Vegan MoFo 2014 - Newsday Tuesday Two-fer!

It's another Newsday Tuesday, and today it's a two-fer!  Do radio DJs still do Two-fer Tuesdays?  I had a love/hate relationship with them because sometimes you'd get 2 songs by Adam Ant or The Cure or The Smiths, and sometimes you'd get 2 from The Eagles or something.

I made two more recipes from Cookin' Crunk today:  the twice-baked potatoes and the Mint Julep Brownies.

The taters took a while because of the baking, but if I'd done it right (cooking the leeks while the taters cooked), it might not have taken so long after that.  I was distracted and didn't pay attention to what I was doing, so it took longer than it should have.  But luckily it didn't affect the outcome.

These were so good!  They were totally worth the time and effort, though they really weren't that difficult.  I would totally recommend making these.  Though now I have pretty much a whole leek to use up, and I'm not sure what to do with it.

I made the brownies while I baked the tatties.  They didn't turn out quite so well.  I don't know why, but they didn't bake all the way through.  I had them in for an extra 10 minutes and they were still nearly raw, so I had to put them back in the oven.  Even after an extra 20 minutes, they're still gooey, and they're meant to be cake-like.  Mike liked them, but I can't take them to work like I'd intended.  And since I'm not a huge brownie fan, Mike will probably end up eating most of them (and he's already eaten about 1/3 of the pan).

Vegan MoFo 2014 - Sunday Baking: Bakewell tart

I'm having an allergy attack today, so I don't have the energy to be clever, which means this will be a short post.

I'm sure I've mentioned this, but I love Bakewell tart.  It's just so good!  I don't know why I don't make it more often, other than because I'd eat too much.  I'm actually surprised at my restraint in not having had any yet.

I made pretty much the same recipe last year (Sainsbury's shortcrust pastry, seedless raspberry jam, and the cake part of the Bakewell cupcake recipe in the Ms Cupcake book), only this time I remembered the sugar before I put the cake mix on top of the jam/crust.  Below is the finished product.

badly lit slice

It was tasty, as expected.  I'm taking a bit to the office tomorrow, which marks the first time I'm taking baking to this office.  I hope they like it, and if they don't, they can suck it.

As you can see I put some chocolate drizzle (cocoa powder, icing sugar, water) on top.  I made a bit too much, and Mike came in to the kitchen while I was trying to decide what to do with it.  He decided that he'd use it to make chocolate milk.

before stirring

after stirring

It looks like regular chocolate milk, doesn't it?  It was not.  I had a couple of sips, and it was good/gross.  It almost tasted like a milkshake ... that had sugar added to it.  It was so sweet.  Maybe that's why I didn't have any tart after I made it.

Vegan MoFo 2014 - Review: Saramago

I'm doing double duty because of my lack of posts over the last couple of days.  This is the post that was meant to happen today anyway.

As I mentioned in my last post, I met up with a friend (interrobang?! from the PPK) for dinner, and we went to Saramago at the CCA.  I've been there a few times now, and I'm glad that I gave it another shot after my first, rather dismal, visit (wherein I got a sausage sandwich that contained a single, pre-packaged sausage).

They do a pre-theatre offer of 2 courses for £10.95 and 3 for £12.95, so I went for the three courses.  I should've done 2 and skipped the starter, but I'm a glutton.

I got the red pepper hummus for a starter.  It was a bit thick, but at least it came with actual flatbread.  It was really tasty - I'm pretty sure they use smoked paprika in it because it had a lovely smokey flavour.

My main was the haggis fritters (made with lentils and seeds, not nuts, woot!):

For some reason, they serve these like fried fish, with lemon and tartar sauce.  I'm not complaining, though, because they're freaking delicious.  They have a really similar feel to haggis (from what I remember), which I guess can be off-putting to some.  But they're just kinda soft, and the seeds add some nice texture.  I got some aioli to go with the chips, which were quite good, but I couldn't eat very many because I'd eaten too much and had to save room for dessert.

This is, according to their menu, chocolate cake.  The cake is a lie.  I'm not saying it's not good, because it is, but don't go in expecting cake.  This is a brownie - crusty on the outside, dense and fudgy on the inside, no layers, no frosting.  I know from cake, and I know from brownies, and this is a brownie.  Delicious, but a brownie.

Anyway, yeah, you should totally go to Saramago.  The food is excellent (I can also recommend the paella and the gelato affogatto), and they have a good booze selection.  It's a nice space too, though a bit out of the way if you're otherwise in the centre of town.  But it's worth the walk - I'm starting to think this might be the best vegan food in Glasgow.

Review - Zen Zen vanilla ice cream

Image from the Zen Zen website

I'm always willing to try new ice creams (as long as they aren't made from ingredients that will hospitalise me), so when I saw that Real Foods had Zen Zen ice cream, I grabbed a wee 125ml container of vanilla.  I never get to buy the wee containers because the only ones they usually sell are dairy ice creams or Booja Booja (made with cashews = hospitalisation).  They're so cute, with their little flat spoon/scraper things right in the lid.  Fun times.

