Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

To celebrate running a good race in the JASR 5K yesterday, I made Mint Chocolate Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. They're my favorite!

The cupcake is the basic chocolate cupcake batter with 1 teaspoon of mint extract mixed in. I tried a plain cupcake and it was heavenly--extremely moist and just melted in my mouth.

The frosting also has mint extract, with some green food coloring mixed in. You add a spiral of frosting to the cupcake.

Last, I made the quick melty ganache and spooned it on top.

I'd just spooned the ganache on here, but it hardens once you put them in the fridge to set. So delicious--the perfect race celebration treat!

Coconut Lime Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream

Last month, our friends Maya and Ryder hosted a dessert potluck. I love the idea of a get-together featuring yummy drinks (they served Hot Toddys and sparkling wine with a pomegranate syrup) and desserts. Hello, sugar!

I made Coconut Lime Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. They were very good, but not one of my favorites from the book. But they looked pretty and fancy, here featured on a beautiful and funky ceramic plate my friend Kate made me. 

Maya made vegan truffles using this recipe. They were awesome! She added almond extract to some and orange extract to others; I liked those best. I will definitely make these truffles.

Meghan made a raw vegan cheesecake that was great, but I don't have the recipe. It was smooth and creamy, with a sweet crust. It had cardamom in it, which was a really interesting and different taste. I'd like to try my hand at a raw vegan cheesecake sometime.

Chocolate-Orange Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting

I made Chocolate-Orange Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World to take to a dinner party this weekend. I'm a huge fan of the chocolate-orange combination, so I loved these. But I'm officially cupcaked-out.

Indian-Themed Dinner Party

This past weekend I had friends over for dinner and made a dish I've been dying to make since I first made it last fall: Isa Chandra's Cashew Vegetable Korma. Decadently rich and creamy and bursting with authentic Indian-food flavor, this is probably my all-time favorite Indian dish.

Unfortunately, it's also crazy time-intensive to make, so I wanted to wait until I had dinner guests to make it worth my while. The process begins by soaking cashews (I soaked mine overnight) and then pureeing them with vegetable broth to make a cashew cream. Then you cut up and boil potatoes, carrots, and cauliflower.Next you make a curry by sauteeing onion, garlic, and ginger in a bunch of Indian spices. You add coconut milk, the cashew cream, and vegetable broth to it to create the rich, creamy sauce. You saute red onion, and then add the caramelized onion, boiled veggies, and some frozen peas, and combine. I served it over brown basmati rice. AMAZING! The recipe is online here. It took me about three hours total to make, and due to poor planning, I didn't have time to make my appetizer, which was going to be this Indian-spiced Black-Eyed Pea Dip I made before and liked. Instead, I had to serve frozen (gasp!) lentil samosas I'd bought at an Indian grocery. Ugh. Still, they were pretty good.My friend Maya brought onion-stuffed roti that was delicious and just perfect with the korma. Here's how she made it: "It was basically 4 c. ww flour and 1 2/3 c. water mixed in the cuisinart or by hand until a ball forms (will be slightly sticky) you may have to add a little water or flour to get the right consistency. Then let rest for about 1 hour. Divide into 16 balls and roll into 6 inch rounds. I layered the rounds with the onions in between and rerolled to stick." She also brought apple chutney she made from apples from her backyard she preserved last year. It was great!

Dessert was--what else?!--cupcakes, as always from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I made Cookies & Cream.....mmmmm! These were one of my favorite from the book.

Secretly Vegan Dinner Party

This past Friday I had an old friend and her new husband and baby over for dinner. We hadn't seen each other in years, and as we were making plans to get together, I guess I didn't mention I was vegan. Everything I made was a big hit, and they gave it all lots of compliments. It wasn't until we were eating cupcakes for dessert when my friend said, "I know this has to have a lot of butter in it" that I told her it was vegan, and that I was vegan. "You mean everything we ate tonight was vegan?!" her husband asked, surprised. When I said it was, they said they couldn't believe how good everything was. It's so much fun to tell people the delicious food they just ate was vegan!

My menu came from Veganomicon, with cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Asparagus and Spinach Dip
This is the first time I made this dip. It starts by sauteing asparagus in olive oil and garlic then mixing in chopped spinach. You puree that with raw cashews and capers. It has a bright, fresh taste, and the capers give it a little zest. It was good that night, but I took the leftovers (it makes three cups) to a party Saturday night, and after 24 hours it was so much better (everyone loved it on Saturday).
Veggie Salad with Mediterranean Olive Oil and Lemon Vinaigrette
Everyone loved this salad dressing. Olive oil and fresh lemon juice are combined with lots of minced garlic, oregano, thyme, and basil. Over a salad of fresh, soft red leaf lettuce with cucumber, tomatoes, and red onion, it was awesome.Spinach Linguine with Basil-Cilantro Pesto and Artichokes
I made this once before and loved it just as much this time. It is soooooo good. Definitely one of my favorite Veganomicon recipes. The combination of spinach linguine with sauteed red onions, a flavorful, fragrant, unique pesto, and salty artichoke hearts makes this a huge winner. And it takes like 15 minutes to put together. You can't go wrong with this dish. Everyone loved it. (I forgot to take a picture until half-way through...)Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Mousse Frosting
This is the first time the vanilla cupcakes weren't fabulous! I think it's because I halved the recipe, and I had to do a little guesswork on trying to halve 3/4 teaspoon of something. The cupcakes were just okay--not as moist as usual. But the chocolate mousse frosting was rich and decadent and made up for the sub-par cupcakes.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

I made Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for a coworker's farewell party yesterday. The process was a bit involved, and it's the first time I had to buy something special--agar powder--to make vegan cupcakes.

