Vegan Margarita Cupcakes: The Real Deal

As part-two of the fiesta cupcakettes that I made for MonkeyMan's
Aunt, I wanted some crazy margarita cupcakes. Obviously citrus,
but I didn't really know where to go from there.

Hopefully I won't get assaulted for this, but why are there no cupcake
recipes other than from the 'cupcakes take over' book. I looked over
the recipe and could just tell it wasn't going to be flavourful enough.
No, I wanted a sharp citrus, a creamy cupcake, and a strong kick of
tequila. Not a lingering aftertaste and some glaze with sparkly sugar
on top. Too harsh? I just wanted something that would knock people's
socks off. If it was just the tiniest bit bland, people are going to
immediately blame it on being a vegan cupcake.

Ole!



Margarita Cupcakes: El Auténtico

Ingredients

Juice and zest from one lemon
Zest from one lime
3/4 cup coconut milk/cream
(if using cream, reduce the oil and increase the cream to 1 cup)
I Like how this adds a little more of a topical taste
1/4 cup oil
3 tbsp tequila
2 tbsp triple sec
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup cake flour
2 tsp corn starch or arrowroot
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup earth balance
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
lemon or lime zest
1 tsp lemon or lime juice
4 tbsp tequila (Or more)
dash of salt
(one drop of each yellow and blue colouring: optional)

(+rock salt and more tequila)

Combine the lemon juice with the coconut, stir and set aside.
Sift together the dry ingredients (including the sugar).

Stir the coconut/lemon once more and add the alcohol, vanilla, and
oil. Gently combine the wet and dry ingredients, just until mixed.

Portion out into cupcake cups, about 80% full.

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350°F. Remove when a tooth pick inserted
into the middle comes out clean, or you start to see the tiniest bit of
gold on the tops.

Remove from the pan and allow to cool on a rack. Right after placing
the cakes on the cooling rack, brush the tops with more tequila, making
sure to get around the edges too.

While the cupcakettes are baking, prepare the frosting.
First cream together the sugar and earthbalance, then add the zest,
juice, salt and a little bit of the tequila at a time.

The frosting should be smooth and fluffy, but not stiff or wet.
Right before frosting, brush the cakes again with tequila. Pipe the
frosting on in your favorite design, then top with a tiny wedge of lemon
or lime and sprinkle lightly with rock salt.

These went faster than a blink of an eye. Maybe a guacamole or salsa
cupcake should be next? Or is that just too weird? Okay.

How about a spicy mango?

Christmas Cookie Commotion: Gingerflakes

I don't know how many times I've mentioned it, but as I've probably
said at least once-- gingerbread is my absolute favorite
cookie. I love the depth and muskiness of molasses along with the
soft and chewy texture of the cookie itself. I could live off of them,
at least for a bit.

Instead of the typical gingerbread men and piped icing, I did some
glazing that was perfect in my head but came out a little bit weird.
I wanted to try the effect of glazing and spreading drops of color
with a toothpick, but I let it dry to much. So I came out with some
smeared bizarre looking flower-flakes.



So I pulled one of my favorite tricks that I learned from doing fondant
and cake decorating... Coloring and vodka. I mixed some blue coloring
with a tsp of straight vodka and painted on the patterns I had wanted
to do.



I used a clean new paint brush and gently tapped the brush into
the glaze, so it didn't drip and had a darker color.



Personally, I really like the result. But like I said yesterday,
I'm going to get a properly shaped snowflake next time.

Tomorrow I'll share my Yule pictures with you, in the meantime
here is one of the Christmas cards I made to send out this year!

Taste of Aloha Part Four: Kona Coffee Kahlua

If you're lucky enough to have been in my social circle in the last
couple months, you would know how I went absolutely nuts with
making my own alcohols. Now I was not planning on talking about
boozin' it up, but Kahlua is a standard in our house. This is a recent
thing. I got a bottle in a basket at Christmas and since Monkey-man
had a taste, there was no stopping it.

Only problem with Kahlua is that it can be damn expensive, so I
started making my own. Yet -- I will only make it with Kona coffee.

I first learned to make Kahlua from my Aunt Carole, who told me a
story about the first time she made Kahlua for her friends, co-workers,
and clients at a party. Apparently, some of the guests started
complimenting her on the hot cinnamon-like zing that followed the
sweet mellow flavour of coffee. At first my Aunt was baffled, but
come to find out the sweet sugary liqueur was bombarded by fire ants
and that was what was burning people!! I keep mine ant-free.

So back to Kona Coffee. Kona is located on the West side of the Big
Island and famous for their coffee bean plantations. As an avid drinker
of the joe, I've even gone and roasted my own coffee on the Kona side.
Hands down, the best coffee I have ever tasted was the peaberry at
Kope Lani on the main strip, Alii Drive.

