Category Archives: Tastes Good so I Don't Care

Vegan Marshmallows, S’Mores & A Giveaway

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Image from wesleying.org

Until last year, I’d never had s’mores. (gasp!)

S’mores are one of those things that we vegetarians virtually never can partake. So, when everyone else is huddled around a fire pit happily toasting their marshmallows on a stick, we are trying to balance some dark chocolate on a stick to heat it up and sandwich it between the graham crackers – sans ‘mallow (don’t tell me I’m the only one who has done this).

The reason we vegetarians (especially vegans!) don’t get to join the s’more making parties is because marshmallows have 2 key ingredients that don’t work in the veg/vegan way – gelatin and (for the vegans) egg whites. And without those two ingredients, it’s REALLY (and I mean really) hard to create the perfect texture and flavor of the marshmallow.

After going years and years without rice krispy treats, rocky road, or s’mores, I finally went on the mighty quest for the ultimate vegetarian marshmallow (chronicled here and here). I tried a number of varieties and finally found marshmallow perfection in the form of Sweet & Sara.  S&S has literally perfected the vegetarian marshmallow and – dare I say it? – it is even better than a “real” marshmallow (your non-veg friends will never know the difference – they’ll just know they are having a super gourmet marshmallow). S&S’s ‘mallows are light, fluffy, perfectly textured morsels of gooey goodness that melt just right when making a krispy treat, hold up in a cup of hot chocolate and melt into spectacular s’mores.

I also have to keep plugging for S&S. I’ve been following her on FB and Twitter for a while. Not only do I love what she stands for and her business ethics, I also love how down to earth she is. She replies to tweets, responds to Facebook messages and signs each order invoice. She’s a super cool, normal vegan person who is making our vegetarian culinary lives that much better.  Thank you, S&S for giving me the opportunity to taste the delightful concoction that are s’mores!

Sweet & Sara Marshmallows

How to make s’mores:

  1. Put your marshmallow on a stick
  2. Toast it over an open fire (or cheat and microwave it for 30 seconds)
  3. Smash the hot marshmallow in between two graham crackers with a square of chocolate (I prefer 70% swiss dark and even a smear of peanut butter on the cracker!)
  4. Eat, being careful not to burn your tongue on the sticky ‘mallow. (Note: This is a very messy process, so just go with it, smear the chocolate all over your face and go ahead and lick your fingers. There are no manners with s’mores)

And now…. Because I just can’t keep this delicious goodness to myself, I want to pass the happiness on to YOU – my very special and kind readers – just as a thank you for reading my (somewhat sporadic) blog. And what better time than now as we move into summer and camping season?

I’m giving away Sweet & Sara marshmallows!

How to enter:

  • Comment on this blog post (Make sure to use your real email address so I can contact you later. Don’t worry, it won’t be posted for anyone else to see and I promise not to ‘spam’ you!)
  • Get additional entries by 1) Telling your friends by re-posting on your own Facebook page or blog OR 2) Liking my Facebook page and/or Following me on Twitter. Once you posted, liked, friended, followed, or whatever you did – come back and add an additional comment for each instance, telling me where you posted about the giveaway. I’ll randomly pick one lucky winner and send you a box of S&S marshmallows.

The giveaway contest will end next Wednesday (5/18) night at midnight, pacific time. All comments must be entered by that time and a comment will be randomly selected as our winner.

Good luck, and happy s’mores!!!

And the winner is…..

Comment #7 – Janice -  who says, “oh, wow, I’ve never heard of VEGAN marshmallows. I wonder how they taste “differently”.”

Congrats, Janice. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Strawberry Balsamic Caramel Cupcakes

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I tried this recipe for strawberry balsamic cupcakes a while back. And while it was good, it wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped it would be. So, I decided to work up my own version with stronger flavors, and I was very pleased with the result. This one is GOOD! So additively good that I couldn’t keep my fingers out of the batter or frosting – especially the frosting. I made them on Friday night and Saturday afternoon for our Mother’s Day lunch.

Then, disaster happened… The cupcakes were in the fridge and I decided to show my husband how well they turned out. I pulled them out and realized there was a half inch of liquid at the bottom of my plate they were sitting on. Upon further exploration and sniffing, I discovered it was pickle juice. My jar of pickled okra tipped over on the shelf above and poured all the juice onto the plate. I scraped up some ingredients at midnight and with the help of my sou chef (aka husband), we finished up batch #2 around 1am.  The second batch wasn’t quite as good as the first, but it was a close second.

Also, for the record, I like the strawberry swiss meringue buttercream recipe better than my first strawberry frosting attempt.

A Cupcake CoThese Cupcakes are available at A Cupcake Co.

