Posts filed under 'baked goods'
I hope my US readers had a wonderful long weekend! Summer seems just around the corner, so I’ve been thinking about ice cream. And cupcakes. And cupcake versions of ice cream. These are more recognizable as cupcakes than my last attempt at ice cream look alike cupcakes, and easier to eat to boot.
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World has a recipe for banana split cupcakes, but I wanted something simpler (read: I was already half-way through making my own version when I realized Isa and Terry had probably already thought of it, and lo and behold, it’s on page 81). These here are the Golden Vanilla Cupcakes. It’s my default yellow cake recipe, if you haven’t noticed.
The frosting is banana buttercream, but don’t worry, it doesn’t have any icky banana extracts in it. I hate banana-flavored things – only the real deal with suit me! If you blend a banana into your frosting you get a light but yummy banana flavor that doesn’t taste like chemical bananas. So that’s good, right?
Simple Banana Split Cupcakes
Makes 12 Cupcakes
1 Batch Golden Vanilla Cupcakes, cooled (air conditioners cool more than people)
12 Maraschino Cherries
1/2 Cup Chococlate Chips, melted (or pre-made chocolate sauce)
2 Tbs Soymilk
Chopped Nuts, optional (peanuts are classic)
Sprinkles
Banana Buttecream
Banana Buttercream Frosting
1/2 Cup Earth Balance, softened
1/2 Cup Non-Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening, softened
1 Ripe Banana
3/4 Box Powdered Sugar
Bake and cool cupcakes. Place chocolate chips and soymilk in a double boiler and melt slowly, whisking until smooth. Set aside. Whip frosting ingredients together until smooth and airy; use a stand mixer if available.
Frost cupcakes, add cherries. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and sprinkle with nuts, if using. Use extra banana slices or dried banana chips for an extra garnish.
May 28th, 2007
I was invited to a Cinco de Mayo party where the main drink served was mojitos. Who says we can’t have a Cuban drink on a Mexican holiday? I’ll drink a mojito to celebrate any holiday! And I’ll certainly never turn down a mojito cupcake.
I modified the golden vanilla cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and I was super pleased with the results. I infused the soymilk with spearmint and lime juice, added rum and lime zest to the batter, and the frosting is flavored with dark rum instead of vanilla extract. The result is a totally delicious grown-up cupcake. I would have used fresh mint leaves had they been available, but thankfully the dried ones work just fine. Do try to find spearmint as opposed to peppermint, fresh or dry, as that’s the proper mint for your mojito (be it beverage or cupcake!).
Omit:
Apple Cider Vinegar
All Extracts
Add:
Zest of 1 Organic Lime
2 tsp Dried Spearmint
2 Tbs Lime Juice (about 1 lime’s worth)
2 tsp Dark Rum
Prepare “vanilla” cupcakes as the directions state, with the following changes:
Grate the zest of 1 lime into the dry ingredients. Heat the soymilk in a small sauce pan with the dried mint. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Pour soymilk through a strainer back into your liquid cup measure. Top off with more cold soymilk if it no longer measures 1 full cup, as some soymilk may have evaporated while the mint was steeping. Add lime juice and rum to this mixture. Proceed with regular directions.
For the rum buttercream frosting, omit the vanilla extract from the fluffy vanilla buttercream and use 2 tsp dark rum and 1 Tbs lime juice instead. I use the entire box of powdered sugar and a splash of soymilk to get the consistency I like. Garnish with mint leaves if availble, lime wedges, and granulaed sugar. Feel free to squeeze your lime segment over your frosting before you eat!
Keep in mind that garnishes such as lime wedges and mint leaves won’t look good if they sit for too long on top of your cupcakes before being served. Save decoration for the last minute if you’re using these garnishes.
May 6th, 2007
Stewart has been asking for danishes. For weeks. I finally made them.
The recipe needs a lot of work. And when it’s done, it’ll be available in my upcoming cookzine!
I’m going to start work on a collection of recipes with the help of some friends over at the Post Punk Kitchen Forums. When I have more details about the format, release date, and availability I’ll be sure to let you know.
Previews of cookzine recipes will be posted on weekends, but regular posts with recipes will still be put up on the weekdays. I think this will be a fun project and I can’t wait to get started. In the meantime, danishes!
April 19th, 2007
Two of my friends are celebrating their birthdays today (though today isn’t either of their actual birthdays), so I decided to make mini pineapple upside-down cakes. These are really easy and so so so tasty. I made an extra so I could have one too.
Do you have a favorite yellow cake recipe? Do you have access to pineapple rings, brown sugar, and cherries? Guess what? You can make a pineapple upside-down cake too!
Mini Pineapple Upside-Down Cakes
Makes three to four mini cakes, or one 8-9″
1 Yellow Cake Recipe (I use the golden vanilla cupcakes from VCTOTW)
1 Can Pineapple Rings
1 Jar Marischino Cherries
1/2 Cup Earth Balance
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
Melt sugar and earth balance in a DRY sauce pan over medium heat, stirring only when necessary. The presence of water, even a drop, can make your sugar seize and become gross. When sugar mixture bubbles up, remove from heat. It should cool and look (and taste!) like a caramel sauce, because that’s what it is!
While the sauce is cooling, prepare your cake mix. If you’re making one large cake (like 9″), pour all the caramel in the bottom. 2-3 tablespoons worth of sauce is perfect for mini cakes. Arrange pineapple rings on the bottom, and fill their center with cherries. You can decorate the sides of the pan, too, like the photo on the left.
Pour in your batter, being careful not to dislodge the pineapple slices. If you’re using a springform pans, you might want to cover the outside in foil or bake them on a cookie sheet. My caramel sauce dripped out during the first few minutes and left a mess on the bottom of my oven. Bake for as long as your cake recipe tells you too – mini cakes will be done between 18-25 minutes at 350º F.
Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Remove rings (if springform) or run a knife around the outside (if regular cake dish) and invert onto a serving plate. It’s easiest to put the plate on top, upside-down, then invert the whole shabang and remove the pan. Serve warm, but really, they’re just as good room temperature. Definitely unmold them while they are warm, since the cooler the sugar gets, the harder it’ll be to get them out of the pans.
I only told you that I made these for friends so I can’t eat them all myself and pretend I “just didn’t have time to bake.” This might be my new favorite cake. So good.
April 14th, 2007
Hello Everyone! Just want to say a few things – first, thank you all so much for your votes for Best Food Blog! There are so many great blogs in the competition, it’s really an honor to be a part of it. You guys are great!
I also wanted to draw your attention to the new tabs up at the top – archive, favorites, and how-to. Check them out! I am working on adding a cookbook-like index (alphabetical and categorical), but as you can imagine, that will take a bit longer! It’ll be up within a few days.
Peanut Sesame Ginger Cookies from VCON
April 13th, 2007
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