baking, baking, baking yeah
I've been doing soooo much baking lately, you guys. It is amazing. I've always kind of avoided vegan baking, for one reason or another. But I've slowly built up a stash of ingredients and chocolate chips and I've been putting them to good use. I'm getting a little closer to my dream of owning a vegan bakery/cafe!
So a few days ago I made a chocolate pecan pie... with bourbon. Basically this recipe, but modified for the original amount of bourbon (I used Jack Daniels), which is 1/4 cup. I also use the simplest pie crust recipe around which is:
1 c. flour
1/3 t. salt
1/3 c. vegetable shortening
4 T. (at least) ice water
- sift together flour & salt
- cut in shortening until it's in pea-sized pieces
- add water 1 T. at a time, gently mixing with a fork until it starts to come together. (I end up using at least 8 T, actually)
- gather together into a ball, chuck it on a floured surface, roll that sucker out, then put it in your pie plate. double the recipe to make a pie with a top crust.
Basically, it was the best pie ever. Pecan pie is amazing to begin with, but add an obscene amount of chocolate and whiskey... I'm sold. Actually, I am just a sucker for pie. Don't even get me started. Pie pie pie. You can put anything in it! So far I've also made a cherry pie and a veggie pot pie with roasted root veggies and homemade mushroom gravy. THAT WAS SO GOOD.
I've also made this brownie recipe a couple of times and had it come out really well, especially with chocolate chips, nuts and a vegan buttercream frosting.
Everyone asks me this stuff, so: Some Notes on Vegan Baking
- It's not actually that hard! I totally thought it was too, but don't be scared! You can make your vegan friend something awesome for their bday without everyone else making awkward faces and quizzing you about "carob powder".
- On Butter: Most people use margarine anyway, because butter can be expensive? But most margarines actually have some milk ingredients like whey powder. So I use Earth Balance, which is pretty easy to find in my smallish Canadian city.
- On Milk: Pretty darn easy to substitute soy milk, in most cases. "Buttermilk" = soy milk + 1 t vinegar.
- On EGGS: This is by far the most common question I get asked when I mention vegan baking. A quick google comes up with a lot of answers. Some of the recipes I use don't seem to have an obvious "egg replacement", like the vegan brownies. The pecan pie uses ground flax seeds + water to make a goopy binding substance, and it works really well. You don't notice a flax taste or texture at all. Other stuff can use applesauce, mashed bananas, extra baking soda, etc. etc. I have a box of "egg replacer" powder in my cupboard, but I almost never use it.
- On Sugar: Some companies use "bone char" to bleach the sugar to that beautiful bright white. Sometimes you can find out which do and which don't. In Canada, Rogers Sugar has two processing plants, only one of which uses bone char. If I'm at someone's house I don't bother asking them to haul out their sugar bag. For my own use, I buy organic unbleached sugar that specifically states that it doesn't use animal byproducts. More expensive, less completely disgusting.
- On cocoa powder/baking powder/flour: Um, of course it's vegan. What are you asking me? Cocoa powder gets a lot of questions, weirdly. (If you want to learn more about the chocolate industry I highly recommend "Bitter Chocolate" by Carol Off. It's very well written, interesting and angering in equal amounts. When I find a good ethical chocolate supplier, I'll buy in bulk.)
ANYWAY, these garam masala cookies are next on my "to bake" list. Don't they look amazing?!
(And all this is to distract myself from the latest developments with himself. Where "developments" = "frustrations piled on confusion piled on friends who are Seriously Over listening to me talk about him piled on way too many listens of "Skinny Boy" by Amy Milan". Blaaarrrrgh, boys.)
So a few days ago I made a chocolate pecan pie... with bourbon. Basically this recipe, but modified for the original amount of bourbon (I used Jack Daniels), which is 1/4 cup. I also use the simplest pie crust recipe around which is:
1 c. flour
1/3 t. salt
1/3 c. vegetable shortening
4 T. (at least) ice water
- sift together flour & salt
- cut in shortening until it's in pea-sized pieces
- add water 1 T. at a time, gently mixing with a fork until it starts to come together. (I end up using at least 8 T, actually)
- gather together into a ball, chuck it on a floured surface, roll that sucker out, then put it in your pie plate. double the recipe to make a pie with a top crust.
Basically, it was the best pie ever. Pecan pie is amazing to begin with, but add an obscene amount of chocolate and whiskey... I'm sold. Actually, I am just a sucker for pie. Don't even get me started. Pie pie pie. You can put anything in it! So far I've also made a cherry pie and a veggie pot pie with roasted root veggies and homemade mushroom gravy. THAT WAS SO GOOD.
I've also made this brownie recipe a couple of times and had it come out really well, especially with chocolate chips, nuts and a vegan buttercream frosting.
Everyone asks me this stuff, so: Some Notes on Vegan Baking
- It's not actually that hard! I totally thought it was too, but don't be scared! You can make your vegan friend something awesome for their bday without everyone else making awkward faces and quizzing you about "carob powder".
- On Butter: Most people use margarine anyway, because butter can be expensive? But most margarines actually have some milk ingredients like whey powder. So I use Earth Balance, which is pretty easy to find in my smallish Canadian city.
- On Milk: Pretty darn easy to substitute soy milk, in most cases. "Buttermilk" = soy milk + 1 t vinegar.
- On EGGS: This is by far the most common question I get asked when I mention vegan baking. A quick google comes up with a lot of answers. Some of the recipes I use don't seem to have an obvious "egg replacement", like the vegan brownies. The pecan pie uses ground flax seeds + water to make a goopy binding substance, and it works really well. You don't notice a flax taste or texture at all. Other stuff can use applesauce, mashed bananas, extra baking soda, etc. etc. I have a box of "egg replacer" powder in my cupboard, but I almost never use it.
- On Sugar: Some companies use "bone char" to bleach the sugar to that beautiful bright white. Sometimes you can find out which do and which don't. In Canada, Rogers Sugar has two processing plants, only one of which uses bone char. If I'm at someone's house I don't bother asking them to haul out their sugar bag. For my own use, I buy organic unbleached sugar that specifically states that it doesn't use animal byproducts. More expensive, less completely disgusting.
- On cocoa powder/baking powder/flour: Um, of course it's vegan. What are you asking me? Cocoa powder gets a lot of questions, weirdly. (If you want to learn more about the chocolate industry I highly recommend "Bitter Chocolate" by Carol Off. It's very well written, interesting and angering in equal amounts. When I find a good ethical chocolate supplier, I'll buy in bulk.)
ANYWAY, these garam masala cookies are next on my "to bake" list. Don't they look amazing?!
(And all this is to distract myself from the latest developments with himself. Where "developments" = "frustrations piled on confusion piled on friends who are Seriously Over listening to me talk about him piled on way too many listens of "Skinny Boy" by Amy Milan". Blaaarrrrgh, boys.)