Anyway, I love the concept of a non-dairy but also non-nut based ice cream that was slightly healthier than my beloved Swedish Glace.  I'm hard to please with vanilla because I almost never eat it straight up (without any toppings), and the only one I've ever been happy to do that with was Swedish Glace.

The Zen Zen ice cream just isn't the one for me.  The coconut flavour was really pronounced and overwhelmed the vanilla.  I think a coconut milk base is just too much for a vanilla dessert.  I'd love to try the chocolate (the only other flavour Real Foods had was the nut one) because I think chocolate is a strong enough flavour to power through the coconut.  But vanilla is just too subtle for it.  And considering that the 125ml tub was the same price as a 700ml tub of Swedish Glace - still undefeated as my favourite vanilla ice cream - I think I'll stick with the stuff I like, even if it is full of chemicals and gums and precious sugar.

Cookin' through Cookin' Crunk: sweet potato bread

I have to be honest, I was sure I wouldn't like this one.  I try so hard to like banana breads (which, despite the title, this is) but never do.  But I was determined to at least try this, with the assumption that I wouldn't like it and would take the rest of it in for my work potluck/bake sale.

The recipe calls for a ripe banana.  My banana was so ripe, it smelled like it might be about to start fermenting.  It was still good (as good as bananas can be), just really, really ripe.  So I was certain that the banana flavour would be so pronounced that I wouldn't be able to taste anything else.

Well.  I actually really like it.  I can still taste the banana, but the sweet potato and spices outshine the flavour.  I ate it with some margarine and cinnamon sugar.  Mike and I both liked it.  I don't know that I'd make it again, but we're gonna finish it ourselves!

Sundae Sunday - We're gonna need a bigger bowl.

Today is the final Sundae Sunday of Vegan MoFo 2013, so I thought I'd make it a pretty epic sundae.  My inspiration was classic glutton Homer Simpson.  In the episode where Homer intentionally gains weight to get on disability, he and Bart are at the diner.  Homer has a banana split, and Bart tells him to eat around the banana - it's just empty vitamins.  So tonight's sundae is a banana-less banana split!

Sorry about the shadow - I had to work fast before the toppings oozed off the ice cream.

The components of this sundae are:  Swedish Glace vanilla ice cream, homemade chocolate ice cream (using my variation of the V'con chocolate), raspberry jam ice cream (using the method I mentioned in this post), fudge sauce left over from making the Dublin Mudslide, Lyle's Squeezy Syrup butterscotch syrup (which has "suitable for vegans" right on the label!), marshmallow sauce using this recipe and Sweet Vegan marshmallows, and zero bananas.

I think traditionally a banana split would have strawberry rather than raspberry ice cream, but I hate all things strawberry (with the exception of Rekorderlig Wild Berry cider because the strawberry is sufficiently masked).  And, obviously, it would have a banana.

I have to admit, my sundae was a bit sad.  The marshmallow topping was a complete failure - I spent  £3.49 on the biggest, fluffiest, most delicious marshmallows I think I've ever eaten (I took a bite of one) and wasted it all on this gross, gloopy, chewy sauce.  The flavour was alright, but the texture was awful.  I actually pulled the whole thing off of my ice cream.  Speaking of which, the chocolate ice cream was also kinda naff.  I think my chocolate kinda seized up when I put it into the mixture because it was really bitty.  So basically that third of the triumvirate was a bit crap.

The rest of it was delicious.  I still love Swedish Glace vanilla ice cream.  I even prefer it over the French vanilla I made for Mike's birthday party.  I've never eaten a better vanilla ice cream, and I anticipate I never will.  I also love that butterscotch syrup, and I love Tate & Lyle for making it vegan.  The raspberry jam ice cream was good, and the fudge sauce worked well with it.

I have loads of ice cream and sauces left, which is probably the best part!

Sundae Sunday - Vegan Dublin Mudslide

My favourite pregan ice cream was Ben & Jerry's Dublin Mudslide - Irish cream ice cream, chocolate chocolate chip cookie* pieces, and coffee fudge ripple.  I'm pretty sure it was the last non-vegan thing I ate intentionally while I lived in the US**.

One of the things I put on my 40 before 40 list was to veganise the Dublin Mudslide.  It doesn't seem like something that would be terribly difficult when you think of it as just veganising some ice cream.  But when you consider the various components, having to veganise those, and the amount of time it would take to make them regardless of their animal content, it's a goddamn project.  For the vegan version, not only do you have to figure out a way to make the ice cream, cookies, and fudge swirl vegan, you have to make your own Bailey's Irish cream!

I got a bug up my butt today and decided to just do it.

I started by making some Irish cream liqueur - I used the recipe in Quick and Easy Vegan Celebrations.  I then made the cookies - I used the soft baked chocolate chip cookie recipe in The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur but switched out 1/4 c of the flour for 1/4 c cocoa powder.  I used my modified V'con ice cream base for the ice cream, adding 1/4 c of the homemade Bailey's to a vanilla recipe.  I used this recipe for the fudge ripple with some instant espresso added for the coffee element - my original attempt ended in chocolate syrup, so it was the wrong consistency.***

The final product was good, but it wasn't Dublin Mudslide.  *sadface*  I'll probably make this again, but I'd make the following changes:

1. Use the homemade Bailey's instead of rather than in addition to the soy milk (so the full soy cream and 1/2 c Bailey's), and add a bit of coffee flavour to the ice cream itself.
2. Leave the chocolate chips out of the cookies (I honestly don't remember chocolate chips in the cookies in the original).
3. More coffee flavour and more sweetness in the fudge ripple.

