Sasha's Kitchen: Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

So sorry I haven't posted in almost a week. Things have just been crazy around here and quite hectic, and it seems it will still be a bit before they settle down.  I didn't get a chance to cook or bake too mcuh in the last week, but still have some good recipes yet to share.  Recently, I bought the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World upon recommendation from a friend.  I'm not vegan, not even vegetarian, but after trying a couple of these fabulous (and healthier) recipes, well I'm sold.  My first foray into vegan baking was the complex flavors of mexican chocolate, with a delicious chocolate mousse frosting - and yes, it's really vegan, too! What I love about this book is the complexity and artistry in each of the vegan cupcake recipes. Next up, I plan to try making the banana split cupcakes and the apple cider cupcakes!

Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)
1 cup coconut milk
1 T ground flaxseeds
3/4 cup flour
2 T cornmeal
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 and line your silicon muffin tin.  Whisk together the coconut milk and flaxseeds and allow to sit for 10 minutes.  Combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl (almond meal, cocoa, flour, salt, cinnamon, cayenne baking powder and baking soda).  whisk the sugar, oil and extracts into the coconut milk.  Gently add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.  Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way to the top and bake for about 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.


Vegan Chocolate Mousse Frosting (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)
1 12.3 oz package extra firm tofu, drained
1/4 cup soy milk
2 T maple syrup or agave
1 tsp vanilla
12 oz vegan chocolate chips

Crumble the tofu in a blender and add the agave/maple syrup and the soy milk.  Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, and then let cool for five minutes.  Blend in the chocolate with the tofu mixture.  Transfer to an airtight container and chill for 1 hour before piping on the cupcakes with a pastry bag. So good you won't even realize its vegan!!!

Sasha's Kitchen: Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

Gilly's Kitchen in Queens: Vegan Pumpkin Pie

If you are vegan (or just allergic to certain ingredients), store-bought pumpkin pies are most likely just a hazy memory. I experimented with several recipes just prior to Thanksgiving and settled on this particular pumpkin pie recipe. Please note that this pie does not taste like a store-bought pie, which may tend to have a very dense filling and a very certain taste (I cannot describe it, but store-bought pumpkin pies all seem to taste the same delicious way). This filling, which is also somewhat dense, has a slightly different taste -- still perfectly pumpkin-y, however -- so you might need a few bites to adjust. As usual, my vegan pumpkin pie passes the stepson test (it is also pareve), and is therefore worthy of publication.

This recipe comes from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's "The Joy of Vegan Baking."

You will need:
a pie crust (I used a 9-inch pre-made graham cracker crust from the supermarket, but you should feel free to make your own -- and if you do, 9 inches should be the absolute minimum size)
12 ounces silken firm tofu
2 cups pumpkin puree (I used Libby's)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a food processor, blend the tofu, pumpkin puree, syrup, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cloves until smooth and creamy. Scrape the bowl if necessary to get everything fully blended. (my own note - my food processor was actually a touch too small to hold all of the ingredients, and I therefore had to make some creative mid-recipe ingredient adjustments, but it turned out well because generic, store-bought pie crusts tend to run a bit small sometimes anyway.)
3. Pour the mixture into the crust and smooth as necessary. (my own note - to get the "homemade" looking swirls as in my photo, don't smooth the mixture perfectly in the crust. Store-bought pies are always perfectly smooth, probably because they are made by machines.)
4. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned and the outermost inch of the filling appears to be set. The remaining filling towards the center will firm up a bit as the pie cools.
5. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. (my own note - I left the pie in the pie pan and just put the pie pan itself on a wire rack to circulate the air.)
6. Let the pie cool until it is at room temperature and then put the pie in the fridge for 1-2 hours to set.

I find that this pie holds well in the fridge for at least 3 days. For all I know, it holds even longer, but we always eat it all by day 3!

Gilly's Kitchen in Queens: Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Gilly's Kitchen in Queens - Vegan Chocolate Mousse Pie

Vegan chocolate mousse is perfect for dark chocolate lovers, who find themselves drawn to the bitter side of the spectrum. This is rather obvious, given that dairy milk and dairy chocolate are clearly missing from the equation.

This recipe only requires 4 ingredients, 5 if you count the crust, and takes a matter of minutes from start to finish. No baking is actually required, and this is therefore the perfect recipe for when you need a fabulous dessert but you have no time to make one (but please note that the mousse must set in the fridge for at least an hour before serving).

