Thai Brownie Cookies

The problem with Thai food is a distinct lack of brownie cookies. Thus:

1/2 can coconut milk
1 t red Thai chili paste
8-10 oz dark chocolate (I used 72%)
1 cup raw sugar
1 medium-large banana, smooshed
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 t real vanilla
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 3/4 cups flour

Heat the first three ingredients gently until chocolate melts. Remove from heat, then add everything else in order. Bake at 325F for 12-13 minutes. Let sit on cookie sheet for a few minutes before serving.

Appreciate the separate waves of flavour. Think "cookies" when next you're asked to bring a dessert to a Thai dinner. Try coconut milk next time you run out of margarine for baking.

German Chocolate Cake, a saga

Branden requested German Chocolate Cake for his birthday. All I knew about German Chocolate Cake was that it was a) chocolate, and b) covered in some sort of coconut-pecan frosting. So I had to do some research. In searching for a recipe, I uncovered a conspiracy as profound as the sweet potato scandal... German Chocolate Cake is not the least bit German. It is in fact Texan, and is named German after "German's Chocolate", which is made by Baker's (which is all awful pseudo-chocolate, by the way). Furthermore, German's Chocolate is not German; it was called German after this guy named German, but even he wasn't German, he was British.

German Chocolate Cake should have "German's" chocolate and should be made with buttermilk, being Texan. The frosting should indeed involve pecans and coconut, but may also involve caramel, and may share the cake with chocolate frosting.

I couldn't bring myself to use Baker's chocolate, but I did figure out how to make soy buttermilk. I made two frostings, one a lightly caramelized pecan-coconut and one a simple chocolate buttercream-type frosting. Also, I served some of my banana bliss ice cream with the cake.

The birthday-party-goers, all in Viking attire (even if that consisted only of an authentic viking name tag), exclaimed loudly about the cake and then immediately started to fall asleep on our living room floor. So be careful, don't eat german chocolate cake and drive.

Now onto the recipe...

For the cake, I used Morgana's Chocolate Cake recipe. However, I used soy "buttermilk" instead of water. To make the buttermilk, I mixed 2 c of soy milk with the vinegar (I used white vinegar) called for in the original recipe, and let it sit for about ten minutes before adding it to the other ingredients.

Coconut-Pecan Frosting
1/2 c margarine
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c soy milk
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c shredded coconut
1 c pecans, chopped

Melt margarine, add sugar. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick, sticky, and lightly caramelized. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, and cook, stirring frequently, for twelve minutes. Cool for a minute or two, until it is a spreadable consistency, before frosting the cake.

Chocolate Frosting
1/2 c margarine, softened
2 c sugar
1/3 c cocoa powder
2-4 T soy milk
1 T vanilla
pinch salt

Cream all the ingredients together, using only as much soy milk as is needed to make it spreadable. You may want to chill the cake in a refrigerator after frosting to make sure the frosting is totally set before serving.

Dense and Easy Chocolate Torte

1 c butter substitute (try Earth Balance)
1.5 c good chocolate chips (try Guittard)
3 T powdered egg replacer
1 c soy milk
.5 c sugar
1 t vanilla
1 c almond flour (or walnut flour)
.5 c whole wheat flour

Melt butter-substitute and chocolate chips in a mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk egg replacer with milk. Add sugar and vanilla, then combine with melted stuff. Fold in flours. Bake in an ungreased 9" round pan or springform for 55 minutes at 325F. Let sit for a half hour, then refrigerate. When cooled, frost with vegan ganache:

1 c good chocolate chips
2 T butter substitute
.75 c soy milk

Melt butter and chocolate, add milk, stir until smooth, cool until it slows down a little, then drizzle over torte. Refrigerate frosted torte for at least an hour before serving. It's great with milk or coffee.

Fancy-Pants Almond-Mocha Tofu Cheesecake

In one word: impressive. If this still isn't fancy-pants enough for you, try making an almond-graham crust by substituting almond meal for 1/2 c of the graham cracker crumbs in the original graham cracker crust recipe, then decorate the cheesecake with sliced almonds.

1 block firm tofu (not silken)
2/3 c sugar
1/2 c oil (canola or safflower is good)
1/3 c strongly brewed coffee
1 t vanilla
1/3 t almond extract
pinch salt
1 c dark chocolate chips

Press as much water out of the tofu as you can by squeezing it relentlessly between your hands or pressing under something heavy. Blend everything but the chocolate until creamy and smooth (this may be easier in two smaller batches). Melt chocolate on the stove, being careful not to let it burn. Stir chocolate into tofu mixture, combining thoroughly. Pour into a graham cracker crust. Bake at 300F for 55 minutes.

Chocolate-Banana Muffins

Here is another great muffin recipe adapted from the Post Punk Kitchen forums. It has a very cake-like texture, so I think I may try to make it into a cake someday.

3/4 c sugar
5 T margarine
1 t vanilla
1 banana
1 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 c cocoa
1/4 t salt
2/3 c soy milk

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Mix sugar, margarine and vanilla. Add banana to sugar mixture and mash with a potato masher. Separately, combine flour, baking powder, cocoa, and salt. Add flour mixture and soy milk to the sugar mixture, combining thoroughly but gently. Pour into 12 muffin cups, bake for about 20 minutes.

chocolate chip cookies

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons EarthBalance
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups dark chocolate cut up in to little chips, or carob/dark chocolate chips.

Pre-heat the oven to 375F, grease cookie sheets or use wax paper.
mix the flour, baking soda, EarthBalance,sugar and brown sugar together. Then mix in the egg replacer, salt and vanilla.
then add the chocolate.
mix everything well.
drop blobs of cookie dough about 1 or 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets.
bake one sheet at a time for 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges.
take out the baked cookies of the oven, let them cool for 2 minutes then move to a plate.

enjoy
-morgana