Look at all the foods I've been making! :D

This was a drawing from a friend I got when asking what to do with my fresh blueberries. :)

I tried my hand in vegan mac & cheese with nutritional yeast!

Broccoli and 'cheese' calzone

and...

homemade spaghetti and tvp balls! 

Lots of experimenting in the kitchen lately and almost all of it turning out well!! :D

Vegan Blueberry Upside-down Cake!

I've been in a funk this last week. A close relative of mine passed away and I didn't handle the news well. So in an effort to try and help myself get back to normal I decided it was time to do some baking.

I've had some fresh blueberries in my fridge for a few days that have just been so badly wanting to be turned in to something amazing. I decided to try a twist on a recipe I posted back in January for Pineapple upside-down cake. Today's changes made for an awesome and very pretty cake!

I made a 'flax' egg today instead of the egg replacer and almond milk instead of soy. This cake isn't as sweet as the pineapple one because of that. If you'd prefer the sweeter cake, I'd say avoid the flax egg.

Here is the recipe I used today. :)


Preheat oven to 350

Topping:

2TBS vegan margarine(or any kind of vegan butter)
1/3c packed brown sugar
1TBS water

Melt butter in a sauce pan.Stir in brown sugar and water. Poor in to a 9x1 1/2in round cake pan. Arrange blueberries in pan and set aside.

Cake:
1 1/3c flour
2/3c sugar
2teas baking powder
2/3c vanilla almond milk (or any non dairy milk)
1/4c softened vegan margarine or butter
egg substitute to = 1 egg. I made a flax egg (1tbs ground flax + 3tbs water)
1 1/2 teas vanilla

 Mix together dry ingredients, then add wet. Mix well then pour into your baking pan. Bake for 30-35min. Let cool for 10-15min, loosen edges and flip on to a plate and serve.


 

French Bread!

This recipe is from a friend of mine. Takes some times, but oh sooo worth it!! :D

2 Tbsp dry active yeast
2 cups lukewarm water
1/4 cup sugar
Combine, let stand 5 minutes. (Watch the yeast bloom, it's pretty)
Add
1 Tbsp Kosher salt
Gradually mix in 5 1/2-6 cups flour until dough is no longer sticky.
Knead 10-12 minutes

Put in a greased bowl cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled. Punch dough down, divide in half and let rest 5-10 minutes.

Now, the magic! Spray a large sheet pan with non stick spray take one half of the dough and spread it out on the pan until it is the same size (make it even). Roll it up from the short side set it on the counter and spray the sheet pan again. Repeat with other half of dough. Spray the pan one last time and place each loaf seam side down on it. On the ends of each loaf press your hand down on the end so it's even and fold it under the loaf. Cover with a towel and let rise until double.

Heat oven to 400. Spray a VERY sharp knife with non stick spray. Beat one egg with 1 Tbsp water until frothy.
Very lightly score the tops of the dough not more than 1/4 inch deep with the knife (about 5 down the length, on a slight diagonal).

Bake 15 minutes then turn the pan and bake 15 minutes more. Cool on a wire rack so the bottom is crispy too!

Vegan Pineapple Upside-down Cake!!

My best friend is visiting from Cairo so I had him and a few friends over for dessert tonight. Was a little short notice and I wasn't sure what to make. My roommate suggested making pineapple upside-down cake and gave me a recipe of hers she's been using for a few years from a Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

Knowing my friend Jordan was coming and that I didn't have any eggs, I decided to veganize the recipe. Turned out great!! I promised Jordan I would post a recipe, so here goes....

Preheat oven to 350

Topping:
2TBS vegan margarine(or any kind of vegan butter)
1/3c packed brown sugar
1TBS water

Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in brown sugar and water. Poor in to a 9x1 1/2in round cake pan. Arrange pineapple and cherries in the pan and set aside.

Cake:
1 1/3c flour
2/3c sugar
2teas baking powder
2/3c vanilla soymilk (or any non dairy milk)
1/4c softened vegan margarine or butter
egg substitute to = 1 egg. (I used Ener-G Egg replacer, next time I want to try a flax egg)
1teas vanilla

Mix together dry ingredients, then add wet. Mix well then pour into your baking pan. Bake for 30-35min. Let cool for 10-15min, loosen edges and flip on to a plate and serve.

Apple Cinnamon Cake Buddies!

My roommate and I have had some frozen concentrate apple juice in our freezer for a while. I'm not a big fan of apple juice so we were discussing one night what we could use it for. I suggested putting it in a cake of some sort. We decided oatmeal cake would be best and in further talking thought maybe putting apple slices in it would be good too. I discussed it with my mom and another friend as well and between everyone I formed something that turned out pretty awesome and much better then I had expected!

This was not a vegan recipe as I didn't really have time to figure out and test different things to use as an egg substitute. The next batch I think I'm going to just try and use applesauce in place of the eggs and see how it goes.

For the batter:

1 1/4c apple juice concentrate
1c quick oats
Mix together and set aside

beat
1/2c butter(I used vegan margarine)
1c white sugar
1c brown sugar
add:
2tsp vanilla
2eggs

add oat/apple juice mixture.

after that is mixed well add
1 1/2c flour
1tsp baking soda or powder (whichever is fine)
1/2tsp cinnamon
1/4tsp nutmeg

Pour in to lined cupcake sheets.

For the apples in the center I made 'apple pie' apples. I cut up my apple in smallish pieces, lightly coated them in flour... added some brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, a little melted butter and mixed together.



Put a single slice in the center of each cupcake. Bake at 350 for 40min or until done. I would check on them sooner then that.

Pecan Topping:
mix together
3TBS melted butter
1/2c brown sugar
approx 1/2c chopped pecans
touch of cinnamon

After your your cupcake/muffins come out of the oven top them with the pecan mixture. Let cool and serve!

I have a few friends that don't like nuts so for those I just topped them with the same mixture minus the pecans.

Vegan Pancakes!

What?! A new post? Yes! Finally I have managed to do some original cooking in the kitchen. It wasn't much, but it was original none the less, so yay for that!

I have tried vegan pancakes a few times, they seem to be hit and miss. Today was a hit and I thought I would share. :)

I looked at a few simple recipes and decided to combine a few and make my own based on how my basic non vegan recipe looks.

Vegan Pancakes

1c flour
2tbs baking powder
1/2tsp salt
2 tbs sugar

1c soy milk
2tbs vegetable oil
1tbs vanilla
1 egg replacer (mixed before adding)

Mix all your dry ingredients together then add your liquids. Whisk together until smooth... Cook and enjoy!

The batter seemed a little thick, but they puffed up quite nicely and turned out really well. :)

Margarita.... cupcakes? need some help

So I have a pregnant friend who is very much missing being able to drink margarita's.... There has been a request to make sure to have virgin ones at her baby shower in a few months. :) That should be easy enough to do.

We are having a get together on Sunday though and I've been thinking of maybe making margarita cupcakes... My thought was just to substitute margarita mix for water and make a margarita cream cheese frosting.....

Seems like that won't be much different then the lime cupcakes I made a few months ago though....

Any suggestions on how to make them taste more like a margarita without actually using any alcohol in them??