(Meatless) 4th of July Menu

This Fourth of July hasn’t even happened and it’s already my favorite one yet!  I’m excited to avoid the traffic and crowds of the city and instead: watch fireworks from the awesome view in our new backyard, fire up the grill on our deck, and eat SO MUCH delicious food with my friends & family! I’ve been drooling over so many summer recipes lately that I couldn’t resist putting together a little roundup of my top picks for this week’s festivities!

No cookout would be complete without The Best Veggie Burger Ever! This recipe calls for frying in the pan but I bet these would be delicious on the grill, too. I’m gonna try to lightly cook them as called for and then throw them on the grill  for a traditional Fourth of July finish.

I already love avocado on my burgers (just like pictured above!) but I can only imagine this Gilled Avocado recipe taking them to the next level!

Baked beans will forever remind me of my childhood. No summer get together was complete without them. I haven’t ever cooked them myself, but the day I do I will be using this Vegan Baked Beans recipe from Pickles and Honey. It looks like an entire meal in itself!

We have been making grilled veggie skewers since Memorial Day. You don’t even really need a recipe for them— we just take all our favorite vegetables (peppers, onion, zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes, pineapple, mushrooms, or anything we have on hand) and cut them up. Then we dump a bunch of italian dressing on there and sprinkle with salt and pepper and throw them on the grill. But if you want more detailed instructions then this recipe is a good place to start! 

To cool down from the heat, I recommend this Watermelon Cucumber Salad. I don’t think anything has looked so perfect in my life! (For a vegan version, try this instead of feta!)  

This vegan and gluten-free Raw Berry Tart would look amazing on any dessert table! The best part is that you can make this baby ahead of time and spend more of your day outside instead of in the kitchen! Another quick option is the Patriotic Berry and Cake Dessert Platter at the top of this post. It sounds just as easy as it looks pretty!

Feel free to grab a beer, but to wash it all down I’ll take a refreshing Lemon Thyme Tequila Spritzer! It’s cooling me down just looking at it!

What are your favorite summer, outdoor, or Fourth of July dishes? My partner was upset there’s not a pasta salad on the list, so here ya go!

A Rosy Little Birthday

This week I made these cupcakes as a special order for a friend! His mom’s birthday was coming up and the request was simple (or so I thought): 24 red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I really wanted to forgo the food coloring and make the cake naturally red, but I tried several recipes out beforehand and failed miserably each time (more details here). So I decided to try out a boxed cake mix just to see what they were like.

Turns out they were moist, a little chocolatey, and super red. I am not ready to give up on RV just yet, but I am still not sure what the hype is about. Honestly, I’ve come to the conclusion that red velvet is basically just an excuse to eat cream cheese frosting! Which, I think is generally way too heavy, so I beat mine for a ridiculously long time so that it had an almost whipped consistency to it.

Overall, I think these cupcakes actually tasted great, but I had the most fun decorating them! I am learning so much about working with fondant and gum paste, but I am still so far from being any good at it! I can’t wait to look back at my photos and recipes to see all the progress I’ve made days/weeks/months/years from now— it’s going to be so rewarding!

I used this video tutorial for the roses (mine just have less petals). Do you have any experience with either red velvet or fondant? It seems I picked two pretty tricky things to combine all at once!

Apple Pie Yeast Braid

If I were Dr. Frankenstein then this bread would be my monster. It’s a mashup of a few of my absolute favorite recipes. The first is a yeast bread that my best friend, Shannon, introduced me to. She taught me how to make it almost a year ago and I’ve only just now got around to baking it again. If there’s one thing we love most about it, it’s how easy it is to customize. It originally calls for apricots and almonds but I have never actually made it that way. I had a hankering for my favorite Apple Pie Coffee Cake but I wanted something a bit different, so I decided to combine the two recipes into one great big masterpiece. (You might remember this cake from when I tweaked it to make my lemon blueberry version.) So with a little vegan science and some improvisation I was soon on my way to a potluck with the prettiest bread I’ve ever made!

Look how proud I am! If you think this recipe sounds good (then you’re right!) but you’re nervous about making bread, then all I can say is . . . DON’T BE! It’s not as intimidating as it sounds and this really is the perfect beginner recipe. (It just looks way fancier than it is!)

The dough is the exact same recipe as the original. But for the inside I used one can of apple pie filling and a little bit of a sugar + spice mixture I created. The mix is equal to:

1/2 tsp cardamom + 1/2 tsp cinnamon + 3 tablespoons turbinado cane sugar 

Just sprinkle a little bit on each 3rd of dough before you spread the apple pie filling. (You should have enough left to cover the top of the loaf.)

