hello everyone, i am taking a little break from baking at the moment and have just begun a travel adventure.  i am currently in australia at the moment typing on my friends laptop in her house in brisbane.  it is quite hot and muggy and has been surprisingly sunny today considering all the rain it has had and will have and the terrible flooding that’s going on.  but thankfully their house is doing ok and we will be peacing out of brisbane shortly as we fly over to cambodia this weekend.

it has been quite a start though, from a 14 hour plain ride with sheriuosly a ton of children under 5 crying m-o-mm-y over and over and over again.  and it was almost as if these children were like dogs; if one dog on the block starts barking they all do…and it gets louder.  but on a happier note, in my teeny tiny qantas seat, i had a great selection of movies that i could watch at my own leisure.  toy story 3 was sooo good, i was pathetically balling at the end.  and after watching toy story 3, i now get how things like ones socks, hair brushes, books and of coursely toys disappear and then randomly reappear back where they should be!

SATURDAY APRIL 24, 2010 I WILL BE BAKING FOR THE SPLENDID TRUNK SHOW AT THE BOUTIQUE BOCA FROM 12-4pm!

BOCA

1024 SWARTHMORE AVE.

PACIFIC PALISADES CA 90272

Apple Spice Cake with Buttercream Frosting and Apple Butter

INGREDIENTS

Cake

3 cups flour
1 ¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup canola oil
¼ cup smooth cashew butter
½ cup vegan sour cream
½ cup warm water
3 cups peeled and chopped granny smith apples

Filling

½ cup nonhydrogenated shortening
½ cup Earth Balance, softened
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup rice milk or soy milk

1 cup good-quality apple butter

PREPARATION

Preheat oven at 350F
Grease and flour 2 9inch baking pans

DIRECTIONS

Cake
Sift the flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Mix both sugars and oil together on low speed.  Add the cashew butter, sour cream, and warm water and mix until thoroughly combined.  Stir in the apples.  Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the apple mixture.  Divide the mix between the two prepared cake pans.

Bake at 350F for about 30-35 minutes.  The cake should spring back and be toothpick worthy.

Let cool in pan for about one hour and then invert the cakes onto a cooling rack.

Filling
Beat the shortening and Earth Balance together until they are well combined.  Add the sugar and beat for about two minutes.  Add the milk and beat for another 5-6 minutes, until fluffy.

Too Assemble the Cake

Place the flat side up of one cake on a large plate.  Spread one cup of buttercream on the cake.  Spread one cup of apple butter on the non-flat side of the other piece of cake.  Gently place the buttercream and apple butter spreads together so the final cake has the flat side up.  Spread a thin layer on the top.  Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, so the frosting firms a bit.  Then add on more cup of buttercream on the top of the cake and use the rest of the cream to spread around the cake with a frosting spatula.  Serve immediately or can be refrigerated for a few days.

FYI this story took place on 3/3/10

it’s 10:48pm and my legs are very tired.  i woke up at 6:45 am this morning to go to my favorite (non vegan…yet!?) restaurant in Santa Monica that i intern at on Wednesdays.  it’s super fun, especially since i got to practice filling éclairs with coffee pastry cream and glaze them in a perfect blend of espresso, powdered sugar, and a touch of heavy cream.  following that, i measured out the ingredients for the coconut macaroons (not the cute French ones though).  the next task was putting together mini chocolate and fruit tarts, scooping cream into the tarts, smoothing the cream, and adding whipped cream or fresh fruit, from the farmers market of course!  but the berries were pricey today and i felt bad for sneaking a raspberry in my mouth before i knew that they were so pricey this week but at least i now know that the berries were ready to go!  my favorite part of this task was going outside on the beautiful sunny day that it was and picking little purple/yellow and lavender/white flowers from the restaurants little garden, adjacent to the parking lot.  i felt like a little kid as i held the teeny tiny flowers in between the cusps of my hands as if I were carrying butterflies into first grade for show and tell.  then i moved on to putting together an amazing trifle.  Yummmmm.  (ok, fine I understand why the Y in yummy was automatically capitalized ‘cuz it deserves it but i don’t want all the sentence beginning letters and eyes friggin’ capitalized, sheeshh!!)  anyways, i got a fresh cinnamon brioche from the cooks and stripped away all the crust.  as a side note, i took home some of the scraps and my mom gobbled it down, it’s too hard to throw away tasteful scraps.  so then i sliced the brioche and painted it with maple syrup.  i then sliced up all the bananas, gave them a toss in brown sugar (only because they were on the border line of firm verses ripe) and then began the assemblage.  brioche, pastry cream (with itsy bitsy black dots of real vanilla bean that had been scraped from the pod), lots of na-na banananananananananas and finally a zig-zag drizzle of caramel on top.  i shall be working on the vegan version this weekend!*  i already made my second attempt on a great caramel and  i think this one might be pretty darn good.  it was nice to watch American Idol with Ellen and all while i was waiting for my sugar/water mixture to boil and turn to a nice amber color.  some of the girls this season seem to have some real potential.  once the caramel looked amber in color, i took it off the stove and added the heated cream mixture and it was awesome to see and hear the bubbles it made☺  after that, i let the caramel cool.  during that 10 minutes of cooling, i couldn’t decide if i should top the caramel off with either earth balance or the new coconut oil that i got that has no coconut odor.  i went on a whim and tried the new coconut oil (omega nutrition 100% organic coconut oil, i had to order it online) so we will see how it works.