I think these changes would make it much more like the original.  I made about a liter of Bailey's, and I still have some cookie dough (it would be pretty easy to pull out most of the chocolate chips), so I could probably make this again soon.  For science.

*The description I read said chocolate chocolate chip, but as I mentioned in my post, I don't remember the chocolate chips.
**I had a hard time adjusting to life in the UK as a vegan, so I went back to ovo-veg for a couple of weeks until I found my footing.
***My 2nd attempt almost failed too.  The original recipe calls for maple syrup, which I probably wouldn't have used even if I had it.  I tried to use light corn syrup, but to my great surprise, it wasn't sweet enough, so I added in some golden syrup.  Next time, I'd go with all golden syrup, or maybe agave.

Southern Saturday - Mike's birthday party

It's Southern Saturday - yaaaay!  Mike's birthday was yesterday, but no one could come round then, so we had people over today.  I made Tofu Scramble Enchiladas, Caramelized Cabbage and Onions, Un-fried Corn, and Buttermilk Ranch (as a dip) from Cookin' Crunk, and French vanilla ice cream from "A La Mode" to serve with the yella cake I made yesterday.

I served the ranch with carrot batons and crisps, but no one ate the crisps.  I don't even know if anyone other than Mike ate the ranch because I was busy in the kitchen making the rest of the food.  I did get to try it, and it was really tasty.  There's loads left, so I'll get to try it with the crisps tomorrow.

I made the enchiladas with Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food enchilada sauce, Viva Vegan! tortillas, and Tesco smoked cheese.  They fell apart a bit, but they were super tasty.  If I make these again, I would probably use store-bought tortillas just to avoid the hassle.  Because some of my tortillas fell apart before we could fill them, I still have filling left!  I might have to make a mini batch of tortillas and have breakfast tacos at some point.

I really, really liked the corn.  It was nice and creamy with a good balance of sweet and salty.  I usually don't get to eat corn as a side because Mike isn't a huge fan, so I try to make it when I'm feeding multiple people.  Having made this, I now really want to try the corn casserole.

The cabbage was OK, though I'm not a huge fan of cabbage at the best of times and usually only eat it in stir fry.  However, it was so stupid easy to make.  This would be a great side for a weekday meal.  I would maybe use a bit less sugar and just let it caramelise on its own if I made it again.

The ice cream was a bit of a mission.  I didn't read the recipe through and realised after I'd already put some of the ingredients together that I didn't have margarine.  I had the coconut oil mentioned as a suitable substitute, but it was solid!  So I boiled some water and melted the oil enough to pour it out, but I put it in the mix at the wrong stage.  In spite of all the setbacks, it was really good and was the perfect accompaniment to the cake.

Everyone seemed to like the food, and we had almost no leftovers.  And because of the dishwasher, I was able to clean as I went, so the rest of the cleanup won't be too bad.  Woo!

Yella cake

Today is Mike's birthday, but we're celebrating tomorrow.  But it's no birthday without cake (except my birthday because I didn't make my own), so I made his birthday cake tonight.

Of course, I made the Yella Cake with Fudgy Frosting from Cookin' Crunk because it's well suited to birthday cake.  It looks like the kind of cake you'd make with a box and a tub!

I almost had a disaster when I went to make the frosting - I didn't have enough icing sugar or margarine!  I supplemented somewhat by adding a bit of Speculoos, but it would've been fine without it.  As with most frosting recipes, I still had more than enough even when I didn't have enough ingredients.

I really liked the flavour of this, but it was a bit denser than I was hoping for.  I wonder if maybe that's because it doesn't have any baking soda.  I was tempted to add a bit, but I wanted (for once) to follow the recipe.  It was still tasty, just not as fluffy as I expected.

I'll be doing loads of recipes from this book tomorrow.  Or at least, I hope I will - I might end up getting lazy and/or running out of time.

Sundae Sunday - Toffee in a tin!

A few weeks ago, I wondered out loud (on Facebook) if you could do with condensed soy milk what you can do with condensed dairy milk - boil the tin to make toffee.  No one knew because it's so hard to come by condensed soy milk (and then no one buys it because they don't know what to do with it).  Well, I sacrificed myself (and my condensed soy milk) for science and did this experiment.  Turns out, it totally works and is delicious.  I left my tin boiling for an hour and 45 minutes, and it was pretty runny, so I'd do at least 2 hours next time.

On to the sundae!

I made Mocha-Maca Rocket Fuel from Vegan a la Mode via Tami's website.  This is a cooked recipe, and I usually don't have great success with cooked recipes (except the jam ice cream I made last week).  Also, maca has a really weird smell.  Frankly, it smells like burning.  So I wasn't sure about this one.