I accidentally  rolled my dough out a little too long which means I didn’t have much to “fold over” so I pinched it together instead.

The pinching technique proved to be a rather messy one that worked to my advantage since I wanted to coat the loaf with the remaining sugar + spice. I had some trouble with the strands coming open while braiding (since I shoved so much filling in them!) so I flipped the whole loaf over once I was done braiding, that way if they split open during baking then the top would remain intact and pretty. So after I braided the strands it was nice and gooey and I just sprinkled the mixture on top.

Just bake for 40 minutes and voila! A delicious (and rather impressive looking) loaf of my very own creation: Apple Pie Yeast Bread.  

If you can, wait for the loaf to cool before slicing. If not, then make sure to eat it with a huge scoop of your favorite vanilla bean ice cream! Because what’s better than dessert bread? Dessert bread a la mode, duh!

circle plate: vintage / aluminum ruffle platter: HandPicked, Inc.

Have you ever made bread before? I’m a beginner but it’s becoming one of my favorite things to bake. . . thanks to this recipe!

Behind the Scenes : How to Make A Mean Dirt Cupcake

For an aspiring baker, not much is worse than throwing out 22 cupcakes. Unless those cupcakes are evidence of your greatest baking fail to date, in which case you immediately delete all photos and evidence you ever made them and then try not to publicly mourn all the beautiful wrappers you wasted. End. Of. Story.

Or, you suck it up and decide to share your great big, terrible, horrible, no good, very bad experience with the world  your blog followers. I mean, your life isn’t all sunshine and unicorns, now is it? Well neither is mine.

So let’s talk about last night. It started out so perfect: recipe in hand (or more accurately: recipe pulled up in an email I had sent to myself weeks ago), ingredients all in a row, spirits high, and Fleetwood Mac playing. Little did I know, I was ready for what would later become known as The Battle of the Red Velvet Cake.
But I didn’t know of the impending doom, so I was excited. I was even extra excited to use the vintage geese measuring cups my mom gave me. Look how cute they are all in a row, ready to help out! I can hardly stand it!
And then things only got better. I finally used the beautiful ceramic juicer I bought while I was in Gatlinburg last summer. Ahh yes: supporting handmade goods, overcoming my grudge against Red Velvet cake— things were going well!
And then I did something I never do: I followed a recipe exactly how it was written. I was attempting to make a Red Velvet Cake. But not just any Red Velvet Cake. I was not interested in a bland, toxic red excuse to eat cream cheese frosting. I wanted a vegan version of the historic cake I had come across in my research: rich brown sugar, a delicate crumb, and naturally red with a cooked flour frosting. So when it called for beets, I didn’t blink an eye.

I opened those babies up and was immediately mesmerized by the magenta goodness. “This might actually work,” I thought to myself. But having never eaten a beet before, I eagerly took a huge whiff of the can to see what I was getting into. Although it smelled like damp earth after a heavy rain, I didn’t blink an eye. I mean, I routinely made brownies from a can of black beans, how much worse could these beets be? 

So I threw them in the food processor and watched as they spun into a glorious red puree. I carefully added all the ingredients. I even sifted the dry into the wet to get my beautiful batter. Only thing to do now was a taste test! One lick of that spoon and my heart sank. But I didn’t give up! So what if it was a little tangy? That’s why most recipes called for buttermilk, vinegar, or lemon juice. It’s not like it’s supposed to be chocolate cake! I convinced myself it was supposed to be like that. Oh and the obvious dirt aftertaste? That would cook out. It. Totally. Would. So I baked them up, peering through the oven window to make sure they were rising. And boy, how the smell fooled me! Over the next 20 minutes my apartment was transformed into a small town cupcake shop! I was filled with hope when the timer went off. And I was so proud of those puffy, naturally red little cakes. I put in the second batch while the first cooled. As soon as it they were in the oven I reached for my masterpiece, pulled back the wrapper, and took a huge bite.

And as soon as it hit my tongue I spit it right back out. Right. In. The. Trash. How could something even taste SO BAD? How could something I made taste so bad? I had insulted myself. Oh, it was awful. It was like a moist, fluffy mudpie made with lemon juice instead of water. It was worse than the time one of the baker’s at work left the sugar out of the pumpkin cupcakes. It was simply embarrassing.

