Every year for the last several years I’ve been experimenting with the seeds that come with my fall pumpkins. I enjoy roasting them and candying them but I’ve always grappled with their often tough mouthfeel. I always seem to be knawing on them for eternity as the texture slowly starts to remind me of sawdust. Every year I’ve tackled this problem differently; usually simmering them in water for a certain amount of time to soften them before roasting. This tactic has only yielded me marginally more tender pumpkin seeds. I needed to take this further.
A few months ago I picked up my first slow cooker. After some initial testing I found that slow cooking the pumpkin seeds in water on high (about 210F (99C)) for 10 hours allowed me to roast them to perfection. Using this method, your pumpkin seeds will be crispy on the outside and give way to a subtle chew on the inside as they release their flavors. Oh yeah, the flavor. Now that found the optimum texture, I opted for a savory punch thanks to the shiro miso, paprika and a dash of sugar and cayenne for depth of flavor. Now I can finally really enjoy pumpkin seeds as an easy going snack.
“See those bananas over there?”, I asked, tilting my head towards the end of the aisle at the health food store. “I’ll buy fifteen of ‘em for half price”, I suggested confidently. The cashier paused for a moment, not knowing whether to believe me. Why would anyone want to buy bananas that were almost more suitable for the compost bin than the kitchen for any price? “Sure”, he sighed. He knew they were garbage unless I took them in. I laughed to myself when I realized how excited I was to buy bananas that most people wouldn’t even think of eating. I started to feel bad about not liberating the others but I had to get home- There was work to do! How cool would it be to peel the bananas, purée them and slow cook them into a thick syrup to use as a base for fruit sweetened banana bread? Finally- something to do with all those bananas laying around in your freezer!We had a potluck at work on Friday and I wanted to impress. I knew I wanted to work with pumpkin but I wasn’t sure what to bake! After much research I decided on Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes with a Spiced “Cream Cheese” Frosting. I tested the cakes a few days before using whole wheat flour… My cupcakes turned into MUFFINS! Oh no! Good thing I had enough regular flour to bake with. When I baked the dozen for work I was so proud. My cakes rose! (Something that is very hard for vegan treats to do). The cream cheese frosting was a tad difficult for me, iI ended up using what felt like a ton of powdered sugar to help it set, but it turned out perfect. Ready to celebrate the holidays?
Have you ever gone apple picking and brought back pounds of fresh apples with high aspirations only to watch helplessly as your prized stock slowly breaks down as you're just too busy to commit to making all the apple pies, apple turnovers, apple cider doughnuts and apple strudel? This happened to me recently and as I was opening the compost bin of shame my friend Dan mentioned, "you know, my Mom uses the soft apples for apple sauce and it comes out awesome!" This sounded really interesting to me but I still didn't have time. So why not combine these soft apples with this lack of time and make a quick and easy applesauce?
Crystallized ginger is somewhat of a magical candy from nature usually made from just ginger, sugar and a little heat to bring the two together. It seems there are almost as many crystallized ginger recipes as there are ginger pieces. After doing extensive testing I learned that the key to successful crystallized ginger boils down to three main things:
Sugar Content
You must have at least a 50% mix of sugar to water mixture ratio in order for the
ginger to crystallize properly. I opted for a ratio of 1:3 ratio of sugar to water because I felt this promotes maximum crystallization with just the right amount of sweetness. The sugar content allows the ginger to crystallize and also acts as a preservative. The crystallization also lends a tender, soft and slightly chewy mouthfeel that is especially important.
Time
The ginger should have sufficient time in the hot sugar mixture so it can soften and the sugar syrup can infuse it.
Drying
I’m not one to dredge crystallized ginger in granulated sugar. In my opinion, properly made crystallized ginger has enough naturally crystallized sugars throughout its interior to need additional sugar added to the exterior. In order to promote this sugar crystallization the ginger must be exposed to heat so the excess water evaporates.