First I made the Vegan Vanilla Pastry Creme. I cooked the agar powder in soy milk for a few minutes then added a mixture of arrowroot powder and soy milk. The result was an extremely thick pudding-like mixture that, after it set in the refrigerator, turned to something like a very thick jelly. Then I blended it with silken tofu, superfine sugar, and vanilla extract. The result was more like a pudding than a custard, so I was a little disappointed.

Next I made the Golden Vanilla Cupcakes, which continue to be my favorite from the book. They turn out moist, delicious, and perfect every time.
I had a new decorating tip to fill cupcakes, but it didn't work out great, so I did it the old-school way: poking my finger in to create holes and filling them up as much as I could--which wasn't a lot because I had a lot of the pastry creme left over (that immediately went into my belly).
Last I made the Rich Chocolate Ganache Topping, which is quick and easy to make by adding vegan chocolate chips and maple syrup to hot soy milk. I gave the cupcakes a double topping for a really thick, fudgy top.

When I first tried one, I wasn't totally happy with it. My husband reported that they were "just OK" and said he didn't like the creme. But the next day when I had another, after they'd sat for a day, they were fabulous. The cupcakes were super moist from the creme inside, and the combination of the moist cupcakes, vanilla creme, and rich, thick, chocolately topping was really great. Everyone at the party really liked them too.

Rose Cupcakes

Another holiday, another opportunity to make cupcakes for my family! I decided vanilla with fluffy vanilla buttercream would be best to offset all the Easter chocolate. I also decided to try my hand at decorating, which I'm not usually great at.

The cupcakes and frosting were from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and were, of course, amazing. If there is a better vegan cupcake anywhere on earth, I might not want to try it because I'd surely die in bliss. These cupcakes are always perfect.

I followed this tutorial for the roses. Could they really be as simple as the tutorial says and turn out so beautifully? Yes...though I need a little practice. I was running late and did mine very quickly. I think with a little more time and practice, they'd be gorgeous. But I don't think they're bad for my first try.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Buttercream Frosting

The book that started my love for vegan baking was Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I bought the book on my birthday last year in September, right when I'd achieved my goal weight, to make cupcakes as a present for myself.

I'd never baked a thing from scratch before then, but I immediately fell in love with cupcake baking. I made cupcakes nearly every weekend, giving most to neighbors, friends, and coworkers so I didn't eat them all and start gaining back all the weight I'd just lost. My cupcakes were the hit of parties, made everyone who tasted them gush and rave, and made me an official vegan baker.

When November came, I bought the sister book Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and made more than 300 cookies for the holidays for my family, neighbors, and friends.

I never told anyone the cupcakes or cookies were vegan at first. Only after they started gushing over them would I tell them they were vegan. Then of course I answered the many questions about what was in them and explained how the recipes were built based on how ingredients work together, rather than simply replacing dairy and eggs.

By January I was a little tired of baking and now only make desserts as special treats. My friend Kelly, who's visiting from Minneapolis this weekend, gave me the perfect excuse to break out my cupcake apron and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and make another dozen of the best cupcakes in the world--far, far better than any cupcake (vegan or otherwise) I've had from any of the fancy, expensive cupcake bakeries in town. Kelly picked the kind: Chocolate with Peanut Buttercream Frosting.What I've always loved about both the cupcake and cookie recipes are that they're made from basic, simple ingredients. The chocolate cupcakes are made from flour, oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, soymilk, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. I had everything on hand to make them.I also love the consistency and quality of the recipes. Each time the cupcakes come out perfectly done and just gorgeous.I also had everything on hand to make the Peanut Buttercream frosting, made of Earth Balance margarine and shortening, peanut butter, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar.

I've practiced a bit with frosting and have gotten better. My aunt, a cake decorator afficionado, bought me tips, bags, and other decorating goodies for Christmas that I've been itching to use. My husband took these pictures of the frosting fun.Once I frosted all of them I grated a little semi-sweet dark chocolate on for decoration.The finished cupcakes, ready to take out to the restaurant where we were meeting Kelly for dinner!
At the restaurant, one group seated at a table beside us joked that they'd eaten the cupcakes that we'd left on another table. When I took the top off the cupcake holder, another table near us cheered and offered money for a few. Everyone loved them. The cake was moist and the frosting light and not too sweet. They were delicious. Can't wait for the next special occasion so I can make more.

Dinner Party: Hummus, Cupcakes & Shepherd's Pie

Last night my husband and I went to our friends Maya and Ryder's new house in East Liberty (a gorgeous house built in 1890...with a turret!) to watch the Steelers game then have dinner.

I made the hummus recipe from Veganomicon. I usually make this recipe from Vegetarian Times that uses no oil because I love the intense chickpea flavor. Veganomicon's recipe used oil and not very much tahini. It was less chickpea-tasting and had almost a batter texture (my VT recipe is a little chunky). It was good and everyone liked it, but I think I prefer the no-oil VT recipe.I also made cupcakes! I hadn't made them since Thanksgiving because I'd been baking so many holiday cookies, so I was excited to make them again. Maya likes citrus (me too!), so I made Lemony Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting. As with all of the recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, these were fantastic! Loved them. (Bonus: Steelers gold!)Maya and Ryder aren't vegetarian, but Maya not only made this Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie...she veganized it! Successfully! It was awesome. It had carrots, parsnips, pearl onions, mushrooms, and seitan in a rich, hearty, meaty-tasting-without-actually-tasting-like-gross-real-meat gravy, topped with potatoes. YUM! A simple tossed salad went with it perfectly.