I made this vegan chocolate mousse for our kosher Thanksgiving dinner. Every single guest tried one, and every single guest finished it. My stepson declared the mousse one of the best parts of Thanksgiving. If you have guests that are tofu-phobic, you might want to refrain from mentioning the ingredients until after they devour it.

For elegant presentation, do not put the mousse into the crust, but rather put the mousse into clear glasses (such as small wine or champagne glasses, as they typically do in restaurants). For beyond elegant presentation, put some berries on top.

This recipe comes from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's "The Joy of Vegan Baking."

You will need:
1 cup nondairy chocolate chips
12 ounces silken tofu (soft or firm -- I generally use firm)
1/2 cup nondairy milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
optional - for a chocolate mousse pie, I use a chocolate graham cracker crust. Berries can also be added on top of the pie or the mousse in cups.

Directions:
1. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat for 1 minute, stir, and then heat for another minute (until melted). If you feel like doing this the slow way, melt via double broiler.
2. Put the tofu, milk, vanilla and melted chocolate into a blender or food processor, and watch as chocolate mousse is created in seconds right before your eyes. You may need to scrape chocolate from the side of the bowl and process some more. Process until entirely smooth (this should only take a minute, if that).
3. Pour the mousse into the crust, or put into individual cups, and place in the fridge for at least an hour.

Dessert is served.

Gilly's Kitchen in Queens - Vegan Chocolate Mousse Pie

Gilly's Kitchen in Queens: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

First, my introduction. I will mainly be posting vegan recipes (generally of the baked goods variety), many geared at a person who doesn't cook often, doesn't have much time to cook (hello, gigantic international law firm), and may have a kid running about (for me, a 5 year old stepson on weekends). But anyone who knows me may be very confused, as I am not vegan! I eat steak, salmon, and oysters much too frequently. I eat entire blocks of cheese. The more ice cream, the merrier. But a few months ago I was finally diagnosed with a food allergy, after years of living unhappily with no understanding of why. I was.... allergic to eggs. This was totally unexpected. Add in the fact that my stepson is being raised to keep kosher by his biological mom, and I decided that it was easier to keep my cooking pareve (simply put, dairy-free) rather than try to figure out who could have dairy products and when. Because my stepson has an interest in food, I try to also incorporate recipes in which a child can assist. They may not be very complicated, but they definitely taste great and keep a kid entertained.

The first recipe -- the delicious chocolate chip cookie. Simple and pure. But without dairy and eggs? Without milk chocolate chips? Yes, yes and yes, and as my stepson said today, "These are REALLY delicious." He is the ultimate judge of my baking, and in the coming weeks I will be posting my pumkpin pie, chocolate mousse and Mexican wedding cookie recipes.

This chocolate chip cookie recipe comes from Robin Robertson's "1,000 Vegan Recipes." It is quick to make, can be mixed entirely by hand (a/k/a safe for kids), and tastes incredibly sweet.

You will need:
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened (my own note -- be careful when buying margarine because not all margarine is actually dairy free)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (my own note -- invest in PURE maple syrup, not the generic type you put on waffles. The taste difference is worth the extra money)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegan chocolate chips (you can find these in Whole Foods, specialty organic-y type of stores, etc.)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy (my own note -- I just mixed it with a spoon, and the result wasn't necessary light and fluffy but it didn't matter in the end). Then stir in the maple syrup and vanilla and mix until smooth.
3. In another large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Then add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir to combine (my own note -- I was surprised to see that the resulting mix was very dry and cumbly, as we are all probably used to having wetter mixes. This is probably due to the lack of liquid ingredients, such as milk. Again, it didn't matter in the end). Fold in the chocolate chips. (And let your kid chef help you out with all of the mixing, and perhaps some chocolate chip taste testing.)
4. Drop the dough by tablespoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet (my own note -- little kid's hands are a pefect measuring substitution, and any little kid will love to squish together the mix for you to put on the sheet. This particular mix is very dry, so you will need to actually squeeze the mix in your palm into a circle so it all holds together). Bake for about 15 minutes or until slightly brown on the edges. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes (or if you are impatient, cool just long enough until you can pick it up without burning yourself, because this is obviously how chocolate chip cookies taste the best).

The picture at the top of this post is our actual result. These cookies don't look fancy, totally circular, or overly professional, but they will satisfy any sweet tooth (I personally ate three for breakfast this morning before going to the gym, as ironic as that sounds).

Gilly's Kitchen in Queens: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies