Fegan Baking

VEGAN CAKE POPS

when cake pops first blew up, it kind of seemed like they might just be a trend. but at this point, it’s pretty clear they’re here to stay! my day job is at starbucks, where we sell four different flavors of these tasty little morsels, and people snatch them up like crazy. and why wouldn’t they? novelty + delicious, moist cake = a great idea!

that being said, i have been anxious to try and make cake pops myself. i have heard from friends, however, that using the confectioner’s coating that typically surrounds the cake is a real pain in the wazoo. i’m not much for cake decorating; i mean, i’m all about a pretty presentation, but fondant and all that junk… you can forget about it!

recently though, a friend recommended using CHOCOLATE instead of confectioner’s coating… honestly, my mind was BLOWN! WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?!  with this game-changing suggestion, i pressed onward to make DELICIOUS VEGAN CAKE POPS




VEGAN YELLOW CAKE POPS

when making cake pops, you can really bake whatever type of cake you want. i opted to use a veganized version of this recipe from my handy dandy better homes & gardens cookbook

of course, i subbed in vegetable shortening, almond milk and eggs!


so basically, you just bake a sheet cake. my yellow cake turned out perfectly

once the cake is completely cooled, CRUSH YOUR PERFECT CAKE INTO A PULP AND MIX IN AN 8-OZ PACKAGE OF VEGAN CREAM CHEESE AND ABOUT 3/4 CUP VEGAN BUTTERCREAM FROSTING until it looks like this

you know i really love to get in there with my hands, so this part was fun :)



the next step is to shape the cake balls. i shaped them by hand and immediately stuck the sticks in

at this point, i highly recommend sticking them in the freezer for about two hours. this will efficiently cool them enough that they will be solid and remain intact when dipped in chocolate, but not enough that they will be rock-hard


after waiting a couple hours, i simply melted some vegan-friendly chocolate chips, and dipped them in! another benefit of freezing the pops was that when i dipped them in the melted chocolate, the chocolate hardened almost instantly. while they were setting, i sprinkled rainbow sprinkles on top, and voila - super cute and YUMMY cake pops!!!

i was pretty pleased with the outcome of this recipe! i sold out of these badboys really quickly at a THIBS show. definitely not half bad for a first attempt!


it has come to my attention, however, that the best way to set and present the cake pops is using a foam base - GENIUS. expect a better of an improved product soon!!!

vegan blue moon cupcakes

IT’S OFFICIAL - in my adult life i have graduated from drinking super sweet hard ciders to drinking actual real beer! it feels kind of like when i stopped drinking starbucks blueberries and creme frappuccinos and started drinking, you know, coffee. blue moon is my current beer of choice, and that being the case, i’ve been DYING to bake blue moon cupcakes for some time now




VEGAN BLUE MOON CUPCAKES

2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dairy-free margarine
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 orange
1 bottle of blue moon
1/4 cup almond milk



in a medium-sized bow, mix the flour, baking powder and salt


separately, beat the margarine and sugar together in a big giant bowl. then, gradually add the applesauce, vanilla and a teaspoon fresh orange zest, beating well after each addition


in a small bowl, mix the beer and almond milk. alternatively add this mixture and the flour mixture to the margarine mixture, like this: flour->mix->beer->mix->flour->mix->beer->mix->flour!



bake at 375* for about 20 minutes

these turned out so well! after they cooled i topped them with a whipped vanilla frosting and and orange slice for garnish! after sitting a bit the orange seeped into the frosting and really lent itself to that tangy blue moon taste

Vegan Blueberry Muffins

My brunch yesterday was a blast! Here’s another muffin recipe I used.

VEGAN BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

2 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 lemons for zest

¾ cup sugar

1 cup almond milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 ½ cups fresh blueberries

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and lemon zest.

In a bigger bowl, combine the sugar, almond milk, oil, lemon juice and vinegar. Mix well!

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture, and stir until just wet, then gently fold in the berries

Bake at 375* for about 22 minutes.

A fresh lemony twist on a classic! YUM <3

Vegan Banana Muffins

Hey guys! Long time no bake, sorry about that :/ I’ve been driving myself half-crazy working and saving up money to get out of the Hampton Roads hellhole

 But tomorrow, I’m taking a much-needed and well-deserved day off to have an Arbonne spa day and brunch party at my place! I’m really excited. I didn’t want to go overboard and knock myself out making a big brunch for a dozen or so people, so instead, I’m just doing mimosas and vegan muffins!