Sugar & Spice and Carrotly Nice Cupcakes

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My sister is having a baby. Yay. You know what that means…  A party…. And Cupcakes!  And I received the honor of making those cupcakes for her baby shower. That’s a job I won’t pass up!

It was an ‘eco’ or ‘green’ themed shower with lots of earthy tones, earthy foods, etc. So, I couldn’t think of a better cupcake to make than a whole wheat carrot.  Whole wheat? Healthy! Carrots? Healthy! A healthy cupcake! (ehem)

After a few attempts, I finally found  recipe that was perfection. It’s from the King Flour Whole Grain Baking book. My all-time favorite book – but you know that – I talk about it all the time… It’s a lightly spiced, not too sweet but just sweet enough carrot cake. It’s super moist and light. The texture was amazing. And then of course I had to take it up to more gourmet and ‘healthier’ heights (wink, wink) by filling it with caramel and orange scented cream cheese. Once assembled, the carrot cake was the perfect flavor to mesh with the caramely, cream cheesy filling goodness.

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Along with the green theme, I decided to make them like little grassy pots with an abstract flower and leaf on the top. I used all natural baking cups and a grass tip for the frosting and I colored and cut Satin Ice Fondant for my toppers. The flowers were two rounds stacked and glued with a drop of royal icing. How did I make the leaves curve,  you ask? Press them down over a couple of parallel chopsticks!

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Oh, and she’s having a girl. Thus the name… “Sugar & Spice and Carrotly Nice Cupcakes”. Enjoy!

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A Cupcake CoThese Cupcakes are available at A Cupcake Co.

 

Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

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Holiday baking has begun! Spicy, pumpkin-y, deliciousness all wrapped up in one little whoopie pie. Smooth cream cheese frosting sandwiched between two moist, fluffy pumpkin cookies. Amazing.

What’s the history of the whoopie pie? The legend goes that Amish women would send them with the farmers in their lunch and upon discovery, they would say “whoopie!”  And I think these delightful fall-inspired pumpkin whoopie pies will inspire the same exclamation!

WHOOPIE!!!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Recipe from Martha Stewart
Makes 24 minis

Pumpkin Cookies:
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree, chilled
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Filling:
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  1. Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.
  3. Using a melon baller (or teaspoon), drop approx 48 heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 12-15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan.
  4. Make the filling: Sift confectioner’ sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, beat just until smooth. (Filling can be made up to a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate; let stand at room temperature to soften before using.)
  5. Assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag and snip the end. When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.

S’Mores Cupcakes

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I admit. I’d never had a s’mores in my life. Partly because marshmallows (i.e, gelatin) was never included in my diet and vegetarian marshmallows are hard to come by (you can read more about my marshmallow woes here and here). And partly because we were never much of a ‘camping’ type family, thus rendering no opportunities to cook up some s’mores. But when I was getting ready to go on a girl weekend getaway, I decided this might be the time to attempt a new recipe – s’mores cupcakes!

So, here is my take on a s’mores – in a cup. It was delicious to say the least. And the girls ate them up. Quickly. Some even stated they were the best they’ve ever had of my cupcakes. They all agreed it tasted like a s’mores. I’ll be keeping this recipe around for a while. I can’t wait to try it again.

Since then, I’ve been mooning over the utopian flavors of s’mores and wishing I could have a ‘real’ one. So, I treated myself to some veg marshmallows, toasted them on some grahams on broil and devoured them with some rich dark chocolate (72%, cuz that’s how I roll). Goooooood stuff.  I now feel redeemed. I’ve righted the wrong of never having a s’mores.

So, if you’re looking for that tasty treat in a cup form… Look no further. You’ve arrived.

And because I’m having entirely too much fun with Adobe Lightroom’s presets and because my sister happened to be there to capture me in action, here is a random montage of me making the s’mores cupcakes. Enjoy. Or ignore. Whatever you please. I thought they were fun enough to make a new blog design and title photo with them. Kind of fun. :)

A Cupcake CoThese Cupcakes are available at A Cupcake Co.

“THE” Lemon-Raspberry Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

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My mom has had the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking Cookbook for a year. This entire last year, she, my sister and I have been absolutely drooling over the cake picture on the cover.  Mom gave me my own copy of the cookbook (after she got sick of me always calling her for recipes out of it, I think).

A year of drool finally caught up to us and I decided to pull out the book and make it for her as a surprise for her birthday. It came out so deliciously. It uses about half whole wheat pastry flour and the other half white all-purpose flour. Using the wheat pastry flour makes it a bit denser and not quite as ‘fluffy’ as a traditional cake, but it didn’t take away from the flavor. And with the raspberry filling and creamy frosting, it all blended oh so well together. I promised a few friends I’d share the recipe.

