Friday, July 30, 2010

All Vegan Cinnamon Cupcakes with Apple Butter Cream Cheese Frosting



Cinanum Cupcakes with Apple Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

1 ¼ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
3 tsp Cinnamon
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon extract
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line muffin tray with paper liners and set aside until ready.
Wisk together Soy Milk and Apple Cider Vinegar in a medium sized mixing bowl and set aside to allow to curdle. Next, sift together flour, baking soda, baking pwder, salt and spices. Add oil, and extracts to the Milk mixture and slowly mix flour mixture into milk mixture until just combined. Do not over mix!

Fill paper liners 3/4 full and bake for 22-24 minutes until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Icing:
1/3 cup apple butter
1/4 cup vegan cream cheese
1/4 cup margarine
4 cups confectioners’ sugar

Cream cheese and margerine should be brought to room temperature before mixing. whip together apple butter, cream cheese and margerine when well combined and fluffy slowly add in the confectioners' sugar a little at a time until well mixed together and light and fluffy, it should be the consistency of buttercream.

Pipe on icing using a decorators tip... to make the swirls like the above picture use a 1M tip. Click to see this technique step by step!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Working on the banana cupcake recipe today!!!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Nashville Famer's Market-LAME

Is it just me? It seems like the farmer’s market used to be a place to go to get FRESH beautiful fruits and veg directly from the source but it seems like it is a place for the farmers to get rid of the crap the buyers won’t take now.

My friend Amanda and I enjoy spending the day with our kids out at the farmer’s market. Last trip Amanda bought some Plums that went bad the NEXT Day! I bought some green beans Friday that were NASTY by the time I went to serve them Saturday.

I support buying locally and want to get farm fresh items that help our economy but I don’t think I will continue to buy from the farmer’s market in Nashville with this terrible quality!

Looking for other options, please share if you have ideas on how to order online or a new market!

Vegan Italian Hazelnut Cake


No posting for the recipe yet, I have to perfect the fluffiness of the cake it was a little too dense. I like a lighter cake and I think adding vinegar to it might be just what it needs. Sorry no post yet!!!

I did make some yummy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins this morning but I used a fool proof recipe from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz Isa is my favorite cookbook author by far. I also LOVE Ina Garden (Barefoot Contessa) and I have a few blogs that I read as well. But Isa delivers in the area of Vegan Baking for sure! As far as her other recipes, I have found her fondness for Thyme a little too strong, I usually tweak the amounts and change spices and herbs often.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Vegan Pizza

Okay, lets face it most of the cheeses you can buy as a Vegan are nasty! I am devising a new way to eat pizza and still be happy about it. Dominoes changed the recipe and they are no longer Vegan, so that leaves me myself and I to make my own. I know, there is Kashi's Vegan pizza which is tasty but I can't find it ANYWHERE!!! I hate Amy's version and I still haven't find a good one.

Here is my first trial...

I am trying a white pizza sauce but I am not sure what to do with the toppings. I hope the white sauce will add the flavor and creaminess that is missing from a cheese-less pizza.

There are two crusts to this recipe so make one Vegan and one for the rest of the people in your house! My kids eat everything so I use pepperoni and cheese on the pizza they eat but you can make a vegetarian or a meaty version for those in your house.

Step 1
The Roasted Garlic:

1 head garlic (slice off the top quarter of the head)
1 teaspoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.


Place the garlic on a foil-lined baking sheet and rub 1 teaspoon of oil into the top of garlic head. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and place, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake until soft and golden, it will take around an hour.

Remove from the oven and let sit until cool enough to handle. Squeeze each head of garlic to remove each piece of garlic.

Step 2
The Crust:
I am going with a breadmaker crust,

1 1/3 c water
2 tbsp olive oil
4 c bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp active dry or bread machine yeast
Cornmeal

Add all ingredients (except the cornmeal) in order into a 2 pound bread maker. Use dough Setting

Divide dough in half for recipe makes 2 pizzas grease a baking pan, sprinkle corn meal on to pan. With greased fingers, pat dough into pan. You can use a pizza pan, rectagular cookie sheet or a deep dish pie pan, whatever you have.

Cover pizza crust competely with a warm wet towel or plastic wrap and let rise 30-45 minutes or until nearly double. Bake in a 375 oven for 10-25 minutes or until lightly browned add desired topping and bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until the toppings are done.

While the crust is cooking, make your sauce...

