in fact, i do like photo posts...
you know, aside from not needing the aggravation of hooking my camera to my computer, waiting for everything to load, scrupulously ejecting the camera diskthing before unhooking it, resizing, naming, and saving said photos, uploading them to photobucket because i no longer have my own domain and do not wish to leech the space/bandwidth of those who are kind to me, and actually bothering to make a post...other than that...
but anyway. i promised photographic evidence of my carrot cupcake adventure, so here we go;
this is not a post about how terribly my oven needs to be cleaned...this is my awesome vegan cookbook which i love even though the authors like wheat germ a tad more than i think is strictly necessary. today, i got it into my head to make the country carrot cake on page 148...only with cupcakes. for frosting, i made a slightly tweaked version of the "anything goes" icing on page 150 because it is a nice basic frosting if you don't add fruit extract. i also cut the amount of sugar by...about a cup, and after adding the first tablespoon of soymilk i didn't bother to measure. just added until it was the consistency i wanted. so, here are the recipes;
country carrot cake ;;
1½ cups flour
¾ cup dry sweetener {{i used rapunzel unrefined and unbleached whole cane sugar. BECAUSE I AM A HIPPIE OR SOMETHING.}}
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup soymilk {{again, i like pearl original organic soymilk. original, not unsweetened. i think it has vanilla added. yum, vanilla.}}
2 tsp vanilla extract {{i probably put in two and a half or three. see "yum, vanilla" comment above...}}
¼ cup oil
egg replacer (equal to one egg)
½ cup carrot, finely shredded
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
{{i also added about ¼ tsp dried ginger. be careful with dried spices. they are strong.}}
preheat oven to 350°F. in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sweetener, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. add the milk, vanilla, oil, egg replacer, carrot, and ginger and mix together gently until "just mixed". pour into a lightly oiled cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. check with a knife to see if done.
"anything goes" icing ;;
¼ cup margarine {{are you sick of my comments yet? anyway, earth balance is dairy-free and non-hydrogenated.}}
2¼ cups powdered sugar1¼-1½ cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp soymilk a bit more than 1 tbsp soymilk, actually
1 tsp "anything goes" extract (lemon, peppermint, or maple extract)
in a food processor or medium bowl, mix together the margarine with one cup of the powdered sugar. add the remaining sugar alternately with milk, mixing until smooth. stir in the extract until consistency is light and spreadable.
as you can see, this was originally a cake recipe. but i wanted cupcakes. adorable, frosted little cupcakes. surprisingly, not much really needed to be adjusted. i turned the oven temperature down a little, but my oven is the superlative form of wonky, so it may have actually even been lower than i think. also, i started checking them after twenty minutes, and they weren't quite done. twenty-five to thirty was about right. i was worrid they would be gross, because bad things tend to happen when i go altering baking recipes (i do not get along with baking. i am much more comfortable with cooking.) but they came out quite lovely actually, so no worries!
so, er, the recipe says to hold off on frosting until the cake is cooled (DUH. who frosts fresh-out-of-the-oven cake is what i want to know.) but it doesn't say how long this takes. generally, i wait ten minutes. i think i gave these around that, or maybe even fifteen because i was trying high-tech art shit and didn't want any melting iced carrots. so i made the frosting and then separated two small bits of it out to color orange and green. as you can see, my fancyschmancy mixing tools are toothpicks. which i also used to make the carrot shapes because i quailed at the idea of making frosting bags out of sandwich baggies. i don't know why, it probably would have been brilliant, but OH WELL, this worked too. it just took three hours. and i cannot mention the rainbow sprinkles enough! you can see them littering the plate unter the cooling rack in the photo of the unfrosted cupcakes (which i am saving for my mother, because i don't think she likes frosting at all. even when it is adorable).
this is not represented in the photo, because i thought of it afterwards, but i stuck edible flowers on them. we got edible flowers in at work today. we were all very excited. i work in a health food store, by the way. this probably explains an awful lot! you probably cannot see it, but there is a recipe on the inside of the flower box for sparkling raspberry lemonade which sounds beautiful and delicious. here is how they say to make it;
herbal garden edible flowers sparkling raspberry lemonade ;;
1 pkg. of the herbal garden edible flowers frozen in ice cubes
1 12oz. pkg. frozen unsweetened raspberries (3 cups)
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
1½ tablespoons grated lemon peel
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1L bottle of chilled sparkling water or club soda
fresh raspberries (optional)
lemon slices
method : combine frozen raspberries, sugar, and ½ cup water in a medium saucepan. stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and raspberries thaw. increase heat and boil 3 minutes. strain raspberry mixture into bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. discard solids in strainer. mix lemon peel into raspberry syrup in bowl. chill until cold. mix raspberry syrup, lemon juice, and sparkling water in a large pitcher to blend. pour into glasses and garnish with raspberries and lemon slices. to make flower ice cubes, place a flower in each section of an ice cube tray or tear up flowers to make confetti and sprinkle over tray. add water and freeze.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, ONLY USE EDIBLE FLOWERS. NOT JUST FLOWERS OUT OF YOUR BACKYARD. ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIVE IN THE CITY. MAYBE THEY WILL KILL YOU. I AM NOT JOKING.
anyway, back to cupcakes. ummmmm, they were delicious?
