Carrot Cake (Low Fat)

A few years ago, while we still lived in NC, Robin brought the most delicious carrot cake I have ever had over to Mark for his birthday. It's his favorite cake, and it's very low fat. Even though I had the recipe (developed by Mark and Robin), I could never make it myself, because I did not have a food processor. But now I do! So I made the cake:



Here's the recipe, which I modified slightly to make it a bit less low-fat, but also a bit less wasteful, as I do not know what I would do with extra yolks:

In a large bowl combine:

• 1 egg
• 6 egg whites (this is where I just used 3 eggs)

Beat, then add:

• 3/4 c granulated sugar
• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 1 1/4 c unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 t vanilla extract

Beat some more

In a separate bowl combine:

• 2 c minus 2 T all purpose flour
• 3 t baking powder
• 2 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1 T cocoa powder

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix only till incorporated, then add:

• 1 lb shredded carrots
• 2 c raisins

Pour into three 8" pans lined with wax paper and bake in a 350 degrees F preheated oven for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let cool, and in the meantime prepare the frosting:

• 2 8oz packages of fat free cream cheese
• 2 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 1 t vanilla extract

beat well, and spread on cakes.

For decoration, I used solid glaze:

• 2 T butter
• 1 c powdered sugar
• a drop of almond extract

All mushed together with a fork, then colored and shaped as carrots. I got 4 large yummy carrots.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

Doesn't the name make it sound really good? Well, if that wasn't the case for you, how about a picture?



The authors of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World have struck again! [Actually it was a long time ago, I'm just starting to catch up.] This time with a cookie book: Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.
For the same reason I love making cupcakes from VCTOTW, I also liked making these cookies - it's so simple, and yet looks so sophisticated and tastes so delicious and special. I had to wait till Valentine's Day to justify such decadence, just because it looks that way. But now I don't think I need any excuses for making it again.

Chanukah, Hanukka, Channuckah?

I never know how to spell it in English! Someone really needs to find a standardized way of spelling this holiday...
We ended up celebrating the holiday of lights only after it was over - this past Saturday. I made sweet potato latkes, and Mark made oven-baked sufganiot (yeast doughnuts). We lighted 9 candles, to symbolize the 9th night of Hanuka (See? Another spelling).




Of course, everybody knows that one is supposed to eat fried food on Hannukah, to commemorate the miracle of the oil that lasted 8 days instead of just one night. However, we don't like to cook with a lot of oil, and we don't even have a deep-fry pan, so we made the latkes on a non-stick griddle with hardly any oil, and the doughnuts in oven.
The doughnuts turned out very good, though resemblance to actual doughnuts is fairly faint. I guess they were more like yummy, fluffy sweet rolls with some raspberry preserves.

Cry-Baby Cake

I made this for Vanessa's Baby Shower:


The idea was taken from here.

I baked the head in a ceramic bowl (that I made!). The head is a basic vanilla cupcake recipe from the best cookbook ever - you know - Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. It also made 4 cupcakes. The belly is the basic chocolate cupcake recipe from the same book. It made 1 cupcake in addition. The arms and legs are Golden Cremes (Twinkies that don't contain lard). Vanessa is a redhead, that's why the hair is so orange.

And here is the guest of honor, preparing to serve the baby's head after mercilessly cutting it to pieces:


We had lots of fun: good food (I didn't feel like I ate a lot, but I was full pretty quickly! And that's after I ran 11.5 miles just a few hours before! I guess not seeing how much food you're consuming makes you not realize how much you really eat), nice activities - we painted wood blocks, onesies and socks for the baby. The creativity was flowing like the mulled cider, wine, beer, and sparkling lemonade that were offered. As we ate the cake, Vanessa opened the gifts, and it was cool to see all the cute and/or practical items people gave.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing

Doesn't it sound perfect for the season?
It's, of course, from the best cupcake book ever - Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, though, as always, I don't make the frosting vegan.



They are for Anna's birthday tomorrow. Hope they turned out good and that she'll like them!

Stout Cake with Irish Cream Frosting

As per Kevin's request, the double birthday party cake I baked was a cake version of the chocolate stout cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World*. Just like the coconut cake I made based on the coconut cupcake recipe from the same book, the stout cake turned out DE-LI-CIOUS! Very moist, rich and chocolaty. Of course, Irish cream frosting doesn't hurt :)



It seems that converting a cupcake recipe into a cake is not that hard - you just double the ingredients, and lengthen the baking time:

• 1.5 c soy milk
• 2 t apple cider vinegar
• 2 c plus 4 T all-purpose flour
• 2/3 c cocoa powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 c stout
• 1/5 c sugar
• 2/3 c canola oil
• 1 T vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine soy milk and vinegar. In a separate bowl, sift all the dry ingredients besides sugar. Mix the sugar and stout into the milk, add oil and vanilla and whisk until well mixed. Add dry ingredients into large bowl and beat for about 2 minutes. Pour batter into a lightly oiled 9" cake pan (I like to use spring-form and line the bottom with parchment) and bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool and frost.

