Almond Custard Cupcakes

Mini Almond Custard Cupcakes

Now cupcakes are latest food craze it seems everyone is baking and eating them, including me!
I purchased the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.
The cupcake recipe is tweaked from the Golden Vanilla Cupcake Mix but the custard topping is my own creation.

Almond Cupcakes
(Makes 12 large 15 medium or 24 mini with 2 medium cakes)

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (increase to 1/2 teaspoon if using oil instead of margarine)
1/2 cup margarine or 1/3 cup of oil
3/4 cup of sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons almond extract

Preheat oven to 350f and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
Mix the soy milk and vinegar and set aside for a few minutes to curdle
Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl and set aside.
If using margarine make sure it's softened and mix in a different bowl with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the almond essence and soy milk. If using oil mix it with the sugar, milk and almond extract. Add the flour mixture and beat until there are no large lumps. A few small lumps are okay though.
Fill cupcake liners and bake for 20 - 22 minutes. Stick a small knife or toothpick to check if they're done.
Put on custard icing when cool.

Almond Custard Topping

300 ml of soy milk
2 heaped tablespoons of cornstarch
2 teaspoons of almond extract
100 grams of margarine
100 grams of icing sugar

Put the milk onto boil but keep a few tablespoons aside and mix with the cornstarch.
Add the cornstarch mix to the milk when it's reached boiling point and stir with a wooden spoon.
Put in a bowl to cool. Put through a strainer if there are any lumps. Cover with cling film.
Beat together the margarine and icing sugar and add the almond essence. Add the cold custard mix a few tablespoons at a time while beating. Sometimes lumps can be beaten out but you might need to sieve the mixture.
Pipe onto cakes using a star nozzle or spread on. You can also decorate them with toasted almonds.

Vanilla Custard Cupcakes

Alternatively you can make Vanilla Custard Cupcakes by using vanilla extract in place of the almond and adding a bit of yellow colouring. For the topping you can also use custard powder in place of the cornstarch. You won't need the colouring then.

Vegan Pesto

I've adapted this recipe from Delia Smith's cookbook "Delia's Vegetarian Collection"

2 oz of fresh basil, washed
1 fat clove of garlic
1 tablespoon of pine nuts
6 tablespoons of olive oil
salt
1 generous 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast

Put basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and salt into the food processer and pulse until the basil and garlic are finely ground.
Add the nutritional yeast before heating.

The original recipe had parmesan cheese. You can also use goat cheese if you wish.

Another experiment I did was to make tofu scramble with the pesto. Mash one packet of tofu with a potato masher, chop finely or squeeze it with your hands and fingers to mash up. Saute in a little oil until lightly browned and add the pesto.

Vegan Jewish Coffee Cupcakes

When I was a child my mother used to make Jewish Coffee Cake with a recipe she'd got from a friend. I've tweaked it or veganised it and made cupcakes out of it. This recipe makes twelve cupcakes.

Cake Mix;
1 cup of flour
2 oz or 50 grams of margarine
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda
1 tspn of egg replacer mixed with 2 tblspns of water
1 tspn vanilla
3/4 cup of Toffuti Sour Supreme or other vegan sour cream
Note - if you used regular or dairy sour cream only use 1/2 cup

Topping;
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts
1/8 cup of brown sugar
1/4 tspn of cinnamon

Put cupcake liners into cake tins.

Mix together sugar and margarine until soft.
Add egg replacer, vanilla and sour cream and beat well.
Fold in flour, baking powder and baking soda

Fill each cupcake liner less than half full.
Sprinkle half of the walnut topping mix onto cake batter.
Use remaining cake mix and topping and bake for approximately 20 - 25 minutes at 350f.

Double Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

This recipe is adapted from Ricki Heller's Sweet Freedom cookbook. All I did was replace 1/4 cup of spelt flour with cocoa powder. This recipe is called Banana Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves or Muffins and is on page 36 of this book. I first used the original recipe which is also good but, this time I wanted extra chocolate.
Here is the recipe I used;

1 cup of mashed banana (2 large or 3 small bananas)
1/3 cup of agave nectar
Scant 1/4 cup of sunflower or light tasting oil
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
2 tbsp water
1 tspn of vanilla extract
1/3 cup of chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups of spelt flour
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsps of baking powder
1/2 tspn of baking or bicarbonate soda
1/8 tspn of salt

Whisk together the mashed bananas, agave nectar, oil, water and vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until everything is combined.
Put into a muffin pan that has been lined with cupcake liners.
Bake for approximately 25 minutes @ 350F
Makes 10 medium or 12 small cupcakes.

Pizza

Here's my simple recipe for pizza;

Lots of vegans are saying thank God for Daiya Cheese. It's the nearest thing to real cheese. If you live in Toronto you can get it from Panacea but, call first as it sells so quickly they often run out.

Base;

100 grams of spelt flour

1 tablespoon of oil

3/4 teaspoon of baking powder

a pinch of salt

tepid water

Topping;

1 can of pizza sauce (213 ml)

75-100 grams of Daiya Italian Blend Shred Cheese

Whatever else you like. I often use green onions and black olives. This time I used red and yellow peppers.

For the base mix the flour, oil, baking powder and salt together. Add the water slowly until you get a dough. Knead it briefly and roll out the base.

Put the pizza sauce on, then the cheese, then the topping.

Bake @ 375 f for approximately 40 minutes.

SNAP Downtown Toronto - Pirates & Mermaids Masquerade Benefit

SNAP Downtown Toronto - Pirates & Mermaids Masquerade Benefit

Cranberry Scones

Cranberry Scones

You can use wheat flour or another milk for this recipe and replace the cranberries with raisins if you wish.

4oz or 100grams of spelt flour
1oz or 25 grams of dairy free margarine
1/8th of a pint or 60ml of soya milk
¼ oz or 5 grams of baking powder
10-25 grams or ½ to 1 oz of castor sugar
25 grams or 1oz of dried cranberries
Pinch of salt

Put flour, salt, baking powder and margarine in a bowl and rub in the margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add the cranberries.
Add the milk slowly while stirring until mixture sticks together.
Roll into a sausage or cylinder shape about 6 to 8 inches long and cut into six pieces.
Put on a greased baking tray and brush with more soya milk.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes @ 350 f.