sneaky chocolate cake.

i call this cake sneaky because it has two cups of zucchini in it. my mom has been making it for years and years in an attempt to make us kids eat our veggies. it's kind of pointless, because really there's nothing healthy about this cake at all. of course, that's what makes cake fun.

the grated zucchini adds a nice texture and keeps the cake moist. i've always just used powdered sugar to top it, but i bet this would be amazing coated with a nice glaze or drizzled with chocolate. mmm, chocolate.



sneaky chocolate cake

1/2 c plus 1 T vegan margarine
2 c sugar
3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
egg replacer for 3 eggs (i use bob's red mill)
1/2 c vanilla almond milk or other milk sub
2 t vanilla
2 c coarsely grated, unpeeled zucchini (about 2-3)
2 1/2 c flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon

cream margarine, gradually adding sugar, beating until fluffy. beat in chocolate. add egg replacer, beat. beat in almond milk, vanilla, and zucchini.

in a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. add to creamed mixture, beat well.

pour batter into a 10-inch bundt pan. bake at 350 F for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. cool in pan 10-15 minutes before removing. dust with powdered sugar.


oh, and i'd like to share some pictures my friend took. we recently spent a day in fort worth at sundance square and the modern art museum. the building itself is a work of art, it's incredible.












drinking black coffee... obviously




lovely. :)

the aftermath.

christmas is over!! how very sad. i hope everyone had a good holiday filled with food and presents and all that mushy love crap.

what did *i* do on christmas, you ask?!

for starters, i made cinnamon buns for breakfast.



picture taken mid-drizzle... yum. the almondy icing went perfect with coffee.

as far as presents go, i got a bunch of awesome stuffs including clothes and a copy of my absolute favorite piece of music, a schumann piano concerto. obviously though, you guys are only interested in the food-related goodies, so here ya go:



vegan candy! newman's sweet dark chocolate x2, green and black's 70% dark, dagoba (i'm not sure if the name is a star wars reference or just a coincidence) mint chocolate x2, sunspire chocolate raisins and chocolate almonds, huge bag of candied ginger, and some random japanese fruity things hidden under there.



a DONUT PAN! so i can make delicious vegan donuts without the bothersome and artery-clogging deep frying.




a lovely recipe book so i can have a place other than my laptop to keep all of my favorite recipes from you guys ;)




a WWF sweatshirt. not food-related, but kind of vegan-related?


here is the cinnamon bun recipe:

cinnamon buns
veganized from baking bites

Dough:
1/2 cup water, warmed
2 tsp sugar
2 packets active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
1 1/2 cups vanilla almond milk, warmed
2 ener-G eggs
1 tbsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp earth balance, softened
5 1/2-6 cups flour

Combine first three ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Let stand for 10 minutes, until yeast is foamy.
Add almond milk, "eggs", salt, sugar, earth balance and 3 cups of flour. Mix until well incorporated and smooth. Add 2 more cups of flour. Mix until smooth. Add any remaining flour in smaller increments until dough comes together and away from the sides of the bowl. Dough will be slightly sticky, but very smooth.
Form dough into a ball and place in greased, covered bowl to rise until doubled, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Filling:
3-4 tbsp vanilla almond milk
Cinnamon
Brown sugar
1 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 400F.
Coat two 9×13 glass baking dishes with cooking spray or butter.
Remove dough from bowl onto a lightly floured surface.
Divide dough in two and roll each piece out into (roughly) a 10×14 inch rectangle. Brush each rectangle with milk, dust throughly with cinnamon and top with brown sugar. Sprinkle with raisins, if desired. Roll in a jelly-roll fashion beginning at a short end. Pinch seam shut. Repeat for second rectangle.
Slice logs at 1 inch intervals and place rounds in the baking dish so they are just touching.
Bake 15-20 minutes at 400F, until tops are golden brown.
Let cool for 5-10 minutes. Cut apart and drizzle with glaze.
Makes about 20 buns. (i halved the recipe and got 15, but mine were small)

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
Enough almond milk to form a pourable consistency

Stir ingredients until smooth with a fork. Drizzle over cinnamon buns.

pumpkin cranberry scones.

wow. what words are there that would adequately express my new love of veganomicon? i honestly can not think of any.



before cutting--scone pizza!! i made my circles a tad too thin i think :P consequently i got some impressively large scones. seriously, these mommas were big. not to mention freakin' delicious.



sorry for the poopy pictures. i decided that i am just not a photographer at 9 in the morning.

oh, by the way, can someone tell me why colin powell insists on having his name pronounced "colon"? did his parents seriously name him after an organ? that's like me naming my kids "spleen" or "pancreas." or, "small intestine." gross much?

