Cake for Baby!

My bestest friend ever, Jennifer, is having a baby girl! I volunteered to make the cake and cupcakes for her shower yesterday!



The cake and half of the cupcakes are lemon with raspberry cream cheese frosting. The other half of the cupcakes are VCTOTW basic chocolate, with raspberry cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut with marzipan eggs.

Each tier was 3 layers of lemon cake (this recipe without the poppyseeds) with raspberry preserves and raspberry cream cheese frosting between the layers. The whole thing was coated with a crumb coat of the raspberry cream cheese frosting (Equal parts Tofutti cream cheese and Earth Balance, with a bit of vanilla extract and Flavorganics Raspberry Syrup, mixed with enough powdered sugar to get the right texture) then decorated with tinted vanilla fondant.

I was going to make my fondant from scratch, and did make a small batch, but it was a lot of work, and I needed a lot of fondant, so I bought Satin Ice brand fondant, which, as far as I could tell from the label and my internet research, is vegan.

My first time working with fondant. I am no Duff, but I think I did pretty good for my first go 'round. One thing I learned is that it is key to have ample flat working space to effectively pull this off. I was working on a folding card table, that wasn't level, so I had a bit of trouble rolling it out evenly. I know I could have done a much better job, if I just had a proper kitchen counter.

Oh my gosh! It's been a whole week...

...since I've updated my blog! I am so ashamed. Well it was a crazy weekend, but the Children's Benefit for Salem School went off without a hitch. My wonderful Mom came down to help out, and we got lots of wonderful feedback on the food. We served over 300 phyllo cups! People kept coming back for more, and lots of folks were very interested in the fact that all of it was vegan. "How do you make it so good without meat?" "We were told to come get food from this table, 'cause it was the best!" The coolest thing was, we were set up next to a guy who did an entire table of meats and cheeses, and guess what? Almost all of his food was left uneaten at the end of the night...he said I was his nemisis...hee-hee.

SCORE ONE FOR THE VEGAN TEAM!

Here are some pics of the final products:

Me, my Mom and our table:


Little Taco Salads (Soyrizo mixed with Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese topped with Tofutti Sour Supreme and green onions):


Caramelized Onions and walnuts in an agave nectar and balsamic reduction:


Mediterranean Couscous (with olive oil, basil, sundried tomatoes and garlic):


Spanikopita, spinach and tofu feta with lemon juice, nooch and garlic, topped with toasted pine nuts and sun dried tomatoes (this seemed to be the crowd favorite!):


Mushroom Rissotto made with Jasmine rice instaed of arborio:


And our tower of Lemon Gems (from VCTOTW) with lemon cream cheese frosting, topped with lemon zest and a blueberry:


And if you are wondering about the bandanas and horse shoes all over the table...the party had a western theme and we were asked to decorate our table accordingly.

Kahlua Cupcakes

Happy Birthday to me! I always love to look at fellow vegan's posts about their birthdays because it's almost inevitable that we make our own birthday cakes! No complaints here, there is no place I'd rather be than in the kitchen making myself some cupcakes!

These are Kam's Kahlua Kanary Kake (from Cozy Inside) made into cupcakes. There is creem cheeze buttercreem frosting both inside and on top, dusted with a little cocoa and topped off with a small, but decadent, square of Green & Blacks espresso chocolate.

Happy Birthday Bob!

Another birthday at the office. Bob turned "29" so I made him cupcakes. Those Realtors didn't even suspect that they were eating VEGAN (gasp!) food. They just gobbled 'em up saying how good they were!



Basic Chocolate Cupcake from VCTOTW with the Cookies & Cream Variation of the Fluffy Buttercream.

Krissy Kakes!

Lemon Gems from VwaV with Lemon Creem Cheeze frosting and Marzipan Flowers

My little sister got married yesterday!!! I brought cupcakes over to snack on while we were all getting ready, and I had enough batter to make her a mini cake to take back to the hotel room after the reception.

Lemon Gem minicake! "K" is for Kristen & "S" is for Steve, her new and awesome husband.

Congratulations Krissy & Steve! Have fun in Hawaii!

Mexican Mocha Cupcakes

I made Mexican Mocha Cupcakes for my sidter's bachelorette party tonight.

They are the "Basic Chocolate" cupcake from VCTOTW with instant coffee crystals added to the batter. The frosting is a whole tub of Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese, 1/3 cup of EB, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp chocolate extract, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup instant coffee crystals, 1/4 cup chilled brewed coffee, 1 tsp cinnamon and 2 POUNDS OF POWDERED SUGAR! Then I dusted the tops with more cinnamon and put a chunk of Mexican Chocolate up on top.

Mini Lemon Cuppers

...with lemony creem cheeze frosting.

From VCTOTW of course!

Spidey Cakes

Saturday was my nephew, Dominic's, 7th birthday. I was asked to be in charge of cupcakes! Vegan cupcakes really ARE taking over the world.

His party had a spiderman theme, so I made both the vctotw Basic Chocolate cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream and Fluffy White cupcakes ( http://shmooedfood.blogspot.com/2006/01/fluffy-white-cupcakes.html ) with vctotw Cream Cheese frosting. My mom and I decorated the tops with spiderwebs (the gel frosting I used for this was found at Tall Mouse and is made with Agar!) and I made little tags with Dominic's face morphed with Spiderman's.





The kid's loved 'em, and no one missed the eggs!

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Creem Cheeze Frosting and a Rasberry

I'd be lying if I said I didn't think this was the best photo I've ever taken of a cupcake.