Step 3
The Sauce:
1 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons margerine
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon plus a pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2-4 heads of roasted garlic

Melt margerine in a medium saucepan. Add flour when butter is melted stir until melted. Do not let the flour brown, cook for a few minutes. Wisk in the salt, pepper and milk slowly until all of the milk is added. Bring the mixture to a low boil until thickened (should be about 2-3 minutes.) Remove from heat and add garlic cloves. Let cool 5-10 minutes until room temperature.

When cooled put sauce into a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth. When the sauce has cooled put on pizza and top with whatever you like.

The Toppings:
With a strong garlic sauce and some added creaminess the sky is the limit... put whatever you like on the pizza! Here are some suggestions from me:

Mushrooms (wild, crimini, portobello any!)
Onions
Green Pepper
Seitan
potatoes (I know it's wierd but try it! Frozen southern style Hashbrowns are perfect)
Artichoke Hearts
Black Olives
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Asparagus
Basil
Figs (Roman style)
Roasted Eggplant
Vegan Meatballs
Roasted Red Peppers
Vegan Pepperoni

Here is a combination that looks particularly tasty to me:
Roma tomatoes, pepperoncini, Castilla olives, capers, rosemary, oregano

Miss Parm sprinkles?
Try this:
finely ground Walnuts, Nutritional Yeast, Sea Salt
1 cup Nutritional Yeast to 1 cup walnuts and add sea salt to taste. It won't taste like cheese but it's a good substitute.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Why does nothing happen when I post!!!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Still haven't figured out the mobile posts... dang it

So anyone that knows me knows I am obsessed with Falafel!
I have finally done it! I have perfected my own falafel recipie better than the Middle Eastern Grocer in Antioch!

Here it is!

2 cups dried chickpeas do NOT use canned!!!
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 medium onion, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 big handfuls fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 handful fresh cilantro, leaves coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Soak your chickpeas overnight 8-12 hours... 2 cups is a small bag. Chickpeas should double or triple in size.

Put chickpeas into food processor and pulse until chickpeas are thouroughly ground but not smooth. No whole peas should remain. Add the reminder of the ingredients slowly and mix together. Your falafel mixture will not stick together if you didn't grind it up well enough. Taste your falafel before frying to be sure it is salted enough.

Fill your fryer with oil. Heat a deep fryer to 375 degrees or use 3 inches of oil in a heavy pan. I use a cast iron skillet on the stove top heated on Medium High until it gets to 375 degrees.

Using a round tablespoon measure a large scoop of falafel mixture and form into a small patty. (unless you like falafel meatballs) I typically make about 6 or 7 falafel patties at a time and then drop them all into the oil at the same time so they are all done together.

Using a tongs flip or turn your falafel if using a pan halfway through. Falafel is done when golden brown and should be cooked all of the way through. The patties should lose their shininess when cooked through.

I usually eat about 3-4 patties with Rice Pilaf and Pita with the Tahini dressing I posted in an earlier blog.

Enjoy... I know I do. OFTEN!

And yes, this is the recipe I was working on when I almost burned my kitchen down... Oil is not a toy people!!!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Banana Wheat Germ Nutty Muffins

So annoyed, I have been updating this thing via mobile posts and nothing is showing up.. what is the deal Google???

Sooo...
Here is the recipie. I made them this morning for a meeting I had with a community organizer for Organizing for America. She is a vegetarian but really enjoyed the muffins anyway. Not sure this recipe is done and this is different from what I made this morning but make them! I'd love some feedback!

Vegan Banana Wheat Germ Muffins
1 cup plain soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2-3 mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium, 3 large)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cinamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch ginger
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup wheat germ
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease muffin tins or insert cupcake liners. (I won't tell anyone)

Mix together soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a large bowl until it gets bubbly and frothy, let sit and curdle for a few minutes. While you are waiting mix in another bowl all of your dry ingredients: flour, wheat germ, baking powder, salt and spices. Mix all dry ingredients together well. Add sugar, oil, vanilla and mashed banana to your milk mixture. Finally add dry mixture to your milk mixture mix just until combined and few lumps remain. Fold in nuts if you are using them

Bake for 20-23 minutes until golden on top and toothpick comes out dry.

Sunday, July 4, 2010







Maia (above) my beautiful 1 year old niece came to visit and I got 3 new food testers, Maia her mom Alyssa and Aaron's brother Zac. I made a lot of newish food items while they were here. Oreo Cupcakes, Peach Cobbler, Blueberry Scones and some old favorites like Green Bean Casserole, Tempeh Tacos with Jalepeno Slaw and my personal favorite Baked Beans :) You will have to enjoy the pictures for now. I hope I will have a chance to post recipies soon.