Freedom Never Tasted So Good

Ok, ok.  I've been a bad blogger.  Again.  Sorry.

On a brighter note - I just made the best muffins ever!  AND they're gluten-free!

So what's the deal with gluten anyway?  Much like veganism, it's been getting a lot more buzz lately.  But, in case you're still in the dark, here's some information.  No skipping past the knowledge to the muffiny goodness!

The word "gluten" comes from the latin word for "glue".  No, I'm serious.  You see, gluten is a protein found in wheat (and related grains like barley and rye), and is a binding agent used in baking - it's what gives bread dough it's stretchy, elastic consistency. For a very long time this posed a big problem for those trying to bake gluten-free goodies.  Gluten Intolerance is a spectrum of disorders involving people who have adverse reactions to gluten, from sensitivites, to full-blown auto-immune response (aka celiac disease).  While celiac disease has been pretty well researched, non-celiac gluten sensitivity is still poorly understood, but it can trigger many similar symptoms, such as digestive upset, headaches, and fatigue.  What we do know is that more and more people are discovering that they feel better when they are not eating gluten.

It is estimated that 1 in 133 Canadians are affected by celiac disease [1].  Throw in the folks with gluten sensitivity, and well, it just makes good sense to learn how to cook without gluten!   Two of my close friends are gluten-intolerant, and I myself spent a year eating gluten-free as I suspected it as a culprit in my digestive woes.  When I first started cooking gluten-free (6 or more years ago now!) it was a challenge.  There was no Gluten-Free section at the grocery store, you couldn't find gluten-free goodies in your local bakery, there was no gluten-free pizza crust or hamburger buns available at restaurants.  What a difference 6 years makes!  Times have changed, and as awareness grows, so is the availability of products and resources.

Take, for instance, Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour.  With one easy step you can transform any baking recipe into a gluten-free one.  Which is just what I did with the delightful muffins I'm about to teach you how to make.

Om nom nom... 

Gluten-Free ChocoNana Walnut Muffins!
Makes 12-15 muffins

1 1/2 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/3 cup mashed, ripe bananas
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup non-dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts

Whisk together dry ingredients (= lazy man's "sifting").  In a separate bowl whisk together wet ingredients.  Add wet to dry.  Fold in walnuts.  Pour into greased or lined muffin tins.  Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, or until muffins are set and toothpick comes out clean.  Devour.

Vegan Easter Awesome

I always remember Easter as being a pretty fun time when I was a kid.  Easter meant egg hunts, chocolate, and decorating eggs.  This year, with my niece about to turn two, the fun times can start again.  My mom and I orchestrated her first egg hunt, which she was super good at!  We figured two was a little young for egg decorating, and let's face it, it isn't exactly a vegan tradition.  So I came up with a better idea.  A way better idea.  Let's decorate egg-shaped cookies!  Not only are they vegan and less fragile, but once you're done decorating, you get to eat them!

I made the sugar cookie recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, some simple icing, and I had purchased a whole lot of fun sprinkles from bulk barn.  I taped some parchment paper to the coffee table, and handed her some freshly iced cookies for her to sprinkle at will - and sprinkle she did!  As you can see, they are masterpieces! :)  The cookies were delicious (albeit crunchy with the copious amounts of sprinkles), and I think I've just found myself a new Easter tradition.

My family had our celebration on Good Friday, and we discovered at the last minute that my sister-in-law, who is catholic, cannot eat meat on Good Friday.  Good thing there's a vegan at the table!  I made the vegan quiche from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, and put green onion, red pepper, and broccoli in it instead, and topped it with cheddar style Daiya shreds.  It was super yummy, and my sister-in-law thought so too (she even asked for seconds!).  Definitely omnivore approved! This quiche tasted just as good (possibly better?!) the next morning for breakfast, and I am going to start making it regularly as an easy make-ahead breakfast that is fast and nutritious for busy mornings.

What holiday would be complete without cupcakes?  These cute easter cupcakes are super easy to make.  First you take your basic vanilla (or chocolate if you prefer!) cupcake and fluffy buttercream icing from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  Then you colour some shredded coconut the spring colour of your choice, and roll the cupcakes in the coconut to form a "nest" around the outside (leaving the middle un-coconuted).  Then stick some mini-eggs in the middle, and ta-da!  Bird Nest Cupcakes! I know mini-eggs aren't vegan, but they make the perfect decoration (I gave mine to my mom to eat).  If anyone know of any vegan mini-eggs or something that would take their place, let me know so that next year they can be truly vegan, decor and all!

Veganism is not Deprivation

Don't believe me?

BEHOLD!!:

om nom nom...

