caramel macchiato cupcake

I've been on a sort of coffee-kick this week, so of course it's only natural that I add coffee to my baking. I had some trouble with these, though. They were reallly good when I first made them, but then I made the mistake of sitting them in the fridge without any cover-whatsoever. Poor things. DON'T EVER DO THAT. After that they ended up being really dry and crumbly. It was so sad. If you don't do what I did, they'll be moist and wonderful. [:

serves: 24
cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons instant espresso
1 cup coconut oil (or any other oil you have)
1 1/3 cups agave nectar
3/4 cup applesauce
3 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup hot coffee

Isa Chandra's "Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting" - Vegan cupcakes Take Over the World. It's the best ever. Really.
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup vegan margarine
3 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup plain soy milk

"Caramel":
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 tablespoons vegan margarine
1/4 cup soy creamer (Silk makes one)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cupcakes-
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line cupcake tins with liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, baking powder baking soda, salt, and instant espresso. Add the oil agave nectar, applesauce, vanilla, hot water, and coffee to the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth.
Pour 1/3 cup batter into the prepared cups, almost filling them. Bake the cupcakes on the center rack for 22 minutes, rotating the tins 180 degrees after 15 minutes.
Let the cupcakes stand in tins for 15 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Frosting-
Beat together the shortening and margarine until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and soy milk, beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy. See? That wasn't so hard. [:

Caramel Topping-
In a saucepan over medium heat bring the brown sugar, margarine, and creamer to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

ASSEMBLE![:

*Once again, don't just place these in the fridge all willy-nilly. Put them in an airtight container to store them.*

Pan Bagna

Yes, a Pan Bagna is a sandwich. And it's sososo good. You don't know this yet, but you looked at this blog for this recipe. In fact, your parents had you so you could one day try this sandwich. The good news is: It's incredibly easy to make.

You can use any kind of spread on this and it would probably be good. I made some sandwiches with Olive Tapenade, and some with Sun-dried Tomato and White Bean spread.
Yum.

Olive Tapenade:
15 pitted calamata olives (or any nice black olive)
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic

Sun-dried Tomato and White Bean spread:
1 1/2 tablespoons crushed garlic
10 sun dried tomatoes in oil
1 can (15-16 ounces) white beans
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt to taste

Sandwich:
1 long, narrow, crispy loaf of bread (like cibatta bread:D )
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
3 vine-ripe or plum tomatoes
1 roasted red/yellow pepper (you can get these jarred or canned at any grocery store)
1 small bunch of arugula (well washed)
1 bunch fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Olive Tapenade- Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until somewhat smooth (it shouldn't look like paste) and you're done. Easy. [:

Tomato spread- Separate the sun-dried tomatoes from their oil. Put them into a food processor with the garlic and blend. Add the white beans and lemon juice and blend. Add salt to taste. It should look sort of like hummus.

Sandwich- Slice the bread the long way, and spread [whatever you made] on the bottom slice. Layer the following, in this order: red onion, tomatoes, salt and pepper, red/yellow pepper, arugula, and basil. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar on top of the vegetables and then the oil on the underside of the other slice of bread. Put the sandwich together. Eat. [:

*You can also wrap the sandwich up tightly with cling-wrap after you've made it, set it in the fridge, and let the flavors marinate. If you do this, though, you might want to toast your bread so it wont be soggy.*

**Pesto would be good on this, too.**

When you're finished- If you made the Sun-dried Tomato and White Bean Spread you can save it and use it as a dip[:

Crepes Suzette

I was feeling adventurous today, so I decided to make Crepes Suzette. You may be thinking, "Come on, that's not very adventurous at all." I know this. But for me, someone who has never ever made a crepe before (I mean, I can barely get pancakes right), they're slightly intimidating. Even the name sounds fancy. It took a while to get the plain crepes right; I tried using my hands (though I don’t have hot hands, so that didn’t last long), but then settled on the hold-your-breath-and-hope-you-don’t-break-it spatula method. Surprisingly it worked, and overall I only ruined two crepes[:
After that everything went smoothly. The sauce was really easy to make. I didn't add the alcohol like a traditional Crepe Suzette 1.) because I don't have any Grand Marnier and 2.) because I was a little scared to flambe. Maybe I'll try it some other time. When other people are around, so that I don't end up killing myself.

OH also, a little fun fact: Like most good things, this dish was actually a huge accident. In 1895, fourteen year-old assistant waiter Henri Charpentier was preparing a dessert for the Prince of Wales -the future King Edward VII of England- and his "girlfriend", and mistakenly caught the liquor on fire. Panicked, he tasted it and to his surprise it was really good. So he served it to the prince and called it "Crepes Princesse". The Prince loved it, but made the waiter change the name to Crepes Suzette, after his girlfriend.
[:

Anyway, on with the recipe.

