Mexican HOT Chocolate Cupcakettes

Monkey Man's Aunt had her big Five-O last week, so I've been planning
on sending some vegan goodies that direction for a while. Since her
party theme was Fiesta, I couldn't resist going loco for flavour.

This is part-one of these fiesta cakes. I call the mini ones cupcakettes
because I think it sounds cuter. And this is my first official blog
featuring cupcakes. I don't really care for them. If I have the option of
pie or something else, cupcakes are the last thing I would order.

SO. If I don't really like cupcakes and I say these are good...
You better bet these are smokin' Good!

For the initial recipe inspiration, I have to give a big 'ol shout-out
to "Yeah That Vegan Shit" and her Mexican Chocolate Cake!

I basically pumped up the spices, HOT factor, made my own frosting to
top 'em, and overall revamped it for richness. Not being able to resist
chipotle, I had to throw some in. I don't care if that bandwagon has
come and gone as far as food fads are concerned, I am forever sold on
the smokey spiciness!

These were rich, moist, and oh so spicy. Not overwhelming, but you
definitely get a warm kick after the first bite.

(Please be warned that I have a very high heat tolerance,
so please taste as you go).

Mexican HOT Chocolate Cupcakettes


















Ingredients (yields 36-40 cupcakettes)

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup sucanat
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp mild chili powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 chipotle in adobo sauce, diced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup almond milk

Add the lemon juice to the almond milk and stir, set aside. Sift together
all the dry ingredients, make a well in the middle of the bowl to add the
wet ingredients.

Add the vanilla, oil, and chipotle and about 1-2 tbsp of adobo sauce to
the almond milk. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until just
combined.

Pour into mini or regular cupcake cups and bake for 12 minutes at
350°F, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

It depends on what size you’re baking. Take a peek through the
window of your oven first, if they look like they are still rising—
DO NOT open your oven door! This could cause your cakes to fall!

Once baked through, remove from tray and allow to cool on a baking
rack before frosting.

Mex Hot Chocolate Frosting

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup earthbalance
2-3 tbsp almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Whip together the powdered sugar and the earthbalance, then add the
vanilla, cocoa, and spices. Add the nondairy milk a little at a time to
get the right consistency. It should be soft and smooth enough to pipe,
but not wet or runny. If it is too wet, just add a little extra sugar and
cocoa to absorb the moisture.

Spoon into a small star and pipe on your classic swirls, or whatever
design you like best. I topped them off with a chocolate cigarette and
a dusting of cinnamon.

Check back soon for some fan-frickin-tastic Margarita Cupcakettes!

Harry Potter Cauldron Cakes

First off, I know not everyone out there is a Harry Potter fan and
not everyone is an avid fan as some of us. If you’ve never read the
books, watched the films, or taken part in the wizarding world of
J.K. Rowling, I strongly encourage you to.

It may not change your life, but you may be missing out on some really
good entertainment. What’s all the hype about? It may have just gotten
on your nerves and now you’re ignoring it out of principle. Get over it
and go read the books. Really. Honestly. It’s not high classic literature,
but they are really FUN and undeserving of your contempt.

I am not just saying this because of how much I love swords and
sorcery, or because I was one of those teens those wore capes to the
midnight book releases, or was one of those who finished the last book
in less than 48 hours.

I enjoy fan culture like this because of the sense of camaraderie.
Sure you can go to a rocky horror picture show screening or some other
cult flick and experience the same type of tuned-in energy, but the
whimsy of the whole thing becomes addictive. The HP bug doesn’t turn
off when you leave the theater, it stays with you the whole way home
and the next morning and lingers-- leaving you wanting more!

Cult flicks are tons of fun, all the fans cheer when certain characters
come on or when certain credits roll, but Harry Potter is much more.

I think it also has something to do with how loyal the movies were
to the books and how disappointed I was in the new Star Wars and
Lord of the Rings movies. I’ve given up on comic book films (Scott
Pilgrim excluded). I still enjoy the rebooted films like TRON and
Star Trek etc. But they simply don’t exude the same intoxicating energy
that Harry Potter does.

