Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread

When I originally made Celine's brioche recipe I knew it would be a recipe that I would make several times. I also knew I had to try her pull apart variation, especially since it has a much shorter chilling time.
I'm going to be honest with you, I have never been a cinnamon bun fan. I love the swirls of cinnamon through the dough, but I don't desire the too sweet sticky icing ever. That is not to say that there have not been a few low points where I have devoured a grocery store, chemically vegan cinnamon bun or two. But if I were planning out a breakfast option for friends, I would choose this cinnamon sugar variation over buns. The pull apart bread is positively to die for. It's slightly yeasty and just enough sweet. No toothaches necessary.
You will need a mixer with a dough hook, a rolling pin, and a pretty specific pan size. I didn't have a 7.75 inch x 3.75 inch x 2.75 inch pan. I did have a pan that was about 5 inches longer and similar heights and depths. I put in all the squares of cut dough because they fit, but during baking a few of them popped out. I was glad for the foil I put down on the oven rack below. If you have a smaller pan, just put in a fraction of the dough. If you have a slightly larger pan, the pieces might fall over a bit during a baking so that they pull off a bit weird. You could also split the dough into two mini loafs. Or even bake the bread in rose form like Tiffany for a real 'aww' factor.


Also, if you make this bread early in the morning your whole house will smell heavenly for most of the afternoon. That's the kind of aromatherapy I enjoy.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

There's been a lot of changes in my life lately. In the past few weeks I took a leave of absence from graduate school and got offered a job as the head baker at a vegan bakery opening this spring. As the bakery is still being renovated, I am temporarily working as a pastry assistant in Great Sage, the vegan restaurant the group also owns. I've been learning a whole lot about baking on commercial equipment, lifting 30 pound boxes of vegan cream cheese onto top shelves of walk in fridges, and adjusting to the quick pace of a kitchen during brunch service.
I've also been adjusting to working weekends and having off on random weekdays. One of those random weekdays was a quiet, dreary Monday. I could feel myself coming down with a cold. So after filling myself with a fruit smoothie and vitamin C pills I walked across the eerily empty street and bought a pint of blueberries. I went home to catch up on silly TV shows, while I baked these muffins and drank a lot of hot tea.


Blueberry Streusel Muffins
This will make 6 jumbo muffins or a dozen standard size.

1/4 cup Earth Balance
1/3 cup Turbinado
1/4 cup applesauce
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup almond milk
2& 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1& 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Streusel topping
1/4 cup Turbinado
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1& 1/2 tbsp cold Earth Balance

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream Earth Balance and sugar. Add applesauce, vanilla, & milk. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder salt, and cinnamon. Add half the dry mixture to the wet, mix to incorporate, and repeat. Fold in the blueberries by hands. Fill liners 3/4 full with batter.
Combine all streusel ingredients. Cut the butter into the sugar and flour using a fork and some patience. Sprinkle on top of muffins. Bake for 28-33 minutes or until toothpick comes out cleanly.


These muffins are really, really dense. If you want a light, airy muffin this is not for you. This was a first attempt at this recipe, so I have a few changes that I suggest. Next time I might add even more blueberries, as the flavor was not quite as strong as I would like. I would probably add additional cinnamon. I might even attempt to throw in a handful of oats next time around to add a bit more texture.
If you are going to use frozen blueberries, make sure you keep them in the freeze until you are putting the batter into the muffin liners. Otherwise your berries will start to melt and ooze and turn the batter all purple, unless you are into that kind of thing.


Has anyone else had any wild life changes recently? It is both terrifying and exciting.

Rocky Road Ice Cream

So maybe last night when I told you about my cupboard full of marshmallows, chocolate, and waffle bowls you could have guessed what was coming. Winter aside, my ice cream maker has been getting a lot of use. I made this rocky road ice cream to try and finish up a few loose ends. A bag of slivered almonds left over from the fruit tarts, a few marshmallows left over from rice crispy treats, and a bar of dark chocolate that only got partially eaten during a stressful study session.