Disclaimer: While veganism is generally healthier, and many people lose weight when they make the switch, this is not one of those recipes.  This recipe is for over-indulgence purposes only. Proceed with caution, and at least a pint of water.

Raspberry Chocolate Mousse Cake
you will need:
Chocolate cake
chocolate mousse
raspberry jam
fresh raspberries
Piping bag

Here's how I did it:  Make one chocolate cake recipe, in my case I used a double batch of the chocolate cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (if you don't have this book yet, I don't know what you're waiting for.  It's truly indispensable).  Bake it in 3 8-inch round pans.  Make a double batch of vegan chocolate mousse (again, from VCTOtW).  Yes this mousse recipe has tofu in it.  No, it tastes nothing like tofu.  Even my incredibly skeptical and picky brother had no clue. I promise.  Let the mousse firm up in the fridge for a few hours, and make sure the cakes are good and cool.
Ice the first layer, and pipe a protective lip around the outside of the cake, this will keep the raspberry jam from oozing out of the layers and making your outer icing a big mess.  Apply a thin layer of raspberry jam.  Gently place the next layer on top, and repeat.  Once the top layer has been placed, ice the whole thing.  If you find it's sliding around (mine did) place a BBQ skewer down the middle.  Pipe a fancy scalloped edge around the top of cake and fill in the top with fresh raspberries.  Keep refrigerated until you're ready to indulge, devour, and slip into a diabetic coma.

World Peace

You'd have to be a fool not to love cupcakes.  I strongly believe that if there were more cupcakes in the world, we wouldn't have all the war and civil unrest, and general bad behaviour that humans seem to be so good at.  It would take a particularly evil person to eat a cupcake and then go blow up a village.  The point I'm trying to make is you need to make more cupcakes.  To do so, and possibly bring about world peace, you will need to pick up a copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  Not only can $12 bring you boundless joy, but it will also bring joy to those you bake cupcakes for.  Need proof?

BEHOLD!!  Peanut butter chocolate chip mini-cupcakes with fluffy chocolate buttercream icing!!!

If I believed in heaven, I would also believe that upon arrival you would be served one of these cupcakes.  They're that good.

"Blueberries is one of the great forces o'good in the world" - James A. Owens

Late summer - and that's what we're at now, in case you blinked and didn't notice summer whiz by - is my favourite time of year.  There are many reasons why August is such a great month - cicadas are singing in the trees, meadows are in full bloom, back to school supplies are out, and nearly all of Ontario's produce is now available.  All summer long I await the arrival of two fruits more than any other: peaches and blueberries.  

Last week I paid a visit to Canaan Blueberries, which is located east of Ottawa.  It is a lovely, peaceful farm, boasting four varieties of highbush blueberries.  I have always enjoyed picking blueberries, I find them to be the most contemplative of berries.  I used to work on a berry farm when I was in high school, and the blueberry patch was my favourite.  Sitting quietly in the blueberry field, feeling the warmth of the sun pressing against me, listening to the birds chirping and the wind rustling through the trees, was like a kind of meditation.  In the blueberry field, my mind grows still (a rare occurrence), my heart swell with joy, and I am filled with appreciation. 

At Canaan Blueberries, the feelings of peace and happiness found me again.  With the branches bending under the weight of their fruit, picking was easy and plentiful - I came away with about 6 litres of blueberries!  A week later, less than a quart of berries remain.  So what did I do with them all?

Those blueberries lended their antioxident power to blueberry-peach smoothies, pancakes, turnovers, tarts, soy-yogurt breakfast parfaits, and one epic blueberry pie!  The blueberry pie is a combination of three separate from around the web, and let me tell you - it was friggin awesome.  

Epic Blueberry Crumble-top Pie

Flakey Vegan Pie Crust

From Veganbaking. Also what I used to make my turnovers and tarts. Excellent crust!

This recipe would do for a crust topped pie - since this pie uses a crumble topping, you only need to make HALF the recipe.  Or, make it all and use the leftover dough for tarts and other such goodies!

2 ½ cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
¾ cup cold margarine
½ cup cold vegetable shortening
¼ cup cold water
3 Tbsp cold vodka 

Sift together flour, sugar, and salt (I like to cheat-sift by whisking my flour mixtures.  It blends everything really well and breaks up clumps).  Cut the margarine and shortening into the flour with a pastry cutter until crumbly (if you don't have a pastry cutter, a wire whisk also works really well! Whisks ftw!).  Drizzle half the water and vodka and toss.  The original recipe says to use your fingers, but I used a spatula to keep the warmth of your hands from melting the margarine/shortening.  Add the rest of the water and vodka and mix again.  Press the dough into a ball and refrigerate while you get the filling and topping ready.