in the mean time, i dreadfully did some of the dishes and then began working on my apple cake again.  i have made this a lot but i just want to perfect it before i share it with, well, my few but highly valued and appreciated readers.  i will add this soon.  but as i was doing the second round of dishes and the cakes were in the oven, i  was watching Seinfeld.  it’s so funny to see the episodes now because most of Jerry’s short-lived “girlfriends” were at the time nobodies and are now somebodies.  like tonight Jerry was seeing the Olsen’s twin’s uncle’s wife on full house!  it’s great to watch tv and bake!

*so unfortunately this vegan first attempt was not amazing.  i think it was because the vegan cinnamon swirl bread was not fresh or soft enough to really soak up the pudding and all.  but i will definitely try again.  also, as much as this sounds heavenly i might still pref the basic strawberry, pudding and pound cake trifle after all!

hello everyone, i know i should have posted this before my trip, but i suppose it’s better late than never, right?  so i have been taking a little baking break and well, a life break, by hanging out in Costa Rica.  it was u-MAZING!  i have fallen in love with a new little beach town called Jaco.  warm days, warm water, chilled people from all over and amazing waves.  i never new i would love surfing so much.  i can’t believe that i have lived in LA my whole life and never began learning how to surf until i went on a trip to Jaco.  but, i am sure happy i finally learned how.  i am even considering moving down there for a bit and just surf.  plus believe it or not, Jaco is quite civilized, they even have soymilk and tofu at the store mas o menos!  and, they have fresh, inexpensive coconuts, which is what i use in my macaroons (i think i haven’t posted that recipe yet, i will try to get on that soon!).  so yeah, that’s where i have been, hanging out in the ocean…until my next dessert happy belated Passover and Easter! (i hope everyone found the matzoh and eggs, respectively:)

Ranger Cookies

another oldie but a goodie from Auntie Harriet:)

INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cups flour, sifted
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar (preferable dark brown sugar)
¼ cup smooth cashew butter
½ cup plus 2 TBSP soy milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups of flakes, slightly crushed by hand (whatever are your favorites such as corn flakes, kamut flakes, spelt flakes, etc!)
½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 350 F
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper

DIRECTIONS
Sift the flour into a small bowl.  Add the powder, salt and soda and whisk together.  Set aside.

In a large bowl blend the oil and sugars together on low speed.  When smooth, add the cashew butter, soymilk, and vanilla and blend until thoroughly combined.  Then add in the flour mixture and again mix on low speed until thoroughly combined.  Then mix in the oats, flakes and coconut and mix until just combined.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.  (Using a cookie dough scooper really helps!)  Bake for about 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let sit on sheets for 1-2 minutes.  Then remove cookies and let cool on racks.

Yields about 4 ½ dozen
Can be kept longer air tight in the freezer

thanx-friggin’-givin’ (part 2)

Pecan Tart and Pumpkin Pie

yum yumyumyum yum:)

i never knew a pecan tart could be so good.  the sugar-coated pecans bubble and ooze out over the pie while it’s  baking in the oven, hence the call for the foiled baking sheet!  the caramelization leaves one with a sweet and crunchy crust.  the blend of different sweeteners helps to make this tart have an especially special sweet taste without being too sugary.*  basically, there is not much more to say about this tart except MAKE IT and EAT IT!

also, if you are craving for a classic goody, try the pumpkin pie.  it is smooth and flavorful, with a flaky sweet crust.  plus, you only have to make 1 crust recipe for both desserts, and, they can both be made 1 day in advance.  how brilliant, when you have a slew of stuff to do on thanksgiving.