(you don't actually have to tell me, this has just been bothering me for the past few days.)

vegan mofo, day 27: blueberry lemon poppyseed bread.

this has been my favorite dessert bread since having some at the sentient bean, a coffee shop in savannah georgia with alot of vegan baked goods and stuff. i was down there in july for a workshop at savannah college of art and design and had seen it on happycow or something like that. i also had a mean bbq tofu wrap there, yum.

sweet breads are one of my favorite desserts. i think they may even top cookies! cake is also my favorite. and cupcakes. and... yeah, actually, i like all of them. nevermind.

this recipe is from the vegan chef. it was originally cranberry poppy seed bread, but obviously i used blueberries and also made a few minor other changes based on what i had on hand.



blueberry lemon poppyseed bread
from the vegan chef

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 T. poppy seeds
1 T. baking powder
3 T. water
1 T. Ener-G Egg Replacer
1/3 cup Spectrum Spread non-hydrogenated margarine
1 cup soy milk
1 T. vanilla
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 T. lemon zest

Lightly oil (or spray with a light mist of oil) a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan and set aside. In a bowl, place the flour, sugar, poppy seeds, and baking powder, stir well to combine, and set aside. In another bowl, place the water and egg replacer, and whisk vigorously for 1 minute or until very frothy (almost like beaten egg whites). Add the Spectrum Spread and whisk until smooth. Add the soy milk and vanilla, and whisk well to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just moistened. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Place the loaf pan on a rack to cool for 10 minutes, remove the loaf from the pan, and cool completely before slicing or storing. Store wrapped in plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

Yield: One 9x5x3-inch loaf

vegan mofo, day 20: back in dallas.

i'm finally home after a loooong uncomfortable car ride. oh, how i love texas. seriously, i could never live anywhere else. louisiana was fun, though. the highlight of the weekend was going to crowley's rice festival where they had almost every meat on a stick--steak, chicken, fish, shrimp, alligator, crocodile. by the way, i have eaten both alligator and crocodile (pre-veg obviously!) while on other louisiana family trips and actually they were pretty good. ha!

i have no food pictures, but the only interesting thing i can think of anyway that i ate was a muffuleta-like veggie sandwich. lafayette is, unfortunately, not so veg-friendly.

oh, and good news--the date for my history midterm got extended and i only (pfft) have 3 chapters left to read, and my research paper is due later than i thought!

snickerdoodles are a good cure for post car-trip crankiness.



recipe from vegan cookies. i subbed 1/3 cup brown sugar for some of the white. they were too sticky to roll in the cinnamon-sugar mix like the recipe calls for, which probably also contributed to their texture being a little off. but wow were they tasty.

by the way, thanks everyone who tried and liked my banana bread. i think i will call it my plain banana bread. ha!

i will get back to commenting everyone's blogs tomorrow. i'm seriously due for a good gilmore girls marathon ;)

vegan mofo day 16: ahh sorry!

i don't have time to make a long post. my life is crazy right now! i have a history midterm, a reading response essay, and a research paper; i haven't gotten any good piano practicing in, i'm falling behind on my french and physics, i have ballet rehearsal until 10, and i need to get started on filling out college applications. in addition to all of that i'm going to lafayette tomorrow for family stuff and won't be back til monday. unggghghh i'm stressed! so vegan mofo is having to go on the back burner until i get my life back together. next post i hope will be on tuesday after i get back but maybe monday night. i'm going to bed early tonight but i'm going to try and comment everyone's blogs!

here is the promised banana bread. this stuff is good, seriously. you can use pretty much any flour but i like whole wheat and i think it actually rises better with it.



alaina's so-simple-you-will-squeal-with-glee banana bread

2 cups flour
3 ripe bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
egg replacer for 2 eggs

preheat oven to 350 F.
put all ingredients in the food processor and blend.
pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for one hour.

vegan mofo, day 10: blueberry muffins.

blueberry muffins are so classic. easy to make, loved by all. i happened to pick up TWO pints of blueberries wednesday. so since i have extra time friday mornings it was obvious what needed to be done.

