides as usual, just trying to cover as much as you can.  If there's any frosting left over, take turns with the sides and top, frosting away and smoothing out, until there is just enough in the bowl to justify finishing it off yourself.  Because this is so large, it can be sliced rather thinly to serve a lot of people.  Feeds five hungry vegans and family and friends for a few days!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Thanksgiving, 2012

I'm finally getting my Thanksgiving post up!  At least it's in the same month.  :-)  As usual, I let each member of my family pick out what they want for dinner and dessert and truly make it a meal for which we are thankful.  See below for our menu and for a new recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  This cake was super moist and delicious.  I veganized one of several recipes easily found on the web.  When I followed the directions, I found I had to make adjustments and corrections to the recipe along the way.  One thing I will probably adjust in the future is the amount of brown sugar used; I kept the original measurement in the recipe, but I will probably halve it next time I make the cake.  It was a huge hit with the fambly, though!

Menu:

Tofurky with roasted potatoes - picked by me
Tofurky gravy - picked by me
Hot and Sour soup from one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants - picked by SR
Steamed rice by same restaurant - picked by JK
Jerky in several flavors - picked by GR
Purple sweet potatoes fried with facon - picked by G
Sauteed kale - picked by me
Cranberry sauce, both kinds - picked by SR
Soy nog - picked by me

Pineapple Upside Down cake - picked by G
Black Tie Cheesecake  - picked by GR


Pineapple Upside Down Cake

My thanksgiving feast sans the rice.  I could not finish this meal!  So full.

Here are this year's Thanksgiving desserts.  Sorry the coloring is so orange in these pics.

I was going to put my slices on a fancy plate, but SR didn't want to wash any more dishes, so green paper plates it was!  Couldn't finish these either.  But, they were so yummy.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegan margarine (could probably use less)
1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar ( could probably use less)
1 - 20 oz. can of sliced pineapple rings in natural juice
Maraschino cherries (you can find naturally colored ones at Sprouts or Whole Foods)
1 box of Dr. Oetker Organics cake mix in vanilla
1 and 1/2 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer
6 Tbs. water
2/3 cup almond milk
1/2 cup canola oil

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat margarine over medium heat in a cast iron skillet.  When completely melted, remove from the heat.  Sprinkle the brown sugar over the margarine, patting down to cover it up to the edges of the pan.  Lay the pineapple rings in a circle around the edge of the pan and one in the center.  Add a cherry to center of each pineapple ring.  Set aside.  In a medium bowl,  add the remaining ingredients, and beat for two minutes or until completely mixed.  Pour over the pineapple slices,  making sure the batter goes to edges of the pan.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Let cool for ten minutes, then flip over onto a serving platter.  You can finish cooling on a rack.  Very moist and tasty.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Walnut Cake with Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting

I made this cake for Mother's Day for my mom.  She doesn't really have a sweet tooth, so I knew I had to create something that wasn't overpowering.  This turned out really well.  It is moist and has a texture that was appealing to everyone.  I used ingredients I had on hand (meaning I didn't have an inordinate amount of powdered sugar), so the frosting came out differently than my normal ones, but I really like it.  It comes off as seemingly too thin at first, but it sets up well, especially if you chill it for about ten minutes after spreading.  I also forgot to cream the sugar and margarine together, as is normally the custom - I whisked the sugar in with the dry ingredients instead.  Realizing my goof, I just added a bit of oil to the wet, and all turned out well.  In fact, I kept this "mistake" in my directions.  (I also used Trader Joe's vegan cream cheese instead of Tofutti, so the frosting isn't very white.)  Hope you and yours enjoy this, my latest original recipe.  

Walnut Cake with Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting
(unfortunately on a plain cake carrier for traveling)

Slice of that wonderful cake
(on a nice plate :-) )

Walnut Cake with Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

Cake:

Non-stick spray
Flour for dusting
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup vegan or raw sugar
3 cups almond milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts, that have been chopped small

Frosting:

1 - 8oz. pkg. vegan cream cheese, room temperature
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 and 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup finely ground walnuts

 Directions:

 For the cake:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray two round cake pans with non-stick spray and lightly dust them with flour.  Set aside.  Whisk together in a large bowl the flour through the sugar.  Add the almond milk through the vanilla extract.  Blend with a hand mixer on medium low speed until well mixed, about three minutes or so. Stir in the walnuts.  Divide batter between the two cake pans.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.  Set on cooling racks for fifteen minutes.  Remove cakes from pans, and continue cooling on racks until completely cooled.