I'm really glad I tried it, because it's great.  The maca adds a sorta buttery/butterscotch flavour to the mocha.  Topped with warm toffee, it was AMAZING.  Unfortunately, it didn't get very solid in the ice cream maker, and it didn't freeze much in the quick freeze drawer of the freezer, so it was a bit melty.  Once I put the warm toffee on it, it was pretty much a soup of shades of brown - not very attractive.  But I assure you it was fantastic.

I really need to get Vegan a la Mode.  Maybe I'll ask for it for Xmas.

Sundae Sunday - Hazelnut Latte Sundae

Remember earlier in the month when I was trying to make hazelnut syrup and ended up making hazelnut sugar (and burning my finger)?  Well, lemons to lemonade and all that - I grated that sugar and used it in place of the regular sugar in my ice cream.  I used the same V'con-esque base that I posted about with the PB Speculoos ice cream (so, everything but the PB and Speculoos) and added in a bit of coffee in place of the soymilk (as suggested by Isa) and also threw in a dash of coffee extract.

The ice cream by itself was really nice.  I topped it with some chopped candied hazelnuts, "mocha" sauce (Hershey's syrup with coffee extract mixed in), and some whipped cream.  Here's a not-great phone photo:

At some point, I might try to be adventurous and make something that isn't topped with chocolate syrup.

Vegan MoFo VII - Overview and Sundae Sunday

I'm having a pretty bad allergy attack for probably the 3rd/4th weekend in a row, but I wrote most of this early.  Suck on that, allergies!

I can't believe it's MoFo time already!  Well, mostly because it's in September this year rather than October/November.  But it's for good reason - different food availability, better lighting, and less chance of a month of pumpkin recipes (though I have no problem with pumpkin recipes).

I'm not gonna go crazy with themes this year.  I only have three - budget meals, Southern Saturdays, and Sundae Sunday.  I'll also have some lazy days where I talk about products/restaurants, as per usual, and I'll be baking at least once because Mike's birthday is on the 20th.

The budget meals theme is pretty much gonna be an ongoing thing in my life for the foreseeable future.  The cost of living keeps rising a lot faster than my salary (we only get c-o-l increases, which don't even keep up with inflation, instead of merit increases, so in real terms, I make less now than when I started), and I'm now paying nearly half of my salary into my student loans.  I also put a lot into savings - I suppose I could save less, and tbh I end up spending half of my savings anyway, but it's important to me, as a person who is terrible with money, to have something (anything) going into savings.

But this won't be a month of beans and rice!  I'm totally gonna post a beans and rice recipe, but it's killer, and I promise it'll just be the one.

My plan is to live off of my online shop of non-perishables that I did at the end of August and what I have in the cupboards and only buy perishables (bread, fresh fruit/veg) for the rest of the month.  I'll be buying as few convenience foods as I can (I still have to buy lunch meat for Mike's lunches because I can't seem to force myself to make seitan often enough, though Mike has volunteered to make seitan) and making as much as possible from scratch (I'm gonna make my own baked beans!).  Hopefully this'll force me to get through all the stuff I've been buying over the years and never getting around to using (I'm looking at you, sticky rice and multiple bags of cornmeal).  My goal is to spend less than £125 on food for the month (including the rare convenience food) - so that averages to about £25 per week from payday to payday.

I'll talk more about my Southern theme on Saturday.  Needless to say, I'm super excited about that.  I might (might) buy in extra stuff for these recipes, but I'm hoping I can stick to my budget plan for this part as well.  I'm gonna try to pick recipes for which I already have most/all of the ingredients.

And since it's Sunday, it's Sundae Sunday!  This one is pretty straightforward - I'll make ice cream, and I might make some toppings (if I don't already have them), and then I'll make a sundae.

For my first Sundae Sunday, I started pretty easy.  I made one of my favourite ice creams - PB Speculoos, which is based on the PB variation of the Veganomicon recipe.

PB Speculoos Ice Cream

Ingredients:
6 oz silken tofu (about 1/2 pack)
1c soy cream*
1/2 c soy milk
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c peanut butter (or PB substitute like Freenut Butter)
1/4 c Speculoos**
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Pour the mixture into a lidded bowl and chill for at least an hour or overnight if you have time/patience.  Churn in your ice cream maker as per the machine instructions.  You can either eat it as is (I like it melty right out of the ice cream maker) or freeze until hard.

*I use a full container of Alpro soy cream, which is actually 250ml, but those extra 10ml don't really make much difference.
**I use crunchy Speculoos because I always seem to have a jar even though I don't really like it as much as smooth.

I made Cinnamon Pancakes from Cookin' Crunk for brunch, and we had 2 left over, so I used those for the sundae base.  I topped the pancake with the ice cream and, because of the allergies, I just topped everything with Hershey's syrup and soya whip (from a can).

I wasn't sure if the pancake would work out, but it was really good!  The cinnamony Speculoos flavour from the ice cream complimented the pancake well, and the chocolate tied everything together.  The only thing that I thought was not quite right was the spray cream - it was maybe just a bit too beany.  Overall, this was a winner.

I know there are lots of other people who are doing some amazing themes (such as Lazy Smurf's taco cleanse and the Seinfeld theme at Naked Vegan Lunch, to name just a few), so I'm really excited to see what other people come up with.  Happy MoFoing!

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 31 - This is Hallowe'en!

And this is why I'll never be a professional baker.