Irish Cream Frosting (not vegan):

• 1 stick butter
• 3 c powdered sugar
• 3 T Irish Cream

Beat everything together until smooth.

* People in my lab must have realized I like this book, so they gave it to me as a farewell gift!! :)

Cheers!

That's right! I made cupcakes with beer!



It turned out really delicious! So much so, that Clint already asked me for the topping recipe. His girlfriend, Danielle, gave me the recipe for the cupcakes (which, in turn, is taken from the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World) so he didn't need it from me. However, I did modify it a little bit: I put 1/4 cup of oil instead of 1/3 cup, and 1/3 cup of beer instead of 1/4 cup. I think it was a good substitution, don't you?

I topped it with chocolate mousse, also from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. It was so good! What I made was enough for the cupcakes and a few more generous servings of mousse desert.

Vegan chocolate mousse:

• 15 oz extra firm silken tofu (I actually used regular soft tofu from Fresh & Easy)
• 15 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips - melted
  
• 2 T maple syrup (I only used 1, and added about 3 heaping t of powdered sugar, because I was afraid the mouse won't be firm enough to stand on top of the cupcakes)
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/4 c soy milk (I put a little less, and substituted the rest with Irish Cream (not vegan, but can be easily veganized at home, or just left out) just because I have some from making the suggested Irish Cream frosting from the cupcake recipe link above. BTW, if you do it, put a lot more than 2 T, otherwise it won't taste like Irish Cream at all. I put around 6 T the second time I made it).

Blend tofu and milk in blender until smooth, add syrup, vanilla, and melted chocolate and blend more until smooth, creamy and delicious.

** although these cupcakes are vegan, my version of them is not - both because of the Irish Cream and because of the beer I used (I understand Guinness is not vegan, because part of the manufacturing process involves using some fishing by-product. Well, that's the last time I by this brand! Now I need to think what to do with the 4 bottles I have left...). These two items could be easily substituted, or completely omitted in the case of the Irish Cream.

Food in Switzerland

First of all, Luxemburgerli:

Sweet, little melt-in-the-mouth thingies. The passion fruit was the best! Can only find them in Switzerland. Fortunately, there's one place in Tempe that sells something similar (the French macaron)!

On my last night, there were no hotel rooms available because of the carnival, so I stayed with Flore, a graduate student in Mathias Koelliker's lab. She was so nice, and made me some ratatouille! She should know how to make it - she's French!



Of course, it was accompanied by a glass of wine :)

Here's how I think she made it:
2 zucchinis
1/2 orange bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
onion
tomato

they were all coarsely chopped, and cooked in a pan, adding them leisurely, one at a time, starting with the onion, of course. Olive oil was added liberally, and also herbes de Provence mix. Simple and quick! Serve with rice.

A Pineapple Upside-Down Cake In A Tea Cup

That's right!
Inspired by the chocolate cake in a mug that bakes in under 3 minutes and doesn't leave too many dirty dishes, I wanted to make use of the few pineapple slices I had from the last time we made some pina-colada smoothie. I couldn't find any recipe for a quick, individual-serving pineapple upside down cake, so I decided to make it up myself.



So that's what I did:
I put a slice of pineapple in a tea cup (wide and short with non curving sides), and a cherry inside the hole and sprinkled some brown sugar on top of that (1 t). In a little bowl, I combined:

• 2.5 T soymilk

• 0.3 t apple cider vinegar

and let it sit for a minute or two until it curdles
(can substitute with 2.5 T buttermilk)
Then I added:

• 1.5 T sugar

• 1/4 t vanilla

• salt

• 3/4 T oil

and mixed it well

Then I added - without mixing at first:

• 4 T flour

• a little less than 1/4 t baking powder

• a sprinkle of baking soda

I Made sure the baking powders are equally spread within the flour by mixing it slightly with a teaspoon, and then started mixing a little more vigorously (but not too much) with the wet ingredients. The mixture then went on top of the pineapple and into the microwave. About 1 minute later it started to rise, and I took it out 40 seconds later.