For the frosting:  In a medium bowl, cream the cream cheese and vanilla extract with a hand mixer on low speed.  Add the powdered sugar and continue blending.  When well blended fold in the walnuts with a spatula.  Spread a generous amount of frosting on the top of one cake.  Add the second cake on top, and finish frosting.  It's easiest if you frost the top first, then take a non-serrated butter knife or a narrow spatula to spread the sides.  This frosting seem a tad runny at first, but chilling the cake for a few minutes after the frosting has been spread will help it set up.  This is very good and different.  Feeds five hungry vegans and a couple of grandparents with leftovers to boot.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Winnie the Pooh Cake with Natural Colors

I recently went to my first sobriety-celebration party for a relative, a first for me, and it was so fabulous.  It was wonderful cheering someone on who was proudly saying they were alcohol-dependent-free.  Of course, I had to make a cake for my gang, as it was a full-on potluck with desserts.  I've been going through a craze lately (the last few years) of collecting various cake pans, so I thought this was as good a time as any to pull out one of my Winnie the Pooh pans and practice with my homemade colors.  I simply used my  White Cake with White Butter Cream Frosting  recipes for the cake and frosting.  I've been stowing away liquids in the freezer from colorful foods I've been cooking for this purpose, such as artichoke water, asparagus water, beet water, etc.  If it's got vibrant color, I freeze it.

So, this was my first attempt at making these colors, and I've already learned a few things.  In the future I'm going to reduce the liquids in a pot, before freezing, to concentrate and deepen the colors.  I noticed this time that if I added much more, the frosting would have been too thin.  Also, be careful of colorings that already have flavor, like turmeric.  It added a nice color, but too much more, and the flavor of the spice would have dominated the sweetness of the cake.  As it was, it tasted like a spice cake, which was just fine.  You'll also notice that poor Pooh's left eye, eyebrow and his nose are hard to distinguish from each other.  I had planned to outline his shirt, facial features, and his arms in a dark brown, but we were running late and the frosting hadn't dried, so Pooh had to come as he was.  Take this as a starter cake, and build on it.  As I improve my methods, I'll share them with you.




Winnie the Pooh Cake with Natural Colors

Ingredients:

White cake batter- you can use my recipe White Cake   
1/2 cup soy milk
Non-stick spray
All-purpose flour

White butter cream frosting - you can use my recipe White Butter Cream Frosting
2 Tbs. leftover liquid from boiling red and orange beets, divided
1 tsp. chocolate pudding mix or cocoa
1 tsp. turmeric

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Make White Cake as usual, following my directions, but adding in the extra 1/2 cup of soy milk.  Spray your cake pan with non-stick spray and lightly flour, tapping out the extra.  Pour in cake batter, and bake for 40 minutes.  Cool in pan on cooling rack for fifteen minutes.  Invert onto cake platter, then invert back onto cooling rack to finish cooling.

When the cake is completely cool, make frosting according to my directions.  Place two dollops of frosting on cake platter to hold cake in place, and put cake on platter.  Pull out 1/2 cup of frosting and put in a small bowl.  Mix with 1 Tbs. of the beet liquid, until well incorporated.  Using a butter knife or a small paint brush, frost the area that is Pooh's shirt and tongue.  Pull out 1 Tbs. of frosting and put in an even smaller bowl.  Mix well with the pudding mix or cocoa, and paint on the facial features.  Use the rest of the frosting to make Pooh's fur.  Mix with the other half of the beet liquid, along with the turmeric, and frost Pooh's body.  This ends up having a hint of the turmeric flavor, which I thought was tasty.  Feeds five hungry vegans for a couple of days.


