Black Forest Cheezecake + a Birthday Picnic

Recently Planet Vegmel turned three! To celebrate there was a picnic at the Edinburgh Gardens, as well as our favourite new tradition of making a zine. This year's zine features secrets of not the inner North, and you should all download it!

I made the super awesome vausage rolls because I really wanted Wendy to try them (having spent the last six months in Beijing talking them up to her), but this meant bringing a gluteny savoury that K couldn't eat! To compensate, I went to extra special effort with my sweets contribution: vegan, gluten-free black forest cheezecake.


This recipe was inspired by a piece of cake I had at the Heavenly Plate on a recent trip to Perth which was amazing and I was so excited to try making some sort of black forest cheezecake myself. This version isn't quite right, there are several changes I have in mind for the next iteration, but for a first attempt (and my first cheezecake in over a year) it was not bad at all.

I used the triple threat chocolate cheesecake in My Sweet Vegan as inspiration/guidance for proportions.

black forest cheezecake

ingredients

1 packet of chocolate biscuits (I used the leda tim tam substitutes)
third of a cup of sugar (I used a mix of white and coconut sugars)
two tablespoons margarine


3 tubs of vegan cream cheese (approx 700g)
300g silken tofu
300g dark chocolate
three quarters of a cup of white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
shake of salt

a can of berries, preferably cherries but mixed will do
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
quarter cup sugar
extra chocolate for drizzling

method

Crush the biscuits, mix with the third of a cup of sugar and the margarine. Add some extra chocolate in the form of cocoa if you like. Press into a lined 22 cm cheesecake or springform pan for a thin crust, or a smaller pan for a slightly thicker crust.

Mix together the cream cheese, tofu, vanilla extract, salt and the three quarter cup of sugar until smooth. Melt the chocolate and combine through until looking delightfully brown. Pour carefully into pan on top of crust, and drop the pan a time or two to smooth it out if necessary. Bake at 175C for about 50 minutes.

After it has cooled (I usually do this overnight), over heat bring together the can of berries (mostly drained, but with a little of the syrup), the cornstarch and the lemon juice with the remaining sugar. Stir over heat until it's come together like a jam, and let cool a bit. Then pour it over the cake. When this has cooled a little more, melt the remaining chocolate and drizzle it over. Serve and eat it, it's so good.

Changes I would like to make in the future: an extra berry layer on top of the base; a thicker base (maybe half again); something "white creamish" like a real black forest cake (maybe a white chocolate tofu layer); fresh cherries on top.

planet vegmel birthday potluck + blog event part ii

It was Planet VegMel's birthday! So there was a birthday picnic at Edinburgh Gardens, and the weather was beautiful. I took a whole bunch of photos at the picnic, if you'd like to see them you can check them out at my flickr. Cindy has also done a bit of a round up post!

There were zines (which you can download here)



and badges



and there was lots of food!



For drinks, we started with chamomile lemon iced tea, with maple ice cubes, made by K; and a mango lasso made by the Veganator.

Michael made potato chickpea enchiladas, originally seen on veganise this; Emilly made an eggplant salad; and I made the quinoa avocado salad that has been remixed by many VegMelers.

Toby experimented with tempeh bacon, remixed from Where's the Beef. This was probably my highlight of the picnic, I totally recommend it! Also involving tempeh was Em's gado gado.

In news of other remixes, Carla brought along mock crab cakes, remixed from Cindy and Michael; and Mel made tofu quiches, originally seen at Vicki Vegan and Green Gourmet Giraffe.

Danni made sundried tomato bread and pumpkin + miso muffins (remixes from non-VegMel blogs).



For sweets, Cindy and Michael made PB & choc sandwiches, based on peanut butter alligators and chocolate ganache from Sugarspoons.

K made ginger ripple cake, based on a recipe by the Veganator; Mel made apricot delight, remixed from Green Gourmet Giraffe; and Em made Turkish Truffles, a remix of Mel's rum balls. I remixed chocolate caramel slice, from Johanna's original recipe.

In original recipes, Vicki posted about her peanut butter balls; Johanna brought blueberry cake pops (and they were so amazing); and Carla delighted us with lamingtons.

And that was the potluck, but not the end of the birthday:




two more submissions for that recipe sounds very familiar… previous entries can be found here.

Cindy and Michael remixed a beetroot chocolate cake, originally from the Fairest Feed.

Like Cindy and Michael and myself, Mel remixed Toby's Singapore noodles, a delicious noodle treat.

that recipe sounds very familiar... part one

It's Planet VegMel's 2nd Anniversary! Happy Anniversary, Planet VegMel! It's been an exciting two years for the Planet, I think, as it's grown as a resource. And there are still lots more ways in which it can grow, not just in number of blogs subscribed, but lofty goals for mapping and referencing and all sorts of exciting things.

As part of the birthday celebrations, I am super proud to host the 'That Recipe Seems Very Familiar…' blog event. A number of VegMel bloggers have remixed the recipes of other VegMel bloggers, ranging from minimal alterations to huge variations of deliciousness.

