Crepes

While crepes might not technically be baking, these still fall in the realm of sweet foods. I already told you how I feel about breakfast, so you can't blame me for sneaking this in. I have never had non-vegan crepes before, so I'm not sure how they compare. But these were so, so lovely and not at all difficult to make. I have never tried a recipe from vegan yum yum that I didn't like.
I made a berry compote by heating fresh strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries in a little agave for a few minutes. I placed a few tablespoons of this in the middle of the crepe, folded in thirds, and dusted them with powdered sugar.

Nog Cupcakes

I don't really remember what eggnog tastes like, but I remember it being really thick and creamy. While I have always enjoyed drinking Silk's line of holiday drinks, the Silk nog just doesn't have the consistency that I want. I was so excited when I first found So Delicious coconut milk nog. The texture is perfect, and it tastes great. It's sweet and satisfying enough that I only want to drink a tiny glass and not the whole quart.
I have baked with both Silk nog and coconut milk before and thought that this epic combination would be even better. My experiment didn't prove to be necessarily true. I adapted the vanilla cupcake recipe from VCTOTW by using a cup of coconut nog in place of soy milk and adding a dash of nutmeg. The cake turned out really dense, the bottom was dark brown before the top was fully baked, and the taste wasn't quite what I was hoping for.
I also made a nog frosting using shortening, coconut nog, powdered sugar, nutmeg, vanilla bean paste, and a bit of flour to thicken it. I don't have any measurements because I made it on a whim, just tossing things in until I got the right consistency and taste. The coconut nog worked much, much better in the frosting than in the cake. I piped these with a Wilton 1M tip.
They might not have been up to my standards, but at least they looked pretty.


Have you baked with coconut nog? Did you have a similar experience or was yours a success?

Cranberry Orange Bread

Today was one of those Sundays where I sit around drinking coffee and slowly working on several assignments. I knew that I needed to bake something to warm the kitchen a little and give me energy to sustain all the graphing.


Cranberries were on sale since the Thanksgiving rush is over, and a friend who was in town for the weekend left an orange in my room that was perfect for zesting. I searched through a few cookbooks looking for this recipe, since I remembered making it last fall. This wonderful recipe is in Veganomicon. It also calls for crushed walnuts, but I prefer my bread soft and crumbly.


It smelled too delicious to let it cool enough to properly slice. Even if I had let it cool, I have never quite figured out how to make slices of baked goods look delicious. Do you have any tips?

Cashew Cream Pear Tarts

Hannah Kaminsky is one of my favorite bloggers & cookbook authors. My Sweet Vegan is a cookbook you should definitely consider buying. My two favorite recipes from the book are the root beer float cupcakes and this tart. I made four 4" tarts from the recipe for an annual thanksgiving night vegan dessert potluck that was hosted at my house. These are also gluten and soy free.
I soaked the cashews for a few hours before blending them to make it a little easier on the food processor. I also subbed almond milk for water and vanilla bean paste for extract. Vanilla beans make everything look better. It's fool proof! Next time I make this I will probably top it with raw berries.

I am almost done washing all the dishes and sweeping away all the crumbs of pie crust. Do you have any fun thanksgiving traditions?

Fauxstess Cupcakes

I don't really remember what Hostess cupcakes taste like, but I imagine these are pretty darn close. I used the cake recipe from Post Punk kitchen. I haven't been able to find black cocoa powder, but the extra dark cocoa worked well. I also filled the cupcakes with Ricemellow, because I didn't have castor sugar on hand either.
Ganache and I have never been the best of friends. I normally think it's too thick or doesn't set the way I want it to. Instead I use a mixture of powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and enough water or milk to get it to the proper consistency. I coated the cupcakes using an offset spatula and let the chocolate icing harden for at least 20 minutes before piping the squiggles. The white piping lines were done with a royal icing and a Wilton #3 tip.


Don't mind the specks of silver luster dust you might notice on the cupcakes! They were sitting a little too close to a cake that I was decorating at the same time.

Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Today I have a guest post on my friend Kaelah's blog. There you can find a recipe for salty chocolate chip cookies! She is also responsible for this blog's aesthetics. So if you're looking for a re-design, you should consider commissioning her!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filled Bread

When I first saw this recipe last winter on Seitan is my Motor, I realized I had all the ingredients in my pantry and made it hours later. Since then, I have made this recipe at least a dozen times with various fillings. There has never been a loaf that has turned out poorly.