I didn't post yesterday because I was working on my stuff for today.  And frankly, this is so epic, it should count as 2 posts.

You know how, when Facebook first started up, you filled out all your info about what stuff you like - favourite bands, movies, books, etc. - but they changed at some point and sorta automatically subscribed you to the pages for the things you like?  So I get posts from movies that I like, usually stills from the film.  But every once in a while, they post other stuff - related but not exactly stuff from the film.

A few months ago, The Nightmare Before Christmas posted some Oogie Boogie cupcakes.  They looked pretty awesome.  Well, about a week ago, they posted Jack Skellington cupcakes.  How I didn't have this idea on my own I'll never fully understand, but I saw them and immediately thought, I am going to make those.

Well, their idea was to use chocolate cupcakes and vanilla buttercream.  But he's the Pumpkin King, so of course pumpkin cupcakes would be more appropriate.  But since vanilla buttercream would be a bit much for pumpkin cupcakes, I made cream cheese frosting.

I used the recipe for Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World but left out the chocolate chips, used pumpkin pie spice instead of just cinnamon, and made them gluten free.  For the frosting, I used the cream cheese frosting recipe from the same book.

That's right - I am the Pumpkin King!

Back to those Oogie Boogie cupcakes.  One batch of pumpkin cupcakes wasn't enough to take to the office, but I didn't have enough pumpkin to make a double batch (why did I only buy one can?!).  So I decided to make chocolate cupcakes.  Once I'd frosted the pumpkin cupcakes, I thought, what the hell, and threw some green food colouring into the rest of the frosting.

Looks like it's Oogie's turn to boogie!

Both varieties of cupcake tasted great.  The only problems I had were that doing small decorations like that is kinda a pain in the ass, and cream cheese frosting doesn't really take to being built up.  I probably should've made two separate batches (a cream cheese and a buttercream).  That's what laziness gets you, children - melty looking Oogie Boogies.  Also, a number of cupcakes didn't make the journey to my office, so there was a bit of carnage.  But I've only been at work for 20 minutes and I think about half of them are already gone, so meh.

I can't believe MoFo is over already!  I've really enjoyed it, even though I did reach a burnout stage.  I'm already looking forward to next year!

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!!

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 29 - Sunday Baking (on Monday)

Obviously today is Monday, but Mike hurt his hand and didn't feel like cooking tonight, so we just had leftover tofu scramble for dinner.  And I did bake yesterday, but I didn't write about it.  So I'll do that now!

Last night I made the Snickerdoodle cake from Have Your Cake and Vegan Too!  It was pretty easy to make and put together.  The only not-easy (but still not particularly difficult) part was putting the topping on.  My frosting had already set a bit and wasn't as sticky as it maybe should've been, so the sugar crystals kept bouncing off (all over the worktop and floor that I'd just cleaned).

We didn't have any last night, but I took it into work.  One person said it was lush; another said she was glad she didn't live with me because she'd be really fat.  And I believe 2 people had cake for lunch.  So, I'd say it was pretty successful.  I did get a piece in the end, and it was pretty good, though (I can't believe I'm saying this) it maybe had a bit too much cinnamon.  But it really did taste like a snickerdoodle, which is one of my favourite cookies, so overall I'm happy with the outcome.

The whole point of my Sunday baking theme was to make a few different cakes from Have Your Cake and Vegan Too! to determine if I want to buy the book.  Of the things I've made, I'd say the majority have been good to outstanding.  I could definitely see myself baking my way through the rest of this book (or at least the rest of the recipes that I liked the look of).  So, if anyone in my family is reading this - I want this book for Xmas!

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 19 - British Food Friday - Treacle Tart

Lemme 'splain something - UK sweeteners are kinda confusing.  When I was younger, listening to loads of British music, I would hear the word "treacle" and assume it was something super sweet and sticky.  Well, it turns out that what the Brits call treacle is what Americans call molasses - so at least the sticky part was accurate.  What I thought was treacle is actually golden syrup (or just syrup - not to be confused with the syrup Americans put on pancakes, which they don't really have here).

So, treacle tart - technically, it doesn't actually have treacle in it.  It's made with golden syrup.  Also, breadcrumbs!  So you're basically eating a crust full of syrup and bread.  There's almost nothing else in it.  I always found treacle tart to be the kind of thing that sounded both horrific and delicious, and this was before I even knew what was in it.

I can't even remember the first time I had treacle tart, but it was well after I'd moved to Scotland.  It was pretty much exactly what I expected - a little bit dirty, but addictively delicious.  I struggled to not eat the whole package.

I knew I had to make treacle tart at some point - it was one of the recipes that made me decide on this theme.  So I looked up recipes and landed on this one from a few MoFos ago.  I had all the ingredients on hand, and it looked pretty easy, so I went for it.

Well, it wasn't quite so straightforward.  Part of this is to do with my hateful kitchen - I don't have the best surface for making pastry, so the rolling out of the pastry was a bit of a project.  Then it turned out that the filling didn't actually fill the crust!  So I ended up having to nearly triple the filling.  I also ran out of syrup, but luckily I had a bottle of the maple-flavoured syrup, so I used a bit of that.  I'm so glad I made my own breadcrumbs because I used nearly all of them, and it was more than would've been in a box.