During the last few years running Veganbaking.net I've had many great conversations with passionate bakers from around the world. It's so great to connect on the baking level and realize that through all those miles and cultural variations we still strive to push vegan baking - and thus baking in general - forward while having fun doing it. For me, running Veganbaking.net is partly a way to go on my own quest to really make the best tasting food I possibly can and to have the best understanding of why it's happening on the food science level. But it's also a way to allow other vegan bakers around the world to connect and gain the knowledge and inspiration to passionately make great food. I'm constantly brainstorming to find ways to engage vegan bakers so they can share the knowledge they need to reach their goals. Over the years I've traded many baking tips with other bakers behind the scenes and I'm realizing that this really deserves a public forum. This is why I'm now re-launching part the Forum as a section of Veganbaking.net called Ask a Vegan Baker.
Ask a Vegan Baker is the place to reach out and ask the community your vegan baking questions. Why isn't your cake rising? Why are your cookies browning too fast and sticking to the cookie sheet? What are the best methods to temper chocolate for that big chocolate making fest you have coming up? Ask a Vegan Baker is also the place to answer these questions for other bakers so you can do your part to promote vegan baking. Remember that one afternoon you spent learning the in and outs of caramel? It wasn't all for naught! You know possess the knowledge to help someone out who hasn't tackled caramel yet. Ask a Vegan Baker should smooth out the learning curve for new bakers and make connecting and coming up with new, tasty eats ultimately more fun. So enjoy and check it out!
In my opinion, the ultimate cookie is crispy on the outside, yielding to a satisfying chew on the inside. This should not be confused with just a soft cookie. It should resist your bite a little and take a few moments to break down in your mouth as it provides burts of flavor with every chew. In contrast, soft cookies tend to be great on the first bite and disintegrate into nothingness soon after, often leaving you feel like you’re chewing on sweet dust. I’m a huge fan of peanut butter but I find the texture of peanut butter cookies to too often fall into the soft-only or even worse, the crumbly camp. If you scale back on their precious peanut butter they retain their chewy qualities but also quickly turn into regular cookies with just a hint of peanut butter flavor. I set out to find the optimum combination of decadent chewiness while keeping a peanut butter punch as intense as possible (and tossing in chocolate chips for good measure). This tightrope walk is extremely dangerous in that it causes you to eat way too many test cookies as you perfect your recipe.The very first Vegan Baking Day on Friday, September 30th is rapidly approaching but don't let panic set in just yet- It can be difficult to decide what to bake (or prepare raw) when preparing to share your favorite foods. Luckily, I've got you covered with some tips to make this special day as stress-free and fun as possible. A little planning beforehand will make your food easier to present with maximum impact. This guide applies to vegan bake sales too!
Choose desserts that are portable
Since you'll likely be preparing your desserts at home and bringing them somewhere else, prepare desserts that are somewhat firm and not crumbly. This would not be the ideal time to showcase your favorite cheesecake or cobbler. Dense recipes like fugde, blondies, and most types of cookies are ideal because they can be packed into freezer bags or placed into plastic food storage containers for easy transport. Since the desserts are somewhat firm, they'll make it there in one piece.
Polish your whisks, restock your vanilla extract, proof your yeast, pre-sift your flour, sharpen your vegan butter knives and mise your place because the very first Vegan Baking Day is almost here! Vegan Baking Day is a day to promote how awesome vegan desserts are and have fun doing it. Vegan desserts are still regarded as sub-par in many circles. Vegan Baking Day is all about changing that! You know those delectible lemon bars you've been meaning to bring to work? you know, the ones that people say you should sell because they're so good? Bake them and share them! Vegan Baking Day is the day to share your little piece of heaven with your co-workers, friends, lovers, insurance adjusters, dog walkers, enemies and cohorts. How it Works
Where are you going to be on Friday, September 30th? Wherever you are, bring along your favorite homemade vegan baked eats and place them in a communal area to share with anyone who happens to notice. Happen to be at the DMV? A picnic? A houseparty? Just another dreary day at work? These are perfect places to share your eats with the unsuspecting world. Better yet, team up with a few people, set up a table and give out vegan treats to the public at the location of your choice. Let's spread tasty vegan eats worldwide!When you share your favorite vegan awesomeness with whoever you happen to be around during the last Friday of September you accomplish two things:
1) You promote the fact that vegan baked goods are awesome.
2) You have fun. When was the last time someone hated on you for sharing your homemade treats? Everyone wins!
