Vegan Pumpkin Spice Muffins

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It's been a while since I posted! Things are extra busy, but I wanted to post this new discovery. Vegan Pumpkin Muffins. They taste like autumn. I used a recipe from Epicurious as a framework and veganised it with EarthBalance and Flax seed. 

first, prep the raw ingredients. I love the boldness of autumn spices, so I went fairly heavy: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, allspice... and I put a (heavy) sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice mix for extra measure. 

The recipe called for quite a bit of fat, but I cut back on the oil and added applesauce. I also used spelt and einkorn flour in addition to the unbleached white flour. 

To shift the flavour even closer to autumn, I used brown sugar, maple syrup and a splash of orange juice. The juice is also a trick to help preground wholemeal flours taste fresher.  

Start by prepping the flax "egg" by blending 1T flax seed with 3T water. It's ready when it becomes thick and egg-like in consistency. Mix together the dry and wet ingredients separately, before combining them together. This helps to reduce over mixing which can make the muffins tough. 

I noticed (because I don't really measure even when I follow a recipe) that the batter was a bit thicker than I wanted, so I added some maple syrup for that warm flavour and sweetness. 

Scoop portions into a lined or greased muffin tin. I wanted a bit of extra texture, so I sprinkled some flaked almonds atop each muffin before baking. 

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Bake at 350F until the fragrance of autumnal spice fills the kitchen and wafts throughout your dwelling. Allow to cool before serving, or you'll burn your mouth like I just did. 

My favourite presentation is to split the muffin and sandwich in some vegan ice cream or CocoWhip.  

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Baklava Tartlets

Baklava is a delight, but it takes a while to get all the layers put together. This recipe doesn't completely eliminate the hassle of laminating the filo dough, but it reduces it by 50%. Start by melting down a portion of refined coconut oil. Take a sheet of thawed filo dough and brush it with the melted coconut oil. Repeat, ya know, about a dozen times.  Then, using a small cookie cutter, cut circles of dough and press them into a mini-cupcake tin.

To prepare the filling, start by coarsely chopping equal portions of pistachios, almonds, walnuts and pecans.  Add a pinch or two of salt to counterbalance the sweetness of the syrup.  Place a spoon of the chopped nuts into each cup.

Bake at 180˚C (350˚F) until the shell is golden brown.

Then, prepare the syrup by adding turbinado sugar to a heavy medium-sized pan.  Add to that, 25% by mass, water (25mL water for each 100g sugar).  Then add a few cloves, a cinnamon stick and a whisper of orange blossom water - or - rose water.  Bring to a boil and ensure all the sugar has melted.  Then strain out the cloves and cinnamon stick.

* The syrup needs to be hot when it's poured on the tartlets, so be sure to keep it toasty.

When the shells have reached that perfect golden brown colour, remove them from the oven and immediately pour a bit of syrup on each one.  It should basically cover the chopped nuts, but it shouldn't drown the pastry.  About a tablespoon should be enough.

Allow them to cool and carefully remove them from the muffin tin.

Enjoy these with a piping hot cup of coffee.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Lemon poppy seed bread is the perfect thing to have with coffee or tea!  Its sweet-tart flavour makes it a wonderful accompaniment. I taste tested this recipe with non-vegans - they loved it!

This recipe was inspired by the Joy of Cooking cookbook.  First mix together flax meal and water and blend until thick.  This is a perfect substitute for eggs.  I also added a bit of homemade soy youghurt.  In the stead of butter, I used grape seed oil, but you could certainly use margarine or Earth Balance.

Mix all the wet ingredients, a bit of lemon juice, sugar and lemon zest.  Mix the dry ingredients together and add them to the wet ingredients.

I only added a bit of poppy seed to the batter, reserving most of them to coat the pan.  It gives a delightful crust and helps the bread release easily from the pan.  Simply coat the pan with cooking spray and sprinkle in the seeds.

Pour the batter in the pan and bake at 350˚F until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  While still hot, glaze the cake with a thick mixture of lemon juice and icing sugar.

Poached Pear Frangipane

Happy Christmas! This is something I just recently discovered: frangipane. And, I'm addicted! It's a simple mixture of almonds, sugar, egg and butter, but I veganized it (with delicious result). It follow the typical frangipane mix of almond meal, white sugar and a bit of vanilla. I substituted flax seed and xanthan gum instead of egg and refined coconut oil for butter.

This is my favourite vegan hack: ~2T flax seed to 3T water (or almond milk) blend until creamy with an immersion blender. It makes a decent egg replacer. I've made vegan chocolate chip cookies with this trick and nobody could tell the difference.

Place the ingredients in the food processor and blitz until creamy.

The next part to this dish adds a festive nature to it: pears poached in pomegranate juice. First, peel and core the pears and place in a shallow skillet with a portion of pomegranate juice. Over low heat, allow the juice to begin simmering, and spoon over the pears.

When they're a nice colour, remove from the pan and allow to cool. Then, slide lengthwise and place in a prepared tart shell. I already had one in the fridge.

If I had to do it again, I'd have made the frangipane thicker, and I'd have put the pears on top of the filling. It was delicious all the same.

Bake at 350F until the filing is set, ~45min. I like to dust it with icing sugar and serve it with pomegranate kernels and a sprig of mint.