So, here it is in all it’s glory. Please excuse the not so spectacular frosting and decorating job by me. I’m many things but cake decorator is one I’m not. It tasted good though, I promise!

Note, while the cake is pretty simple to make, the frosting is a bit more time-consuming. Well… Actually a LOT more time consuming. I think it took me a total of about 2-3 hours to make and frost the cake. But it was worth it!  And the only thing that bummed me out was that by the time I got to the frosting step, I was so tired, I forgot to put frosting between the layers. Oh well. Still tasted good. heh.

Lemon-Raspberry Cake

Makes three 8″ or two 9″ rounds or one 9×13″ sheet cake. Serves 16

  • 2 1/4 c whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 c unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 t baking powder
  • 1/4 t baking soda
  • 1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 1 3/4 c sugar (either superfine or granulated)
  • 3/4 t salt
  • 5 large egg whites
  • 1 t vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbsp lemon zest
  • 1/4 c fresh lemon juice
  • 3/4 c milk
  • 1/4 c seedless raspberry jam
  • Fresh raspberries for garnish (optional)
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour the pans or line the bottom with parchment paper
  2. Whisk together flours, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl. Cream together butter, sugar and alt in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides occasionally. It should take at least 5 mins and the butter turns from yellow to white.
  3. Add the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest.
  4. Mix half the flour mixture at a slow speed, then add the lemon juice and milk. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until completely combined. Scrape sides again and mix until completely combined, being careful not to over-beat.
  5. Pour batter evenly into the pans. Level the top of the batter with a spatula or back of a spoon. Bake the cakes the amount appropriate for the size: 8″ rounds = 20-22 mins; 9″ rounds = 27-30 mins; 9×13″ sheet cake = 35-38 mins. The cake is one when it begins to pull back from the edges of the pan and is an even golden brown color on the top. The center won’t spring back when done, but neither will it leave a dent.
  6. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack 20 mins before removing the layers from the pans. Chill the cakes before assembling to make them easier to handle.
  7. To assemble, once the cakes are chilled, spread the tops of the cake layers with raspberry jam. Return the layers to the freezer for about 15-20 mins before filling with frosting and stacking layers. This allows the jam to set and the layers won’t slide apart while you’re frosting the cake.
  8. Use the lemon buttercream frosting recipe below to spread a thin layer of frosting over the raspberry jam, stack the layers and frost the outside of the cake. Keep refrigerated until you’re ready to use the cake, then take it out of the refrigerator a couple of hours in advance and serve at room temperature, if possible.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

  • 1/2 c egg whites (whites from 3-4 large eggs) or 1/4 c meringue powder dissolved in 1/2 c cool water
  • 1/4 c light corn syrup
  • 1 c sugar
  • 1/4 c water
  • 1/2 t cream of tartar (if using egg whites)
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 c vegetable shortening
  • 2 t vanilla extract
  • 4 Tbsp lemon juice (divided into 2 Tbsp each)
  • 2 Tbsp lemon zest
  1. Place corn syrup, sugar, water and 2 Tbsp lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Stir until combined and the sugar is dissolved. Cover the pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes with the pan covered to wash off any sugar crystals on the sides. Uncover and cook to the soft ball stage (240 F)
  2. Place egg whites (or reconstituted meringue powder) in the bowl of an upright mixer (such as a kitchen aid). Beat on a low speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar (if using egg whites) and salt. Gradually increase the speed and continue beating until soft peaks form.
  3. As soon as the sugar reaches soft ball stage, remove from heat. Turn off the mixture. Very carefully, pour about 1/4 of the hot syrup down the inside of the mixing bowl. Turn the mixer on high speed and beat well. Add the syrup in two more additions, stopping the mixer every time so the hot syrup doesn’t splash and burn you, working as quickly as possible. If the sugar is slightly overcooked and hardens a bit, return it to the heat for a moment to remelt it.
  4. Continue to beat the meringue until it cools to room temperature. This takes about 20 mins of continuous beating. If you need to hurry it along, place the bowl in an ice bath for a few moments while mixing by hand then return it to the machine. If you add the butter before the meringue is cool, the butter will melt and the frosting will collapse.
  5. When meringue is cool, if you have two mixers, mix the butter and shortening together before adding it. Otherwise, beat in the soft butter a bit at a time. If the frosting starts to separate, continue beating without adding any more butter until it looks fluffy again. Beat in the shortening. Beat in the vanilla, remaining 2 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 Tbsp lemon zest.  If the frosting is too soft, refrigerate before using.

(PS – Happy Birthday, mom!)