*if one does not do honey, just double the maple syrup.

Pecan and Pumpkin Crust
INGREDIENTS
Pie Crust
Makes 2 (one for each)
2 ¼ cups AP Flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable shortening, chilled and chopped*
2/3 cup earth balance, chilled and chopped
¼ (or more) ice water

DIRECTIONS

Crust

Combine first three ingredients in food processor.  Pulse until mixed.  Add shortening and earth balance; pulse until mixture is crumbly.  Add ¼ cup ice water and pulse dough until it can gather, adding more ice water by tablespoons if dough is dry.  Gather dough together,  For two 12-inch round crusts, divide the dough in half; flatten each into disks.  Roll out one dough disk on floured surface in between parchment paper to 12-inch round.  DO AHEAD  Can be made 2 weeks ahead.  Wrap each crust in plastic, then foil, and freeze.  Thaw in refrigerator overnight before using, and then let it sit at room temperature about 15-30 minutes before rolling.

*measure the shortening while it is soft at room temperature, then chill it in the refrigerator overnight.  for a quick chill, place the measured shortening in the freezer for about 35 minutes.

Pecan Tart

INGREDIENTS

1 12-inch round Pie Crust
1 ½ TBSP Fleg (see TAT)
½ TBSP soymilk
3 TBSP arrowroot
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup honey
3 TBSP earth balance, melted
2 TBSP bourbon or rum
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
½ orange zest
2 cups pecan halves or pieces

PREPARATION

“butter” a 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom, both bottom and sides.  line the bottom (a circle) with parchment paper.  “butter” again.

Foil a regular sized baking sheet with tin foil.

DIRECTIONS
Place crust in 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom; press crust into pan.  Trim overhang.  Chill crust in refrigerator  30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Place a piece of foil or parchment paper over crust and fill chilled crust with dried beans.  Bake until crust is set and pale golden, about 30 minutes.  Remove foil or parchment and beans.  Bake crust until golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, using electric mixer, beat fleg, soymilk and sugar in medium bowl.  Beat in arrowroot, agave, maple, and honey.  Add earth balance, alcohol, vanilla, salt and orange zest.  Beat until blended.  Stir in pecans.

Pour filling into hot crust.  Place tart on a foiled baking sheet.  Bake for about 35 minutes.  It should be bubbling and beginning to overflow.  It will not be completely set yet.  Cool tart on cookie sheet on a rack for 30-60 minutes.  Remove pan sides (be careful, it’s hot).  Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.  DO AHEAD Can be made 8 hours ahead. Rewarm slightly before serving, if desired.

Pumpkin Pie

INGREDIENTS

Crust
see above

Filling
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
4 oz mori-nu silken firm tofu
¾  tsp salt
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground pepper
2 TBSP rum
1 ¼ cups canned pure pumpkin (libby’s is the best!)
¾ cups vegan heavy cream (soyatoo! soy whip, whippable soy topping)*
*Sometimes, this can be hard to find (see TAT).
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 350 F
“butter” 9-inch glass pie dish

DIRECTIONS
Crust
Transfer rolled out dough to “buttered” pie dish.  Fold edges under and crimp decoratively.  Freeze crust 20 minutes.

Line crust with parchment paper and  fill with dried beans or pie weights.  Bake until crust is set, about 20 minutes.  Gently remove paper and beans.  Return crust to oven and bake until partially cooked and golden brown around edges, about 10-15 minutes.  Cool crust on rack.  Maintain oven temperature.

Filling
Beat the brown sugar and tofu together until thoroughly combined, about 1-2 minutes.  Add the salt and spices and whisk until combined.  Add rum, pumpkin, and cream and whisk until well blended and smooth.

Pour filling into crust.  Bake pie on a baking sheet until filling is set and has a thin cooked layer on top, covering crust with foil collar if browning too quickly, about 60-70 minutes.  Can be made one day ahead.  Tent with foil and chill.  Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.

thanx-friggin’-givin’ (part 1)

Pumpkin Cheesecake

cheesecake can be a tricky thing.  it’s oh sooo good, but can make me feel oh sooo ill.  i still have not mastered veganizing just a standard cheesecake, because cream cheese has a very distinct taste and vegan cream cheese is just not quite the same.  but the beauty in this, is the fact that pumpkin has quite a distinct (good) taste and the “cream cheese” is there merely for a creamy consistency.  so in this case, i must say, this faux cheesecake tastes “pritty” darn good.