THE END.
x-posted to bakebakebake & my journal <3
but anyway. i promised photographic evidence of my carrot cupcake adventure, so here we go;
this is not a post about how terribly my oven needs to be cleaned...this is my awesome vegan cookbook which i love even though the authors like wheat germ a tad more than i think is strictly necessary. today, i got it into my head to make the country carrot cake on page 148...only with cupcakes. for frosting, i made a slightly tweaked version of the "anything goes" icing on page 150 because it is a nice basic frosting if you don't add fruit extract. i also cut the amount of sugar by...about a cup, and after adding the first tablespoon of soymilk i didn't bother to measure. just added until it was the consistency i wanted. so, here are the recipes;
country carrot cake ;;
1½ cups flour
¾ cup dry sweetener {{i used rapunzel unrefined and unbleached whole cane sugar. BECAUSE I AM A HIPPIE OR SOMETHING.}}
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup soymilk {{again, i like pearl original organic soymilk. original, not unsweetened. i think it has vanilla added. yum, vanilla.}}
2 tsp vanilla extract {{i probably put in two and a half or three. see "yum, vanilla" comment above...}}
¼ cup oil
egg replacer (equal to one egg)
½ cup carrot, finely shredded
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
{{i also added about ¼ tsp dried ginger. be careful with dried spices. they are strong.}}
preheat oven to 350°F. in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sweetener, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. add the milk, vanilla, oil, egg replacer, carrot, and ginger and mix together gently until "just mixed". pour into a lightly oiled cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. check with a knife to see if done.
"anything goes" icing ;;
¼ cup margarine {{are you sick of my comments yet? anyway, earth balance is dairy-free and non-hydrogenated.}}
2¼ cups powdered sugar1¼-1½ cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp soymilk a bit more than 1 tbsp soymilk, actually
1 tsp "anything goes" extract (lemon, peppermint, or maple extract)
in a food processor or medium bowl, mix together the margarine with one cup of the powdered sugar. add the remaining sugar alternately with milk, mixing until smooth. stir in the extract until consistency is light and spreadable.
as you can see, this was originally a cake recipe. but i wanted cupcakes. adorable, frosted little cupcakes. surprisingly, not much really needed to be adjusted. i turned the oven temperature down a little, but my oven is the superlative form of wonky, so it may have actually even been lower than i think. also, i started checking them after twenty minutes, and they weren't quite done. twenty-five to thirty was about right. i was worrid they would be gross, because bad things tend to happen when i go altering baking recipes (i do not get along with baking. i am much more comfortable with cooking.) but they came out quite lovely actually, so no worries!
so, er, the recipe says to hold off on frosting until the cake is cooled (DUH. who frosts fresh-out-of-the-oven cake is what i want to know.) but it doesn't say how long this takes. generally, i wait ten minutes. i think i gave these around that, or maybe even fifteen because i was trying high-tech art shit and didn't want any melting iced carrots. so i made the frosting and then separated two small bits of it out to color orange and green. as you can see, my fancyschmancy mixing tools are toothpicks. which i also used to make the carrot shapes because i quailed at the idea of making frosting bags out of sandwich baggies. i don't know why, it probably would have been brilliant, but OH WELL, this worked too. it just took three hours. and i cannot mention the rainbow sprinkles enough! you can see them littering the plate unter the cooling rack in the photo of the unfrosted cupcakes (which i am saving for my mother, because i don't think she likes frosting at all. even when it is adorable).
this is not represented in the photo, because i thought of it afterwards, but i stuck edible flowers on them. we got edible flowers in at work today. we were all very excited. i work in a health food store, by the way. this probably explains an awful lot! you probably cannot see it, but there is a recipe on the inside of the flower box for sparkling raspberry lemonade which sounds beautiful and delicious. here is how they say to make it;
herbal garden edible flowers sparkling raspberry lemonade ;;
1 pkg. of the herbal garden edible flowers frozen in ice cubes
1 12oz. pkg. frozen unsweetened raspberries (3 cups)
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
1½ tablespoons grated lemon peel
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1L bottle of chilled sparkling water or club soda
fresh raspberries (optional)
lemon slices
method : combine frozen raspberries, sugar, and ½ cup water in a medium saucepan. stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and raspberries thaw. increase heat and boil 3 minutes. strain raspberry mixture into bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. discard solids in strainer. mix lemon peel into raspberry syrup in bowl. chill until cold. mix raspberry syrup, lemon juice, and sparkling water in a large pitcher to blend. pour into glasses and garnish with raspberries and lemon slices. to make flower ice cubes, place a flower in each section of an ice cube tray or tear up flowers to make confetti and sprinkle over tray. add water and freeze.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, ONLY USE EDIBLE FLOWERS. NOT JUST FLOWERS OUT OF YOUR BACKYARD. ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIVE IN THE CITY. MAYBE THEY WILL KILL YOU. I AM NOT JOKING.
anyway, back to cupcakes. ummmmm, they were delicious?
THE END.
x-posted to bakebakebake & my journal <3