Why vodka? The alcohol inhibits gluten formation (the protein in wheat flour that causes the stretchy breadiness), and it also provides moisture that will quickly cook off, both contributing to perfect flakiness!

Blueberry Filling

I used the recipe from The Joy of Baking. You really can't ask for a more perfect blueberry filling.

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp lemon zest

Combine sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest.  Add the sugar mixture to the blueberries and toss to combine.

Chemistry lesson: Pectin is a polysaccharide found in fruit and is used as a gelling agent when making jam.  In the presence of an acid (in this case, lemon juice), pectin chains bind together. Water is bound together by sugar and the pectin chains, creating a thick gel.  Blueberries are naturally high in pectin, thus the addition of sugar and lemon juice makes for a fool-proof pie filling.

Walnut Crumb Topping

I found this crumb topping on Epicurious. I'll be using this recipe for a peach crisp in the near future!

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

6 Tbsp margarine, melted

Mix together all ingredients except margarine.  Add the melted margarine and mix with your fingers until crumbly.

ASSEMBLE!!

Place oven rack at the lower third and preheat oven to 375 degrees.  

Roll out pastry.  The crust recipe suggests rolling it out between two sheets of parchment paper (this is a great idea as it won't add additional flour to the crust). I however, have always make pie crusts using the add flour as needed method, and that's what I did here.  It worked out wonderfully.  Pre-bake the empty crust for about 10 minutes.

Fill the bottom crust with the blueberry filling, then top with walnut crumb crust.  PLACE PIE ON TOP OF COOKIE SHEET LINED WITH FOIL!  If you choose not to put a cookie sheet under your pie, prepare for a sticky blueberry mess on the bottom of your oven (and subsequent oven smoke).  If you don't line your cookie sheet with foil, prepare to scrape sticky blueberry mess off your cookie sheet.  Consider yourself warned.

Bake for a good hour or so, or until the crumb topping is doing some serious browning and there's lots of filling bubbling up through the gaps in the crumble (and likely onto your cookie sheet).  Remove from oven, resist urge to shovel scalding hot pie into your mouth, allow to cool, impress your friends.

Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

Not at all!  They could be carried... in this case, by a transport truck to the grocery store.

While not overly fatty, the vast majority of the fat in coconut "meat" (and therefore also coconut milk) is saturated fat, and so sadly you probably don't want to eat large amounts of coconut regularly.  Coconuts do contain many healthy properties though, so our coconut indulgences are not all for naught.  One cup of coconut meat has 11% of your recommended daily intake of iron, and coconut water (the liquid from the middle of the coconut) has the highest natural source of electrolytes, making it nature's perfect sports drink. Coconut water can also be used intravenously to rehydrate people in desperate (usually remote) situations!  Find out more about coconuts here.


Factoid: the Coconut is a "drupe" and not truly a nut.

This winter I've been working at a diner that also has a bakery attached to it.  This means that those who come to dine have at their disposal a plethora of pies, cakes, and other goodies to eat for dessert.  One of the most popular desserts is coconut cream pie.  After weeks and weeks of bringing coconut cream pies to people, I was really really craving some coconut.  I'm devising a plan for making a vegan coconut cream pie, but I've been in a cupcake mood lately.  I decided to adapt the Golden Vanilla Cupcakes recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook (if you don't have this book, go buy it!  It is indispensable!).  I wanted to top them with some of my Coconut Whip, but my impatience made for unsettled coconut cream, and I resorted to a batch of Fluffy Buttercream Icing instead.  I have coconut milk settling in the fridge and I hope to rectify this situation tomorrow. Until then, on to the cupcakes!

Vegan Coconut Delight Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup coconut milk
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
     (or coconut extract if you can find it!)
1/2 and 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350.
Beat together coconut milk, oil, sugar and extracts.  In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients (except coconut).Combine wet and dry ingredients. Fold in 1/2 cup coconut.
Fill cupcake liners about 2/3-3/4 full and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Transfer to a cooling rack.

Spread remaining 1/4 cup of shredded coconut out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Toast the coconut in the oven (still at 350).  Do not leave unattended!  Toasting only takes a minute or two.  Take them out when they turn a nice golden brown and transfer from cookie sheet to a bowl immediately (they can continue toasting on the sheet, coconut shreds are very sensitive it seems!).

When cupcakes have completely cooled, ice with coconut whip or fluffy buttercream icing and sprinkle the tops with toasted coconut.  Enjoy :)  If you do use coconut whip, I would ice on an as-needed basis, since coconut whip should be kept refrigerated and might make your cupcakes soggy :(

Seriously, seriously delicious cupcakes.