It is engrossing because of the depth, the detail, and the sheer
extent of character development. For many of us it was also a coming
of age ritual. It was something for us to look forward to each year
and to hide away in when reality got a little low. Hogwarts was a little
escape for each of us and sadly it has come to an end. I was a few years
older than the kids in the books when it first came out, but I was still
growing up while I was reading them. So it truly is the end of an age for
some of us.

Now all the films are out, I plan on going back and rereading the series
(when I get some time-- Eventually). I’ve read the first few books more
than once, but not the later ones. So, I’ve gone a little fuzzy on many of
the details. Besides, it is always fun to go back and try and pick up on
all the little hints when you know what the ending is going to be.

To be honest, the end has left me feeling a little low and really old.
I don’t like waiting for Halloween to costume up. How often to I get to
flaunt my Ravenclaw uniform? For now, I’ll have to bid a fond farewell
to Hogwarts and a turning point in my life-- now I’m coming up to my
quarter-life crisis who knows if anything will catch on like Harry Potter
and steal the hearts of so many muggles... at least in our lifetime!

So lets all raise our butterbeer and pumpkin juice to what was a damn
good, magical decade!

Yes, I saw it opening night-- not the midnight showing, but still...
And of course it was epic! (Surprisingly violent, watch out little ‘uns)



In celebration of Book 7 Part Two, I made some Cauldron Cakes
for your enjoyment. To be honest can’t remember if there was a
description in the books of these or not. So I just made what I thought
Cauldron Cakes sounded like. These are not sweet, so don't expect a
cupcake. They are hearty and look like they were cooked over a cauldron!

Harry Potter Cauldron Cakes



3 cups unbleached wheat flour
3 tbsp powdered sugar
2 3/4 cup non-dairy milk + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup berry jam
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup raisins, cranberries, cherries or chopped dates

Sift together the dry ingredients.
Mix the oil, jam and curdled non-dairy milk, slowly add to the
dry mix and stir briefly to not over-mix the soda. Add the nuts and
which ever dried fruit you like.

Pour into greased and floured cupcake cups or mini bundt tins.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes at 350•F.

Serve while still warm with powdered sugar and jam.



Try em with some Pumpkin Juice!

Here is also a Vegan version of ButterBeer from PETA2 which sounds
pretty good, except I might add some vanilla vodka or spiced rum
to give it a real kick.

Christmas Cookie Commotion & Yuletide

I was really excited for Monday as Winter Solstice aligned with
a lunar eclipse. However, we've been getting some nice rainfall
here in Los Angeles and I'm certainly the last one to complain about
rain. I know our water reserves needed it more than I needed to see
a lunar eclipse. Alas, our night was cloudy.

Yet, the rain certainly didn't stop me from making Buche De Noel:
A french sweet cake in the shape of a Yulelog. Otherwise known as a
chocolate heart attack! Traditional French versions are filled with
chocolate whipped cream and rolled with a egg-laden sponge cake.

I just used a basic vegan chocolate cake and made a special flavored
chocolate frosting for the filling.

My frosting is about 1 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, 3 tbsp cocoa powder,
3 tbsp earthbalance, a tbsp- 2 tbsp of soymilk and 1/2 tsp of raspberry
extract.



I went pretty overboard with the presentation and everything.
I frosted the middle (filling) and then frosted the log when it was
rolled up. Then I melted semi-sweet chocolate chips with a little
bit of soymilk to make a firm chocolate glaze. Usually it is just
chocolate frosting on the outside, scraped to look like a wooden
log. But I really like the glossy chic-ness of the glaze.
Very neo-traditional!



I melted some more chocolate chips by themselves and drizzled designs
on to wax paper, then froze them to make the twigs on the top.


Then I topped it with toasted almonds, some powdered sugar for snow
and some decorated truffle cookies.



Traditionally, the plate would be adorned with meringue mushrooms,
but I make sugar cookies filled with raspberry jam. I then glazed them
and painted them with coloring and vodka, like my snowflakes from
yesterday.



Here you can see the jam in the little pocket. I just shaped them
into little bowls, plopped in the jelly, then covered it up with
another piece of dough and rolled it gently before baking.