I used a recipe someone posted awhile back on the PPK forums for "Fluffy White Cupcakes" and added lemon extract and lemon juice and lemon zest to the batter. They came out really, really fluffy and moist.

YUM.

The frosting was just 1 tub of Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese, 1/4 cup of Earth Balance, 1 tbsp of lemon extract and lots of confectioner's sugar. Topped with a fresh rasberry and a tiny pinch of lemon zest.

They just seemed so sophisticated and grown up.

Basic Chocolate Cuppers with Peanut Butter Cream Cheeze Frosting, Chocolate Chips and Caramel Sauce

Oh my. This frosting was so delicous, I almost didn't need the cupcakes. Almost.





I used the Basic Chocolate Cupcake recipe from VCTOTW but I only had rice milk, no soy. When I added the apple cider vinegar to the rice milk, it didn't curldle. So, I added a little Ener-G Egg Replacer, just in case. The actual cupcakes came out perfect. Just spongy enough, and light but still moist.

But the frosting. Oh, the frosting. I used a whole tub of Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese mixed with 1 cup of creamy peanut butter, 1/4 cup of earth balance, 1 tspn vanilla and a little more than 2 cups of powdered sugar. I could have eaten this for dinner. With a spoon.

But to make it even better, I added chocolate chips, and then drizzled them with a "caramel" sauce made of brown sugar, Silk Soy Creamer and Earth Balance, I didn't really measure this stuff, I just mixed it up until it seemed right. If I had to guess, I would have to say it was about 1/4 or 1/3 cup EB, 1 cup brown sugar and about 1/3 cup creamer. I melted the EB and brown sugar together in a sauce pan, then added the creamer. I brought it to a slow boil and then reduced the heat and kept it cooking until the sugar was completedly liquid (no graininess) and then I removed it from the heat. Let it cool, and then drizzled it over the cupcakes.

GOOD NEWS! There is still a lot of frosting and sauce left over. Probably enough for another batch of cuppers. Sadly, I'll probably just inhale it all before I get a chance to make another dozen.

SO SAD! VCTOTW Carrot Cupcakes.

I really don't know why this happened. They all sank. REALLY SANK!



Thank goodness for LOTS of cream cheese frosting!

More Weekend Goodies...Cupcakes, Carrot Cake & Seitan Skewers

Sunday we were going over to Dad's House for a birthday barbecue. June & Kurt & I made some food to bring over. We made a dozen Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream (VCTOTW) and a Carrot cake with cream cheeze frosting (the VCTOTW recipe as a cake.) We also made grilled asparagus, hummus and kabobs with baby bella mushrooms, onions orange bell peppers, seitan and tempeh marinated in teriyaki. Yummy.

Basic Chocolate Cuppers with Peanut Buttercream Frosting & Chocolate Chips

Yummy Yummy Yummy!

Recipes from Vegan Cupcakes take over the World.

Mucho Margarita Cupcakes

This was my first attempt at the Mucho Margaritas from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. They have real tequila in them. They were quite tasty, and very cute. The lime icing was really cool, and refreshing. I think I overfilled my liners though, because the icing slipped off the edges. I made these for a girlfriend's birthday, so I made little toothpick flags for the tops. I am really impressed with myself for how cute those little tags came out, and am now going to make them for all of my cupcakes!

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

I am on a quest for the perfect Vegan Angelfood Cake recipe. You got one? Please, send it my way. This is my first try...Experiment #1. It came out okay, but I know I can do better.

Coconut Heaven Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream Frosting (Rolled in Coconut Flakes)

Originally posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007

Coconut Heaven Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream Frosting, Rolled in Coconut Flakes. I followed the VwaV recipe for the cupcakes and the VCTOTW recipe for buuercream, but subbed coconut milk for the soymilk, yump!

Ooh Baby! Since it's been so cold, I thought I would make cupcakes that reminded me of snow!

These babies were certainly pretty, and certainly tasty, but they packed a whopping 372 calories and 23 grams of fat per cupcake! (However, they are cruelty free and do not contain any hydrogenated oils or fats, and they are cholesterol free!)





Darren & Karem's Birthday cupcake:

Christmas Cookies & Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcakes with buttercream frosting (with soy nog instead of soy milk) and sprinkles:



Gingerbread Men made with the "lofthouse" style sugar cookies and the above mentioned frosting and sprinkles:

Mocha Chocolate Cuppers (Now available in Chunky!)

Originally Posted Saturday, November 11, 2006

Mocha Chocolate Cuppers (Now available in Chunky!)

Mocha Chocolate Cupcakes with Cafe Buttercream & Chocolate chunks! It's the basic chocolate cupcake recipe and the buttercream recipe using the mocha variations.

Low Fat Pumpkin Cupcakes with Tofu Cream Cheese Frosting

Originally Posted Saturday, November 04, 2006

Look Ma! No Oil!

Tonight I made lowfat pumpkin cupcakes with tofu cream cheese frosting. Yummy. I think I will make another batch and bring them to my dad's for Thanksgiving!

These cupcakes are pretty good for you. I used Sucanat (raw sugar) instead of regular, applesauce, instead of oil. The frosting on the other hand is NOT low fat. (But I did use all organic, cruelty free ingredients!)

Basic Chocolate Cupper with Buttercream Frosting

originally posted Saturday, October 28, 2006

Happiness Comes by the Dozen

Just your basic chocolate cupcake. Simple & elegant, it can stand on it's own with no adornment.



But why? When you can have buttery, creamy, sugary, fluffy goodness on top?



Happiness surely does come by the dozen.



Oh, by the way, I only allow myself to eat one cupcake per batch. The rest go into the office!