Bunny Cake.

For the icing:
2 packages Tofutti cream cheesey goodness.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
2 teaspoons orange zest.
5-6 tablespoons Agave sweetener.

Mix all the ingredients together. I heated the tofutti in the microwave for 35 seconds to help it melt.
Then stir in ¼ cup melted chocolate, to taste.

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.

Orange Cake with Okanagan Preserve Glaze

I wanted to make this for Christmas Eve, but was out voted in favor of Chocolate. Everyone missed out, because this turned out great. It was a moment of inspiration to add the peach preserves.

Orange cake

350 degree oven 30 minutes 9" round or square pan greased or lined with parchment paper

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup orange juice - I used not from concentrate in a carton
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon orange rind
Stir together dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add wet ingredients, stir just enough to combine. Pour into pan and bake. Warm preserves and spoon over cake.

Apple Upside-Down Cake

This tasty little cake won 2nd place in the 2nd Annual Apple Bake Off at the UVic Geography Department. Yeah.

Caramel-apple topping (bottoming?):
1/2 c brown sugar
2 T margarine, melted
3 c baking apples, very thinly sliced (1-2 large)
1/2 c pecans or walnuts, chopped

Cake:
1 1/2 c unbleached white flour
3/4 c cane sugar
2 1/2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 c soy milk
1/4 c oil
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 t vanilla

Preheat over to 350F.
Oil the sides of a 9" cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
Mix dry cake ingredients in a medium mixing bowl, set aside.
Mix wet cake ingredients, set aside and let sit for a couple of minutes.
Combine hot melted margarine and brown sugar. Spread this caramel mixture over the bottom of the cake pan.
Arrange apples in a pretty pattern on top of caramel. Top with nuts.
Combine wet and dry cake ingredients, stirring just to mix.
Pour cake batter over apples, use a spatula to gently spread the batter evenly over the apples.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cake tests done in the middle.
Let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before removing from the cake pan.

Notes on a "healthier" version:
This morning I made a somewhat healthier version of this cake for breakfast. I replaced 1 c of the white flour with whole wheat flour and reduced the sugar in the cake batter to 1/2 c. I also added an extra cup of apple slices and tried substituting water for margarine in the caramel sauce. It turned out tasty and still quite sweet, however, the caramel sauce stayed thin and ended up making the cake a little soggy in the middle.

Blueberry Crumble

A lovely summery crumble. The addition of pecans in the topping makes it even more special.

Filling:
4 c blueberries
2 T lemon juice
2 T flour
2 T cane sugar
1/2 t vanilla

Topping:
1/4 C margarine, melted
1/3 C brown sugar
3/4 C flour
3/4 C quick-cooking oats
1/3 C pecans, finely chopped
1/4 t salt
1/8 t each allspice and cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.
Toss blueberries with remaining filling ingredients until coated.
Place blueberry mixture in a pie pan.
Combine margarine and sugar. Add remaining topping ingredients and mix until an even, but still coarse, texture is reached.
Spread topping evenly over blueberries.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.

Rhubarb Crumble

Before this crumble, I had never cooked with rhubarb, although I have ordered many a slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie. Rhubarb is in season on the island right now, so I ordered a couple of pounds and experimented.

Filling:
5 c rhubarb, diced
1 c cane sugar
1 c water
2 T cornstarch
2 T orange juice
1 t vanilla

Crust:
3/4 c flour
3/4 c oats
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c margarine, melted
1/4 t salt
1 t cinnamon
pinch of cloves

Preheat oven to 350F.
Arrange rhubarb in a 9" pie plate.
Combine cane sugar and cornstarch in a sauce pan, whisk in water and orange juice. Heat, stirring frequently, until mixture reaches a boil.
Remove from heat and add vanilla.
Pour sauce over rhubarb.

For the crust:
Mix margarine and brown sugar together, combine with remaining crust ingredients. The crust mixture should end up with an even, coarse texture (don't let any of those sneaky little sugar lumps stick around).
Spread crust evenly over rhubarb.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until rhubarb is soft.

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.

Lemon Tofu Cheesecake

Super-duper lemony good!

Make Tofu Cheesecake, but add an extra 1/4 c sugar, and increase lemon juice to 1/3 c. This is good with kiwi slices on top.

Tofu Cheesecake!

What can I say? It's cheesecake! It's tofu! Fantastico!

1 block (3 cups) firm tofu (not the silken kind)
1/4 c lemon juice
1/2 c oil (canola or safflower is good)
1 c sugar
1 t vanilla
1/8 t almond extract
pinch salt

Press as much water out of the tofu as you can by squeezing it mercilessly between your hands or pressing under something heavy. Blend everything until creamy, with no lumps left at all. I find that blending it in two batches is much easier in my blender.

Pour into a graham cracker crust (see below) and bake at 325F for 50 minutes. Refrigerate for at least six hours before eating (I know, it's torture, but the cheesecake really needs a chance to set).

Graham Cracker Crust:
1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs (about 22 graham crackers, chopped in blender or crushed in a plastic bag)
1/4 c margarine, melted

Combine ingredients and press into a 9" glass pie dish. Could it be any more simple? Or delicious? No!

Banana Bliss Ice Cream

Branden's parents gave us a nice little ice cream maker when they came to visit. It's taken us a little while to start experimenting with it, but this ice cream was worth the wait! We made an orange sorbet first (just orange juice and sugar). This is the first creamy ice cream we tried, and it just blew us away! It was so much better than I expected a first try to be. Just be warned: you may not be able to stop eating this once you've made it, the recipe makes something like a quart, and we finished it off in about 24 hours.

3 c soy milk
2 bananas
4-6 T oil
6-8 T liquid sweetener
1 T vanilla extract
2 T cornstarch
Pinch of salt

Blend everything until smooth.
Heat on low-heat, stirring constantly, until just about to boil (the first bubbles should just be starting to burst).
Let cool until at room temperature (I put the whole pot in the refrigerator).
Freeze according to the directions for your ice cream maker.

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.

Sweet Potato Pie

I brought this to Canadian Thanksgiving Potluck #2, and ate the leftovers for breakfast the next two days. Even Branden, a sworn sweet potato and pumpkin pie dis-liker, liked it.

1 pie crust
1.25 c mashed cooked sweet potatoes
1 T margarine, at room temperature
.5 c soft tofu
1 c soy milk
1 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 t cinnamon
.5 t salt
.25 t ground ginger
.25 t ground nutmeg
.25 t ground cloves
Pecans

Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Puree sweet potatoes, margarine, tofu, and soymilk in a blender until completely smooth.
Pour into a mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Pour into pie shell, bake for 50 minutes.
Refrigerate over night, or until firm.
Decorate with pecans.

Quick Banana Bread

I was in a bit of a hurry earlier today and made this in 10 minutes.

.5 c butter substitute
2 medium bananas
.5 c brown sugar
.5 c unbleached sugar
1 t baking powder
.5 t salt
.5 t vanilla
dash cinnamon
.5 c unsweetened apple sauce (or another banana)
.25 c soy milch
2 c whole wheat flour
.5 c chopped walnuts

Melt butter, mash bananas, add everything else (walnuts last). Toss 4*8" pan in oven at 350F for about 50 minutes. You can do everything in the baking pan to minimize cleanup. Reduce sugar if you're using sweetened apple sauce. Eliminate soy milk for a less moist texture. Or try cupcakes. Enjoy!

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