I filled this batch with a pumpkin tofu cream cheese a friend had left over when they got home from New York this week. I would assume it's from the Bagel Store. I also used Pumpkin Spice Silk rather than a quarter cup of soy milk and for brushing on the top of the braid. My favorite thing about this bread is how crisp the crust gets, while the inside stays so soft.



The first loaf was eaten by my housemates in less than an hour, so I made a second loaf which was braided a little neater. It didn't finish baking until it was dark, so my camera wouldn't have gotten a decent photograph. My friend did however!

Hand Pies

I was out of town for five days, stuck in a hotel room, and away from an oven for too long. Yesterday I remedied that by baking a batch of hand pies. I got the nifty pie mold on a clearance rack at Target a few weeks ago and have been meaning to use it since.
My father has always had a penchant for eating deep fried hand pies, commonly found wrapped in paper at gas stations all around the south. His favorite was always lemon. I had wanted to send him a batch for his birthday this week but knew they wouldn't ship well, so I gave them to friends instead.


I used two fillings, once was simply a store bought can of cherry filling and the other was my favorite lemon curd. While they are commonly cooked by frying, I can't bring myself to fry anything that isn't a donut, so these are baked and brushed with a sugar glaze.



I looked at several crust recipes, but most were very similar. I would recommend using this post as a reference, as she detailed the procedure well. I only needed 3 tablespoons of ice water and very little flour to roll out the dough. Before pressing the mold together, I brushed a small amount of ice water around the edges to help seal the pie. There was enough dough for 12 pies, if rolled as thinly as I did. I also suggest baking them on a silpat or parchment to keep the bottoms from browning too much.

Cake for Breakfast

I am firm proponent of breakfast, brunch, and breakfast for dinner. I love sleepy weekend mornings, when I can bake waffles and tempeh bacon. But let’s face it, most mornings aren’t that simple. So when I need a fast breakfast, I normally stick to oatmeal. It’s not only fairly nutritious, but more importantly, it keeps me from getting hungry again before lunch. I love this cookie dough oatmeal cake recipe by Chocolate Covered Katie. I normally bake them two at a time in 6” tart pans the night before.
The cake you see here has mini chocolate chips, a hint of cinnamon, and is topped with Soyatoo whip cream. If you have extra time, I highly suggest making your own whip cream from chilled coconut milk!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

I made these last month for a 'wrap it up' themed potluck. I promised to make the best desert, and I think I made it happen. I made chocolate chip cookie dough wrapped in a cupcake! I borrowed the idea from a non-vegan blog, and made it work. Best of all though, is that with vegan cookie dough there isn't any fear or getting sick from raw cookie dough.
I made just under 3 dozen cupcakes. I used two batches of vanilla cupcake from the infamous Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but replaced the granulated sugar for brown sugar. I intentionally underfilled the cups knowing that the cookie dough would take up quite a bit of room.
For the cookie dough, I used soy-free Earth Balance and Ener-G egg replacer in the recipe on the Ghiradelli bag. I only needed one batch of cookie dough, to fill all the cupcakes with small balls and make a dozen mini cookies as toppers. I used the frosting from Annie's Eats original recipe with 1 cup of earth balance and 1/2 cup of shortening.



Even though I froze the cookie dough balls for 2 hours prior to baking them in the cupcakes, they still seemed to cook a little. It's possible that a longer freeze might help, but you could also just fill the cookies after baking to not worry about it.
I highly recommend these! One of my even friends described them as life altering.

Hello!

Hi! I'm Shannon. I'm a vegan baker who wanted to document my attempts at learning new things in the kitchen. I've been vegan for three years now and baking for less than that. I had never piped frosting until the beginning of this year! Cupcakes may be beautiful, but I also love making cookies, pies, pastries, and breads. I'm always up for a suggestion about what I should bake next or attempt to veganize.

I also want to share with people my favorite recipes, cookbooks, places to eat, and vegan food products. I am a firm believer that anything can be made vegan with some basic knowledge, supplies, and several attempts. 

Here a few glimpses at things I have made in the past!