I Lied

I know, I know, I said I would do my SoyQuick review, but I need another picture for the post and I forgot to take it, so hopefully that will be up tomorrow.

In the mean time I thought I'd share this with you. I was asked a couple of weekends ago to make a cake for a birthday party. Aside from choosing chocolate when I asked what flavor she wanted the host gave me free reign on everything else. That aways makes me nervous, but I finally settled on a bunt cake, since the party was pretty small and I like the way they present (plus it is easier to transport than a dozen cupcakes). 

I used a pretty basic "wacky cake" recipe. I like it because the cake itself is not tooth-achingly sweet, so you can add other stuff and it won't be overkill. To this one I added semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter which become little, melty surprises as you eat the cake. I frosted it with a poured chocolate fondant (inspired by VeganYumYum's post). It was my first time working with poured fondant and my result came out a bit... lumpy, as you can see here:

There was some remaining in the pot after I poured most of it over the top, so I reheated it and painted it onto the sides of the cake. It worked pretty well. Then I gave the whole thing a sprinkle of confectioners sugar - which covers a multitude of sins as you can see from the first picture. I made a simple strawberry sauce (chopped fresh strawberries and some sugar, mix and let stand) to serve alongside. The host told me later that everyone enjoyed it, which gives me warm, fuzzy feelings. I was glad for the opportunity; I love to cook for others. 

Tip of the Day:

If you like to take salad for lunch but usually avoid it because it gets soggy from the dressing by the time you are ready to eat I have a solution for you.  

This is just a $1 spice bottle with the shaker top removed. I like it because it is small (I always feel silly putting a tablespoon or two of dressing in a 1/2 cup container) and glass, so it won't hold on to smells. The lid screws on securely for leak-proof transport and easy shaking when you are ready to eat (I was using a baby food jar for awhile, but it was difficult to properly secure the lid and it frequently leaked). In this case I made the dressing right in the jar - 1 tbsp flax oil, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, and a pinch of salt. I buy nearly all my spices in bulk so this is my standard spice bottle, easily found at you local home goods store. No more soggy lettuce!

VeganMoFo: Scones

This is a really easy recipe that you can make in advance of serving. I made them the night before. It is based on the orange scone recipe from VWaV, but I made it healthier and punched up the flavor.

Cranberry-Orange Scones

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 tbsp baking power

1/2 tbsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup dried cranberries

zest from one large orange

juice from same orange (about a 1/2 cup)

3/4 cup hemp milk + enough to make 1 1/4 cup liquid total

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce

2 tbsp light oil

1 tsp orange extract

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Combine flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cranberries in a large bowl and set aside. 

Juice orange and add hemp milk to equal 1 1/4 cups liquid. Add remaining ingredients and whisk to combine. Pour into dry ingredients and mix just until dry is incorporated, a few streaks of flour are okay.

To make triangles: divide dough in half. Pat out one half into a thick circle on a lightly floured surface. Cut into six or eight wedges (a pizza wheel is great for this). Place on baking sheet 2 inches apart and repeat with second half of dough. 

To make rough circles: drop by 1/3 or 1/2 cup portions onto baking sheet 2 inches apart. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until sides no longer look doughy. They will not get very brown. 

Cool completely. Glaze if desired (below). Eat. Be happy.

Glaze

This is not essential, but is very yummy, especially if you are serving these by themselves.

zest of 1 small orange

3 tbsp orange juice

about 1 cup powdered sugar

Whisk all ingredients together. You want a thick, but pourable glaze. Drizzle over scones. Allow to dry before you eat unless you want sticky fingers.

Feel-Good Banana Bread

Banana bread was one of the first things I learned to bake, was one of the first recipes I veganized, and remains one of my favorite comfort foods. However, it is not perfect... until now. As much as I love it, and despite the fact that it contains a substantial amount of fruit, it is usually not health food. Most recipes call for quite a bit of butter/margarine, white flour, and sugar. I've been playing with my recipe in an effort to make something that is both tasty and does not make me feel gross and I think I've got it, finally. I named it thusly because it makes your mouth and your body happy.

Feel-Good Banana Bread

This recipe makes two loaves. You can half it, but I always just make a double batch and either freeze one until we are ready for it, or gift it.

2 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup toasted oat bran
1/3 cup raw wheat germ
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
6-7 medium, very ripe bananas, mashed well
6 oz plain soy yogurt
1/4 cup light oil (I used 2 tbsp each of plain and toasted walnut oil) or melted earth balance
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup ground flax
1/2 cup water

Adjust the rack of your oven to the lower middle position and preheat to 350. Grease and flour two loaf pans (I use Baker's Joy).

Mix together all your dry ingredients, flour through salt, in a large bowl and set aside.

Mix the ground flax and water in a small bowl and set aside while you mix the rest of the wet ingredients. Mix yogurt into mashed bananas in a medium bowl (if you do this immediately after mashing the bananas they won't oxidize). Mix in oil, applesauce, and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. Beat flax and water mixture with a whisk for a minute or so to build up the viscosity then add to banana mixture and mix until fairly uniform (you will still have small chunks of banana).

Pour the wet mixture into the dry and fold together just until combined; a few streaks of flour are okay, it's more important to not over mix. Divide evenly between the two loaf pans (since my loaf pans are identical I use my kitchen scale for this so I am really sure it is as even as possible).

Bake about an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out nearly clean, a few moist crumbs are ideal. This bread browns very easily so keep and eye on it and cover lightly with a foil tent when it looks good, I did this about half way though the baking time.

Cool in pan 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or let cool completely and then store in refrigerator if you are going to eat it quickly or well-wrapped in the freezer for longer storage.

This is yummy with a shmear of Earth Balance, which is B's preferred way of consuming it, but it is so moist on it's own that it is really just gilding the lily.