Thursday, November 24, 2011

Chocolate Chunk Cookies and Thanksgiving, 2011

We had another great Thanksgiving this year.  We filled our bellies and finished off the night playing Twister and the Five Little Monkeys board game.  As usual, everyone got to pick a dish that they wanted for the meal - dinner or dessert, their choice.  And, my job is always to fill in the blank (usually the vegetable).  This year, JK picked chocolate chip cookies.  When I went shopping, I saw a stash of chocolate chunks, which I haven't seen for about ten years!  I pointed them out to him, and thankfully, he agreed to the chunk version, yay!  Cookies are usually my sweet downfall, rather than cakes or pies.  They are so easy to pick up, and in a few bites they are gone.  I've got to figure out how to get control of that.  Anyhow, I simply veganized the recipe on the bag by Bakers and reworded the directions to suit my taste.  They were delicioso.  Between all of us, about half made it to the Thanksgiving table.  Serves me right for making them early in the day.

Here's our complete menu:

Tofurky - always picked by G
Gravy - Me
Cranberry sauce, smooth and chunky - SR
Waffle Fries - SR
Steamed Broccoli - Me

Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cake - made completely by GR, no recipe for the cake or frosting, and she wrote Thanksgiving across the top
Pumpkin Pie - GR, who made this too, and we bought Rice Whip for the top
Roasted Chestnuts - Me
Chocolate Chunk Cookies - JK



Chocolate Chunk Cookies


Our Thanksgiving Spread


My Thanksgiving Plate


Our Dessert Spread

My Dessert Plate


Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients:

1 and 3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup vegan margarine, softened
1/2 cup vegan or raw sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer
2 Tbs. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pkg. chocolate chunks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.  In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugars.  Add the Egg Replacer, water and vanilla extract, and beat on low speed until well mixed.  Add the flour mixture in two halves to the sugar mix, and continue blending until well mixed.  Stir in the chocolate chunks.  Take a heaping tablespoon of the cookie dough - I found I had to mold it into balls in  my hands - and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for twelve minutes.  Cool for a couple minutes on cookie sheet on cooling rack, then place cookies directly on cooling rack to finish cooling.  Makes about three dozen.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Dark Chocolate Mini Cupcakes with Frosting

For this recipe, I simply veganized Hershey's chocolate cake recipe and turned it into scrumptious mini cupcakes.  Yummers!  Here's the easy recipe, along with their veganized frosting.


Dark Chocolate Mini Cupcakes with Frosting

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
Non-stick spray
A little flour for dusting
2 cups vegan or raw sugar
1 and 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup dark cocoa
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer
4 Tbs. water
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Frosting:
1/2 cup vegan margarine
2/3 cup dark cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
For the cupcakes: Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray the mini cupcake wells with non-stick spray.  Sprinkle a little flour in each well and swoosh around to cover the spray.  Pat out the extra flour into your sink.  In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a mug, whisk together the egg replacer and the water.  Pour that mixture and the soy milk, oil, and vanilla extract into the large bowl with the dry ingredients.  Mix with an electric blender on medium speed for two minutes.  Pour in the boiling water and mix on low, until the water is blended in.  Batter will be thinner than you might expect, but it's okay.  Fill each cupcake well about 3/4 full.  Bake for 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into one of the middle cupcakes comes out clean.  Cool in pan on a cooling rack for ten minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan and put directly on rack to finish cooling.  Repeat with the rest of the batter.  Makes six dozen cupcakes!

For the frosting: Melt the margarine either in the microwave or on the stove top.  Put melted margarine in a medium mixing bowl.  Whisk the cocoa into the margarine.  Alternate adding the powdered sugar and the soy milk into the cocoa mixture, mixing on medium low speed with an electric blender.  Add vanilla and beat for at least two minutes on medium speed, until the frosting has a creamy consistency.  Spoon by dollops onto cooled cupcakes.  Eat and enjoy.  Feeds five hungry vegans for several desserts.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Black Tie Cheesecake

I call this Black Tie Cheesecake because it looks like it's all dressed up to go to a black tie event. I've made this cake about once a year for around the last ten years, and I love it every time. Whenever I am going to make it, I always think it's a big job, but then when I'm done, I always remember how easy it actually is. Then, I think, I should make this more often but never do. So now, perhaps by putting this all down here, maybe I'll actually make this delicious cheesecake more often. I first got the idea for the recipe off a free recipe card that was mailed to me, trying to get me to subscribe to recipe cards. I've veganized the recipe, changed the name, altered the amounts of the ingredients, and also tweaked some of the procedures of the recipe, as well, over the years. I'm confident that I can call it mine now.

