Currently viewing the tag: "My Vegan Kitchen"
It’s time to bake a cake for mom day! Here is my beautiful Mom holding a pint-sized me next to my sis.
And here I am photobombing a very proper picture of my brothers and sister in their Easter best. This became a bit of a common occurrence as I would grow older. I used to steal my mom’s camera mid-roll and take pictures of myself sticking out my tongue. (And I used to press ‘play’ and ‘record’ to interrupt my dad’s mix tapes with weird noises.)
Forecasts call for a light dusting of cocoa and soymilk powder.
Vanilla layer cake with chocolate frosting, as requested by Mom.
I love Isa’s thick, fudgey chocolate frosting from VCTOTW. It reminds me of the cakes my mom used to make. Jiffy cake and frosting mix… in the little blue box.
A delicious bite. I highly recommend subbing Earth Balance regular for the coconut spread. It gives a subtle coconut flavor and a yummy shine. Happy Mom Day, Mom!
I have never baked gluten-free before… but I like baking challenges! I decided to try out both a ‘from scratch’ recipe (from the tried and trusted VCTOTW) and Cherrybrook Kitchen‘s yellow cake mix.
On the left, the Cherrybrook Kitchen’s mix. Batter was very sweet (the ingredients list both cane sugar and brown sugar.) and familiar-feeling although a bit granular. It didn’t rise all that much but was springy with a golden brown skin. The finished product held onto the super-sweet taste the batter had. It was yummy– it tasted a bit more like a packaged snack cake.
On the right, the Vanilla Gluten Freedom cake. This batter was also very granular. I subbed the ground flax for ground salba (cha-cha-cha-chia) for the egg replacement which did affect the taste a bit. Flax is more neutral. The cake did not rise all that much either, and came out of the oven a bit heavier, more dense. The hue was also a deeper yellow. It was very delicious but in a different way. Considering all, I prefer this recipe to the box. It tastes more… real, if that makes sense?
I would buy a box if I was in a bind… but a bind won’t likely happen soon. I have a huge collection of flours on hand and hope to experiment more with gluten-free baking. For now, I’ll feast on this vanilla layer cake.
Tea cake pan from Williams Sonoma.
Waiting for tulips.
The gang’s all here…
Bright and juicy…
Wearing our best grill marks
Everyone’s invited to this pilaf.
Since I was a little girl, vanilla has been one of my favorite flavors. I used to huff vanilla extract on the sly, enjoyed only vanilla ice cream, eating around other flavored add-ins, and, as my birthday neared, requested only vanilla cake. Fragrant and delicate, it is still my first choice in desserts. Chocolate is an easy please. Vanilla, on the other hand, requires more effort. And now that I’ve tasted vanilla beans in their natural state, now that I’ve stripped pods of their tar-like innards, I am in a pure state of vanilla love.
The Electrician and I were hosting Electrician Dad and Mom for an Easter dinner. And I was in charge of dessert. With the start of the berry season upon us, I decided on a vanilla layer cake blinged out with a heavy hand of strawberries. My vision of the cake was tall, slathered in both coconut cream and vanilla buttercream and guarded by towering strawberries quartered lengthwise. Here is the play-by-play.
Because this was a special occasion cake, I used many cups of confectionary sugar in total. Proportionately, I put the most in the coconut whip and halved the buttercream sugar. I didn’t want a cloyingly sweet dessert, especially given the sweet, red berries. I also added some smashed strawberry into the whipped coconut cream, both for flavor and desired hue. Coconut whip can look a bit grey, especially when paired with a stark white buttercream. However, needing most of my berries for the tops of my layer cakes, a subtle hue would have to do.
After baking my vanilla cake layers, I opened up the springform pan, removed the bottom part of the pan, and let cool. Afterwards, the bottom layer was set on the cake server and the springform side refastened. This would help the coconut whip and berry center to set securely in the fridge.
Same went for the top layer. I placed this layer on a cutting board to allow for easy moving.
It was a berry convention on top!