It was good. Not very delicate - I think taking it out of the microwave a few seconds earlier might have been better. I will continue to experiment and see if it can be improved somehow. Also, if you have any suggestions for making it more light and fluffy, I'll be glad to hear them. All said, it was fairly good, especially for something that take so little time and effort!

(The batter recipe is taken from here and roughly divided by 10).

Hunting Mousse, Again

Well, I did have some silken tofu leftover, and I did find this interesting concoction, so I had to do it.



I did make my life simpler by using 1/2 a can of sweetened bean paste (we got it ages ago, thinking we'd make some dessert dim-sam, which never happened) - it's made of adzuki beans, and so I didn't have to add any sugar.

It was delicious!

Hunting Mousse

Well, this hunting is more animal-friendly than Sarah Palin's. It's vegan.



6 oz silken tofu
1/3 c bittersweet chocolate chips, melted
powdered sugar to taste (~2 T)

Blend the tofu in a blender and add chocolate and sugar, blend some more, add sugar if not sweet enough for you.

This should make 2 small servings plus a whole lot more in the blender for the person who makes it :)

P.S. - I guess I'm also a cereal killer...

More Than Just a Fruit Salad

Trying to find a quinoa recipe for dinner last night, I stumbled upon this one, and decided to have quinoa for dessert instead. We had a relatively light dinner (leftover pizza and some red corn on the cob), so a nice nutritious dessert was fitting.



I have to say I modified it quite a bit, not because I know better, but because I didn't have some of the ingredients. So mint and flax seed were out, though I'm sure they would make a good addition. I also omitted the avocado - just because I don't like it - and replaced the almonds with pecans. Mmm... pecans... Oh, and I halfed the recipe. One cup is enough for 4 small (dessert-like) servings.
I really liked the idea of cooking the quinoa in orange juice. Very refreshing! It served well as lunches too!

Cocolime Sorbet

Someone brought limes to the lab. I took 4 and made this out of the juice:



This is how I made it:

Juice from 4 limes (about 1 c)
1 c coconut milk (1/2 can)
2 c sugar
3.5 c water

Boil sugar and water till sugar dissolves, add juice and milk.
Put in large flat taper ware container and freeze.
Four hours later use a hand mixer to blend the frozen edges with the less frozen center.
3 hours later use the hand mixer again to homogenize the sorbet and make it nice and creamy.

That's it!

It came out pretty sweet. I think next time I will use half the sugar and maybe only 2 c water and an extra cup of coconut milk.
The hand mixer really works well and subsequently makes it very easy to scoop the sorbet. An excellent idea I found on an Australian website.

Green Power

Inspired by madcap cupcake again, I made this green smoothie and, as she promised, it was delicious! Certainly surprising. Even Mark, after tasting it, admitted that it was "...interesting...".
I am looking forward to having some more this evening!



After I had it, like Popeye, I had a burst of energy in me and I decided to lash it on the toaster oven. It looks almost like new now (which is also thanks to the magical powers of baking soda).

Also, I made the perfect summer food: cold Thai noodles with sugar snap peas and mandarins. It is one of Mark's favorite dishes. It is very good, and doesn't require too much cooking.



This is how it goes (4 servings):
You choose a tapper ware container that will be big enough to hold about 10 oz of tofu cut into 3/4" cubes, such that the marinade will cover it completely.

You put in it:
2 T peanut butter
3 T sesame oil
2 T brown sugar
1/3 c lemon juice
1/2 c soy sauce
1 t minced garlic
1 t minced ginger
crushed red peppers to taste

and mix it well.
Then you put the tofu cubes in it to marinate for at least 15 minutes in the fridge.

You cook the noodles (I use an amount that fits in between my index finger and my thumb) and wash them with cold water to cool them down.

You add frozen sugar snap peas (about 1/2 bag) to the noodles (they will bring each other to the right temperature), a small can of mandarins (or 1/2 14oz can) and the tofu in its peanut sauce, and mix it all together. It tastes great as no-heating-required leftovers, too!

We later watched the movie Chocolat and of course, we had to have some:

Everything in Gold

I was really looking forward to trying the black rice we got a couple of weeks ago at the Asian market, so I decided to have it with some golden Thai curry. It was weird!



Black rice is kind of nutty, somewhat reminds me of wheat berries. It wasn't necessarily appropriate for the curry. But by the time I finished my portion I decided that I like it anyway!
It was good! (well, I am known to love weird things).

Inspired by Susan's pineapple sorbet, I made this one with some coconut milk:


(yes, I made the cup)

The coconut milk diluted the pineapple sweetness, so I think that I will add some more sugar next time I'm having it. It was very refreshing nonetheless!