Fall is near

Today started with some pumpkin spice cupcakes. These are probably the first cupcakes I ever made, and they're still one of my favorites. Though I usually just go with the plain white frosting, I had a bit of fun decorating these for a friend's birthday. Also, learned a lesson today: it is a lot more difficult to transport on a bicycle than you might think.

For dinner tonight I made lentil loaf with mashed potatoes and nutritional yeast gravy. My boyfriend has been working very hard lately so I've been trying to make some special dinners in the past week, including penne a la vodka and bubble and squeak. I have to say that the gravy turned out super good. I've made lentil loaf before and while this was still really good, I think my lentil cooking skills this time were not quite there. Overall though, delicious dinner, with lots of leftovers. Yum.

Another really exciting thing for me is that I got some yarn that I've had my eye on for quite some time now. Turns out to be perfect timing, because it's just the time of year to really get knitting.

Donuts

I've been so busy lately with a ton of things, I really want to put some of that energy into baking. Last night I made donuts! Damn they were so good. It was my first time frying anything like that, so as the oil heated up, a few may have been over done. They still tasted delicious. I definitely want to try out some other glazes. Maple perhaps?

Anyway, there are a ton of things I want to make so here's a list to keep myself on track:

cinnamon rolls
peanut butter cups
marshmallows!
molten chocolate babycakes

I did make some coconut lime mini bundts that didn't really make it out of the pan, despite being well greased. They tasted pretty good anyway, even though I'm really not the biggest coconut fan.

Busy bee!

I have been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to post anything, but not for lack of baking. Recent treats include vanilla yogurt pound cake, chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese filling and monster chocolate chip cookies (my personal favorite of the group, but the pound cake was great too).

I wanted to thank everyone for voting for my cupcakes in the iron cupcake contest. I didn't win but I got a good number of votes so I'm happy. I got a lot of really great feedback from everyone, which was really inspiring. Next month's challenge ingredient is basil, so we'll see what I can do with that.

Been working on big projects lately, too big for this blog even, but good things are in the works. More to come!

Time to vote

It's time to vote for Iron Cupcake: Earth

Just go to no one puts a cupcake in a corner, click on Cute and Delicious on the ballot on the left and submit your vote for my cupcake!

Voting ends September 4th at 12 noon central time.

Iron Cupcake:Mango cupcakes with Habanero ice cream

I was so excited about this contest I can't even tell you. I bake all the time, but one thing I tend to sit back and just follow recipes. Coming up with the recipe for these cupcakes was a challenge for me in the best of ways.

So for the chili challenge I decided to go with one of the hottest peppers out there: habaneros. I wanted to compliment it with light flavors instead of covering it up. Up until recently, I was not a fan of spicy food, but I've become completely addicted. I went with a simple flavorful mango cupcake and topped it off with habanero ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate.

I have to say that these cupcakes were very good and unlike anything I've ever had. The mango cupcake was sweet with a little bit of tartness. The ice cream cut down the heat of the habanero which kind of sneaks up on you. It has a warm cinnamon flavor that is almost like an aftertaste to the whole cupcake. The combination of the sweetness of the ice cream and the chocolate and the light fluffy fruitiness of the cupcake was, well, awesome.

Oh yeah, and in case you haven't read this blog before...it was all vegan.

So here are the recipes:

Mango Cupcakes

8 0z Mango, pureed
1 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1/3 cup canola oil
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup soy milk

Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Puree the mango (about 1 1/2 fresh mangoes) in a blender or food processor. Add the oil, vinegar, vanilla and soy milk to the mango and blend until mixed. Mix the flour, baking soda, sugar and corn starch in a medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients to dry and stir until just mixed. Pour into cupcake liners and bake for about 24 minutes.

Habanero Ice Cream

2 habanero peppers
2 cups soy creamer
1 3/4 cup vanilla soy milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp arrowroot powder

Mix the arrowroot with 1/4 cup of the soy milk to dissolve. Put the remaining soy milk, soy creamer and sugar in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the soy milk and arrowroot mixture until it thickens a bit. Let the mixture cool completely. Cut the habaneros in half and remove the seeds. Chop the habaneros in a food processor until they are in tiny pieces. Put in the freezer while waiting for the soy milk mixture to cool. Once cool add both to your ice cream maker according the machine directions. Let freeze a bit more in freezer after the ice cream is thickened in the machine.

Note: wash your hands after touching the chopped habaneros!

Chocolate Topping

Ok so I didn't really measure this part...so bear with me.

about 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
about 1/4 cup soy milk
about 2 Tbsp sugar

Set up a double boiler and add ingredients. Stir until melted.


To put the cupcakes together, cut a small cone out of the top of each cupcake. Carefully take a tablespoon or melon baller to scoop a bit of the ice cream on top. Making sure the chocolate topping is no longer hot, drizzle a little on top. Dip a small habanero in chocolate for garnish.

All right everyone, don't forget to vote at no one puts a cupcake in a corner after August 29th

happy weekend!

I love sushi. I really love sushi. I'm so excited because my rice cooker makes awesome rice. I've tried making sushi before but it didn't turn out very well at all. This batch had super yummy avocado. I want to experiment with some other veggies and make something more unexpected. Vegan caterpillar rolls? At least this time I got the rolling part down.

Only think we were missing was the wasabi. 

And for a late night snack (yes I bake cupcakes at 2 in the morning) I made some raspberry cupcakes. These were sooo good. The recipe was very different from most of the cupcakes I've made. The batter was much thicker but they still came out surprisingly light. They were just sweet enough with the blended raspberry that they really didn't need icing. Although maybe a little fruit on top just for looks would be good. 

Also, we went to Madeline's for the first time. I can't tell you how amazing their food was. Vegan beignets! Perfect fluffy donuts. Waffles, fried "chicken," mashed potatoes and gravy. Tofu benedict with mushrooms on hash browns. Everything was delicious and felt great to eat. I can't wait to go back.  

tofu florentine (and pretzels)

I don't know what my preoccupation with making a vegan tofu florentine/benedict is. Maybe it's because it was one of my favorite breakfast treats when I was growing up (that and french toast, but I've got that covered). I've been to a few restaurants that have really good vegan versions but I want to make my own! This one in particular is from Veganomicon. It was definitely good but I'm gonna keep trying. The cheesy sauce is really yummy but not quite hollandaise. 

To test out the new oven I made pretzels. They were a lot of fun, even with the two hours waiting for the yeast to rise. Going to make them a little bigger next time, as the fluffier ones were the best. They were so little and cute though. Oh and the leftover cheesy sauce from the tofu florentine was a delicious topping .

Also made brownies last night (yeah can you tell I'm ecstatic about the oven).  Good thing was they were fluffy and not oily, which is a problem I've run into with a lot of vegan brownie recipes. On the other hand, I would have liked them to be a bit more chocolately and cakey.