I brought this as our contribution to Easter with all the relatives, along with my Tropical Seitan Pasta Salad, which has become pretty much the dish that everyone expects me to bring now: they love it so much. My mom provided Gardenburger riblets for us, and I also brought rolls. I once made the salad with something else for dinner for my parents, along with this cheesecake for dessert, and my dad told my mom later that that was one of the best meals he had ever had. From my dad, that's a huge compliment. I hope you enjoy this basically easy, but beautiful dessert, as well.




Black Tie Cheesecake


Cookie Crust


White layer of the cheesecake


Getting ready to mix in the chocolate into the second half of the white cream cheese blend


Chocolate layer of the cheesecake


Here the baked cheesecake has been cooling for about twenty minutes. You can see that the edges are already starting to pull away from the pan. When it's completely cool, you will gently run a butter knife around the edge to ensure that it's separated all the way.


Preparing to mix in the sour cream into the melted chocolate to make the frosting


Here is the cheesecake with the sides of the springform pan removed. The frosting is patiently waiting to be spread.


The frosted cheesecake - ready to be chilled in the fridge


What was left of the Black Tie Cheesecake after the relatives got ahold of it


Black Tie Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 pkg. Newman O's chocolate sandwich cookies
1/2 cup of vegan margarine

Cheesecake:

3 pkgs. of Tofutti cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup of vegan sugar
3 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer
10 Tbs. water
1 8oz. box of Bakers semi-sweet chocolate, divided (2 oz.)

Frosting:

The remainder of the Bakers chocolate (6oz.)
1/2 cup of Tofutti sour cream

Directions:

For the crust: Scrape all the cream centers out of each cookie and set aside for a later meal or for present gluttony. Grind the chocolate cookie "jackets" in a food processor. Melt the margarine. Combine them both in a bowl and mix well. Press into the bottom of a nine-inch springform pan. Smooth out with the back of a spoon.

For the cheesecake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a mug or measuring cup, whisk together the Egg Replacer and water with a fork or small whisk. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, and Egg Replacer and water mixture. Beat on medium speed until well blended, two to three minutes. Pour half of the mixture over the cookie crumb crust. Melt two wrapped squares of the chocolate. Stir into the rest of the cheesecake mixture in the bowl. Pour evenly over the white bottom layer in the pan. Place pan on cookie sheet, and bake for one hour. Remove from oven. You don't want any cracks in the top of the cake: that could mean that it is too dry. If it's a little jiggly in the center, that should be okay; it will probably continue to set up while cooling on the rack and chilling in the fridge. But, most likely, it will appear pretty solid with the one hour baking time. Cool completely on cooling rack, then continue to chill for a few hours in the refrigerator.

For the frosting: When the cake is completely cold, remove from the refrigerator, and place the pan on a serving platter. Take a butter knife and gently run it along the edge of the cake to loosen any last parts of the cake from the pan. Remove the sides of the springform pan. Now, it's time to prepare the frosting. Melt the rest of the chocolate squares (6 oz.). Put in a small mixing bowl and add the sour cream. Mix well. Use a spatula or a non-serrated butter knife to spread the frosting on the top and sides of the cake. The sour cream adds just enough softness to the chocolate to spread it but leaves the chocolate firmer than regular cake frosting. Place back in the refrigerator and continue to chill for at least an hour before serving. Can be served cold from the fridge or after setting out for about twenty minutes. Longer than that can make the cake too soft. If you find that the crust is wanting to stick to the bottom of the pan, gently run a butter knife under the crust all the way around, to loosen it from the pan. This has only happened to me once, though. This is so good. Feeds five hungry vegans and several relatives.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cupcakes

First off, I have to start this post by saying that something has gone strangely wrong with blogger for me. It no longer recognizes my html codes; they completely disappear no matter how many times I enter them in, so all spacing is messed up. Any spacing between lines you see, are lines that I've forced there. I also can no longer post my ingredients list single-spaced, only double-spaced. I've bolded different headings, to make it easier to read. I hope this is not going to be a problem for readers. This is highly frustrating for me.