Flash forward, the layers were stacked and the sides were frosted with the buttercream. I attempted piping but the refrigerated buttercream resisted… and I was concerned about over doing it, since the berries were pretty dramatic on their own.
The cake was a big success! And I was happy to have expanded the perception of vegan baked treats.
I will be eating this for the rest of the week, thankfully.
I love long Sundays in the kitchen. The afternoon sun streaming in… making a mess… licking the spoon… It’s the best part of the week.
Today’s epic recipe, a version of this: Vegan Vanilla Ding Dongs
Real ‘black tar’ vanilla bean
Very vanilla sheet cake. I could have put this batter in a flute and sipped it all night.
Stay golden, Ponyboy
Cake-punching
Delicate texture
Piping freshly-beat coconut milk creme
All piped.
Cacao and cocoa butter
Time for a chocolate coat
Chocolate. Everywhere.
Vanilla Ding Dongs done, after 3 hours. Let’s look
After reading this article about Fritzi Dog in Los Angeles, I was inspired to make less complicated “carrot dogs” for the week’s lunch. I can’t cook them sous vide, but I can roast them till they’re tender. It’s a simple method to making a true veggie dog, free of weird processed soy-type stuff.
I needed a side for my lunch, so I decided to try to make “cauliflower steaks.” These seem to be sweeping the meat-substitute nation lately. I opted for steak wedges as I only had one smallish head of cauliflower. A quick bath in olive oil and a sprinkling of coarse salt and pepper and they were ready to roast.
In the end, my carrot dog, topped with caramelized onion and an amazing dill and horseradish mayo I whipped up in the Vitamix, was delicious. A fantastic combination of tastes and textures!
Who needs rubbery veggie dogs?! Roasted carrots are my new favorite hot dog.
I love a challenge of veganization. I’ve tried it all. So with the most recent issue of VegNews came my next challenge. Vegan Deviled Eggs.
I’ve never had “real” deviled eggs nor have I ever had the desire to eat a vegan version! But sometimes I make food just to see if I can make it… so now I have some deviled eggs to add to my weekday lunch. These were easy enough to make and oh-so fun to take pictures of. Let’s look:
Little baby half eggs made from a chocolate mold.
I have a little bag of agar flakes that I have been trying to use up for what seems like years now. And I am getting good at incorporating the once-bizarre ingredient with resulting success. I used it to make these fantastic vegan deviled eggs, instead of the agar powder. The agar flakes take longer to dissolve than the powder and affect the texture and aesthetics of the gelatinous finished product. Notice how the “egg” is speckled with some of the undissolved agar above.
There they are. With a ton of black salt in these bad boys, they are authentically sulfuric and salty.
The little bouncy eggs set well.
More pictures the morning after when there was better natural light. Flash just stinks for food photography. I sprinkled this morning beauty with WayFare’s Pig Out Bacony Bits
The “yolk” is very flavorful.
Vegan deviled eggs. What should I make next?!
I’ve never had Monkey Bread before. But I’ve made dough. So surely I was able to take the dough and drench it in Earth Balance, sugar and cinnamon. Using this recipe from Yes, I Want Cake, it was fool-proof and deceivingly easy!
Cutting the dough into little chunks, immersing each in melted EB, and dredging each in sugar was a sloppy ordeal. This Monkey Bread was to accompany me to my parents to celebrate my brother’s birthday. So I couldn’t take a lick.
After a double-dose of rising and a quick bake in the oven, more sugar!!
Deliciously drenched sweet Monkey Bread.
I’ll be making this again real soon!
The “Blizzard of 2013″ came and left us with a covering of cotton white.
In moon boots and pajamas, I checked it out.
Vitamix fun: white bean artichoke cilantro pesto
And fool-proof roasted Brussels.
So delicious!
Beets two ways. Veggie-Go’s fruit leather. (Best. 15 calories. Ever.)
Roasted beets. I drooled on my shirt when I rotated them in the pan.
Scalloped potatoes a la mandoline.
Creamy, herbed potatoes will help me face the work week.
House-made seitan.
Bring on Monday!
Vegan Reporting By Location