In the end, it all worked out.  Everyone loved it.  It had just a hint of maple flavour, which made it a little different than the usual treacle tart.  I might try to recreate this on purpose some day, but it might not happen until after I get a new kitchen (or maybe use someone else's).

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 5 - British Food Friday

Yay, I stuck to my theme today!

For the first British Food Friday, I made the classic Bakewell tart.  According to Professor Wikipedia, the Bakewell tart hails from Derbyshire and consists of a shortcrust pastry, jam filling, and almond sponge layer.

I've only ever eaten Bakewell tart once - I think it was during the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale this year.  I actually got the train to Glasgow and built a day out around going to a bake sale.  That's what not having a working oven does to a person.  I really, really liked it, but it wasn't quite jammy enough for me.  I swore I would make one myself one day when I had a working oven, but I'd have a massive jam layer.  So, naturally, this was the first thing I thought of for this theme (in fact, I think I decided I wanted to make this and treacle tart and built the theme around that).

Last night, before I met Mike for dinner, I bought a block of frozen Jus Rol shortcrust pastry.  I figured it would be thawed by the time we got home.  Not so much, but I just defrosted it in the microwave.  But because I'm a genius, I decided that it would be awesome if I made 2 tarts after 10pm and take them in to work when only 13 people were in the office that day.  I mostly made this decision based on the fact that you're meant to use the crusts within 24 hours of defrosting and can't refreeze them.

I decided to make what I always thought was the standard - cherry Bakewell.  I thought cherry Bakewell meant that the jam layer was cherry, but apparently it's just cherry because it has almond icing and a glace cherry on top (what?).  But, whatever, whatever, I still used cherry jam.  That was my first one.  I decided to get a little experimental with my second one, so I made a PBJ Bakewell - raspberry/cherry jam layer (because I had extra cherry jam but not quite enough raspberry) with a Freenut butter cake topping.

For the sponge on the classic, I made a half recipe of the almond cake in Have Your Cake and Vegan Too (which I think I talked about in my first post).  For the jam layer, I used some reduced sugar cherry jam from Sainsbury's that, because it had whole cherries, I blended until smooth (I don't like bits).  I topped it with a simple water glaze (icing sugar mixed with water - I didn't even measure it).  For the PBJ, I made the PB cupcakes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and I used the last of my seedless raspberry jam mixed with a bit of leftover cherry jam.  I melted some chocolate chips in the microwave with a couple of splashes of soymilk to drizzle over the top of this one.

These weren't quite the hit that the almond mocha cake was, but I think that's partially down to the office being half empty (there were 3 people working away from the office, 5 PT people who don't work Fridays, and 4 who were on holiday).  The people who ate them loved them, though the classic was the clear favourite.  I think people here really just don't do PBJ.  I ended up coming home with a full pan (half of each).  But I think it was a success for the first attempt!

I think I'm gonna try to make something savoury for the next BFF because I think my co-workers are gonna be a bit caked out after too long (especially since I'm taking something in on Monday and another person said he'd bring something on Tuesday).  Also, I think I'm PMSing, because even though these weren't as good as the almond mocha cake, I wanted to cram both of them in my face all day, so I need to personally lay off the cakes too.

So, any ideas for what I can make next week?

Vegan MoFo VI - Product Review - Alpro/Provamel Puddin' Cups

I was gonna do the Blue Plate Special from Vegan Diner tonight, but I dicked around too long and finally decided that I didn't feel like making the waffles because it takes about 10 minutes per set of waffles.  So I ended up eating another burrito (mmm...burrito) and decided to do a product review.

I'll say right now that I don't get free stuff from companies.  I bought all of these at some point (apart from the one a friend gave me) and I'm reviewing them because I feel like it, not because I'm compelled to.  But hey, if Alpro (or any other vegan company) wants to hook me up, I won't say no.

So, I'm not entirely clear on this, but I think* Provamel and Alpro are essentially the same company, but Provamel only makes organic stuff, whereas Alpro mostly does non-organic but with a few organic things.  Basically, they have about the same products give or take a few, but the Alpro stuff tends to be fortified (and, at least for the vanilla soy milks, sweeter).  Alpro is sold in big box grocery stores, but Provamel is only sold in health food shops.

Both brands just call these things desserts, but if we were in the US, we'd be talking puddin' cups.  Different countries have different varieties on offer.  In the UK, Alpro offers vanilla, caramel, dark chocolate, and "smooth" chocolate (which I guess is meant to be like milk chocolate), while Provamel offers vanilla, chocolate, caramel and "moka" (according to their website - the package I have says cappuccino).  But other countries might have other things - I know for sure that Belgium gets Alpro speculoos puddin' cups, the lucky bastards.

The good stuff.

So how are they?  Well, I'll admit two things:  a) I've never tried the vanilla of either brand as far as I can recall, and 2) I can never remember which of the chocolate varieties I like.  That said, I quite like the Alpro caramel, though I prefer it mixed with chocolate.  The Provamel moka/cappuccino is good on its own (though I don't know where they get off calling it moka, which implies chocolate, when there's no chocolate in it).  And I think I like one of the Alpro chocolates, but I'm too cheap to buy both to figure it out because then I'll have a package of stuff I don't like (though I'm sure Mike would eat them).  Of course, the standout winner is the speculoos stuff, but I've only had that once (well, one package of 4) because, like I said, it's only available in Belgium.