Monkey-man had to work late, so this was his surprise when
he came home. I love Buche de Noel and its much more eco-
friendly than burning a wooden log!

The Holidays are here!

I cannot believe how fast these past two weeks have gone by!
I've been feeling a little under the weather and am getting
back on my feet again just in time for lots of rain.

We are getting ready for all the winder parties by making
our treat packs for friends and family. Of course I'll be
sharing most of my creations with you in time for your Holiday
frivolities.

This one is good to keep on book because it is not particular
to holidays, but is delicious all year round. In fact you may
not have gotten one of these in a while if you're vegan.

They are pretty easy to make, but a little time consuming as
they do take some care with handling. They are good for your
gluten-intolerant giftees and sweet to boot! Yes, I'm talking
about Vegan Peanut Butter cups.

Most people make them in little paper cups, which is easier
because you don't need to worry about molds, the candy cracking,
or it being as pretty. But I of course like to go a little
above and beyond to make something special.

So I used an IKEA flower shaped ice tray. I've been collecting
some different shaped silicone ice trays for a while now. I've
also got hearts, mini cupcake shapes, and leaves. I've also seen
stars, fish and other shapes out there.

You can clearly see that this tray reads 'for water only'.
Who knows why. So I filled it with chocolate anyway.

You start by melting about 1/4 cup of vegan chocolate chips
over medium heat, taking care not to burn it. With a clean
new paint brush, spread a layer of chocolate into the molds.



Then stick it in the freezer for about 5 minutes and add
another layer if you can see any color of the tray through
the chocolate. It is important that this layer of chocolate
is thick enough to hold up to being pushed out of the tray later.

While the chocolate is chilling, mix together 1/2 cup
chunky, salted peanut butter with 1/4 cup powdered sugar and
1/2 tsp vanilla extract.


Scoop little teaspoons of the peanut butter and roll into
tiny balls. Gently press into the chocolate covered molds.
Make sure it is pressed in fully and smooth. If there are
any pockets, the candies will crack and split when you try
to remove them from the tray.

Chill for a few more minutes in the freezer.

With the remaining melted chocolate, if you need more
melt some, you are going to brush dollops over the peanut
butter. You are spreading or smearing more than painting
this time, being careful not to mix the peanut butter with
the chocolate.

Chill again for another five or so minutes.
Finally you are going to gently bend and stretch the tray.
Be careful to not crack or crunch the chocolate. Gently
push the piece of candy out. The first one is always the
hardest so don't worry if you crack it a little.

Make sure that they stay cold as you do this. If the
chocolate starts to warm they will melt into the tray and
come out as blobs.

I don't mind if there are a few mess ups, I mean I need to
test them to make sure they are not poison! Hee hee.
Just make sure you're not mushing the on purpose-- the more
for me!!!

Dilly Dally~ Spring Break

In the middle of a continual string of immeasurable miscommunication
between my cousin's boyfriend and myself, a very obnoxious thing took
place. Or a few obnoxious things really.

First, he weed-wacked my newly planted squash/pumpkins. Actually, I
later realized that he pulled them up and weed-wacked around it.
??
I don't know either.

Second, I woke up to find my composter gone. Not the compost per se
but the wooden pallets that I had built around it to contain my
compost.

It turned out that he though the composter was my garden... and since
I was starting to plant elsewhere he took the initiative to get rid
of said pallets. Also he put of a large piece of wood in the spot
where I was planting, mainly in an effort to make it appear useful
so he didn't have to get rid of it.

After all this when down, I was zen kicking ass angry.
By noon, I had my prime garden space back, hopefully salvaged my
squash, and demanded my pallets returned. We'll see how soon
that happens. Its hard to explain the use of a composter to someone
who doesn't understand what decomposition is.

After that I built a little brick border to clearly delineate
where my garden is now. I planted some potatoes, beets, and an onion
that I sprouted. So much more to come!!




In the kitchen, I've been practicing different cakes for
Monkey-man's birthday coming up this weekend. So much to plan,
so much to cook!


Mocha Blackberry




I also made Orange-ginger and Orange Chocolate, but the pictures
were terrible. Both the orange ones were good, but the mocha
one was too dense and tasted like a muffin.