Serves: 6-8
Crepes:
3 tablespoons Ener-G Egg Replacer
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup soymilk
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of salt
Vegan margarine for the pan (I used Smart Balance Light, like always)

Sauce:
1/4 cup vegan margarine
3 tablespoons sugar
juice and zest from 1 orange
orange slices for garnish
powdered sugar for dusting

In a food processor, whip the egg replacer and water together until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the soymilk, oil, and vanilla and blend until thoroughly combined. Add the flour, sugar, nutmeg, and salt and mix for about 1 minute. Pour the batter into a medium-sized bowl.
Melt a small amount(enough to coat the bottom but not so much that it pools) of margarine in a nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan. As you pour the batter, lift the pan from the heat and twirl it around so that the batter spreads evenly and coats the entire bottom of the pan (If you have too little batter, just pour in some extra to fill the gaps). Return the pan to the heat and let it cook. Once the edges start to look crispy, loosen them with a spatula and turn it over. Cook the other side until golden, and slide it onto a plate. Fold it over and cover with wax paper, then continue the above steps until you run out of batter.
FOR THE SAUCE:
Melt the margarine in a large saute pan. When it starts to foam, add the sugar and stir until it's dissolved. Add the orange juice and zest, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Turn the heat to low.
Add 1 crepe to the pan, making sure to coat it completely with the yummy, syrupy sauce. Carefully fold it in half, then in half again. Repeat this with your remaining crepes all around the pan, working quickly enough so that the first crepe doesn't absorb all of the sauce.
Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar and orange slices. [:

*Wait to dust with powdered sugar until ready to be eaten, or else it will dissolve and you'll have to keep adding it. And that could be gross.*

**Don't stress if your first crepes don't turn out. Just sprinkle with powdered sugar, eat them, and carry on.**

Carrot Cupcakes[:

I absolutely love carrot cake. 'Nough said.

Serves: 24
Carrot Cupcakes:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup coconut oil
1 cup agave nectar
1 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup hot water
3 cups shredded carrots
1 1/2 shredded sweetened coconut
1 1/2 raisins
1 tub Pillsbury Cream Cheese frosting (which is conveniently vegan)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 12-cup cupcake tins with liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Add the oil, agave nectar, soy milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir until a thick batter is formed. Add the water and continue mixing the batter is smooth. Gently fold in the carrots, coconut, and raisins until evenly distributed.
Pour 1/3 cup batter into each prepared cup, almost filling it. Bake the cupcakes on the center rack for 25 minutes, rotating the tins 180 degrees after 14 minutes. The finished cupcakes will bounce back slightly when pressed, and your tester should come out clean.
Let the cupcakes stand in the tins for 20 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and let them cool completely. Spread about 1 tablespoon frosting over each cupcake.

Diablo Cake (not vegan)

This was the first layered cake I've ever made. And the first decorated. <3 I made it for Easter and took it over to my aunt's Easter-party thing. They all said it was good, so I'm counting on their feedback:D It took foreverrrrr, so I'm just going to post the standard 8-inch round layered cake.

Serves: I'm not sure. However many people it takes to eat a whole cake.
Diablo Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot brewed coffee
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and dust them with cocoa powder.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk the hot coffee and cocoa powder together. set aside.
Using a standing mixer, cream the butter on low speed for about one minute. Add the sugars and beat on low speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. With the mixewr running, add the eggs one at a time. Then add the buttermilk and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the chocolate-coffee mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. When the mixture is almost combined, turn off the mi9xture and finish mixing by hand (to avoid overbeating). Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until your tester comes out clean. Cool the pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack.

Vanilla Whipped Buttercream:
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Cream the butter on medium speed, 3 to 5 minutes, in a standing mixer until soft. Add the sugar and beat on high until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes.
In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup of the milk, the flour, and the vanilla and whisk until there are no lumps. Over medium heat, slowly add the remaining 3/4 cup milk, whisking constantly, and cook until the mixture comes to a low boil. Then, reduce heat to low and keep whisking for a few minutes until the mixture starts to thicken.
Immediately remove the saucepan from the heat, but keep stirring. If necessary, place the pan over a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and allow the mixture to cool.
Once the mixture has thickened, stick it in the freezer to cool (take it out when it is room temperature. Make sure it isn't warm otherwise it won't set.)
With the mixture on low speed, slowly pour the milk mixture into the butter-sugar mixture. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add whatever food coloring you want.
Frost your cake. [:

*For an amazing filling, dissolve 1 heaping teaspoon of instant espresso in 1 tablespoon boiling water and combine with the butter-sugar mixture. It works beautifully with this cake.*

**Make sure to really cream the butter and sugar together, don't hold back.**

Mamaw's Birthday

I made German Chocolate cake. It wasn't vegan, and I don't have the recipe anymore.. But I wanted to post this anyway haha. The picture isn't very good because it was dark and my dad took it on his phone.. but..yeah.
[:


Mamaw's on the right.
I look overly excited.