i don't remember where i got this recipe; i found it written on a scrap of paper and shoved in my cookbook shelf. they're wonderfully crunchy, lightly sweet, and healthy enough to have two if you want (which we all do anyway)! if it's your recipe, feel free to get angry at me and demand proper credit. ;D



crunchy blueberry muffins
3/4 cup vanilla almond milk or other milk sub
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg sub (i used ener-G)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 cup blueberries
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 t cinnamon

preheat oven to 400 F.
prepare your "egg" in a large bowl, then whisk in the almond milk, agave, and oil.
stir in both flours, salt, and baking powder until just moistened. or, if you are like me, completely forget the baking powder and salt and add them in after already mixing so you get a stretchy gooey blob.
gently fold in blueberries.
spoon batter into a prepared muffin tin (spray or use liners); muffin cups will be very full. mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over each muffin.
bake 18-20 minutes. use the toothpick test to see if they're done.

vegan mofo, day 9: brownies.

i do not like brownies.

seriously.

is that weird? i mean, i don't NOT like brownies. i do not object to eating them. but they don't excite me much. cookies and cake are just so much better.

i decided to give brownies another chance with happy herbivore's recipe from her sneak-peek cookbook. i used half dark chocolate, half regular.



the results? tasty enough to please a non-brownie eater for sure. these might have almost cured me from my apathy towards the little brown goodies. hooray!

vegan mofo, day 5: pb&j muffins.

yesterday was so tiring. i woke up at 5:45, chugged a bunch of coffee, had a bowl of power-oatmeal, then went and took the SAT. i think i did pretty well, and this time i left my phone in the car so the alarm would NOT go off. after it was over and i came home i proceeded to fry my brain with lots of hulu-watching to try to recover from all the mental strain from the morning, ha.

later i went out to eat (no food pics, sorry) with a few friends and roamed around denton.




our little alien friend :)



onto the food!

i've been wanting to make pb & j muffins for a loooong time. so last night when i was lurking around vegweb i found this recipe and tweaked it a bit. the jam in the middle definitely makes the muffin, in my opinion.



pb & j muffins
adapted from vegweb

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup quick oats
3/4 cup vanilla almond milk or other milk sub
1 ener-G egg
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
your favorite flavor of jam

preheat oven to 400 F.
mix together whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, and oats in a large bowl.
in a smaller bowl prepare "egg" then mix in peanut butter, almond milk, and maple syrup.
pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir til moistened.
spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray. for each muffin, drop in a tbsp of batter, then about a tsp of jam, then another tbsp of batter on top.
bake for about 15 minutes--use the toothpick test.



yum!

by the way, for those of you who might have noticed how much i post about baked goods and
might be wondering whether i actually eat them every day: yes. yes i do. :)

*edited because i just realized i didn't even put up the muffin photos? i think i need sleep.

vegan mofo, day 3: scones.

didn't have time to post yesterday, but i'm making up for it!

these didn't have much of an apple taste, but they were really good. recipe adapted from river's version.



cran-apple scones
2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons of applesauce
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3 tablespoons apple juice

preheat oven to 350 F.
combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
add in applesauce (you might use a little less), stir well, then add in cranberries.
add in apple juice and stir til just combined.
bake about 14 minutes until golden brown.

i enjoyed these english scones american-style--with a huge mug of so-strong-it-makes-you-wanna-puke coffee, which, by the way, i probably have about 8 cups of daily. so sad that i've developed such an addiction at such an early age . . . oh well.

sorry sorry sorry!

wow, it's been over 2 weeks since i last posted. jeez. but in my defense, i have been extremely busy! i'm trying to get caught up with my online english class (the bookstore didn't get my books in until a MONTH after classes started) as well as study for history tests and the SAT and practicing piano as much as possible, since i've decided to be a piano performance major at university of north texas. i have to get together a "portfolio" cd with six pieces on it sent in ASAP. basically, my life has been doing school and playing piano for the past 14 days. intense!

so i obviously haven't had much time for blogging unfortunately, much less baking. but hopefully things will calm down a bit soon and i can get back to semi-regular posting.


i bought the happy herbivore sneak-peek e-cookbook! i made the chocolate chip cookies with the suggested alteration of subbing 2 tbsp cocoa for 2 tbsp of the flour, as well as doubled the recipe. they turned out delicious! i didn't bother to try to shape them into nice circles though, i really just wanted to get them in the oven and cooking so i could eat them, haha. sorry about the bad lighting!



also, i made the pecan cinnamon buns, leaving out the pecans and icing because i don't like that stuff. i sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top though. these were great! next time i'll add a bit more sugar to the dough to make up for the icing.



