When in Pennsylvania...

... do as the Pennsylvanian Dutch do, right? :D Or at least so I thought when I came across a recipe for a Pennsylvania Dutch Crumb Cake. :D
 It was easy to veganize and quickly put together. (Unfortunately another fail regarding a pic... It was devoured quicker than I could think of getting my camera! :o Next time, I swear!)

~* Pennsylvania Dutch Crumb Cake *~ 

*2 c AP flour (next time I'll do 50/50 with whole wheat or other healthy flour! ;) )

*1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 c sugar (I only used 1/2)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 c (5 1/3 Tbsp) butter or shortening, diced [I used coconut oil]

3/4 c buttermilk [I used almond milk + 1 tsp vinegar]

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 beaten egg [1 Tbsp flax, 3 Tbsp water]

Optional: 1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease & flour an 8-inch round cake pan or similar rectangle pan/baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar & cinnamon.

With the tips of your fingers work fat into mixture until completely integrated. [At this point I actually used my beloved Dough mixer]

It's ok to see flakes of fat. Reserve 1/2 c of this mixture for the topping, to be used later!

In a separate bowl, combine egg (flax), buttermilk and baking soda. If using vanilla, add now. Using a rubber spatula, fold wet ingredients into dry until well combined.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar with the reserved flour mixture. Pour batter into pan. Top with crumb mixture and bake for about 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out almost clean.

Note: Amounts can be doubled for two cakes.

Happy Halloween!

I've come across a great recipe, shared by another fellow member of my Goodreads vegan cooking group (thanks again, 'Blueberries'! :) ) and had to give it a try right away! 

It is de-li-cious!!!

I've made a few modifications (replacing the real egg with Ener-G; also using only ~1 c of white raisins and I used vanilla chai tea -mixing it all on that very day, not letting it soak overnight!) and baked it for only 1 hour, covered with tin foil.

Oh, I also didn't have lemon peel but used Valencia orange peel (dried) instead.

Here's the original recipe: Irish Tea Brack

 After reading that the round form is more traditional, I went with it and it turned out perfect!

 It's truly a great mix between a soft sponge cake and bread!!!

Of course, at this time of the year a pumpkin pie has to be made as well! ;)

I used Lindsay's (Happy Herbivore) recipe and it turned out perfect!

I whipped up some coconut cream quickly (I've posted about it here: Coconut cream ) and it was the ideal combo!!! (Sorry no pic, the family was like a bunch of hyenas, all wanting a piece of pie, no time for pics! LOL)

~*~*~

Wishing you all a Happy Halloween!

Be safe! (Especially if you're on the East Coast! Thinking of you all and hoping hurricane Sandy will be gone soon!!!)

Apple Shortcake with 'cream'

Here I am again, finally having something blog-worthy to present! ;)

Like almost every weekend, I felt the need again to create something sweet and after the last episode of 'Master Chef' [I hate when they use meat and cringe especially when they're using veal!.. But overall I like the show!] I had in mind to make something a la 'Strawberry Shortcake' style.

I didn't have any strawberries nor any other berries... but I had 2 lonely apples sitting there, so that's how I came up with making Apple Shortcake! ^_^

Unfortunately I don't remember anymore where exactly I got the recipe for the biscuits for... I really need to make more notes while I'm surfing the net for new recipes and print pages after pages!..

Alright, here it goes:

~* Apple Shortcake *~

Biscuit

Dry ingredients:

2 c flour (1 c whole wheat, 1 c white)

1/4 c turbinado sugar (I'm sure one can also use agave syrup)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

3/4 c warm water

1/4 c coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla flavoring

1/2 tsp almond flavoring

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 400 F and grease a cookie sheet.

*Combine all dry ingredients, then add the wet ones, mix thoroughly.

The dough is very sticky, so I just took little parts off and formed them into a small ball, then flattened it a bit on the sheet.

  I got 7 big sized biscuits.

*Bake for 12-15 minutes until they're golden brown.

Apple slices

2-3 apples, sliced thin

cinnamon

brown sugar

*Sautee the apple slices with a bit of water in a frying pan until they're nice and soft, ~5-8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the apple slices.

*Add the cinnamon and brown sugar and let it all caramelize for another ~5 minutes.

'Cream'

1 pck Silken tofu (firm or soft, doesn't matter)

1/2 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla flavoring

1-2 Tbsp maple syrup 

*Add tofu, powdered sugar, vanilla & maple syrup in a food processor or blender and blend until everything is nice and creamy.

*Refrigerate until you're ready to use it.

Voila, ready! =)

Coconut Bread

On the weekends I usually bake something and after not having done so for quite a while due to our vacation, I really felt the urge to bake! ;)

I've received 3 German vegan cook books as a gift from my mom; one of them containing many easy & quick recipes, among them also a recipe for a coconut cake/bread!

Already while baking it smelled heavenly and the taste was just as divine!!

(Hubby claims it might be the best cake in 'bread' style I've ever made! Wow!)

The recipe is really easy and mixed together quick!

Coconut Loaf/bread

300 g flour

150 g sugar

1.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla 

6 Tbsp shredded coconut

300 ml coconut milk

*Mix all dry ingredients together, then add the coconut milk

*Pour everything into a greased bread loaf pan and bake at 350 F (180 C) for ~45 minutes until golden brown.

*Let it cool on wire rack before cutting

Voila!

Sooo yummy!!!

Edit: Since I've used the European metric system for this recipe, here's a site you can quickly convert everything: Onlineconversion

Cheezcake Bites

Yesterday I realized my Mori-Nu Silken tofu packages were about to expire *eek* and since it's often the case that one suddenly doesn't get such things at the store, I hoarded a few... 6 packs! *blush* 

So now I broke out in a slight panic (ok not really, but almost. I hate wasting food -and money!),  I had to think of doing something with them quick as we're also about to go to Germany in 2 weeks to visit my parents and we'll be staying for 3 weeks! *yay* 

In that time the expiration date of my tofu will be done..

Since I had a big sweet tooth today, I thought back to my first try of a vegan 'cheezcake' (you can find the recipe here ) and revamped it a bit by using lemon zest this time as well as also the real maple syrup and firm tofu and not partly soft.

I made an entire 'pie' dish but then wanted to do more (i.e. using up more of my tofu) and came up with the idea of making individual cupcake sizes!

It worked out perfectly; the recipe above gave me exactly 12 cupcakes!

The crust I've made myself for both, the pie and the cupcakes; instead of vegan butter I used coconut oil, which I love for baking! =)

Mix the crumbs with the softened oil and sugar in a bowl and then split up for the 12 cupcakes! (For the pie form everything goes directly in the form.)

Voila!

Never mind the Halloween wrapper! *lol*

(That's all I had!)

It tastes sooo good!!! (Of course I had to have 2 and not only one! LOL)