Blondies

Now that I've made these, I am never going to eat another chocolate chip cookie again. It just wouldn't be the same. They're really hard to explain, which is good. They sort of remind me of these mini-muffins my old baby-sitter, Mimi (my pseudo-grandma), used to give us. I would have sat and ate the whole box of those babies if I was able to, they were so good. But these? 10 x better. And just so you know I'm not just bragging, when I made these I had to follow up with three extra batches to satisfy the demand of my family. Haha. They're these charming, fluffy, mini love cakes that you could make for any occasion. Love them.

Serves: 36
Blondies:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup arrowroot
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup applesauce (Granny Smith works best)
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup vegan chocolate chips (I swear by Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, and lightly grease three 12-cup mini-muffin tins with oil.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, arrowroot, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the 1/2 cup oil and the applesauce, vanilla, and hot water and stir until the batter is smooth. Gently fold in the chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed.
Using a melon baller, scoop the batter into each prepared mini-muffin cup. Bake the blondies on the center rack for 9 minutes, rotating the tins 180 degrees after 5 minutes. They should turn out a golden-brown.
Let blondies stand in the tins for 10 minutes, and keep there until ready to serve to maintain freshness. Otherwise cover with plastic wrap and store for up to three days.

*If you don't have any arrowroot, you can substitute if with cornstarch.*

**Best served warm[: **

From St. Patrick's Day

Irish Soda Bread. I'd never had it before and was in the holiday spirit so I made this, haha. It sort of tasted like Raisin Bran. Actually, alot like Raisin Bran. I don't know if that's what it's supposed to taste like.. but I liked it. [:
I'll add the recipe below.


Leprechaun Cupcakes. Because the soda bread just wasn't festive enough. Haha. These are actually just my Crimson Cupcakes with green food coloring rather than red. And a little bit of green food coloring in the frosting. I know I know, so original. [:

Serves: 12
Irish Soda Bread:
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup seedless raisins
1 3/4 cups plain, non-sweetened soy milk plus 1 3/4 tablespoon white vinegar (mix to make soy buttermilk)
1/2 cup soft silken tofu, beaten up with a fork until it's smooth
2 tablespoons any neutral oil (I used vegetable)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt into large bowl, then stir in the raisins. Combine soy buttermilk, tofu, and oil in a smaller bowl. Add to dry ingredients and mix just until flour is moistened. Turn into a oiled 2-quart round casserole dish or 5 1/4 x 9 1/2-inch loaf pan. Bake for about 1 hour.
Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack.

*You can also put the batter into muffin cups and bake for 50 minutes.*

**When eating, warm it up and spread margarine over it. Trust me, it's good. [: **

Mac & "Cheese"

I found this recipe in my Vegan Yum Yum book and all I can say is.. Oh my god. I've tried so many vegan mac&cheese recipes and they were all well.. pretty disgusting. I'd even given up trying. But then I was flipping through this book and found yet another macaroni recipe so I decided..Hey, why not. Thank God I tried it because now my search is over. Another new wonderful discovery that came with this recipe: nutritional yeast, my new best friend. So good.



Serves: 4
What you need:
3 cups elbow macaroni
1 recipe "cheesy sauce"
1 cup toasted bread crumbs
4 oven safe bowls or one casserole dish

Cheesy Sauce:
1/3 cup Smart Balance Light (or any other vegan margarine)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon miso (I like red)
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/4 cups soy milk (I used Silk Original, light)
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
2 pinches salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cook the noodles. Once they are finished boiling, drain and set aside while you start to prepare the sauce:
Melt the margarine in a saucepan over medium-heat (be careful it isn't too hot so that the margarine doesn't burn!). Once it's melted, add the flour and whisk until the flour is dissolved. Add the miso, tahini, tomato paste, soy sauce, and lemon juice and whisk all of the ingredients together until they are fully incorporated (the mixture should be sort of thick by now). Slowly stir in the soy milk scraping the sides to prevent pasty-buildup. Turn the heat up a bit. Add the yeast, salt, and pepper and whisk until it thickens (Once it starts to boil it should be pretty thick). Take the sauce off of the heat, and toss with the macaroni. Distribute into individual bowls/ casserole dish.
Top the mac & "cheese" with the toasted bread crumbs and place into the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until nice and bubbly.

*If using the individual bowls, place them on a cookie sheet in the oven for better handling.*

**If needed, place under the broiler for one minute or more to brown on top.**

***Squirt lemon juice over top for taste**

Finally back!

As I was watching Julie and Julia today, it hit me that I hadn't posted on here since February. February! I can't believe it. And it's not like I just haven't been cooking because I have (alot), I've just been too lazy to post anything. So I am sorry, whoever you are. And now that it's summer and I have absolutely nothing to do, I promise I will post. :]