in my family, our traditional thanksgiving dessert is pumpkin cheesecake.  my mom found this recipe in a newspaper or magazine many giving’s ago.  the recipe is actually a response to someone asking for the recipe of the best pumpkin cheesecake they had at a Best Western Hotel.  who knew that a Best Western could have concocted such a blissfully delicious thanksgiving treat?  something different from the usual pumpkin pie.  (however, i still luv pumpkin pie, and will be posting that shortly!)

so, anyways, after a few tries, i think i have the vegan version down pat.  now i must forewarn you that this tastes best with a regular graham cracker crust.  but, most graham crackers do have honey in them so if you are a picky vegan you may want to try either a ginger snap crust or an oreo crust.  (i have actually done it with an oreo crust, just like how i make the oreo coconut cream pie crust, and in addition to that i also added about 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips between the crust and the filling.)  whichever crust you choose, it should be a great addition to your thanksgiving desserts:)

INGREDIENTS
Graham Cracker Crust
1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs (if you don’t do honey, try vegan ginger snap crumbs or Newman’s Chocolate alphabet cookies, broken up in food processor*)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup melted earth balance
1-2 TBSP cold water

*if using “oreo” crust, use the recipe for the crust for the Oreo Coconut Cream Pie.  (past posting)

Filling
1 pound (16 oz) vegan cream cheese, SOFTENED
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup sesame butter (tahini)
¼ cup arrowroot
½ cup coconut milk
1 pound (16 oz) canned pumpkin
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Sour Cream Topping
½ pound (8 oz) vegan sour cream
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 325 F

“butter” a 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper, then “butter” again over the parchment paper

DIRECTIONS

Crust

Mix crumbs, cinnamon, sugar, and melted butter.  Add the water if necessary.  Press onto bottom of pan.  Place in the refrigerator as you prepare the filling.

Filling
Blend cream cheese with sugar until smooth.  Add the tahini, and blend until mixed well.  Add arrowroot and mix until combined.  Add coconut milk, pumpkin, vanilla and spice, blending thoroughly.

Pour into chilled graham cracker crust.  Bake at 325 F for about 1 hour and 30 minutes or until cake sets and begins to crack on top.  Cool completely on wire rack.

Sour Cream Topping
Blend sour cream, sugar and vanilla until smooth.
When the cake has cooled, pour the sour cream topping over the cheesecake.  Place in the refrigerator and chill completely until serving.  Can be made up to 2 days in advance.

Event!

so i had my first catering gig, well, kinda sorta.  my boss  asked me to bake all the goodies for our AG jeans trunk show.  i think it went pritty* well.  people seemed to enjoy the treats as they shopped around  the store, ’cause we’ve got some pretty awesome STUFF right now! (for those of you who don’t know, i work at BOCA, a boutique in West LA.)

after long thoughts and contemplation, i decided to make three things:  banana date poppy seed mini muffin cakes, chocolate chocolate chip cookies, and, last but certainly not least, pumpkin whoopie pies.

whoopie pies are my new fave.  i think they are even better than, dare i say, cupcakes?  whoopie pies are fairly new to me, since i grew up in southern california.  according to Best of the Best by Food and Wine, whoopie pies come from just a few parts of America, like northern New England and the Midwest.  but i am ready to start the new trend of whoopie pies.  they look like an ice cream sandwich, but the “cookie” part is more like cake taste and texture and the “ice cream” filling is like a frosting.  not only do they look cute, but they are neater to eat than cake and you get a more consistent cake to frosting ratio in each bite than when eating cupcakes.  it’s just the perfect little (or big, depending on size) treat from heaven.  and more importantly, who doesn’t like to say “whoopie pie.”  “how’s your whoopie pie?” (sorry, maybe that just sounds cool to me…)

*pretty is supposed to be pronounced like “pritty” like how Larry David says the word repetitively from time to time on his TV show Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies:)

INGREDIENTS
For the Whoopie
3 cups ap flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 TBSP cinnamon
1 ½ tsp ground ginger
1 TBSP ground cloves
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups pumpkin puree, CHILLED
2 TBSP fleg*
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

*fleg recipe is on TAT page

For the Filling
½ cup earth balance, SOFTENED
8 ounces vegan cream cheese, SOFTENED
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp cream of tartar
3 ½ cups powdered sugar

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper

RECIPE
Whoopie
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, powder, soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside.  In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined.  Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined.  Add fleg and vanilla and whisk vigorously until well combined.  Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.