Finally for dinner I made a quick batch of soup and biscuits.
It just the Irish garlic soup I made for St. Patrick's Day,
but I added kale because I was craving some rich greens.

Back to testing!

Spring has Sprung, Ostara and Vegan Cadbury Cream Eggs!

I hope you all had a beautiful Ostara (spring equinox)!
As it was so mild and pretty out, I clean off our deck and we
ate out there for the first time ever! So nice, not to mention
I spent a nice morning getting some vitamin D (and prolly skin
cancer too).

I couldn't help but want to show you all the pretty salad
we had with dinner. The spring sun caught all the colours!


To celebrate the first day of spring I made my absolute-
all time favorite candy ever. This may sound strange, but
when other people were worrying over cheese when they went vegan...
I was worrying about Cadbury Eggs.

But I'm not one to let my junk food habits control my lifestyle.
Besides, I'd just have to make them myself. And I did.

Now these are pretty messy to make and look more like the
reeses peanut butter eggs than the nice round cadbury eggs.
But I am not gonna buy an egg shaped mold just for these.
I am considering buying a little heart shaped one though and
that way I can use it for other things. But for now they are
a little flat.

I veganized and halved the original recipe because I didn't
want 2 dozen Cadbury eggs sitting around the house, beggin to
be eaten. Thats just dangerous.

Vegan Cadbury Cream Eggs



Ingredients

1/4 cup a sugar syrup, corn, brown rice, etc
3 tablespoons earthbalance
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups of vegan powdered sugar, sifted
dash of salt
food coloring
1/2 a bag of semi sweet or dark vegan chocolate chips

Mix together the sugar syrup, 2 tbsp earthbalance, extract,
and salt. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat well.

Pull out a quarter of the fondant and add a few drops of
natural yellow food coloring*.


Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until very firm.
You can also freeze it if you are an impatient ninja.

Next, you have to work quickly, as the warmth of your hands
will melt the fondant and make it sticky.

Dampen your hands (very lightly) and scoop a rounded teaspoon
of yellow into a flat tbsp of white. Encase the yellow in the
white fondant, wrapping it in a layer twice as thick.

(I need to emphasize again, that this is very messy and can
get frustrating)

Place on a greased plate or pan. If the fondant is at all warm
it will still stick despite the oil, so don't worry- its not you.
Try and get them as egg shaped as you can. A couple of mine were
very circular and funky.


Freeze or chill for at least four more hours.
Right before that time is up and your fillings are almost
completely hard, start on your chocolate.

Melt it with a tablespoon of earthbalance over low heat.
You can either drop your eggs in and roll them in one at a time
or skewer them on a kabab to coat them. Since the chocolate is
warm you will have to again, work quickly.


Once they've been coated, chill again, coat once more, chill
and then!!! The moment we've all been waiting for-- NOM nom nom!




*Here are some links if you want to look into natural, vegan,
vegetable, non-cancer causing food colouring.

Indian Tree Natural Food Colourings
Sustainablog's listings of vegan food colouring
Nature's Flavors Organic Food Colouring

Easy Soup: ABCs & Vegan Candy Bars to the stars

Busy with school the past week I've needed fast, quick fix foods
for dinner. But no crap that was gonna make me crash or leave me
hungry and coked out on fats.

I think soup has got to be one of the easiest things to cook.
They can be made fast or slow, you can put whatever you want in
them, and even if its going badly they are so easy to fix or
change into something amazing.

I found some cute alphabet pasta last week so I decided to make
a tofu noodle soup. Its a pretty straight forward list of ingredients...

1/2 onion
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup cabbage
1 carrot, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
1/2 block tofu
3-4 cups vegetable broth
1 white basil
salt and pepper to taste
3 oz of small pasta

Just saute your onions and garlic in a little bit of water
over medium heat until translucent and fragrant. I used
vegetable bouillon cubes and thin them out with water, so
whatever you choose is fine. Add the vegetables next adding
the water/broth slowly. Add your basil and let simmer until
your veg is getting tender. Add your pasta ensuring that
there is enough water or broth to be absorbed without leaving
your soup like stew. Once your pasta starts to cook, add the
tofu (extra firm) cut into cubes and continue to cook until
your pasta is al dente and tofu is warm through.