I used the chocolate ice cream recipe from The Vegan Scoop, my new favorite cookbook. I used a mixture of regular Ghiradelli cocoa powder and melted dark chocolate, because I wanted the ice cream to be pretty dark. It was definitely chocolatey and rich, but next time I might even try a higher percentage cocoa. Seventy eight didn't have quite enough of a bitter edge for me.
For the batch of ice cream I used around 1/3 cup of slivered almonds and I cut around 8 Sweet & Sara marshmallows into fourths. I would recommend hand mixing those into the ice cream just as you are placing it into the container for the freezer. If you put them in the machine they are more likely to get stuck together or so covered in ice cream that they look less appealing.
This ice cream was my favorite so far. The chocolate flavor was rich, the almonds added just enough crunch, and the marshmallows froze really hard to add a bit more texture and creaminess to the mix.
I recently signed up for my first CSA, so I will have fresh fruits and vegetables for most of the summer and fall. I am pretty excited to turn some of those fruits into seasonal ice cream flavors! There are so many great ice cream flavors in my head already and with Hannah Kaminsky working on an ice cream book, I know there will be plenty more I am adding to that 'to spin' list.
Do you like really dark chocolates? I use to think they were too bitter for me to eat. But recently I have been finding them really enjoyable. Do you recommend any chocolate brands?

Nutella Stuffed Cookies

Almost a month ago I found a jar of accidentally vegan nutella. I knew I wanted to make with the other half of the jar, but I had to keep it around for a little longer. Just to savor it. I know I can make more now that it's gone, but sometimes I have a bit of problem with kitchen hoarding. As a child I had a play kitchen, and unbeknownst to my mother, I used that kitchen to store cookies and chocolate and all sorts of treats. My secret wasn't revealed until my baby sister found the chocolate, sat down and covered herself & her white dress in it. Sometimes when I open my cupboards I still see that pattern. The visible items tend to be vegan marshmallows, a pound bar of chocolate, waffle cone bowls, and maybe a can of soup peaking through if it's a good week.
So I finally broke the spell and finished the jar. While nutella swirled blondies were good, nutella stuffed cookies were infinitely better! I used a recipe from Cookin' Canuck for guidance, and veganized it by just subbing in Earth Balance and Ener-G. I felt it was fairly reliable as it pretty closely resembled the recipe for chocolate chip cookie dough I use. I was not disappointed. The cookies were soft and chewy, with the nutella staying melted even hours after they had cooled. They were rapidly consumed at a friends birthday party, which leads me to believe that I need to break out my stash of hazelnuts hidden somewhere in that cupboard. There have been several nutella recipes floating around the internet. It's basically just pureeing toasted hazelnuts with either melted chocolate or cocoa powder. If you don't feel like winging it, then I think Chocolate Covered Katie's recipe might be a good place to start.
Rolling the cookies in sugar gave them a wonderful exterior, so I recommend splurging on it this once. Also don't forget to add the salt! It really makes these cookies special. I also gave the cookies a few grinds of pink sea salt while they were still warm to amp up the sweet & salty combo.


Do you find yourself storing away special foods that you can't bear to finish off yet? I can't be the only one who does this. I do at meals too. I have always saved my favorite foods for the last few bites of the meal. Except for when I eat leftover cupcakes for breakfast, that's just starting the day off right.

Homemade Milk Duds & A Very Caramel Filled Valentine's Day

I have never been the biggest fan of Valentine's Day. I tend to lean more towards the cynical side and normally disgusted by the intensely commercialized pseudo-holiday. If you care about a person, I think you show them on most days rather than save it for mid-February when you give them a stuffed animal.
All these negative feelings aside, my partner and I celebrated Valentine's Day this year. I was given a really terrific sampler from Obsessive Confection Disorder. The rice crispy treats were soft and chewy and partially dipped in chocolate. The caramels were beautiful. Each had a few flecks of gold leaf on top!


I decided to keep with the caramel theme and make him homemade milk duds. I have made them once before, by simply dipping caramels I bought from Pangea in chocolate. But this time I knew I wanted to try to make my own caramels. I used the recipe from Dog Hill Kitchen again, this time heating it to the higher temperature suggested for candy rather than for a sauce. I poured the caramel in an 8x8" pan and let it cool for 30ish minutes. I then used a knife to help me pull off small chunks of caramel that I rolled in my hands to small balls. If the caramel is still a little too warm, the balls will tend to flatten again as they harden. You can reroll these in your hands a few minutes later if that is the case, or just have disks instead of balls. After these cooled I dipped them in melted dark chocolate. And voila, homemade milk duds.


