Vegan Baking

Many ingredients such as nuts, flour and coconut can take advantage of toasting which usually contributes a noticeably complex nutty flavor. This is because toasting creates a myriad of flavor compounds in what is known as the Maillard reaction. One of the difficulties in baking with coconut is that its subtle flavor sometimes doesn't come through as much as we'd like. Toasting coconut can be a great way to add more complexity and depth of flavor to all sorts of coconut based recipes.

Coconut oil's subtle coconut flavors, the butteriness of margarine, the unadultrated flavor of canola. What is your preferred fat to use for vegan baking? While you're at it, share your reasons why you prefer your fat of choice in the comments below because we'd all love to know.

The smell of muffins as they come out of the oven, licking the cookie dough off the beaters, sharing your favorite new recipe with close friends... What's your favorite thing about vegan baking? I'm partial to eating any leftover chocolate, in any form, that may be left on any cookware but that's just me. Take the poll and then let everyone know what you really like about vegan baking in the comments.

I have an obsession with sprouting grains and legumes. I think it's related to my obsession of inviting nature take it's sweet time to process your raw ingredients in it's own special way. Sprouting instead of cooking has many advantages if you have the roughly three days to spare. Supplanting puréed sprouted grains for some or all of your flour is also a great way to make hearty breads.

So now that you're making your own bread, or at least enjoying your favorite tasty bread to the fullest, how do you store it so it's as good as possible for as long as possible?

Is Mom into vegan baking, traditional baking or just benefitting from the aftermath of whoever bakes? No problem. Read on for what I recommend for Mom this Mother's Day.

Having a wild yeast starter (also known as a sourdough starter) in your posession can lead to a whole new wold of fascinating flavors and food experiences. Everything from breads, pancakes, sweetbreads to pizza doughs can be made with wild yeasted dough, which has no need for commercial bread yeasts. Think of it as your magic little dough friend that's actually alive, waiting to morph into and enhance whatever you introduce it to. Read on as I talk about the history of wild yeast starters and how to put them to good use in your kitchen.

I like to advocate most things in moderation, which obviously includes vegan baked goods. Sweets are in no way, shape or form a part of a healthy diet. Even if you take the sugar completely out of baked goods, the refined flour alone will probably spike your blood sugar to unhealthy levels. That said, sweets sure are fun to eat every once in awhile aren't they? I believe there are certain food products that don't apply to the everything in moderation mantra and they should be avoided as much as possible. These unhealthy food products can usually easily be substituted by other products that are less detrimental to health, with virtually no reduction in the quality of the baked item. If we can do this, then why the heck not? What food products am I talking about? Partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup come to mind. Recently there has been talk of a new food product that might need to be added to this list: agave syrup.

The concept of reading words and numbers and using them to direct you to make something to eat is a strange thing. This simple list of directions is often the only companion you have in your quest to replicate what the original baker created. It's a good thing she meticulously listed all of the ingredients, their measures and thoroughly described all of the steps in an easy to follow manner. Or did she? If we were to go back in time a little over a hundred years or earlier, we would need a large heaping spoonful of luck for many of our recipes to turn out as they were intended. Luckily, recipe writing has evolved. Read on to find out how to write a recipe so it's interpreted in a clear, fun and informative way.

With Valentines Day or any other chocolate eating occasion (aka any occasion) rapidly approaching and funds dwindling about as fast, you might be wondering how in samhain you're going to pull out all the stops and make a truly memorable gift. Or you may be dreaming up ideas on getting yourself into a chocolate induced coma so you can cope with the stresses of life. Either way, now is the time to take matters into your own hands, put on your DIY hat and make a box of chocolates.

Like most things that are a little time consuming, the rewards of doing this are pretty big. I mean, the probability of having extra chocolates on hand is extremely high. I repeat: You're going to have tons of awesome chocolates after you do this! So what are you waiting for?

Serving a tasty vegan dessert can be challenging, but may be made a whole lot easier by substituting various, quality vegan ingredients for the dairy products usually associated with these rich culinary creations! Best of all, vegan desserts can be quick to make, super delicious, and nutritious. You’ll surprise your family and friends by serving your own, homemade, delectable confections, and no one will ever know they are vegan… unless you tell them.

Sometimes when working with things like chocolate, custards and fondant it's important to have slow, even, consistent heating. This ensures that your ingredients don't become too hot too fast or too much, which can cause them to break down. Other times you might want to work with something like melted chocolate for an extended period of time and not worry about constantly adjusting the heat to ensure that it's evenly melted. This is where a double boiler comes to the rescue. It's like cruise control for your heat!

A double boiler is a specific piece of cookware consisting of two fitted pots. The bottom pot is filled with 1 to 3 inches of water and the top pot fits above it and holds the ingredient that you're heating.

Trying to figure out what to get your favorite baker this holiday season but just can't figure out what? We're here to rescue you from your undecided holiday woes. I've compiled a list of several baking tools that are sure to enhance baking capabilities and make the whole deal much more fun. Maybe next year theyll invent a dessert tree and baking will become obsolite. Until then, read on to see what we recommend this holiday season.

In these trying times purchasing baking ingredients to sustain your sweet tooth/hobby can add up. Many of us have more time than funds these days so it can be fun to discover the art producing things we take for granted. This is the heart of what DIY culture is all about. It's fascinating to create, learn and save some dough in the process.

Lately I took that approach to vanilla extract and was able to create a vanilla extract that was comparable to high end extract for slightly more than half the cost.

To do this first you'll need to obtain a proper vessel. The little 5 oz. bottles that hot sauce comes in is perfect for home brewed vanilla extract. Transfer the hot sauce to a small pyrex container and thoroughly wash the glass bottle a couple times to wash away all the hot sauce remnants.