Anyway, on with the recipe.
So good. That's what you'll think when you have one of these treasures. We had two birthday parties to go to recently, so I made these to bring along for us. When my children are invited to a birthday party, I always make a dessert for them to have, and I try to make it as yummy as possible, so they never feel left out. These were so good, I had a few, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. There are chocolate chips inside the cupcake, as well, so you are not left feeling as if you been chocolate-shortchanged.



Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Batter:

2 and 1/4 cups soy milk

2 Tbs. lemon juice

2 cups vegan sugar

1 cup vegan margarine, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer

4 Tbs. water

2 and 1/2 cups flour

1 cup cocoa

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 pound bag of vegan chocolate chips (approx. 2 cups), divided

Frosting:

6 Tbs. vegan margarine, softened

2 and 2/3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1/3 cup soy milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

For the batter: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with paper cupcake liners. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy milk and lemon juice, and set aside - this is your "buttermilk." In a large mixing bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar. Add the Egg Replacer and water and beat with a mixer, until blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Alternate beating in the dry ingredients and the soured soy milk into the sugared mixture on medium speed. With the last addition of your 'buttermilk," add in the vanilla.  Beat until thoroughly mixed. Add all but a half cup of the chocolate chips to the batter, and stir well with a spoon. Scoop out batter into paper liners, and fill at least two-thirds full. Bake for 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into a couple of them comes out clean. Cool completely on cooling racks.

For the frosting: In a large bowl, mash margarine really well, or beat it with a mixer. In a separate bowl, whisk sugar and cocoa together. Alternate beating in the sugared mixture and soy milk with the margarine. Start on slow speed and work your way up to medium. When completely mixed, add the vanilla, and beat for one minute longer. Spread on cupcakes. Top each cupcake with several chocolate chips. Makes about two dozen cupcakes. Feeds five hungry vegans for a few days. Yummers.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Light Almond Carob Cookies

As I wrote in my last post, GR's birthday was last month and we enjoyed two versions of pink strawberry cakes. However, my parents were unable to make it over on her actual birthday, so they came a couple of days later. I wanted to have a dessert for them, too, of course. Even though I'm not much of a dessert girl, my mom is even less so, and chocolate is very challenging for her to eat in particular because of its sweetness. So, I concocted what I thought would be pleasing to her: a not too heavy, not too sweet cookie. She liked them very much and took at least three of them, which I knew was a definite sign of success. So, for those of us who don't have a big sweet tooth, but want something that just hits the spot every now and then, here's my Light Almond Carob Cookies. By the way, these went over just as well with the rest of the clan; there were none left at the end of the night.





Light Almond Carob Cookies

Ingredients:

Batter:

1 cup vegan margarine
1/4 cup vegan or raw sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 cups of flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup soy milk
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Icing:

1 cup of powdered sugar
2 Tbs. carob powder
2 Tbs. hot water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

For the batter: With a beater or pastry cutter, cream margarine and sugar together. Add almond extract and mix again. Add flour and salt and stir well with spoon, until well mixed. Add the soy milk and stir again. Add the sliced almonds and stir one last time. Scoop up approximately a tablespoon of batter at a time and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Gently press cookies into little disks and bake for 12 minutes. Cool in pan on cooling rack for five minutes before transferring cookies to a sheet of foil or wax paper to finish cooling.

For the icing: When cookies are cool, make icing. Whisk together the powdered sugar and carob powder. Add the hot water and vanilla extract and mix well. Either take a butter knife and spread a dollop of icing on each cookie, or dip each cookie into the icing. Icing will dry in less than a half hour, and the cookies will be ready to eat! Makes approximately two dozen cookies. Feeds five hungry vegans and a couple of grandparents.