Now while this all sounds lovely, there were a few problems with the caramel. It set a bit too hard. I had intended to cut the rest of the slab of caramel into small pieces and wrap them in parchment. While I managed to cut a few, I knew it was futile and dangerous to attempt to cut the other pound. Instead I broke it into a few large rectangles and rolled into a rough rose shape. I intended it to just be an inedible centerpiece, but of course he plans on eating them. I hope he doesn't break a tooth.


I also attempted some homemade Snickers bars, but those were a total failure. The nougat I attempted was way too soft and when combined with the too hard caramel, the texture was just really off. Maybe I will give it another shot in the future.
I know there are plenty of Go Max Go bars replacing the candies that I miss, but I haven't found a good peppermint patty yet. Maybe that will be next? Are there other candies or candy bars you haven't seen veganized and hope for?

Brioche

There is nothing that I crave more than bread. It's so satisfying and filling. I've been really interest in homemade breads lately. The loaves at grocery stores are rarely milk, honey, and corn syrup free, so I thought it would be best to do it myself. And if I am going to make bread, then I want it to be something really rich.
I had seen Celine's brioche recipe in the summer, but didn't have a standing mixer with a dough hook. I have been patiently biding my time, and now I can make it as frequently as I want. Granted, this bread is no after thought. There is almost a day in preparation as you must let it refrigerate for several hours. I made my dough in the evening and let it chill overnight, because the smell of bread baking makes for a really wonderful morning.
Not only was the bread delicious alone, but it made amazing stuffed french toast. I used a silken tofu batter full of spices and vanilla bean and stuffed it with a cream cheese & strawberry mixture. This picture does not do the taste of the stuffed toast justice. The hint of coconut in the bread works really well with the other french toast flavors.


If you love bread, then I highly recommend this recipe. It isn't challenging, and only takes a little patience due to the chilling time. Do you make your own breads?

Tea Cup Cakes & Coconut Frosting

While I am a fairly proactive person in terms of reducing waste, reusing what is possible, and recycling, I have had trouble with silicone cupcake liners. I have tried twice before, but they always seemed to rip the cake or bake oddly. Unless you are having friends over, reusable liners also make serving the cupcakes to people a bit more difficult. These are the only silicone mold that I have considered buying in years. I saw them on a clearance shelf, and thought about how impractical it was to buy them. I went home and looked more up on the internet, and decided to go back and buy them anyways.
These are from Birkmann, a European company, and sold under the name of CakeCups. There's also an American version by Fred & Friends that were a little cheaper, if you wanted to order some online. These would be adorable for a tea party or little girl's birthday. I would also love to make a tea or coffee flavored cake to really step up the game.
I recently bought a container of Earth Balance's coconut spread. When I used it in the confetti cookies, I knew it would make a wonderful coconut frosting. The frosting was light & airy, similar to a whipped cream frosting. It was so light in fact that as I tried to top the cupcakes with chocolate covered cherries, a few of them sunk right through the frosting! Keep in mind that things which contain coconut oil turn to liquids when they are warm, so you really have to wait until these cupcakes are cool to frost them.


Coconut Frosting
(enough to lightly frost twelve cupcakes)

1/2 cup Earth Balance coconut spread
~2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons almond milk

Warm coconut spread to room temperature. Beat until smooth. Add powdered sugar and milk, until desired consistency. Beat several minutes on high speed until very fluffy. Spread or pipe onto cupcakes. Frosting will thicken as it sits.



I ate one of these with a cup of hot blueberry hibiscus tea. It's such a beautiful shade of red. And then pink and white cupcakes?! Maybe I am getting Valentine's fever after all.

Do you like silicone molds? I bought another pack last night that I thought might work too. I'm not sure if I could ever stop using cupcake liners. They are so beautiful! At least I reduce my paper waste by using kitchen towels instead of napkins?