Vegan Baking

This cake is based on a traditional pflaumenkuchen, or German plum cake. I broke with tradition a little and enhanced the plums with a spash of rum and a dusting of sugar and cinnamon. I wanted the intense fruit flavors to be well balanced by a flavorful cake so I used the power of yeasted cake to add flavor depth in the cake department. Yeasted cake also has the benefit of utilizing gluten bonds for binding which frees us from needing to use any fancy egg replacers. I purposely designed this cake to be on the dense side because I felt that it helped to showcase the plums.The result is a fruit forward plum topping baked into a cake that can hold it's own. Black plums are preferred due to their high level of sweetness. Feel free to make this cake using any combination of other stone fruits you may have on hand.

These light and airy cupcakes have a soft, tender crumb due to the addition of arrowroot flour as well as apple cider vinegar. Vanilla extract and a touch of almond extract tie it all together. These cupcakes utilize the quick bread method which involves mixing your dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls, then mixing them both together at the end. This is a really easy way to make great cakes that have tender and spongy qualities. The drawback of this style is you have to be careful if you adjust the amount of sugar; more sugar will tenderize the batter, negatively affecting rise. These cupcakes are a little under sweet for my taste but if you're going for an elaborate frosting job no one will notice. If you increase the sugar in this quick bread method by even 1 Tablespoon, the cupcakes won't rise enough so it's not recommended. Use these cupcakes as a base for other flavor variations by switching out some of the flour and/or flavoring extracts. If you're looking for a cupcake that's a little bit more sweet and full flavored check out the Vanilla Cupcakes - Cream Method.

These soft cupcakes utilize the cream method which involves beating or creaming margarine and sugar together, beating in an egg replacing liquid then mixing in the flour and remaining liquid at alternating stages. This results in a cake that has a more substantial mouth feel and less crumbs partially due to the gluten in the flour becoming more activated from the mixing. This method also provides a more substantial rise that is less inhibited by sugar than cakes made via the quick bread method. This cupcake requires more preparation and is less tender and spongy but more flavorful due to the margarine and slightly increased sugar. Use these cupcakes as a base for other flavor variations by switching out some of the flour and/or flavoring extracts. If you're looking for a cupcake that's a little bit more fluffy and less sweet check out the Vanilla Cupcakes - Quick Bread Method.

This is carrot cake's long lost brother, featuring parsnips which are slightly spicy and astringent. Parsnips are teamed up with pineapple, golden raisins, non-diary yogurt and a touch of cardamom to make a flavor that's lighter and spicier than carrot cake but every bit as tasty. Like carrot cake, Parsnip Cake should be liberally frosted with cream cheese frosting or a variant thereof for best results.

Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts during the holidays. This variation pairs pumpkin with Easy Caramel Sauce for a great way to end a feast. Try to find the non-hydrogenated vegan cream cheese so you can avoid trans fats. This cheesecake also goes great with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

New Englanders seem to get inordinately excited for Fall every year, and while they claim it’s the foliage and the seasonal Starbucks drinks, I’m pretty convinced it’s all the baking they’re suddenly inspired to do and consume.  Mass consumption of sugary, fattening, delicious baked goods isn’t an alien concept to me, even though I hail from San Francisco, the land of health food and hippies.  My heritage is largely (no pun intended) German, and if there’s any bit of culture my German-American relatives have retained, it’s their love for two things above all else: (1) beer; and (2) cakes.

Trying to find a "from scratch" recipe was difficult, finding a vegan recpe was impossible! So after much research I finally dreamed (literally) up a recipe that is truly from scratch, truly vegan, truly easy and most importantly, truly delish! The cake comes out so moist that frosting is definitely optional.

This is the first thing I made after ordering Dandies Vegan Marshmallows from Chicago Soy Dairy. I feel like a kid again. Be sure to make these as close to your eating occasion as possible because Rice Crispy Treats love to dry out. All the recipes required for preparation are included in this recipe. If you need to make them a day or so beforehand, keep them in an air-tight container.

This cake is fun because it's easy to make, wheat free and doesn't require baking. The hardest part is waiting several hours for it to firm up in the fridge.

This is a natural take on a vegan cheesecake that doesn't use space age ingredients. I tried to strike a good balance between unprocessed ingredients and high quality flavor.  You won't be able to fool non-vegans into thinking this is real cheesecake but it still delivers on the taste buds.

This is a coffee cake with layers of cherry jam and almond butter.

This cake has a nice, subtle apple flavor and goes perfect with a vegan cream cheese frosting.

This simple, light and fluffy white cake is delicious on it's own. It's subtle flavor won't compete for attention if you're interested in adapting it into more complex cakes.

This cake is perfect for special occasions or cravings during the fall season.