this was all in one day. so with cinnamon buns for breakfast and a ton of cookies plus the REQUIRED licking of the bowl/spoons/anything with batter on it i'm a little sugared-out. this week i'll get back to my normal (kind of) healthy eating. ;)

chocolate-chip oatmeal cookies.

cute and yummy cookies from the soy of cooking! actually they were supposed to be cranberry-oatmeal cookies but i really wanted chocolate chip ones :P i actually made no modifications besides that (for once), otherwise i would post the recipe. it's a book worth checking out though, it has a ton of great recipes.

my puppy--i say that, but she's really ten years old--was sitting in the kitchen the whole time, hoping i would drop something so she could have a little snack, but she eventually gave up to sit in the corner.



sorry wendy, none for you!

pocket pies.

i actually had nothing to do this morning. no school and i didn't have to go into work till 11. perfect day for a special breakfast treat! so i made pocket pies, based on a vegweb recipe.



very simple; i just used 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1/2 cup margarine and a bit of water, rolled them out, and filled them. two were filled with strawberry all-fruit spread, one had blackberry, and one had some leftover chocolate sauce i made for my chocolate cake!




this one is strawberry.
not very cute--i might have done better if i had been awake for a few more hours--but quite tasty.

bonus: a NOT-plain banana! dipped in the same chocolate sauce and coated in sprinkles.




awkward-looking picture :P those things don't photograph well.
the sauce also worked perfectly for strawberry-dipping. i had no idea it would be so versatile!

satisfying my cake craving.

i finally got around to baking today! my aunt who evacuated from lafayette is staying with us for awhile so i decided to make the super moist chocolate cake from vegweb i've been dying to try. no, really, i think i have been dying from cake withdrawal. it's been two weeks since i last had some! thank god i had an excuse to make one.



basically the only change i made to the recipe was to replace about 1/3rd of the cocoa powder with dark cocoa powder. i am a huge fan of dark chocolate. if it was humanly possible to marry it, i would.

i made some frosting from a recipe i found somewhere (don't remember) that was basically a container of silken tofu, a few tablespoons of cocoa, some vanilla, and a lot of powdered sugar. it ended up like pudding. i tried adding more powdered sugar and it just got sweeter. i tried adding a bit of toffuti cream cheese but it didn't thicken up at all. so i just poured it over and topped it with some strawberries.




my cake presentation skills are severely lacking, but at least it tasted good. i am really nothing like my mother. she made me a chocolate treasure chest cake for my 6th birthday. literally, a treasure chest made out of cake. she filled it with chocolate coins and all this other stuff. insane.

i just realized how many food pictures i have with strawberries in them!

peanutty goodness!

i had the day off yesterday, so i decided it was a good day to make the good ol' classic peanut butter cookies i'd been craving for weeks. i was missing oil and brown sugar, so i subbed applesauce and added molasses to white sugar. the batter was very liquidy and the raw cookies refused to keep those cute fork marks, but i decided to pop them in the oven and just see how they turned out. they came out very light and fluffy, not like normal peanut butter cookies, but puffed up like little marshmallows. the fork marks stayed better after they were baked. my family DEVOURED these; i don't even think they lasted 30 minutes. so, i pronounce these cookies a success!

puffy peanut butter cookies
adapted from cookie madness

1/2 cup applesauce

3/4 cup chunky or creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp water

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cups all-purp flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

preheat oven to 350 F. beat together applesauce, both sugars, cornstarch, water, vanilla, and peanut butter in a large bowl. in a seperate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, and salt, then add that to the peanut butter mix and beat until smooth. drop in spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. bake 10-13 minutes. when done, press a fork into the cookies.

makes about 30 cookies.

cinnamon raisin scones



slightly blurry maybe, but i didn't realize until i uploaded it and it just so happens that i already ate all of them :) while i was mixing up the batter i freaked because it was so dry, so i added a bit of water. haha . . dumb. i didn't know scones were supposed to be that biscuit-y. oh well, they tasted fantastic. not too sweet, perfect for breakfast.

recipe adapted from the oatmeal experiment
3/4 cup all-purp flour
1/3 cup oatmeal
1/2 small banana
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins
3 tbsp applesauce

preheat oven to 375 F. mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, wet in another. pour the wet mixture into the dry. put large spoonfuls onto a baking sheet (i sprayed mine with cooking spray, but this may not be necessary). bake for 20 minutes.

and as a bonus, a quick scramble i whipped up for lunch today:



firm tofu, gimme lean sausage, red onion, and mexican corn, seasoned with turmeric, black pepper, and seasoning salt. simple yet satisfying.