The street is a famous tourist shopping area and their store front
sits right across from the breaking waves with an outdoor patio.
The coffee is smooth, dark and rich. A hot little sip of heaven.
Perfect for a little potion making.

Most Kahlua recipes you'll find require instant coffee--- lets not
go there. Other recipes require it to sit for at least a couple of
weeks. This recipe is ready to drink as soon as it is cooled and
strained.



Kona Coffee Kahlua

2 cups water
1 1/3 cups evaporated cane sugar
3 tbsp Freshly Ground Coffee
2 tbsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups vodka

Combine the water, sugar and coffee in a medium saucepan and
bring to a boil. Turn down and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Using a
strainer lined with a coffee filter, strain the coffee syrup
you've just made.

Pour into a sterilized bottle and add the vodka and vanilla.


soymilk white russian


**NOTE** Since this recipe uses vodka, please note that the alcohol
percentage is higher than your average store bought Kahlua.

Peachy-Keen Bars

I recently nabbed a vegetarian cookbook at a thrift store:
The American Vegetarian Cookbook by Marilyn Diamond. It would
be vegan if not for the honey factor. So far it seems like an awesome
book and huge to boot (over 400 pages).

It was published in 1990, so I'm thankful there are no photos.
Older cookbooks have the most ugly, dated looking food pics. I'm not
sure what it is, but everything looks orange and fresh out of a
microwave.

Flipping through it I saw a recipe that looked pretty good, but I
wanted to twist it to my own immediate dessert needs. Here is the
resulting experiment. The original called for 1 egg replacer, honey
and carob. I veganized it with raw sugar and had some peaches I
needed to use. I also added a drizzle of brandy to make the flavor
of the peaches pop.

And then I got a little fancy...



Peachy-Keen Bars

1/3 cup vegetable oil or earthbalance
1/3 cup raw sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 pack of silken tofu
1/3 cup agave
1 tsp arrowroot or cornstarch
3 peaches sliced
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp brandy

In a food processor first process the oil/earthbalance, sugar,
ginger and flour until crumbly. Press half off flour mixture
into a 9x9 tray. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.

Next process the tofu with the remaining ingredients, except for
the peaches and brandy.


After the bottom crust is cooled, pour the tofu
over baked crust. Arrange sliced peaches on top of that layer
and sprinkle remaining flour mix over peaches.



On top of that I arranged some roses out of super thinly sliced
peaches...



Finally, sprinkle alcohol over everything and bake for 20 more
minutes at 350F. Slice and serve alone or with whipped soycream
or vanilla nondairy ice cream.

Vegan Jello Shots

**NOTE** This post is intended for responsible adults of legal
drinking age. Please be sensible whenever consuming intoxicants.

I know I promised this a long long time ago and its taken me
nearly three months to post. I'm not sure why that is, but please
forgive me!

This takes carefully planning, a clever palate, and experience with
mixology certainly doesn't hurt. Its good to mix a little bit of
the flavors you chose beforehand to test the taste. Plus its
always fun to drink a little while you're experimenting.

I made these for Monkey-man's Bday party and went through about
three different versions. The first was too hard from too much
agar agar. The second version tasted like medicine. And the third?
Well, lets just say we had a good night.

As far as flavors go, I'd stay away from cherry and strawberry
vodkas because they will yield something reminiscent of cough syrup.
Don't use pineapple juice because it will not set because the high
acid content affects the jelling properties of the agar.

You of course can switch out different alcohols or juices.
I can't stomach rum for some reason, but many like it for it's milder
taste. You can also try some schnapps. I plan to try this with some
orange curacao, but haven't had an excuse to do so.

The photo here is from my blue raspberry lemonade batch that was too
firm, but I wanted to show off the cool silicone cups I used.
These are the cupcake cups I got at Cost Plus. They make great
reusable vegan jello shooters!

Vegan Jello Shots Galore


1 1/2 tbsp agar agar flakes or 1 1/2 tsp agar powder
1 cup mango juice
1 cup lime vodka
2 tbsp raw sugar
food coloring (opt)

Bring the juice, sugar, and agar to a boil and simmer over low-medium
heat until the agar is fully dissolved. Add the coloring, then the
alcohol and stir quickly with a whisk.

Pour into desired cups and chill before serving.
I will yield 15+ shots.

Right after I made these we found boxes of vegan jello at a local
indian market. Go figure. We tried using the mango flavoured box
and it came out just as good. You just split the liquid half juice
half alcohol. It definitely sets up quicker.

Lastly remember that these are pretty alcoholic, so don't be
expecting sweet jello-y goodness when you go to shoot one.
Remember you are taking a shot!! Besides that, have fun and always
be responsible!