the week after

I can't believe I would actually say this..but I'm tired of cooking. When I feel obligated to cook..it takes any joy out of it for me. I will always love reading recipes. But for this moment I'm tired of the measuring, the pots and pans. The baking, the frying and siffting and rolling.
However..my work here is far from done. This isn't usually the type of recipe that I would share due to the lack of butter and eggs (two staples for any baker) but I being a vegetarian I realize some push it to the vegan limit. I don't have that discipline. However, noone should live without chocolate cake. So here is a chocolate vegan cake recipe with vegan frosting
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup all purpose (flour that is)
1 cup sugar,(make sure its vegan sugar depending on how strict the vegan in your life is..cane sugar uses a bleaching process that uses animal bones in the process.)
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1tsp vanilla
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp distilled white vinegar

Preheat your oven to 350. In a bowl mix your flour, sugar, cocoa powder,bakind soda and salt. Add water,vanilla,oil and vinegar. Mix well. Pour into a 8x8 square pan that's been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 30 minutes until knife comes out clean.

Vegan buttercream frosting
6 tbs soy margerine. Earth balance sticks are pretty good.
3/4 cup cocoa
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup rice milk. (Vanilla is good)
1 tsp vanilla
Cream the margerine. Add the cocoa and powdered sugar alternating with the rice milk.
Add vanilla and. Mix until smooth. Make sure your powdered sugar is sifted thru a strainer first. It just makes life easier. It will be easier to spread later. Makes two cups of frosting.

So I hope your vegan is impressed and appreciates all the trouble you went to in making this cake.
Off for now !

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Im in cranberry heaven

Ok bees and bears. I love to bake. I'm a purist. There's certain things that I must have in my kitchen. Eggs, butter, a little All purpose (flour that is). Not exactly sure why I bought self rising flour. Especially since I really don't use it. For many reasons. It already has the leavening agents in it and I'm not really sure what the ratio of leavening to flour actually is. So I would never use it in a recipe that calls for all purpose. But I decided to use it today. I had some cranberries that needed to be used. So I made some cranberry sauce (recipe for sauce in blog entry from November 4th 2011)
I wanted to make an upside down cake. This was an easy fast cake with self rising flour and its not too sweet. Perfect for a brunch or breakfast.

Ingredients for the batter
2 cups self rising (flour that is ;)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil

This is so easy...combine your wet ingredients and add to your dry..batter will be lumpy and that's ok. Makes for fluffy texture.

Take a round cake pan and grease it up good. Pour enough cranberry sauce to cover the bottom. Take 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts. I used both. Sprinkle over the cranberry sauce. Sprinkle an extra tbs of sugar over this mixture if you want your topping to be extra sweet. Take your batter and pour over cranberries and nuts. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes until edges pull away from sides of the pan and toothpick comes out clean.
When you flip and unmold your cake if some of your cranberry sauce sticks to the bottom just scrape it off and put it ontop of your cake. This has the texture of a coffee cake. My cranberries were a bit tart which I like. Tastes really good with a drizzle or real maple syrup.
This was so easy...its a keeper for the cranberry fans out there. Hope your inspired like I was!
Off for now :)

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all is well

Okaaaay boys and girls. All is well in my world. I found the magazine with all of my baking recipes. It "magically" reappeared on a chair in my house. Now I don't know who..or what...or who. I don't care. The baking gods have saw fit to be able to continue my evil baking ways in the kitchen :)

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a twenty minute cake?

Could this be true? A cake in twenty minutes? Don't get too excited. The cook time is 20 minutes, but the prep time is 20 minutes. That's still good time for a cake. Most cakes take 45 minutes or better to bake. But this is a sheet cake. So it isn't a high cake. Its maybe only and inh tall. I have seen this recipe in a few different books and websites under different names. Call it whatever you want..just don't forget to call me when you serve it

Ingredients
For the cake:
2 cups AP flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 heaping tbs cocoa
2 sticks butter
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 whole beaten eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

For the frosting:
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1 3/4 stick butter
4 heaping tbs cocoa
6 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Use an 18X13 sheet cake pan
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar,and salt. In a sauce pan melt butter, add cocoa and stir together. Add boiling water, allow to bubble for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat. Pour over flour mixture and stirlightly to cool. Add the bttermilk to the beaten eggs, baking soda and vanilla. Stir buttermilk into chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop the pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine then turn off the heat add the milk, vanilla and powdered sugar. Stir together and add the pecans. Pour over warm cake. Let the heat of the cake do the work for you.
This cake is so good...like totally impress someone on a first dinner date at my house good!
Hope you're inspired to rock this cake like I was.
Off for now!

