Chocolate and Ginger are BFFs

YES! Bake Sale! And you should come! Because I’ll be the manning the stall (worrying about my unfinished screen print homework) at the Atrium, and all proceeds go towards our Diploma graduation show in November. It’s our Sustainability Festival and Conference Day; there will be talks, workshops, stalls, etc. so will be exciting if you’re interested in all things green, bicycles, craft, DIY, ethical stuff, etc. Further details can be obtained here.

Not convinced?

There will be vegan chocolate cake (minus the vanilla soy ice-cream).

Not just a slice, but an entire cake! (I made two cakes just now, so you know there WILL be a complete cake, not one with one slice missing)

It’s this Wednesday at RMIT Brunswick (accessible via Tram 19, alight at Union Street, or Jewell station on the Upfield line).

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While I’m on a baking roll, I FINALLY made those gingerbread man alligators that I have been requested to do so a month ago! I tried to make a ginger lemon cake last time and it failed miserably (molasses NOT = blackstrap molasses). This however, was beautiful. It was pretty easy to put together, chilled the dough as I made dinner, then rolled it out after doing the dishes. It didn’t take very long to bake these either; 10 minutes for the little ones for a softer center, and about 15 for the larger ones. Think they would have benefited from an extra 2 minutes to crisp the edges more. Apparently, I have no icing skills.

Vegan Chocolate Cake
(adpated via instructables)
1/2 c wholemeal flour
3/4 c plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 c cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c sugar
1/3 c olive oil (or applesauce + oil mixture)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 c warm water
chocolate chips – optional

Preheat oven to 180C, line an 8″ round cake pan with greaseproof paper.
Mix dry ingredients (first 5) in a bowl. Add vinegar in olive oil and set aside. In a large bowl, mix sugar and liquids with a spatula. Stir and add dry ingredients slowly, leaving no big lumps. Stir in chocolate chips or nuts if you want! Bake for 25 minutes. Cake tastes best the next day.

Gingerbread Men
(adapted via bakingbites.com)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp mixed spice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup agave
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180C, and line two trays with silicon sheet or greaseproof paper.
Mix dry in a bowl, then beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the liquids, then stir in the dry to form a smooth dough log.
Leave to chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours, roll out in 1/2cm thickness and use your fancy cookie cutters (those bunnies were 74cents per pack from Spotlight’s post-Easter sale last year). Bake for 9-15min, depending on size and chewiness.

Oh I love you Oskar Mini.

I have been on an Italian kick last week, and I blame it on the amazing spinach and cashew “ricotta” cannelloni that Danni made for us last week. It wasn’t even that hard to make, (save for useless weak blenders!) this will be a cinch to make now that I am in possession of an Oskar Mini. Goodbye crap blenders!

First up, Vegan Yum Yum’s Mac and Cheese. The recipe called for boiling the potatoes and carrot in a saucepan, but microwaving on high for 5-6 minutes does the job faster! I also skipped the baking towards the end as I was hungry and did not want to deal with more washing. So tasty and easy, and doesn’t thicken up quickly like the other recipes that use a heap of nutritional yeast and flour.

Two nights later, I made VYY’s Tomato Basil Cream Pasta, using a tin of tomatoes as I didn’t have any fresh ones. Also with the food processor (remember to put on the lid in the chute; I now have some pasta sauce on my ceiling), this was super fast. I might soak the cashews first next time as the sauce wasn’t super smooth. I also sauteed some marinated tempeh (soy sauce, dark soy sauce, white pepper and sesame oil) before adding the sauce in. Whole wheat spaghetti has so much more texture than the white ones; I enjoyed the chewiness and the fact that it is almost impossible to over cook it – perfect.

Roasted some pumpkin, potatoes, brussel sprouts and an onion on the first night, then had leftovers over a salad on the second with a balsamic dressing.