They're also kinda diet friendly, if you're looking for that kind of thing.  My bff, who isn't even veg, loves the dark chocolate for a dessert, not only because it's tasty, but because it usually fits within her calorie budget.  (I can also confirm that the Alpro Light Chocolate Soya Milk works well if you need a hot chocolate fix but don't want to consume 500 calories in one cup.)

I'd definitely recommend giving these a try.  They're usually pretty tasty, not too bad for calories, and almost always on sale somewhere (at least the Alpro ones are - usually 2 for £2.50 at Sainsbury's and/or Tesco).

*Thanks for clearing that up, Professor Wikipedia!  Also, they're from Belgium, which is why the Belgians get all the good stuff first.

Catching up to finish the year

I took pictures of things that I made and then didn't bother to blog about them.  That's because I'm lazy.  But here they are.  First up, I finally made Mo's kolaches!

As you can probably tell from the picture, I did mine a bit differently from hers.  I actually remembered having kolaches when I was younger, and this is pretty much what I always got - sausage in bread.  These were good but, because I didn't have enough filling, they were way too bread-y.  I'll almost certainly make these again, but I'll probably use different sausage (and more of it) and make them smaller.

Next up is Xmas dinner!

I made porkless pie with Granose sausage mix and the buttery double crust (vodka variation, no sugar) from Vegan Pie in the Sky by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.  It wasn't exactly traditional, but it was probably the best porkless pie I've ever eaten.  I served it with leftover rice (I think I was ill and couldn't be bothered) and roasted broccoli.  Nom!

Dessert was yule log!  It was better than the last one I made, but that's not saying much.  Well, both were tasty, but this one was better looking, if only because it didn't fall apart as completely as the last one.  I used the chocolate cupcake and chocolate buttercream recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for this.  I'll probably try my hand at the log again, but I'll make a few changes - a) different filling (shocking as this is, I thought it was too much chocolate) and 2) use a bit of black cocoa powder for the buttercream to give it a darker, more log-like appearance.

And finally, our last meal of 2011!

This is the new Redwood's haggis with noochy Smash and steamed broccoli.  REDWOOD'S HAGGIS?!  It's really, really good - meatier texture than any other veg haggis I've ever had (it uses vwg), spicy, moist.  I haven't had f'real haggis for ... 8 years, and I think this might be the best fake I've ever had.  It's not just a bunch of kidney beans!  It could maybe be a little oatier, but otherwise it's excellent (as far as I can remember to compare).

I just had a look on the Redwood's site, and they don't even have it on there.  I think this might be a super secret Scotland-only product!  First time ever!  It kinda makes me feel special.  I hope no one is able to burst my bubble and tell me they have it in London or Brighton or something.

Anyway, last post of 2011!  I don't have much to say about 2011 - it was a mixed bag of mediocrity for me (including buying the flat, considering the work we have ahead of us), and I've heard a lot of people didn't have a great year.  So, here's to hoping that 2012 far exceeds 2011 in awesomeness!

Thanksgiving in Scotland

I think everyone is aware that yesterday was Thanksgiving in the US.  Thanksgiving is one of those sketchy holidays that you almost think you should stop celebrating because of all the dodgy history behind it.  I wish I could find that awesome video of the children's Thanksgiving play where they talk about giving the natives smallpox blankets to illustrate my point.  That said, a lot of people, myself included, have decided that Thanksgiving is really about the food.  And when you boil it down to its essence, that's really what it is - we survived a year in a hostile land and we now have a crap ton of food, so let's gorge ourselves on it.  Basically, Thanksgiving is a holiday all about gluttony, and I'm totally down with that.

This year was pretty good.  Unfortunately, my bff couldn't make it like she did last year (oh man, I wish I had some tamales), so I only took Thanksgiving day off.  I decided on the spur of the moment last Friday night to invite people over, so 2/3 of my Ethnology Crew came round, and then I invited a couple of Mike's gaming friends (who've been to dinner here before).  I was a genius and didn't decide on a menu until Wednesday night, but you know what?  It's the UK, and no one gives a crap, so I didn't have to worry about the shops all being sold out of everything I'd need.

And it turned out to be a good thing anyway, because Isa posted her new Seitan Roast Stuffed with Shiitakes and Leeks on Tuesday.  The laziness took over and urged me to buy Smash and stuffing from a box and then cover both with Sage Gravy from Quick and Easy Vegan Celebrations.  I also made roasted broccoli to balance out the white and brown.  (I had intended on making Q&EVC green bean casserole, but to my dismay, the only shop I ever saw fried onions in no longer sells them.  *sadface*)

Sorry about the darkness - the living room has even less light than the kitchen.