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thanksgiving menu

Hi everyone..
Wow..just seems like I'm finally starting to recovery from last years holiday madness. How time flies. I have so much baking to do for other people..I hardly have time to plan my own menu. Kinda hard when your a vegetarian and your family enjoys a nice bird every once in a while. I have to make 2 cakes for my co worker and a sheet cake for some friends in astoria. I just hope I don't have any un-expected mishaps in the kitchen. So I went out and bought a whole bunch of ingredients and I'm gonna make her two cakes and probably a few other things that are super yummy. Since my mom is making a turkey for everyone else, I decided to make portobello mushroom caps stuffed with spinich and fetta, roasted baby potatoes and either asparagus or string beans. I will definately post pics when I have them.
Hope your inspired peeps to make a vegetarian side dish..or main course.
More to come...stay tuned

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it was truly better than sex ;)

Hello peeps!
The beginning of my day was very hectic. I had laundry, cleaning, errands to run. The trains weren't running. Uch...I can't live!
..and to top it off, I had to take the tram into the city from Roosevelt Island. Talk about nerve wracking. Thank god its just a five minute trip. When my feet hit the ground, I had to get my bearings. I wasn't quite sure where I was. I just walked up to R train and lo and behold. VIOLa! Or is that Voi-la. Dylans candy bar.
THE best place on earth. The ultimate candy store. As soon as I walked in I was overwhelmed as the lady at the door handed me a plastic bag to fill. I resist the urge to plunge into mounds of gummies everywhere. "Have a little dignity" I say to my grown up self. So I carefully peruse the perimeter
Peruse: (transitive verb). To examine or consider with attention to detail
I started at one side and was blinded by a sea of candy. Too much to list here. You name it. It was there. I looked up and saw a sign advertising a lower and upper level. I went down a winding staircase which led me to a fudge counter. There was cheescake fudge and pumpkin fudge...and red velvet fudge..and chocolate and vanilla.. I can go on.. but I wont because fudge really isnt my gigiddy. I go up to the third floor where they have cupcakes and icecream. A bar for cocktails, and a cafe off to the side. There were all kinds of different flavors of icecream. Too many. You give me too many choices, I can't cope.
I go over to the bakery case...and I see it. The last reeses peanut butter chocolate cupcake. Now, normally I won't buy the "orphan" left behind. But this was no lonely orphan cupcake. It came from Crumbs bakery. This was a 4 dollar cupcake. Put into a fancy box and then put in a cute shopping bag. I walked out with my little cake. I felt good that I didn't run wild like the big kid that I feel like most of the time. So I go on about my buisness..met some friends, grabbed a veggie burger for dinner ..then head home to try this 4 dollar cupcake. Now I know what your thinking. "4 dollars for a cupcake..sheesh...that better be soooome cupcake dammit"
Let me just describe it to you so you understand. This was a chocolate cupcake, filled AND frosted with peanut butter frosting. around the whole edge were chocolate chips and chopped peanuts. And 3 tiny reeses peanut butter cups on top.
By far the best cupcake ever. Not overly moist or too dry. I was goldilocks and this was just right. The chips and peanuts gave nice crunch here and there..and the frosting wasn't overly sweet. You don't have to go to Dylans candy bar to get this cupcake just find a Crumbs bake shop. I promise you, once you try one of these cupcakes you will probably never eat another one anywhere else because it won't be the same. And let me just tell you. This cupcake is truly worthy of eating with a knife and fork. However once I took one bite, I threw my fork and knife into the sink.
Who needs to wash extra shit anyway :) Hats off to Crumbs. Worth every penny
Off for now bees and bears!

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a sad sad day...

Its a sad sad day in Allisons Edible world. I had a magazine from 2005 that had a lot of my holiday baking recipes in it. And its gone. Lost. Stolen. Borrowed maybe? Oh how I hope it was just borrowed. (Sigh)... No..its gone. I think it got mixed up with the other magazines that were to be thrown out. My famous cinnamon swirl bread. Gone from this earth. Never to be eaten again. And I don't remember the recipe. Ucch! I could just shoot myself for not making copies. Memorizing the ingredients. Putting the original in the vault and laminating my copies. Why oh why! Dear mary mother of all things holy.
I will look again and keep you all posted. I will keep the faith that it will possibly turn up.
-the search continues :(

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here we go again

2 weeks ago I tried to post this blog about some serious comfort food..tuna casserole! Every time I tried to post I kept accidently deleting it. Ooofaa was I mad. I wrote that post 3 times. Then settled on the fact that It wasn't in the cards to share a tuna casserole with the world.
Well I'm making it again so here is my opportunity to blog about it. My mom used to make tuna casserole all the time. I remember trying to pick out these little brown bits as I was eating it, not knowing what they were. Years later I found out that the brown bits were coming from cream of mushroom soup. (Shaking my head..who knew?)
As I grew older my taste buds have changed drastically and I've come to appreciate the use of campbell's cream of mushroom soup of america's tuna casserole. Although I've never had it, I hear they sometimes substitute with cream of celery soup. Maybe one day, but not today. So here is my tuna casserole.