DESSERT! Apple Strudel/Turnovers – thinly slice two apples, marinate in some cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, 3 tbs sugar and some lemon juice, then wrap it in thawed puff pastry. This one is from her book! I used two sheets of pastry, so had enough desserts for two nights, complete with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream each.

There have been a bout of cheeze posts lately on VegMel, with the latest being Vege Quiche. Sounds like a good plan for dinner tonight.

Mac N Cheeze
(from Vegan Yum Yum)

Macaroni for 4

1 Cup Peeled, Finely Chopped Potatoes
1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Carrots

1/3 Cup Raw Cashews
1 Tbs Miso (I used red)
1 Tbs Tahini
1 Tbs Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/3 Cup Nuttelex Margarine
1/3 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1 tsp Salt
Black Pepper to taste
1/4 cup water

Boil macaroni in a pot of salted water.

Cube potatoes and carrots and microwave on high in an air-tight container with vent with a bit of water, until soft. Takes about 6 minutes.

In the food processor, blend cashews, miso, tahini, lemon juice, mustard, Nuttelex, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper with 1/4 cup water. Then the softened potatoes and carrots, until sauce is smooth and creamy.

Serve this over cooked and drained macaroni.

Tomato Basil Cream Pasta
(from Vegan Yum Yum)

Whole Wheat Spaghetti for 3

1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1/3 Cup Raw Cashews
1 Tbs Tomato Paste
1/4 cup water

2 Tbs Olive Oil
2-4 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp Salt
1-2 tsp Freshly Cracked, Coarse Black Pepper
1 Large Handful Fresh Basil Leaves, chopped

Marinated Tempeh

1/2 packet of tempeh
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs dark soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs water
some ground white pepper

Marinate chopped (or broken up by hand) tempeh and set aside for 15 minutes.

Boil pasta in a pot of salted water.

Blend tomatoes, cashews, tomato paste and water until smooth.

Saute tempeh in some olive oil, until nicely browned, then garlic. Add blended sauce in and simmer for about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. I thinned mine out with some water. Salt to taste. Add cooked and drained pasta in, then season with black pepper and chopped basil.

One sort of relaxing Saturday arvo

Yucks March and April have gone by so much faster than I had anticipated, and the food that I have cooked and ate have gone by unnoticed. Not that it really matters, but highlights were definitely in the form of chocolate cake, pancakes and tempeh that I all make on constant rotation. We decided that today was the day to relax for a bit before strapping ourselves down on the study chairs, and boy how lovely was the sun for a nice walk about!

King of Mushrooms

We’ve just received a new design brief for class, and it involves designing wall decals for The Wall Sticker Company. Exciting! It seems like most of the current designs are very gender-specific; dinosaurs and cars for the boys, flowers and butterflies for the girls. Lots of floral, some video games-related and the occasional “furniture” theme for the general public. What would you like to stick on your wall? I am sort of thinking along the lines of a “roof” that is customisable, so that you can have your own shed inside! With little fun things to accessorise! We also have a couple of other projects involving other local small businesses, and a scarf for the upcoming Scarf Festival 2011 in Geelong.

This week, I realise that I’m willing to spend a lot more time in the kitchen if I had to cook for more than one, ie. myself. I bought the sweet potato on my first week back at school from Radical Grocery (which the new location makes it ridiculously easy for me to shimmy my way there between classes to get myself a Mr. Nice Guy cupcake), and only managed to cook it in week three. Anyway, this dinner was fast and easy, just the way weekday dinners should be.

Mashed sweet potato – Peel and cube sweet potatoes, microwave with a bit of water until tender, mash with Nuttelex, garlic powder, soy milk and salt.
Pan-seared king oyster mushrooms (love the chewy texture!) – Slice vertically into 6, marinate in 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp bean paste, 1 tsp dark sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, white pepper and a bit of water. Pan sear in hot pan/griddle until nicely browned.
Brocoli and sesame seeds – Microwave florets on high for two minutes, toss into pan with leftover mushroom jus, sprinkle with sesame seeds.