Coffee Cake Anyone?

Dear Readers,

You may not know certain little things about me, (obviously), but I feel that I should let out one little secret in this blog post. (Exhale.) Here it goes! I find that I enjoy looking at and baking sweets more than I do eating them... It is rare that I have a craving for a baked good, or a vegan chocolate, (though it occasionally does happen), and even more rare that I enjoy what I ate after the fact of downing it into my wide open mouth. Believe me, this fact does not apply to dinner.

I hadn't had coffee cake in ages. And when you wake up early in the morning, you don't really want to bake something that sounds bad for you. Devils Food Cake, Chocolate Fudge Cookies, (I know they sound good, but I just couldn't justify it.) So I stuck with the coffee cake and went through a myriad of different recipes until I finally came across one that seemed just right. When it was finally done, (it always seems like forever), and I tasted it, I knew that I had fallen in love. There is no word to describe the joy a vegan experiences when they taste both the flavor and the texture of a baked good that they had eaten before they were enlightened. Enlightened meaning realized the effect they were having on both the animals and they world when they ate animal products. So, readers, I leave you a recipe that seems more like a gift.


(I found this recipe on Poppytalk: Cake on the Brain)
Vegan Coffee Cake
(adapted from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz)

Cake:
3/4 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 cup olive or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup frozen berries (optional) (I used frozen blueberries and it had a fantastic flavor!)

Crumble topping:
1 cup flour (a mix of all purpose & whole wheat is fine)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup Earth Balance margarine

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease and flour an 8 inch cake pan or square pan (I used a nine inch round pan, no biggie). 

In a large mixing bowl, pour in the milk and vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes. Pour in the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cardamom and salt and use a whisk to aerate the mixture. Dump in the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix until smooth. Stir in berries if using. Pour batter into prepared cake pan and set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and spices and then add in the margarine with your fingers. You want to create large crumbs. You can add more margarine if you want more crumbs, but don't sweat it - sandy crumbs aren't bad either. Scatter over the top of the cake and bake for 30-35 minutes. Test cake with a knife and if it comes out clean you're done. Let cool on wire rack. Slice and eat!


(Only the words in bold are what I wrote, the rest is from a website. The name is at the beginning of the recipe.)

A Pie That's Worth the Wait

In December the air is filled with energy, sights, sounds, and smells. Candles burn in houses, people go shopping for others and cooking is abundant. I have been vegan for two years and since then have not touched a Pumpkin Pie. I didn't think that I would mind this, but suddenly I started having a craving...

It was May and I was ready. I wanted that pie badly, and was on the search for a good recipe. My mom was rather shocked that I would even consider this on an abnormally hot May day, but when my mind is set, nobody stops me. I was pleased to find that I had all the ingredients on hand, and jumped head first into the endeavor. I mixed all the pumpkin puree, sugar and soy milk. I measured all the spices carefully. I made that crust by hand, and put it into the pie plate like the chefs on tv. I was proud of myself when I put it into the oven.

And when it was done, I was even more proud. Until I reread the recipe. Yes everyone, you can call me blind. I don't know how I missed it myself... The pie filling in this recipe needs to set overnight in the refrigerator, so make it the day before you serve it. My reaction. "NNNOOOOOOO!" I was so hungry, so finally ready to bite into a pie I waited two years to consume and for some reason it had to set overnight! What kind of travesty is this?

Amazingly, I abided by the rules and when I awoke, I sprang out of my bed and down the stairs straight to the fridge. My mom was talking on the phone while I silently took out the smallest piece of pie imaginable, and lifted it to my mouth. It. Was. Delicious. So delicious that I felt that it would be rude to not wait for somebody to share my joy of a piece of pie, so I sat there, staring at the golden brown edges of the crust, (the crust recipe I used is my grandmas recipe, not the one below,) and the smooth top of a lovely and simple pumpkin pie. Later, when the phone call was finished, we indulged in a dessert filled breakfast on a sunny May day...

SERVES 8

The pie filling in this recipe needs to set overnight in the refrigerator, so make it the day before you serve it.

• 2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• ½ cup unbleached flour
• 7 Tbs. whole wheat pastry flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. sugar or granulated sugar cane syrup
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• 3 Tbs. canola oil
• 3 Tbs. soymilk plus ½ tsp. lemon juice
• 3 to 4 Tbs. water
• 2 cups canned pumpkin or puréed home-cooked fresh pumpkin (see note)
• 1 cup low-fat soymilk or rice milk
• ¾ cup granulated sugar cane syrup
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ½ Tbs. dark molasses or to taste
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• ¼ tsp. grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp. ground allspice

To make Crust:

1. In medium bowl, combine both flours, salt, sugar and baking powder. In small bowl, mix oil and soymilk mixture.

2. Pour liquid mixture into dry ingredients and mix with a fork until it holds together in a ball. If it is too dry, add some water, a little at a time, until dough is moist enough to roll. (If time allows, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.)

3. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin forming an 11-inch circle. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the dough. Flute or crimp the edges with your fingers or a fork. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

4. Preheat oven to 425°F.

To make Filling:

5. In large bowl, mix all remaining ingredients until smooth and blended. Pour into prepared crust and smooth top. Bake 10 minutes.

6. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F; bake until filling is set, about 50 minutes. Set on wire rack to cool, then refrigerate overnight. Top with your choice of dessert topping if desired.

NOTE: If you are going to use fresh pumpkin for the pie, do not use the jack-o’-lantern type; the flesh of these large pumpkins is too watery and stringy. Instead, look for small pumpkins, sometimes called pie pumpkins or other varieties of winter squash. To bake, cut pumpkins in half and remove seeds. Set, cut side down, in a lightly oiled baking pan. Bake at 400°F for 30 to 40 minutes. Scoop out the cooked flesh and purée.