Glazed Chocolate Cake [Vegan]

I love cake!  I've never really tried to make a vegan cake - I always thought it'd be kinda gross.  But, since I'm determined to make delicious vegan food, I decided to give it a try.  I used a recipe from the book:  The Joy of Cooking Cocoa Devil's Food Cake.

I made the following alterations: Coconut oil instead of butter, flax seed instead of eggs, soy youghurt instead of dairy; half the sugar and extra cocoa powder.  I also added a bit of baking powder to make sure it raised well.

While it's baking, I made the glaze.  It's composed of dark chocolate, Earth Balance, corn syrup and Silk creamer.

Pour the glaze over the cake and garnish with mint and pomegranate.

Apple Cinnamon Ice Cream [vegan]

Frosty Fall treats!

First, peel and dice a couple apples.  Add them to a skillet with a bit of coconut oil and saute until they have softened.  Set aside and let the apples cool.  Return the skillet to the heat and add a bit of non dairy milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, apple cider, cornstarch and a dash of salt.  Heat the mixture until thickened.  Sweeten with sugar and add chilled non-dairy milk and soy creamer.  Silk makes an excellent creamer.

All the mix to refrigerate until very chilled ~38˚F.  Then pour the liquid mix into an ice cream freezer.  When the ice cream begins to develop, add half the apples.  Just before the freezing process finishes, add the last half.  This keeps them from getting pulverized, allowing for some chunks of apple.

Serve garnished with fresh apple, mint and a stick of cinnamon.

Frosted Cinnamon Square Biscuits

Kinda like cinnamon rolls, but quicker; cinnamon biscuits!

Start out with the 3:1:2 ratio [flour:fat:liquid] and then add some flavour: a bit of coconut sugar, cinnamon and salt.  I used fresh ground wheat flour, coconut oil and almond milk. Mix the dry ingredients and coconut oil in the food processor.  Blend until crumbly and then add the almond milk.  Blend a few more seconds to combine the ingredients, but stop as soon as they're combined.

The magic of square biscuits, there's no need to roll out and cut these.  Simply press the dough into a parchment lined pan and then score lines.

Bake at 350F until the top is browned ~25min.

While they're baking, mix a cinnamon drizzle topping: icing sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, almond milk and a pinch of salt.

Allow the biscuits to cool until they're warm to the touch and then drizzle with the topping.

Apple Cobbler

It's apple season!  I kicked off the season with this simple apple cobbler.

I like to use a blend of apples to get nuanced flavour from each cultivar.  Peel, slice and add to a skillet with a bit of oil.  Saute on low heat until they begin to soften.  Add a bit of sugar, cornstarch, orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract.  I also added a bit of molasses.  When they're soft, place in a greased cast iron skillet.

I ground a bit of organic red wheat and used it for a basic biscuit dough recipe.  I didn't add any sugar, but probably would next time - sugar helps the dough brown as it bakes.  It's easy to cover the apples with the dough by using a dough scoop to parcel out the topping.

Bake at 350F until the top is done.  I sprinkled a bit of rolled oats on top because oats, brown sugar and cinnamon are amazing together.

Mango and Sweet Coconut Jasmine Rice

A variation on a favourite of mine, sticky rice with mango.

It a fairly simple dish, and one I used to eat often when I lived on an island.  It's sweet, savoury, creamy and satisfying.  To make this, I prepared jasmine rice and added: coconut milk, toasted coconut flakes, coconut sugar, salt and Thai basil.  I used only coconut milk, instead of water, to cook the rice and it was a bit too rich.  It would probably be better 50:50 water and rice.  Also, I used coconut sugar to give it a rich caramel flavour; again, a bit too rich.  Plain white sugar would be perfect.

While the rice is cooking, chunk the mango.

When the rice is finished cooking, allow it to cool slightly and serve with the mango chunks.  Garnish with Thai basil.  It's a delightful licoricey complement to the tropical flavours.

Cake with Raspberry and Orange

It looks like an underbaked cannelé.  That's because I tried making cannelés in a silicone "pan" and it was a disaster.  So, I whipped up a plain vanilla-orange sponge cake and baked it in the same mould.

Other than cake baking, it's fairly simple to prepare:

• zest a bit of lemon
• segment the oranges
• strain raspberries with melted apricot (or apple) jam

All that's left to do is pile that deliciousness on a plate.

Angel Food Cake Trifle

A bright coloured dessert for celebrating the New Year.  Whipped cream and angel food cake provide a visual contrast and taste complement for the pomegranate.

1. I started with a pack mix cake - because it's easy, and making one from scratch requires a dozen egg whites.  Once the cake cools, remove the crust.
2. Make a simple sauce of sugar, a small bit of cornstarch and pomegranate juice.  Bring to a boil, but remove from heat promptly.
3. Whip the cream with a bit of sugar, vanilla bean and a few drops of Fiori di Sicilia.
4. Extract the pomegranate arils and the zest of lemon (and/or orange, tangerine, lime).
5. Add a bit of sauce to the glass and pile in the cream, cake and fruit.

For a richer dessert, use a chocolate sauce (melted chocolate and cream - or non-dairy milk).