**UPDATE**

Today I successfully made a batch of coconut whip.  Patience is a virtue when it comes to baking, it would seem - you can't cut corners with this one, wait til the coconut milk has been in the fridge overnight!  And all I have to say is WOW!  Do yourself a favour and ice these with coconut whip - they are heavenly cupcake perfection!!

Yumm-o!!

Heaps of Ruination

You know when you make weight loss or diet goals and everything is going well, you feel great about yourself and your excellent will-power, and then something happens. It can be any number of things - you injure your foot, derailing your running regimen, or you go through a busy spell causing you to eat entirely too much falafel. These set-backs can often be overcome after an undetermined period of moping and regret. Sometimes something happens that threatens your entire future health, no end in sight, no foreseeable solution, and you feel that you might as well give in to a life of muffin tops and flabby arms. This has happened to me.

What could possibly have occurred to ruin years of hard earned health and fitness? What could be so epic so as to cause a blog entry of such extreme melodrama? A part of me warns me not to tell you, for it will no doubt destroy you as well, but like those who sucked me into the swirling void of diet-ruining bliss, I must share this bittersweet epiphany. It can be none other than...

THE 5-MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE!!!!

Yes folks, just 5 minutes stands between you and chocolate cake at almost any moment. I was infected with this affliction via it's facebook page. I tried it later that night, and at that moment I knew, it would take all my will power to avert obesity. 4 days and 4 warm, melty, chocolate mug cakes later, my will power has yet to even show up for battle.

The accused is pictured here, accompanied by SO Good vanilla soy ice cream, and a dollop of coconut whip. Take note of the still melty chocolate chips. I already have a head full of ideas of different variations that I want to try out. I'm doomed. At least by sharing it with my mom I'm only ever eating half a mug each time... that justifies it right?

Edit: So obviously on facebook this is not vegan, so I used soy milk and commercial egg replacer. I have also discovered that nuking it for 3 minutes and 20 seconds is perfect in my microwave. Your microwave may be different still.

We interrupt Beet Week to bring you some delicious baking...

In case you were wondering, I've recently started a Statistics course, which is horribly dry (obviously), and explains the recent dramatic increase in the frequency of my blog posts. Good for my blog and my belly, not so good for my homework. Alas, here I am again.

Growing up Jean Paré's "Company's Coming: Muffins & More" cookbook was our baking bible. Every recipe was simple and delicious. One of my favourite part of her original Company's Coming books is that she always included corny jokes on the bottom of the pages throughout, entitled "Paré Pointers". Here are a few gems from Muffins & More:

The girl vampire and the boy vampire were very sad. They loved in vein.

A man who doesn't marry is a real sharp shooter. He never Mrs.

The firefly ran into a fan and was delighted.

What these have to do with baking I will never know, but I like to imagine Jean sitting at home chuckling to herself as she came up with these.

Factoid: Muffins & More was first published in 1983, the year I was born.

Just one look at our copy of this cookbook will tell you how well it has treated us over the years. Favourite recipes are well stained and encrusted with years of spilled sugar and flour. One such page is the banana bread page. It may truly be the best banana bread recipe in the world. Now that I am vegan I have not stopped using this book. Most of her recipes are easily modified to suit a vegan diet. A little egg replacer here, a little soy milk there, and voila!

Factoid: Bananas act as a binding agent and can be used as an egg substitute. In recipes that already have bananas, no other egg replacer is needed, but I like to add a little extra baking powder for lift, and sometimes some soy milk to make up the moisture difference.

We had some bananas sitting on our counter getting soft and spotty, and this can only mean one thing - banana bread. Opposite the well worn banana bread recipe we always use, there sits a recipe for banana coconut loaf. I don't know if it's the blog or the beets, but I was feeling adventurous and decided to stray from the old stand-by, and take a crack at this twist on the classic. After all, it's in Muffins & More, so it MUST be good. And how! This loaf turned out so moist and delicious, I may never make the original again! Ok, that's probably a big lie.

Without further ado, I give you:

Veganized Banana Coconut Loaf

modified from Company's Coming: Muffins & More

1/4 cup soy milk (for stronger coconut flavour use coconut milk)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted vegan margerine

3 mashed ripe bananas

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup flaked coconut

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Beat wet ingredients together in a large bowl.

In a seperate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour into greased 9-inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350°F until toothpick comes out clean.

I think pecans would taste excellent in place of the walnuts, but we didn't have any on hand. If you have nut allergies, you can either leave them out, or try substituting with sunflower seed.