Using a small ice cream scoop with release mechanism, if you have one handy, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.  (Otherwise just use a large spoon or your tablespoon to scoop the scoops, it may be a bit sticky, but that’s what baking’s all about, right?)  Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes.  Let cool completely on pan.

Filling
SIFT the powdered sugar into a medium bowl (don’t be lazy b/c then you’ll have unworthy eating clumps); set aside.  In another bowl, beat earth balance until smooth.  Add cream cheese and beat until well combined.  Add vanilla, cream of tartar and sugar and beat just until smooth.  Cover tightly with saran wrap and refrigerate until chilled.

Assemble
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.  Make sure the whoopies are cool and the filling is chilled as well.  Spoon a generous amount onto the flat side of half of the whoopie pies and then sandwich with the remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies.  Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving, wrapped tightly, and up to 3 days.

*Since I was bringing these cute little “pies” to an event, I placed each whoopie pie in a cupcake holder on cookie sheets and then tightly saran wrapped everything up for the next day.  It’s easy and looks great!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

these heavenly chocolate cups are two layers of semi-sweet chocolate, filled with creamy peanut butter, and sitting upon a chocolate cookie crust.  yes, the chocolate, peanut butter and the fancy word cups may remind you of a familiar candy…does anyone say, perhaps, a Reese’s?  ahh, yes they used to be my all time favorite treats.

i never was allowed much into the candy world as a child.  but for one special holiday, every year, i too was allowed to dress up, grab my pillow case and go pounding on all of my neighbor’s doors for  that oh so bad for you but oh so good tasting candy!

every Halloween, i would try to fill my pillow case with as much candy as possible, licking my fingers when i got my favorite candy bars to choose from and almost beginning to drool if my neighbors had the REALLY BIG sized candy bars.  after a hard night at work, i would make it home with my kitten tail dragging on the cement or my witches hat beginning to droop.  i would run to my den and dump out all of my candy onto the ground and quickly start dividing my candy from big pieces to small and separating the M&M’s from the Snickers bars.  i’d look at all of my candy with glee and think about which ONE piece of candy i would eat for that night.  after a long and hard deliberation, i always chose the Reese’s.  i savored every bite, as if i could never have it again for another year (forgetting that it is carried 7 days a week all year round at my local CVS!)  but it always tasted so good year after year.

then came the time to pick only 5 pieces of candy for myself (usually all Reese’s but occasionally i’d swipe a Reese’s for a Snickers or Peanut M&M’s.)  the rest of my candy went straight to the Halloween Man (who was a figurative character like the Tooth Fairy.)  so actually, my candy probably went straight to the trash:(  but in return, the Halloween Man presented me with a lovely gift the next morning.  so it was pretty much a win/win situation the day after Halloween.  but most importantly, i had my annual helping of that chocolaty peanut buttery cup and still had 5 more heavenly cups of candy that i usually let linger on for months…

so here it is…the new, improved, and vegan version of the classic Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!

INGREDIENTS
Crust
10 oz. vegan chocolate cookies (like Newman’s Own Alphabet Cookies)
¼ cup earth balance, melted
2-3 TBSP soymilk

Chocolate Layers
3 ½ cups vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

Peanut Butter Filling
1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter
½ cup coconut butter, room temperature
1/8 tsp salt
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 325 F
Line muffin tins with 24 cupcake 2 inch liners

RECIPE
Crust
In food processor or blender process chocolate cookies until finely ground.  Add the melted butter and mix together completely.  Add soymilk, 1 TBSP at a time until crumb mixture begins to bind.  Take 1 generous TBSP of crumb mixture per cupcake.  Press crumb mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Cool to room temperature.

First chocolate  layer
Melt 1 ½ cups of the chocolate in saucepan over very low heat, stirring frequently until just melted.  Scoop ½ TBSP of the melted chocolate for each cupcake and smooth evenly over crust.  Place trays in the refrigerator and wash saucepan.

Peanut butter filling
Blend the peanut butter and coconut butter together until smooth, using a food processor or electric mixer.  Slowly beat in the powdered sugar and then add vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Spread 1 generous TBSP of the peanut butter filling over each chilled chocolate layer.

Second chocolate layer
Melt the remaining 2 cups of chocolate chips in a clean saucepan, exactly like the first layer.  Working quickly, spread a generous ½ TBSP of chocolate over each filling and spread  smooth.  Chill in refrigerator one hour or until firm.  Serve as is in the liners or remove the liners and neatly place each peanut butter cup over a 1 ¼  inch paper liner.  Can be made two days in advance.