The recipes linked below have been submitted in advance of Planet VegMel's 2nd Anniversary. But if you've got something to submit, this doesn't close you out! I'll be making a second round up post next week, some time after the Birthday Picnic Potluck (this Sunday at Edinburgh Gardens), so that anyone who wishes to remix something for the Potluck can do so. And I hope to see you there! (keep an eye on the Facebook event if the weather looks grim, for the backup plan)

In chronological(ish) order!

Mel at Veganise This has remixed the haggis (and haggis pizza) originally posted by Johanna at Green Gourmet Giraffe.

Cindy and Michael remixed kari kapitan, originally blogged by Steph (me!) at Vegan about Town.

I remixed the potato boston bun, also originally by Johanna at GGG.

Cindy and Michael remixed cottage tofu, originally by Johanna.

Cindy and Michael remixed the very familiar baked cherry/berry cheesecake, seen previously at Gretal Getting Fatter, Easy as Vegan Pie, and vegan about town! (it's totally an amazing recipe)

K remixed salted caramel ice cream, adapted from Cindy and Michael.

I remixed lemony snickerdoodles, originally at Sugar Spoons.

Johanna remixed the baked beans recipe, previously seen at veganise this! and where's the beef, and originally from Veganomicon.

Mel remixed delicious tofu with steamed vegies, adapted from In the Mood for Noodles. And then Johanna remixed it too!

Cindy and Michael remixed cauliflower and caramelised onion tart, originally made by Carla at Easy as Vegan Pie, and previously remixed by Lisa.

In news of more noodles, K remixed a meegoreng originally seen at vegan about town.

Cindy and Michael remixed Toby's Singapore noodles; and two days later, so did I! (because we all love noodles)

Cindy and Michael remix hash browns, originally by Vicki Vegan.

I remixed lemon pepper cashews, dubbed "cashew crack" by Cindy and Michael.

K tries out apricot delight, seen on Green Gourmet Giraffe.

K remixed Zucchini Quinoa Lasagna, originally seen on Vicki Vegan.

Em made almond jam slices, a somewhat a remix of my coconut and jam slice.

Thanks to everybody for participating in this event! It allowed me to rediscover some old favourites, and discover new things (lemon pepper cashews are AMAZING).

lemon pepper cashews

I was bouncing around the house on Sunday night, all my chores completed and mainlining some television, when I thought I'd give this recipe for a cashew snack by Cindy and Michael a go. I wasn't sure about the lemon-salt-pepper-sugar combo, but their blog declared them 'universally addictive' and who am I to go past a description such as that?

They're so amazing that I left the container on the table with an airy instruction to Danni that she could try a couple, if she wanted; when I got back from my adventures in town, I discovered she'd eaten over half! It's a good thing they're easy and fast to make. A brilliant and delicious snack!

This is another remix for that recipe seems very familiar...



lemon pepper cashews
originally at Where's the Beef

ingredients
1 cup raw cashews
quarter cup sugar
salt and pepper to taste (generous portion - I was a bit timid and it definitely could have done with more)
zest of a medium-sized lemon

method
In a frypan over a medium-high heat, start stirring the cashews and the sugar. When the sugar starts to melt, lower the heat and keep stirring until the sugar is completely melted and the nuts are a lovely golden brown and completely covered in sugar. Turn off the heat and crack through some salt and pepper, then stir through the lemon zest.

Spread the cashews out on a lined baking tray and leave to cool. The baking paper is important, as the sugar will have started to caramelize and you don't want to lose any of its deliciousness from being stuck to a tray! Store in an air-tight container. Or eat them all.

"that recipe seems very familiar..." blog event update

Just a reminder that Planet VegMel's 2nd anniversary is this week! It officially falls on the 14th of September, giving you just two days to get your remixes in for the original anniversary deadline! On Wednesday I'll be making a round-up of all the recipes that have been posted.

However, there is the Birthday Picnic coming up on Sunday the 18th, and I know many VegMel bloggers are planning to remix something for that picnic. With that in mind, there will be a part two post for these remixes about a week after the picnic, giving everyone time to blog about their remix.

So don't worry about desperately needing to meet this Wednesday's deadline! There is still a lovely amount of time left to remix something from another blogger.

toby's singapore noodles

I was reading twitter yesterday morning, blearily trying to wake up, when I saw that Cindy and Michael had remixed Toby's Singapore noodles. I was torn, because I had wanted to post about it and suddenly I worried I'd look like a copy cat! But several people remixing is part of what remixing is all about! And also we all love noodles, and it's nice to share.

So here it is, my remix of Toby's Singapore noodles, for that recipe seems very familiar... Like Michael, I skipped the sesame seeds, but not because I didn't have them, because I forgot them (even though they were on the kitchen counter).