Add the salt and pepper to taste.
I had mine with a slice of toasted wheat sourdough from TJs.
(AHH, I'm so hungry right now!!!)

Over the weekend I hung out at Monkey Man's and we hit up the
whole foods in Pasadena where we picked up our second vegan
candy bar from Go Max Go Foods.
The first we had was the Jokers bar, which I guess is like a
snickers and was pretty darn tasty, but this is the one I was
really dying to try.



The Twilight bar is pure Milky Way Goodness. Its like getting
a vegan shot of heroin. Sorry, I don't know why I'm doing all
these comparisons with drugs today. But it was good.
Only difference that you can taste is a little bit of the rice
flavor from the rice milk in the chocolate. It comes across as
coconut at first, but its real subtle.

Sorry the pictures are kinda bad, they were taken in a dark car.



Perfect chocolate, smooth caramel, and oh so fluffy... stuff.
Nougat? I don't know! Its fuffy! And its GOOD!

Baking for Haiti: Brownies and Croissant

I waited almost too long to post this... but nearly two
weeks ago I whipped up a storm in the oven for a vegan
bake sale that was going down at Locali in LA to raise
money for Doctors Without Borders' relief efforts in
Haiti.

I haven't been posting until now because its midterms
for those of us on a quarter system. Grad midterms, ouch.
Thats all I've got to say.

But I originally signed up to make a couple versions of
brownies. I was already studying so I grabbed a couple
recipes that I knew I could depend on.

Naturally I picked Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's brownie
recipe from the Joy of Vegan Baking. All I can really
say about these is that... honestly... the are epitome
of what a brownie is.



Fudgy and packed with chocolate chips.
I also tried Alicia Silverstone's Coffee Brownies
from the Kind Diet. It calls for brown rice flour, so
it comes out like chocolate mochi cake that is really
popular in Hawaii. Its topped with a nice frosting
made with chocolate chips and earth balance. The coffee
taste is really subtle and slightly smoking. They were
good but better if you just want some mochi, not really
too brownie like to me.



I was going to make a batch of my sunbutter brownies,
but sadly I ran out of sugar. So I just stuck with the
real project that I was focusing on....



About a month ago I had a friend ask me to veganize croissants.
It took some planning and a lot of tweaking, but SHAZAM!







'Buttery', Flaky, beautiful layers!
They came out of the oven just as we were leaving,
so perfect timing. But they are horribly time consuming,
so you have to plan ahead.















From all these amazing goodies we picked a root bear
float cupcake and a green tea cupcake. Both pretty
awesome. I'm not really cake person, but they were
num. Especially for such a good cause!

Three Days until Christmas: tremendous amounts of Truffles

I Completely admit that I probably went way overboard
with the truffles. I made a lot. Then with all the
sugar plums? Lets just say we have enough Christmas treats
to go around. I showed you guys the peppermint truffles.
I did a few other version that I thought you may enjoy!

Although there is seriously no way you could not enjoy these
unless of course you are allergic to chocolate and then I
am very very sorry for you. These vegan truffles are smooth,
soft and melt perfectly in your mouth (and probably anywhere
else warm you leave them for long).


















I talked about starting from chocolate chips...
And the soymilk


















The Ganache which is just chocolate and 'cream', whipped.

















Now, before I added finely chopped dried cranberries,
but this time I also added one orange's worth the zest
and 1 tsp of vanilla extract.

































If you have a hankering for one of those chocolate
oranges that you smack on the table to open, this is your
cure. But I'm not too sure about how hard you wanna smack
these truffles on the table.



























































































The other variations I made had about 1/2 cup of finely
chopped walnuts and gingerbread filled.
The gingerbread ones are probably the best because the
gingerbread is so soft and hold the overwhelming richness
of the chocolate back just enough. I dusted them in dutch
cocoa powder or plain vegan powdered sugar.

So altogether I made about 6 batches of truffles, the peppermint,
the cranberry-orange truffles, the gingerbread filled truffles, the
walnut truffles and variations of all those in between!