From the monthly archives: March 2012
Nothing screams Mac ‘n Cheese more than a beautiful Spring day! Well, I guess not really, but I need lunch to eat during the week! As some may have noticed, I really haven’t used the kitchen much these days. I chose this easy recipe from Epicurean Vegan for a killer cheese sauce and tried a new pasta (Orecchiette) with the perfect lil’ recess for cashew cheese pooling. Suffice to say, it was time well spent.
The sauce was a good use of my huge stock of nutritional yeast. I added quite a bit more than the recipe called for, licking spoonful after spoonful to get it just right.
I want to put another picture of the yum. [Look above.] So there is that whim gratified.
Now for the click of the story. Remember banana whip? I went to the Jersey Shore to eat it last July? Well, I bought the gimmicky small appliance that is the cheap version of the real deal with high hopes for a summer of tasty banana whip. In preparation, I froze the bananas. So here they are getting ready to be aerated, looking like they are surrounded by pixie dust.
There is the gimmicky small appliance: The Yonanas!
And here is my first batch, shared with Ms. CP. It took us some troubleshootin’ minutes to figure out the initial problems with the texture, which were long minutes given the horrible shriek this machine makes. But we had a great big bowl of banana-y goodness after that!
It was tasty, but this is what I learned for next time: let bananas fully ripen to a speckled frenzy before freezing. My bananas were a bright yellow and therefore the treat was very starch and in need of toppings. And number two, make sure your chocolate sauce hasn’t been in the refridgerator since 2007. Doh!
I am sure to be posting new Yonanas concoctions soon!
I am happy to say that another all-vegan bakery has landed in Brooklyn! Clementine Bakery, deals cake… and muffins, and cookies, and lotsa sweet, delicious goodies. Located on the Clinton Hill-Bed Stuy border, Clementine joins the growing family of all-veganness that is growing in New York City: most recently–Blossom Bakery and Dun Well Doughnuts. It is about time we have more than one devoted option for sweet treats made local! I had high hopes of Clementine after trusted CandyPenny stopped by recently and had this to say. So I stopped by one early Spring-like day to taste their goodies.
I’m never in this area. So I had to get two treats to last me till my next visit. As per usual, I always need to try a bakery’s vanilla cupcake. Luckily the cake was covered in a rich ganache! I also picked up a sandwich cookie with cream cheese frosting in between. It is not my usual taste but I panicked under pressure.
The sandwich cookie was delectable! The cookies were much like the adored Toll House cookies from the adored LifeThyme but striped with a chocolate drizzle that leaves your finger tips sugary and nostalgic. The cream cheese filling sealed the deal. With just a little tang and saltiness, the cream brought out the sandwich’s sweetness with enthusiasm.
The vanilla cupcake had spectacular flavor, far better than most other vanilla cupcakes I’ve tasted. It was boldly vanilla, as opposed to the very common bland cake/overcompensating sweet buttercream frosting combination. Paired with the chocolate: hubba hubba. My only criticism was it was a little bit undercooked and wet on top.
Welcome, Clementine! I’ll be back soon. Now you should go too.
So Cocoa V, the swanky short-lived all-vegan chocolate shop, is no longer. Since my first report in 2009 and this more recent post, the space had been cut in half to house the Blossom du Jour, Blossom‘s more casual eatery across 9th avenue. Now Cocoa V’s side of the space has morphed into Blossom Bakery, an all-vegan (my favorite words) bakery in Chelsea. Cp and I had to check it out.
I got the blonde on blonde, as this combination reveals a bakery’s raw talent. Chocolate can make for a easy, no-fail decadent dessert. Vanilla, on the other hand, is more difficult to get right. Blossom Bakery got it right, albeit ever so dry. I loved the frosting which had the perfect blend of oil, creaminess, and a wonderful and slight fine-grain sugar grit. That is the best. I kind of wanted a berry on top.
In fact, this cake would make a fabulous layer for a strawberry shortcake.
Blossom Bakery had a ton of goodies: cookies, full cakes, macaroons, and brownies, as well as a scrumptious-looking S’mores pudding, savory quiches and gorgeous heart-shaped linzer tarts.
I also had a slice of their triple layer German Chocolate cake. So, so good. The slice was 3 or so portions but served unphotogentically in plastic. Blossom Bakery, please buy some pretty plates for the food bloggers!
Of course, a savory bite had to be had at Blosson du Jour. I had a perfecto sandwich: the Filet No Fish… Filet No Fish: a tofu cod cake, v-bomb cheddar, lettuce, and v-bomb tartar sauce. The soft, buttery cibatta with its semolina flour debris, on its own, would have hit the spot… let alone the tarty tartar and the yummy cake of tofu. 9th avenue, you are pretty cool.
Vegan Reporting By Location