1 bag of extra wide noodles
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
3 cans of tuna
1 cups of peas
2 ribs of celey, chopped
1/2 a medium onion, chopped
1 cup of bread crumbs
3 tbs of butter
3 tbs of flour
1 cup milk

Boil the egg noodles. Drain and set off to the side. Melt butter over med heat. Add flour and make a rue. Cook the flour a little bit and add the milk. Stir until smooth. Add cream of mushroom soup. Heat through. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Add cooked peas,onions and celery to soup mixture. Add to noodles. Add tuna and mix well. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Take out and sprinkle top with toasted bread crumbs or frenches onions. Bake for another ten minutes until top is GBD (golden brown and delicious).
Hope you're inspired to go back to some childhood comfort food.
Off for now bees and bears!

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what to do? what to do???

Ok... I'm not much of a pie baker. Mainly because I'm not confident in my pie crust skills. So I'm embarrassed to admit that I will use a pre-made pie crust. Not the ones in the pan. I will use the one that comes rolled up. You can do so much more with this product than just make pies. I like to take leftover cranberry sauce and make little tartlets. They are super easy, tasty and kind of impressive. First I will take you through making the cranberry sauce and then the tartlets. This cranberry sauce is for the people who say they hate cranberry sauce. I promise, once you taste this version you will change your mind! You can also prepare this a week in advance before you need it. It stays good in the fridge for a while.

For the cranberry sauce:
1 cup of cranberries
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 a fuji apple
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients together except the craisins Leave the fuji whole or in big chunks. You're going to pick them out later. Cook over medium heat until the cranberries pop. Then add the craisins. They will retain some of there firmness and give your sauce a nice texture Then reduce and simmer until thick. I simmer mine for a while because I like it like jelly. This comes out so good. You can eat it along with your turkey, or potroast. You can even eat it with cream cheese on a bagel or toast.

Now for the tartlets, I unroll the pie dough and cut it into little triangles. In the center of each triangle of pie dough I put a teaspoon of cranberry sauce and a sprinle of chopped walnuts and then pinch the three points of the triangle closed to make a purse.then brush with an eggwash and sprinkle with regular or turbinado sugar. Then bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
Unfortunately I do not have any pictures ready. But as soon as I do I will post them. Hope this gives you some information for the holiday season.
Enjoy!

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Time to fill the freezer

Ok..its november and I've been baking my ass off. Unfortunately I've been eating my ass off too. Lol. Life's too short to count calories. I do like to give edible gifts from my heart during the holidays. But unfortunately I don't always have the time to make stuff the day before. So I'm a big fan or things that freeze well. I like this cranberry pistachio bread for thanksgiving and christmas because of the pretty colors...and of course it freezes well. So get into the spirit and try this out..and let me know what you think!

Cranberry pistachio bread
2 cups APF (all purpose flour)
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp orange zest
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
3/4 cups chopped dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped pistachios (you can use walnuts, but half the fun of this bread is the green of the pistachios)
1/2 cup chopped figs or apricots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of your loaf pan and 1/2 inch up. (* if you grease your pan all the way up your loaf will be flat and you won't get that rounded top).
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar,baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl beat eggs with a fork stir in milk and melted butter.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Do not over mix. Batter will be lumpy. Fold in your nuts and dried fruit. Spoon batter into prepared pan bake for 60 minutes. Test with a toothpick and if not done,bake in five minute increments until done. For last 20 minutes you may want to cover with foil to prevent over-browning. Cool in pan for 15 minutes and then transfer to a rack. If you are going to freeze this,make sure its cooled completely and wrapped in plastic first and then foil
Hope your inspired to try this for your holiday!

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pumpkins everywhere

Ok..so I'm totally in the holiday spirit. Halloween is over. Soon it will be thanksgiving. I'm over-dosing you guys on all things pumpkin. Todays pumpkin post will be my pumpkin cornbread recipe. This recipe will go quickly so you may want to make 2 batches. Whenever I bake I look for recipes that double easily and that freeze well. You can always make ahead of time and then just defrost when you need it. This recipe is good on the dinner table for thanks giving and for breakfast with butter or jam the next morning.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
1 cup ground cornmeal
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mace
(mace is the reddish outer coating of the nutmeg that is dried and used as a spice with a slight pepper undertone. Do not be heavy handed with this one. If a recipe calls for 1tsp of nutmeg, I substite with half the amount of mace. I think it has a great flavor)
1/4 tsp salt
1tsp good quality real maple syrup
4 tbs butter(you can substute with vegetable oil. I like butter for this recipe)
3/4 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine and whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and spices.
I'm a seperate bowl combine with a hand mixer the pumpkin puree, eggs, butter and milk in a seperate bowl. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Add nuts. (Skip nuts if anyone is allergic)
Grease a 9"X5" pan. Pour batter into pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if its done. If not done cook in addition 5 minute increments until done. Let rest in the pan for 15 minutes then remove and cool on a rack.

Hope your inspired to make this for your holiday table like I am
Off for now bees and bears!

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