We Need Your Help
Since this is the very first Vegan Baking Day in world history, we need your help to help spread the vegan baking love as much as possible! If you happen to know any vegan bakers beside yourself who are interested in promoting veganism through baketevism, please let them know about Vegan Baking Day, follow @veganbakingday on Twitter and and Like the Vegan Baking Day Facebook Fan Page.So what are you planning on baking for Vegan Baking Day and where do you plan to celebrate it?
A recipe from Triumph of the Lentil: Soy-Free Vegan Wholefoods for all Appetites. Don’t be fooled by the zucchini in the title. This is actually a decadent tasting mud cake. Made in a bundt pan it is thin and crispy on the outside and moist and dense on the inside, so much that it doesn’t need any icing or accompaniments. To make it a bit fancier-looking you could drizzle it with melted vegan chocolate or icing. This mixture also makes delicious muffins, making 24 medium sized ones.
I’m a huge fan of kimchi because it adds a fascinating crunch and a savory spicy flavor to whatever you pair it with. It seems as if kimchi is one of those foods that becomes more than the sum of its parts after it ferments to perfection. Napa cabbage provides the crunch but also is rich in glutamates, the compounds that are responsible for savory favors, otherwise known as umami. Their had to be a reason why napa cabbage is always part of kimchi!
Recently I incorporated kimchi into vegan butter for an increased depth of flavor. The kimchi flavor was less apparent but the butter had a complex flavor unlike anything I’ve tasted. What if I made a puff pastry out of Kimchi Vegan Butter that was designed to deliver a one-two punch of flaky butter and savory flavors that even the most die hard meat eaters would love? The result is Kimchi Puff Pastry with Shiitake Mushrooms and Toasted Pine Nuts. This recipe may look a little daunting but it’s easy if you split it into several nights and refrigerate it as you go. I usually make the Kimchi Vegan Butter and mushrooms one night, prepare the puff pastry and give it a turn or two on the second night and prepare and bake them on the third night.
Trying cake batter ice cream recently I was intrigued of the concept of blending two completely different types of desserts. I loved how the ice cream takes on the unexpected flavor of cake batter but still has the consistency of ice cream. What could I get away with in an attempt to blend flavors and textures that would contrast but also compliment each other? I have a flavor experience burned in my memory from some point in my life where I had vanilla ice cream oozing over a ginger snap cookie. I realized that this was what I must try. Should I grind the ginger snaps and steep them in non-dairy milk or just blend them in the ice cream recipe before processing in the ice cream maker? Would I still need to add the same ratios of ingredients as my Vanilla Ice Cream recipe? Fruits become extra special when they're dehydrated. Many of their sugars slightly convert into acids during a subtle fermentation and their flavors become concentrated into a irresistible tartness with subtle sweetness accompanied by intense fruit flavor. This wildly complex cherry flavor is what I wanted to capture in this Vegan Cherry Almond Bar recipe. Cherry notes are further enhanced by almond flour, agave syrup. Just a bit of lemon zest and salt to bring foundation to the whole flavor package. Finally, cacao nibs add a nice contrast featuring a slight bitterness and delectable crunch. Feel free to buy dehydrated cherries or dry your own if you have a food dehydrator. I recommend Bing cherries for these bars but you should be able to get great results with any other variety.Strawberry and rhubarb are joined together in holy matrimony with orange zest and a touch of sugar in this vegan pancake recipe. I opted to not make these pancakes too sweet because I like real maple syrup or a liberal topping of strawberries to drive the sweetness. If you like your pancakes sweet you may want to consider adding a couple Tablespoons more sugar. Or top them with sweetened vanilla yogurt for a new take on strawberry shortcake. I repeat: you can con your friends into enjoying something really close to strawberry shortcake for breakfast! Either way it’ll be a breakfast to remember.
Few desserts are as satisfyingly simple as vanilla ice cream. I’ve had my fill of several dozen different styles over the years and I’ve developed a preference for what I believe to be optimal qualities in ice cream. I believe it should be smooth, delicately melt into a creamy base in your mouth but not linger for too long and not have off flavors. I don’t prefer ice creams that are frozen into a block of ice, nor do I approve of ice creams that have the texture and taste of ice milk. So how do you develop a soft, creamy, flavorful vegan vanilla ice cream recipe without using eggs or dairy? While we're on the subject of ice cream, how do you develop an assertive vanilla flavor while not being over-the-top and making it taste artificial?
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