I know the roast is what everyone is here for.  First of all, it was actually pretty easy to make, and it was absolutely delicious.  It also reheated well in a microwave.  My problem with it was that I used UK vital wheat gluten and followed the recipe, so it was a bit moist.  I think it took nearly twice as long to cook as it was supposed to (I stopped keeping track after about an hour and 10 because I was trying to cook everything else).  But I'd definitely make this again - it looks good, it tastes amazing, and I went from decision to dinner (including shopping) in a few hours.  Oh, and it fed 6 people plus leftovers!  Next time, I'll use more vwg.

Rather than head right into dessert, we discussed our options and decided on nog.  No one but Mike had ever tried nog (even the non-vegan stuff), so everyone was intrigued.  I made my stand-by, absolute favourite vegan nog, Bryanna Clark Grogan's Pumpkin Nog.  Everyone thought it was good, and there was even discussion about making it into a custard (someone had mentioned having warm nog, and I said it would probably turn into custard if heated).

After sitting and chatting for a while to make a bit of space for more food, we moved on to dessert.  Naturally, I made pumpkin pie.  My go-to pie is usually the one I made last year, the Impossible Pumpkin Pie from the Fat Free Vegan blog.  But there was a pumpkin pie thread on the PPK, and Phoenix posted her Jack (the Pumpkin King) Pie.  A pie referencing The Nightmare Before Christmas and made with Speculoos cookie crust?  Hell yeah I'm making that pie.

It wasn't as burnt as it looks.

I served it with some Soyatoo Soy Whip (in a can - in my defense, the non-canned stuff is no longer being sold, and my only other option was Rice Whip).

Immediately after I took this picture, I covered the rest of the top with whipped cream.

I really liked this pie, but that's because I love a cookie crust.  The only thing I didn't like was that the crust didn't want to come up until day 2 (well, the last 2 slices).  But other than that, it was good.  The filling was pretty standard pumpkin pie filling.  But it was really easy to make and came out great.  We were all happy with it.

Along with the food, we also managed to polish off 2 1/2 bottles of wine between the 6 of us.  I usually don't drink much, but the Beaujolais Nouveau was released this week (I think), so I bought a bottle of that and had an astounding 2 glasses.  But with all the food, it barely made me sleepy.

And that was our Thanksgiving.  We're hoping to get to the US for T'giving next year, but we'll see how things go.  We'll be sinking a lot of money into the new flat, so we might not have it for traveling.

How was your Thanksgiving?  Did you celebrate even though you aren't American?

I completely forgot to post some tester stuff (I got lazy), so I'll try to write that up soon!

Irn Bru cookies!

Remember this post about Irn Bru cupcakes?  They were good, but not quite right, and I thought further experimentation was warranted.

Well, some time last week, an ex-pat friend of ours (Brit in Canada) posted on Facebook that he missed Irn Bru.  What better excuse could I have come up with?  I know from homesickness (even if one wouldn't refer to that particular instance as homesickness), and he seemed to be having a crap week on top of that, so I offered to make him some Irn Bru cookies.  He seemed pleased by the idea, so I was like, YEAH LET'S DO THIS!

I did some research into using soda as a flavouring for baked goods and came across this post on grape soda cupcakes from Kelly of The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur.  I also looked for the right cookie recipe.  I finally settled on Kelly's recipe for Amazingly Soft Sugar Cookies.  I basically made an Irn Bru reduction and replaced most of the liquid with the reduction.  Kelly very kindly agreed to let me post her recipe with my minor changes, so here it is.

sorry about the crap pic - I was running late for work

Irn Bru Cookies
(recipe adapted from Amazingly Soft Sugar Cookies in The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur by Kelly Peloza)

Ingredients:

• 4 c Irn Bru

Pour the soda into a pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook until it reduces to about 3/4 of a cup.  Set aside to cool.

• 3/4 c margarine
• 1 1/4 c sugar
• 1/2 c soy yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 c Irn Bru reduction (plus more if needed)
• 4 c flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt

In a large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar.  Add the yogurt and vanilla and mix to combine, then add 1/4 c Irn Bru reduction and mix until well combined.  Sift in the dry ingredients a little at a time, mixing as you go.  Add more reduction if the dough is dry.  Refrigerate for an hour or more (or freeze for 15 minutes).

Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.  Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls in your hand and then smoosh them down (alternatively, you can roll and cut them).  Place on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes or until slightly golden at the edges.  Remove from the oven and let cool completely before icing.

For the icing:  Dump a good amount of icing sugar into a bowl and add about 3 tbsp Irn Bru reduction.  Beat with a fork until smooth.  It should be pretty thick - if it isn't, add more icing sugar.  Dip the tops of the cooled cookies into the icing and place on cookie sheets to firm up.  If you're awesome like me, make another batch of glaze and double dip those bad boys once the first round of icing is set.

The whole process takes a few hours, but it'll probably be easier and faster the second time around since I know what I'm doing (and hopefully won't be having an allergy attack like I did this time).

After all that, I never got my friend's address!  But his loss was everyone else's gain - I gave the cookies I took in for shipping to my co-workers, and Mike ate the rest (about a dozen in one night - he really liked them).

I imagine this would work for other types of soda-based cookies, so I might give it a try with something else.  And I might also try to reduce the Irn Bru even further for a stronger flavour - even with the reduction instead of the straight soda, the flavour was still pretty mild.  Any ideas what I should try next?