I wanted to give up. I gagged every time I looked into the kitchen at those sad, sad cakes staring back at me. If I didn’t have a special order of Red Velvet Cupcakes coming up in April for a friend’s mom’s birthday, then I probably would give up. But I have two cans of beets left, a few new recipes, more tips from various cake forums, and a huge grudge against Red Velvet Cake that I’m trying to fight. I just hope it’s enough to get me through the next month.

“The Best You Ever Made”

I don’t mean to brag, but these Banana Maple Cupcakes with Spun Sugar Hearts were deemed “the best you ever made” by my partner. I mean, he does have a thing for banana flavored foods, and I have been told that several of my other desserts were “the best I’ve ever had” by friends, but these cupcakes really might actually be the best. I think my favorite food conversation comment  of all time came from my Cherry Cheesecake Cupcakes and went like this:

These are vegan?
Yes.
But they’re so good! Sooo goooood! They’re even moist!

You guys, I’m changing the world! Okay, so maybe just the opinions of those that get to try my vegan baking. But hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? And what better place to start spreading compassion than your own kitchen?
For the hearts, I used the caramel sauce from this croquembouche recipe. I promise they aren’t difficult, just messy. Put down lots of parchment and experiment. And remember to watch the sugar mixture closely so it doesn’t burn!

So here’s the breakdown: Banana cupcakes, topped with lightly flavored maple frosting + a pool of maple syrup in the center. I got the idea from this photo and decided to try it since I have had trouble with making the maple flavor strong enough in the past (and I didn’t feel like buying maple extract to remedy it).
Look how the syrup drips down the side of that front cupcake! Yum! These are definitely for those that like to indulge in dessert, not the kind of person that appreciates cupcakes because they feel they are “less messy” than cake. Pile on the syrup and top with your sugar creations, I made mine into hearts: 

Vegan! Banana Maple Cupcakes
adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup ripe banana, mashed well
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup milk alternative (I used vanilla soymilk)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1. Prepare your muffin pan with liners. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the banana (mashed well with a fork, a few small lumps are okay), sugar, canola oil, vegan milk, vanilla, and almond extracts.

4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients, folding everything together until just combined.

5. Fill each cupcake liner about two-thirds of the way up. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick or knife comes out clean when testing. Cool completely before frosting.

Vegan Maple Frosting

• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/4 cup vegan margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup*

1. With a mixer, beat together the shortening, margarine, and vanilla extract. Alternate adding powdered sugar one cup at a time and maple syrup one tablespoon at at time, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat for 5-7 minutes until fluffy. Create a well in the center of your cupcakes and fill with additional syrup. Note: If you are going to pipe this frosting, try refrigerating it for about 30-45 minutes first because it is not very stiff.

*It’s okay if you only have breakfast syrup that is not technically Pure Maple Syrup. At least for me it is. . . I am not picky.

If you celebrate Valentine’s Day then these Banana Maple Cupcakes would be a great gift for someone special OR something fun to make together. They would also be sweet for an anniversary gift .Or just because you like hearts. Or bananas. Or trying new things. Or if you just need a go-to banana cupcake recipe. Now what are you waiting for?! Go forth and use those bananas you are never going to eat!

Update: These are best served same day. The spun sugar kind of dissolves and melts into the cupcakes. Also, my sugar hearts kind of tasted like coffe, but that could just be because of how long I cooked it for. (so I am saying if you don’t like that idea then be careful how long you leave them in the cupcakes or how long you cook the sugar for!) I am trying the spun sugar again this weekend so I might do another post/update about it!

Happy TOFUesday!

And what exactly is Tofuesday, you ask? I think this picture will sum it up:

And the birth of a legend was born! This “Tofuesday” idea happened before I decided to make a tofu recipe every other week, but I wanted to share that screenshot anyway. . my partner is ridiculously supportive of my terrible wordplays.

I decided to try these Tofu Balls from the PPK. I used extra firm tofu that was frozen and thawed. I also had some mushrooms that needed to be cooked so I threw them in the mix, too.

I somehow managed to completely forget a step, so I am not sure I can give a proper review of these Tofu Balls, but I would love to make them again. They were super easy and delicious, but I didn’t roll them in flour before frying them up, so I had quite a few fall apart on me. I like the ease of this recipe and it’s versatility. I almost didn’t post this because I messed up and didn’t get a knock-your-socks off result, but ya gotta start somewhere!

Anyone have a tofu recommendation for next time?