asynja’s blog

Maple Candy

nobody@vox.com(asynja) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:40:30 -0600

Maple Candy

Source: A Baker's Field Guide to Holiday Candy & Confections

Comments: I am truely Canadian. This is pretty much my favourite candy of all time. I had NO idea it was so easy. Seriously. Boil maple sugar (I used Canadian of course) to the right temp, mix a lot of until it gets grainy and dump in your molds or in a pan. Wow. I'm glad I bought this cool mold, because I'll be making this quite a bit!

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Marshmallows

nobody@vox.com(asynja) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:35:51 -0600

marshmallows

Marshmallows

Source: Our Best Bites

Comments: Vegan marshmallows. I used Lieber's Jel and it worked. They are a bit wonky because I forgot to dust the cutting board when I flipped them out of the pan. Seriously, DUST EVERYTHING with the corn starch and powdered sugar mixture. You don't taste it but it will save you a lot of agony. I will totally make these again. They are really wonderful and drool worthy.

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Lemon Cream Cheese Rosettes

nobody@vox.com(asynja) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 11:05:53 -0600

lemon rosettes

Lemon Cream Cheese Rosettes

Source: A Baker's Field Guide to Holiday Candy & Confections

Comments: A last minute substitution since my apricot candies failed miserably. The book says these treats are traditional at American weddings in an orange flavor. Never seen them before myself. Think hard lemon cream cheese frosting. I mean, they taste fab, just a weird treat. I of course veganized them.

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Vegan Caramels

nobody@vox.com(asynja) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 11:00:05 -0600

caramels

Vegan Caramels

Source: Manifest Vegan

Comments: I was afraid to add the cardamom, but now I think it might have been a good idea. They were pretty darn good but I think there was too much of an Earth Balance-y taste. Maybe more sugar less EB? I'm not sure. This didn't stop me from craving them a few days after the last one disappeared.

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Cranberry Cake

nobody@vox.com(asynja) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:40:28 -0600

cranberry cake

Cranberry Cake

Source: Vanilla Garlic

Comments: I saw this cake months ago and knew I wanted to make it. I had a bundt pan out so I used that, but I'm pretty sure this would make a nice regular cake a bit better. See, the cranberries shrunk up and left weird holes when it was cooking. Now, this would have looked fab with powdered sugar over the top but well, I was seriously lazy. The middle didn't get 100% cooked, but I was told that was great. Weirdos. I like my cake fully cooked, but then again, I don't eat raw dough either. It wasn't even close to that, just a tad moist in the middle. Anyway, this cake was SO easy. Since there was no other leveners, I left the eggs. Tasted great though :)

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Sesame Chews

nobody@vox.com(asynja) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:15:05 -0600

sesame chews

Sesame Chews

Source: My Sweet Vegan

Comments: NEVER trust a candy recipe that doesn't have thermometer guides in it. Seriously. Obviously, my pan didn't heat up the sugar enough to a harder stage and when they were left out for an hour there was a pool of sesame gunk. After I took the trouble at hacking them into bars. Now, they were tasty but not even close to finished. Grr. Seriously people, go by the thermometer.

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Golden Pull-Apart Butter Buns

nobody@vox.com(asynja) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:08:59 -0600

pull apart butter buns

Golden Pull-Apart Butter Buns

Source: King Arthur Flour

Comments: Last time I tried to make a clover roll, they turned out pretty bad. I just didn't have the knack of bread yet. These were easy and turned out amazing. I used margarine and soymilk and ran out of powdered soy milk so I added extra potato flakes. They were good. Looking at the picture makes me want to make bread, and that's a good thing!

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Perfect Cinnamon Buns

nobody@vox.com(asynja) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:29:20 -0600

perfect cinnamon buns

Perfect Cinnamon Buns

Source: Vegan Yum Yum

Comments: OMG. I didn't use the egg replacer and look at how awesome they are! I only made a half batch, and I put the 6 buns in texas toast muffin pans since last time I made cinnamon rolls all the filling leaked out in a regular pan. On eating my second one I thought "wow, these are perfect, not overly sugary sweet, and awesome". Then I thought about it and realized I totally forgot the icing! Hah! They are good without, believe me. I ate 3, and now I'm banning this recipe from my house for awhile. *sigh* SOO good. My husband is lucky he got one!

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Glazed Chocolate-Pumpkin Bundt Cake

nobody@vox.com(asynja) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:14:55 -0600

glazed chocolate-pumpkin bundt cake

Glazed Chocolate-Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Source: Eatingwell.com and posted below

Comments: Everyone commented on how moist this was. EVERYONE. You'd think I'd only made them dry tasteless cakes before this! However, it was pretty damn moist. My husband said he couldn't taste the pumpkin but I could. This screams comfort food at me and should definitely be made by all. Of course, my glaze soaked in and didn't look as pretty but I'll work on that. I'm going to post my changes in parenthesis, as it turned out fab.

Glazed Chocolate-Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Recipe courtesy EatingWell.com

Yield: 16 servings

Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process) (I used dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup nonfat buttermilk (soy milk mixed with 1 T of apple cider vinegar)
1 15-ounce can unsweetened pumpkin puree
3/4 cup dark brown sugar packed
1 large egg at room temperature (I used 1 egg replacer for both this and the egg white)
1 large egg white at room temperature
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Glaze & Garnish:
1/2 cup packed confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon nonfat buttermilk (soy milk)
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips or toasted chopped nuts (see Tip)

To prepare cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray.

Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl.

Blend 1 cup buttermilk, pumpkin puree and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed. Beat in whole egg and egg white. Stir in oil, corn syrup and vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake the cake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool completely on the rack, about 2 hours.

To glaze & garnish cake: Combine confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon buttermilk in a small bowl, stirring until completely smooth. Place the cake on a serving plate and drizzle the glaze over the top; garnish with chocolate chips (or chopped nuts) while the glaze is still moist.

To warm an egg to room temperature, either set it out on the counter for 15 minutes or submerge it (in the shell) in a bowl of lukewarm (not hot) water for 5 minutes.To toast chopped nuts & seeds: Cook in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.

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Vegan Pepper Pretzels

nobody@vox.com(asynja) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:33:29 -0600

vegan pepper pretzels

Vegan Pepper Pretzels

Source: A coworker forwarded these to me from ehow.com

Comments: Don't be fooled these need to rise. I did 2 rises like I do with my normal bread, and it was worth it. I just They were so tasty and not overpowering believe it or not. They are best the day of, and get a bit chewy the day after but still totally edible. I fed the day after ones to my coworkers and they didn't bitch ;)

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