Singapore Noodles (Toby Style)
originally by Toby at In the Mood for Noodles

ingredients
2 sticks of rice vermicelli
100 grams smoked tofu
1 medium carrot, julienned
a hunk of capsicum, similarly sliced
half a white onion, sliced
3 tablespoons curry powder
half a teaspoon chilli flakes
quarter of a cup of vegetable stock
some vegetable oil
a splash or three of sesame oil
a splash or three of light soy sauce
some tumeric powder

method
Soak the rice noodles in hot water for five to ten minutes. Don't oversoak them, because then it will all fall apart and there will be maifun-related tears. In the meantime, marinate the carrot and the capsicum in the soy sauce, chilli flakes and the sesame oil.

After you drain the noodles, heat up the wok until it's very warm and fry the onion in some oil. Fry it until it softens, then stir through the curry powder and the turmeric, and follow it up with the carrot and capsicum mixture, including all the liquids. Leave to fry until the carrot starts to soften. Add a little dash of water and put the lid on to let it fry and steam for another minute or two. Throw in the noodles and mix through, adding the stock, a little extra soy sauce, sesame oil and some cracked pepper until the stock is cooked off (the wok should be hot enough that this will take about thirty seconds). I love sesame oil, it is amazing.

lemon snickerdoodles

Over the weekend I was compelled to provide some sort of baked treat for a short-notice afternoon tea, and remembered this lemony snickerdoodle recipe that was originally posted by Em. A quick glance revealed I had all the required ingredients and, clad in my pyjamas, I felt ready to tackle this baking need.



I made a few modifications to this recipe. Chief amongst them is that I didn't finish with lemon icing, it was more of a lemon glaze - I suspect that the '3/4 of a lemon' that Em used was a little smaller than the lemon I picked up from the corner shop, because I tripled the icing sugar in the recipe and it was still gloopy. I ended up brushing the glaze onto the snickerdoodles, but don't fret - it all ended well. And now I have three quarters of a cup of lemon glaze in my fridge, if anyone has any ideas.

These went pretty soft very quickly - good for the day of, but not as amazing by the end of the second day. Just have to eat them quickly, what a hardship!

This is my second submission for the that recipe seems very familiar... blog event.

lemon snickerdoodles
originally from sugar spoons, modified from vegetarian times

the dough
1 3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cornflour
1 teaspoon baking powder
30 grams nuttelex, softened
a smidge over a quarter of a cup of soy milk (with a few drops of vanilla extract mixed through)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
quarter cup castor sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

the glaze
zest + juice of most of a medium to large lemon
a whole lot of icing sugar

method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Em suggested lining one baking tray, but I needed two (and got about 20 snickerdoodles out of it).

Beat together the nuttelex until it's soft, then beat in the sugar, followed by soymilk and vanilla essence. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, corn flour and baking powder, then slowly mix this all into the liquids until smooth. You may need to use your hands! Set aside to sit for ten minutes.

In a bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

Form the dough into 1 inch balls, roll into the cinnamon sugar, and place it on the tray. Flatten the cookies! Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the cookies are starting to go a little golden. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for a bit.

Make the glaze! Combine lemon zest, lemon juice, and icing sugar until you're happy with the consistency. Brush (or dollop, if it's thick enough) onto the snickerdoodles, then sprinkle any remaining cinnamon sugar on top.

potato boston bun

When Emilly and I were invited to dinner with Ger + Em and asked to provide some dessert at short notice, I was stricken with indecision. But with the blog event for VegMel's 2nd birthday, it seemed fortuitous to tackle one of the recipes I've had bookmarked for months.



My first recipe for the birthday blog event (you should participate too!) is this potato boston bun recipe, first blogged by Johanna at Green Gourmet Giraffe. Ever since Johanna first posted it, I had been intrigued and definitely willing to give it a go. I love boston buns, and I love potatoes, how could this not be a great combination?

I made only a few minor mods to this recipe, increasing a few proportions and decreasing a few others, but mostly keeping it all the same. It was delicious on the day, and still delicious this morning, with a little nuttelex.

potato boston bun
based on the recipe at Green Gourmet Giraffe, originally from the ABC

ingredients for the bun
2 small white potatoes, peeled and mashed
three quarters of a cup of castor sugar
2 cups self raising flower
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 cup mixed fruit

ingredients for the icing
three quarters of a cup of icing sugar
three quarters of a cup of desiccated coconut
a few drops of vanilla essence
2 tablespoons of hot or even warmwater
1 tablespoon nuttelex

the method of bunening
Preheat the oven to 200C.

Mix together the potato and the sugar. Mix in the flour, mixed spice, and soy milk. When it's all smooth (though there can be a few potato lumps), add the fruit and loosely combine. Pour into a lined circular tin and smooth the top around.

Bake for about 50 mins until golden brown and firm to the touch. When you put the skewer in to test, it can be a little not-quite done, it'll cool deliciously.

Remove from tin and allow to cool.

For the icing, mix together the icing sugar, coconut, vanilla essence, nuttelex and the hot water. Mix it thoroughly until a spreadable paste is formed. Add more hot water if necessary. Spread it over the top of the bun.

Cut and eat, oh yeah.