Tag Archives: cake

Salt and Pepper Tofu

5 Oct

When I was in 6th grade my teacher, Mrs. Dagle, gave the class a get-to-know-you survey. She asked for everyone’s favorite color, book, food, etc. I remember answering my favorite food as “anything except tofu.” I hated the texture of tofu for years-I would often buy it and leave it in the fridge for weeks until I finally cooked it, only to throw half away. Salt and pepper tofu was the first recipe I tried where I really enjoyed the texture and the taste. Something about frying tofu to give it a crunchy texture made it more palatable to me.

I bookmarked this recipe years ago and it’s become a favorite for busy weeknights. I’ve also experimented with cooking the tofu in sauce afterwards, but I prefer to leave it crunchy just the way it is. Feel free to use it in other dishes or as a beginning step to making barbeque tofu.

Salt and Pepper Tofu

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Almond Birthday Cake Dacquoise

29 Sep

What does one do when one has leftover cake?

Well, if you’re me, you bake it into an entirely new cake! I have gotten such a positive response on my birthday cake macarons, I wanted to make a birthday cake flavored dacquoise. I didn’t feel that hazelnut would go well with this flavor, so I chose to only use almonds to keep the flavor mild.
Almond Birthday Cake Dacquoise

Be sure to check out my other dacquoise recipes!
Birthday Dacquoise
Hazelnut Almond Dacquoise with Espresso Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache
Strawberry Buttercream and Lemon Curd Dacquoise

Almond Birthday Cake Dacquoise

Be sure to also check out the vegan meringue Facebook group for more amazing aquafaba recipes and Aquafaba.com for frequently asked questions.

Almond Birthday Cake Dacquoise

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Galaxy Cake

24 Sep

On a similar theme as my galaxy macarons, I wanted to create a galaxy cake. The cake portion is simply a no egg, no dairy chocolate cake. The recipe is available in the Vegan Meringue Facebook group recipe files: it’s the chocolate midnight cake by Rebecca August.

The frosting is a vegan buttercream. I originally made about 2.5 cups, but realized with the petal technique I was going to need quite a bit more. I made another 1.5 cups of icing and it ended up being just enough. I highly recommend using Earth Balance butter for frosting recipes. We normally wouldn’t eat a lot of artificial color like this; I usually pawn most of my baking off on coworkers and friends!

 

Galaxy Cake

 

I topped the cake with these galaxy meringues, which were made with 1/3 cup reduced aquafaba and 1/2 cup sugar. I dripped gel color down the inside of the piping bag to achieve the galaxy effect. I also crumbled one of the meringues, sprinkled on a little powdered sugar, and used pearl sprinkles for the stars and moons.Galaxy Cake

The petal technique is extremely easy. Pipe a blob of frosting with a piping bag fitted with a round tip, and spread it to the right with a spoon or spatula. Continue piping and spreading all the way around.

Galaxy Cake

 

Galaxy Cake

The cake itself is moist and delicious and we’ve been slowly enjoying it over the past few days.

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Birthday Dacquoise

19 Aug

I thought my last dacquoise was going to be the final one, but I couldn’t resist making one more, especially with my parents visiting for my birthday today. Since it is my birthday, I wanted to fill it with a few of my favorite things-caramel, chocolate, frosting, and Nutella. This is not something I would recommend eating everyday. In fact, I would highly recommend only having two pieces then letting someone else finish it, because it’s pretty indulgent.

Yet again, I planned this several days ahead of time. I made the caramel one day, the buttercream the next day, and the dacquoise the night before making it. It helps to spread out the process so you’re not trying to finish it all in one day. If you want to attempt making it in one day, be sure you don’t have a nagging toddler around your ankles and eat a full meal ahead of time, otherwise you’ll be snacking on all of the ingredients…

Birthday Dacquoise

Birthday Dacquoise

Birthday Dacquoise
Birthday Dacquoise
Birthday Dacquoise

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Hazelnut Almond Dacquoise with Espresso Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache

5 Aug

I’ve been planning this in my head for almost a full month now. This is my 100th post on my blog, and I’m so thrilled to share it!
I finally got the hazelnuts last night and I was excited I could barely sleep. This is definitely something you should plan ahead for, or have a whole day devoted to cooking. I blanched my nuts and ground them the night before and prepped my buttercream the day before that. I use homemade aquafaba which may be a bit stronger than the canned kind – be sure it’s thick before attempting this. The ganache should be made close to when you start putting it together, but try not to pour it on warm as it will melt the buttercream. This recipe for vegan Italian Meringue Buttercream would be an excellent choice on this if you have the time to make it!

This recipe is highly adapted (read:made easier) from here, which I believe was originally published by America’s Test Kitchen here. Lisa Masaar originally posted her veganized version of the recipe in the Vegan Meringue Facebook group here. I adapted it from there, partially to imitate Sweet Maresa’s beautiful creationsHazelnut Almond Dacquoise with Espresso Buttercream and Chocolate GanacheHazelnut Almond Dacquoise with Espresso Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache

Hazelnut Almond Dacquoise with Espresso Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache

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Vegan Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

16 Oct

Mayonnaise cake seems like something someone who was hoarding for the apocalypse would invent while trying to use up their food stash. It definitely tastes better than you would expect most post apocalyptic meals to taste, especially since it’s full of chocolate.

I made this for my husband’s birthday, and didn’t tell him there was mayonnaise in it until he finished his piece.  This recipe definitely beats out my old chocolate cake recipe; I have to thank Hampton Creek for the original. I’ve posted it below if you’re too lazy to click the link, but I didn’t make any changes beyond pan size and it came out perfect.

If you haven’t tried Just Mayo yet, you need to leave your house and go buy some right now. There’s even a $2.50 coupon on their website, so you’re basically getting it for free. This stuff is better than regular egg based mayonnaise and way more sustainable. I’ve tried it on sandwiches, in chickpea salad, with sambal on sushi, and straight off the spoon. Granted, I tend to get over enthusiastic about new products, but Hampton Creek is a really great company and worth a try, even if you’re not vegan.

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