VEGAN BANANA MUFFINS

3 bananas (the more ripe the better)
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

in a big ol’ bowl, mash the bananas until soft. i used a potato masher

once the bananas are good and mashed, add the oil and sugar, and cream together

in a separate, smaller bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. then, gradually add the flour mixture to the banana mixture

bake at 375* for about 25 minutes

yay! i can’t wait to serve these to my party guests tomorrow


PS: here’s the facebook event link if any norfolk locals want to pop by! https://www.facebook.com/events/554030347962474/

vegan vanilla lavender cupcakes

this is another yummy thing i baked for the kitsch open house! i know the kitsch girls love the baking i’ve done with lavender already, and i wanted to do something that felt cozy for wintry february day

VEGAN VANILLA LAVENDER CUPCAKES

3/4 c. almond milk
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tbsp. vegan “sour cream”
3 tbsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. lavender

first off, whisk the almond milk and vinegar together til slightly foaming, then set aside


in a separate bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda


stir the sour cream and vanilla into the almond milk mixture. once that’s well-combined, gradually add in the dry mixture. last but not least, the lavender! stir it in until it’s evenly distributed

divvy up into lined or greased cupcake pans, and bake at 350* for about 25 minutes

i was feeling sassy and added purple coloring to my vanilla frosting! and then topped them off with bits of real lavender, as well

vegan blackbottom cupcakes

my friends at kitsch (http://facebook.com/kitschva) are having a lovely open house today in honor of their one-year anniversary! i was flattered when they asked me to sell cupcakes in the shop for the day, so i knew i’d have to whip up some fresh ideas for the occasion

i don’t know why it never occurred to me to bake blackbottom cupcakes before! i love them. we used to carry them at starbucks, and i just about died when they were taken away and replaced with sub-par “chocolate cream cheese muffins”

i find it odd that i have had to explain to multiple people what a blackbottom cupcake even is, but since that has been my reality since thursday when i proudly perfected my recipe, i will now explain it to you before we go any further. a blackbottom cupcake is a little piece of heaven in a cupcake wrapper. it consists of chocolate cake with a bit of cheesecakey cream cheese filling and/or topping. the cream cheese part usually has chocolate chips in it, too. now that i’m overthinking it, the combination of cream cheese and chocolate seems a tad bit strange, but TRUST ME THEY ARE DELISH

VEGAN BLACKBOTTOM CUPCAKES

For the Chocolate Cake:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. water
5 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla

For the Cream Cheese Filling:
8 oz. vegan “cream cheese”
1/4 c. applesauce
2 tbsp. water
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chocolate chips

start with the chocolate cake! mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. in another bigger bowl, beat together the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. once those are smooth, gradually add in the dry mixture

let the cake batter just sit for a minute while you make the cream cheese filling! just beat the applesauce and water together til it gets a bit foamy, then add cream cheese and sugar. beat until nice and smooth, and stir in chocolate chips!

i don’t always advocate the use of cupcake wrappers, but with these you should really use them. fill the cups about halfway with chocolate cake batter, then add a dollop (about 1tbsp) of the cream cheese mixture. i kind of placed my dollops right in the center of each cupcake because i wanted the cream cheese to bake into the centers

bake at 350* for about 25 minutes. when they come out, the cheese parts should spring back slightly at the touch

GUYS i literally just tried ate one of these before i wrote this and i don’t usually brag quite this much about stuff i bake but DAYUM they are good!!! people who aren’t coming to kitsch right now and buying them from me are missing out ;)

vegan cherry cheesecake

GUH sorry it’s been so long since i’ve blogged! life has been moving a million miles a minute it seems. my time in new york city has come to a close, so i’ve spent the last week moving all my stuff back to norfolk and re-nesting in my apartment. so needless to say, baking has been on the back burner (please excuse the lame, unintentional pun)

ANYWHO i’m so ready to bake again! i miss that “i just baked something in here biotch” smell in my apartment, haha

a couple weeks ago i opened myself up to suggestions for baking ideas on my CALL ME CUPCAKE facebook page (check it out and like it at https://www.facebook.com/callmecupcakenorfolk)! people mostly listed stuff i’ve already baked *sigh* but CHEESECAKE was by far my favorite suggestion!

VEGAN GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST

1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/3 c. sugar
6 tbsp. melted dairy-free margarine

mix all the ingredients til well-blended!

then distribute into cupcake wrappers

bake at 375* for about seven minutes, and voila!

 

 

 

VEGAN MINI CHERRY CHEESECAKES

2 8-oz. packages of vegan “cream cheese”
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. applesauce
12 prepped mini graham cracker crusts
PIE FILLING! or fresh fruit or whatever floats your boat

 

beat the cream cheese til fluffy! i have the luxury of an AWESOME VINTAGE MIXER these days, but i did stuff like this for years with a fork and can promise it won’t kill you

 

add sugar and vanilla, and then applesauce. beat well with each addition!

fill in the cupcake wrappers with cheesecake mix, leaving a solid amount of space at the top (remember, you want to add topping, too!)

 

 

 

 

bake at 350* for about 20 minutes

OK HERE’S THE THING. sometimes even the best bakers screw up, especially when they are in a hurry. i baked the crusts and the cheesecakes pretty much back to back, which i now see was a huge mistake; without cooling first, the crust becomes one with the cheesecake in a very strange and unappealing way

some of them turned out ok though! those ones i cooled in the fridge for about an hour before topping them with cherry pie filling. they’re pictured below with some funfetti cupcakes i made today too!

pretty pleased with the ones that turned out SO, i would definitely bake these again… and bake the crusts the night before, haha