Is it possible to make a really good vegan cupcake? Yes! (5 star cupcakes)

I have seen many vegan cupcake recipes and all of them claim to be really good. Despite success that I have had with making some of my muffin recipes vegan, I was skeptical... especially about the frosting! As an experiment I made some white vegan cupcakes with white vegan frosting. They were really good and, ahem, gone. I even fed them to non-vegetetarian friends who also really liked them. The texture of the cake was dense and moist. It reminded me of the cupcakes I get at Whole Foods. The frosting was outstanding. I did have to use about a cup and a half more of the powdered sugar than it called for and I had to store them in the fridge because the frosting started to droop after an hour at room temp.

The cupcake recipe is from Jennifer at The Vegan Lunchbox. I replaced the coconut extract with almond extract because I could not find coconut extract.

The frosting recipe is from The Vegan Chef. I used Earth Balance brand soy margerine. I used regular powdered sugar. That was all they had at Whole Foods. They actually did have unbleached powdered sugar, but I think the frosting would have been light brown instead of white if I had used it (and it was wicked expensive).

These recipes are definitely keepers!

Muffin Mania - Part 2: Blueberry Almond Banana Muffins

This recipe is adapted from a Wild Oats recipe. I made a few mofications.



1/2 c. Earth Balance, softened
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbs ground flax seed
6 Tbs water
1/2 c. Almond Butter (you can grind your own at Whole Foods)
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. unbleached flour
1/2 c. whole-wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. flour
1 c. frozen blueberries, thawed
2 tsp sugar

Preheat oven to 325 °F. Line muffin pan with paper liners and spray with non-stick spray.

Mix flax seed and water together by stirring with a fork or whisk. Set aside.

Stir together flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Put blueberries in a bowl and toss with 1 tsp flour. Set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir the flax/water mixture again and add to the butter and sugar; beat well. With mixer on low, stir in almond butter, bananas, and vanilla. Fold in flour mixture with a spoon. Gently stir in blueberries. Divide into 12 muffin cups and top with a sprinkling of sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Vive Le Vegan - Stir Fry Vegetables with Spicy Almond Sauce (4 out of 5)

Tonight's dinner was a stir fry with a almond sauce served over a brown basmati rice. It was quite tasty. The recipe is in Dreena Burton's cookbook, Vive le Vegan! : Simple, Delectable Recipes for the Everyday Vegan Family.

The stir fry contained marinated and browned tofu, broccoli, swiss chard, mushrooms, celery, bell pepper, onion, and zucchini. The sauce was made from Almond Butter mixed with soy milk, garlic, ginger, soy milk, and a few other tasty ingredients.

Modifications:

Both the marinade and sauce called for rice or apple cider vinegar. This seemed odd to me so I used mirin in the sauce, and a mixture of mirin and rice vinegar in the sauce (about a tablespoon of each).

Quinoa with Tofu and Asparagus (2.5 out of 5 stars)

Tonight I made a Whole Foods recipe: Quinoa with Tofu and Asparagus. It was just ok. Quinoa, pronounced Keen-Wah, is a really healthy grain and is one of the best sources of protien from the vegatable world. When cooked, it has a texture like cous-cous. One thing about quinoa: you must rinse it very well before cooking. It has a bitter coating which is basically a natual insect repellant to protect it. I usually put it in a bowl of water, rub the grains together, and then drain in a fine mesh strainer.

Here is the finished product:

Muffin mania, Part 1: Pumpkin Carob Chip

I had intense urge to make muffins this weekend. Unfortunately, I found too many that I wanted to make and didn't have enough days in the weekend. This means that next weekend will be part two.

Pumpkin Carob Chip Muffin
Today I made pumpkin carob chip muffins. They were outstanding. The recipe comes from The Vegan Lunchbox. The muffins were not only healthy, but had a nice rich pumpkin flavor. I might have been a little heavy handed with the cinnamon sugar topping (as seen in the picture).

More blog entries

I thought it might be interesting if I blogged about good recipes here, even if they are not mine. This will give other vegans ideas about what to cook for dinner and will also answer the question, "So what do you eat anyway". I plan to take pictures of meals that I liked and post a link the recipe if there are no modifications, or indicate the source of the recipe. I'll post the recipe with modifications if I made any.

Candle Cafe - Paradise Casserole with modifications

I have a cookbook from the Candle Cafe (a vegan restaurant) in New York. One recipe in particular has been taunting me. It is called Paradise Casserole. The recipe says that not only is it really really good for you and full of complex carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins, but that is is also one of the most popular dishes that they have served over the years. I was intrigued because the combination of ingredients didn't appeal to me. I kept thinking "how could this be?" and that it looked odd. I finally sucked it up and made it and it was really good (and vegan!).

I made some modifications for flavor, ingredients in my home, and because I am lazy. Here is what I did:

Paradise Casserole

Servings - 6-8
Time - 2 hours

4 sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean and poked with a fork
1 tbsp barley miso
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
pinch crushed red pepper
kosher salt to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups millet
4 cups water
kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet covered in foil and bake for 1 hr.

Meanwhile, put the millet, water, and some salt in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Set aside.

Meanwhile, when the potatoes have about 15 minutes left, heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet. Add the onions and cook until softended and slightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the cumin, red pepper flakes, and salt and cook for about another 30 seconds. Add the black beans and cook for about 5 minutes until heated through. Taste the beans and make sure that they have enough salt. Set aside.

When the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them open and scrape the cooked potatoes from their skins into a bowl. Mash with a potato masher until smooth. Add the cinnamon, vinegar, and miso. Mash to mix together.

Lightly oil a 9x13 casserole. Spread the millet over the bottom and press it into the pan. Spread the black beans in an even layer over the millet. Top with the sweet potato mixture over the black beans in an even layer.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes. Cut into 6-8 pieces with a knife and serve.

Here is a a link to a copy of the original recipe.