Iron Cupcake Challenge

With the turkey massacre that is Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, I am feeling more glum by the day so it is time to think about something slightly lighter....the Iron Cupcake Challenge. This is some fun devised by the Milwaukee Cupcake Queen whereby each month an ingredient is announced and folks compete to create a cupcake using that 'guest' ingredient.

There are monthly prizes and the November ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from the following artists:

* LOLLIPOP WORKSHOP
* COOKIE SUNSHINE

as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES.

OK, so last month it was cheese which presented a unique challenge to a vegan baker to be sure and so I ended up letting my entry slide. This month, however, the mytery foodstuff is the ever-so-humble-but-completely-wonderful-superstar-of-the antioxidant-izers: the CRANBERRY!

So for my entry I have created the Thanksgiving Stack cupcake!





Its base is a lemon, almond and vegan white chocolate cupcake - lusciously light yet moist and a fraction chewy from the ground almonds. To create the multi-layered effect, I just added some red food colouring to one half of the cupcake batter and then sliced and stacked the layers alternately. The filling is a light vegan buttercream frosting with a swirl of fresh cranberry confit.

As part of the entry I have uploaded my pix to the cupcake group on Flickr where you can see the competition is in full swing! I know I need to work on my 'mis en place' a bit more, but heck...this is going to be one sweet dessert to share with My Beloved in front of the fire tonight!

Anyways, click on over the ICC page and vote for Cackleberry! Let's have a vegan cupcake win this time!

And...stay vegan, friends!

MoFo Tuesday: Chocolate Truffles

In this final week of MoFo postings, I have abandoned any pretense of health and sensible nutrition, it seems, in pursuit of pure, unadulterated pleasure.

Of the 'Chocolate Truffle' variety, specifically.

I recently acquired - at the behest of My Dear Mama - a copy of the Artful Vegan, the cookbook from the Millenium Restaurant. It is splendid - full of juicy foodie images and beautifully elegant recipes. They are not exactly your typical 'mid-week, just got home from work, via the gym, still got to feed and walk the dogs and it's already 8:15pm' kind of fare, however. But, this weekend, I took the plunge in a very minor way by making these:



Chocolate truffles.

They are super simple but ridiculously delicious. Here's what you do:

Chop up 3/4 cup dark chocolate and 1/4 cup dried cherries, thus:




Melt them in a double boiler along with 1/4 cup soymilk and a 1/4 cup of rum. Stir gently until it looks like this...a marvelously melty choccie confection!



Add a 1/4 tsp chili powder for a bit of a spice kick. This is optional, but fun!

Refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Using a melon baller (or teaspoon), scoop out the thickened mix and drop into some cocoa powder, sweetened with a little powdered sugar. Roll into cute little balls, popping the first one into your mouth - just for 'Quality Control' purposes, of course.

Yeah.

The mixture should make about 16 truffles (-1 for the cook!) so there are ample to go around.

I substituted dried cranberries for the dried cherries as that's what I had in the cupboard, rationalising that - this way - there's a double serving of those wonderful antioxidents!

The end result was deep, dark and rich beyond words. The kick of cayenne (I had no chili powder as such) comes on afterwards, but it is unmistakable and surprisingly good.

If you want to try them for yourselves, this is the book for you:



Or come on over to my place - I have a whole batch just waiting for you!

Stay Vegan, Friends!

MoFo!

MoFo? Nah, not what you're thinking! In fact, this refers to the 'Vegan Month of Food' - for October this year! The idea is that we vegan bloggers completely inundate and overwhelm the blogosphere with accounts of deliriously delicious, fantastically fabulous, exquisitely edible vegan food....and I am in! I pledge to blog about food - specifically - every weekday for the month of October. For those of us who are 'math-challenged', that's 20 times within 31 days! But, you know what? I will do it.

Today, in preparation, I baked. Lots. And took pix to document this endeavor. On the menu were cranberry orange scones, low-fat banana and chocolate chip bread and vegan sausage and peanut butter biscotti - the latter for my precious pooches, Darwin the Dog and Sir Humphrey Hound. Facing the scones and banana/choc chip bread, My Beloved is speechless and managed to snivel only the following:

I want one. I want it NOW! And it's not fair, because I haven't had my dinner so I can't have my dessert!

There will be pix and recipes available during the month of MoFo...so check back frequently.

I am so excited I can barely speak - let alone type!

Stay Vegan, Friends!