Happy Birthday Gaither!

I love baking/decorating cakes, probably more than I enjoy eating them. My friend Gaither was back from college so we decided to have a mini celebration. She's just as into delicious and interesting food as I am, so I wanted to create a spectacular and interesting cake.





I used the Banana Split cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for the bottom layer of the cake. If you have that book (and if you don't, you're life is incomplete) this recipe is absolutely amazing, definitely one of my favorites. It's bursting with banana flavor but it's so moist and light, and swirled with chocolate pieces and raspberry jam.
The bottom layer is the Chocolate Raspberry Blackout cake from Vegan With a Vengeance (another absolutely essential book). This is another incredibly moist cake that has such a dark chocolately flavor, none of that cloying sweetness business going on here. The raspberry flavor is definitely there but it's not overpowering.





The cake is covered with chocolate ganache, made from Lindt 70% cocoa bars. It's very important to use decent chocolate if you can find it. My favorite chocolate to use is Scharffenberger Chocolate, which is pretty pricey but worth it. Also, make sure you use fresh chocolate because it does dry out after a while. A good way to tell is that when you break it, it makes a snapping sound.





The Filling is a caramel buttercream recipe that I created and is included below. It has a nice caramel flavor and a great fluffy velvety texture. This recipe would be great with a coconut, chocolate, banana etc. cake


Caramel Buttercream

1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/3 c. soymilk or soy creamer
1/4 c. Earth Balance

1/4 c. Earth Balance, softened
1/4 c. Vegetable Shortening (look for non-hydrogenated, like the Earth Balance brand), softened
1 1/2 - 2 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
splash of soymilk

For the Caramel: Put the brown sugar, 1/3 c. soymilk and 1/4 c. Earth Balance into a heavy small/medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. Stir while the Earth Balance melts and the brown sugar dissolves, bring the mixture to a low boil. Let the mixture boil for a few minutes, reducing the heat if necessary. Once the mixture is slightly thickened, remove from heat and let it cool in the fridge completely (I let mine cool over night).

For the Buttercream: Put 1/4 c. Earth Balance and 1/4 c. shortening into a large mixing bowling. Whip them until fluffy and add the cooled caramel, making sure to thoroughly mix them together. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 c. at a time, thoroughly blending after each addition. Add the vanilla and enough soymilk (probably just a T or 2) so that the frosting is light and fluffy (if it's really thick and hard to spread, add about a T. of soymilk).

Raw Madeleines aka Larabaresque Hunks

These don't taste like madeleines, but they are delicious and taste just like a larabar. I was originally going to call them "raw energy bites" but because of the way I shaped them, they reminded me of a madeleines (minus the ridges). I like eating little snacks throughout the day rather than big meals. A snack around 2-3ish is important to me because it gives me an energy boost for working out and helps curb my hunger, which is the most intense in the early afternoon. I've been trying to eat raw breakfasts, snacks and lunches (I'll post pictures of a week of the food I eat sometime soon) in an attempt to give me more energy during these last heinous weeks of cold grossness and just to be healthier. These do have a substantial amount of fat but it's essential to eat natural plant fats, especially unrefined fats like nuts, seeds and avocados. Also, if you're trying to lose weight and you completely cut out fat or eat extremely small amounts of it, you body will hold on to the fat it has more so than if you eat some fat. Obviously don't eat an entire freakin jar of peanut butter, but a couple handfuls (not fistful, strive for palm...ideally around 10-15 nuts) of nuts a day or tablespoons of nut butter (if you can find a raw nut butter, go for it, especially almond or cashew....and fyi, raw peanut butter is supposed to be gross).

This particular recipe is modeled off the cinnamon roll larabar except using walnuts because it's really hard to find truly raw almonds. It only uses three ingredients and requires no cooking, so it's fast and simple.







Raw Madeleines

1 C. Raw Walnuts
1 C. Dates
1/2 t. Cinnamon

Throw all of the ingredients into a food processor and process until sticky enough to hold together. Pack a scoop of the mixture into a tablespoon firmly enough so that it becomes a solid mass. Turn your tablespoon over and wedge a knife in between the spoon and the madeleine to free it from it's measuring prison. If you have a madeleine pan, you should definitely use it. Stick them in the refrigerator to firm up and enjoy. These are a bit crumbly, so don't become to lugubrious if they do.





This recipe is really simple and you can create endless variations. Some variation ideas:

• Add 1/4 C. of dried cherries and just use 3/4 C. of dates (i.e. Cherry Pie Larabar) or any other dried fruit (I think it would be really good with dried bluberries)
  
• Use cashews, pistachios, macadamia nuts, almonds etc. instead of walnuts
• Add some grated or dried lemon zest
• Add 1/4 C. of dried coconut
• Add 1/2 t. of powdered ginger
• If you can find raw cocoa powder, definitely add it
• Raw cocoa powder plus dried of fresh mint
• Raw cocoa powder plus dried coconut
• Raw cocoa powder plus orange zest
  
• Use dried blueberries and add some lemon zest
• Dried cherries plus lime zest
• Dried apples plus apple pie spice
• there are so many options....
  

Thai Chili Slaw Salad

Salads are amazing and as long as you don't smother your salad with fatty dressing or nasty meats and cheeses, they're probably the healthiest meal option you can choose. I've recently done a lot of reading about the power of raw foods and I have been trying to incorporate them into every meal. Raw fruit is easy but sometimes raw vegetables are just kind of blah. In this salad, raw broccoli, cabbage, carrots, spinach, and bell pepper are jazzed up with a creamy, spicy, chile dressing. Even though the dressing isn't raw, it's packed with protein from silken tofu and tahini. This salad makes a great quick side dish or entree for any meal.




Thai Chili Slaw
1 9oz. bag of baby spinach, chopped or torn into little pieces
2 16oz bags of broccoli slaw
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

Chile Dressing
1/2 package silken tofu (firm or soft)
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 to 2 T tahini
1 to 2 T braggs or tamari
1 clove garlic
1/2 T ginger root
2 T water
a few drops siracha
1 T Red Curry Paste (make sure you check the ingredients because most brands have fish sauce or something equally gross. Below is a picture of Thai Kitchen Curry Paste which is completely vegan!)

Assemble all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl (make sure you slice the pepper and the spinach) and toss together.




Throw all of the dressing ingredients into a food processor or blender and process til smooth and creamy. Adjust the amount of water until you get a nice creamy but not puddingy texture.
Pour the dressing over your slaw and mix together. You can wait to dress until right before you serve the salad or you can let the flavors marinate in the fridge. The slaw is pretty sturdy, so it shouldn't wilt. Enjoy!

Amazing New Blog

Anthony Bourdain hates vegans and most of us just find him to be a pompous ass. Wow Anthony Bourdain, you're such a badass, you cook fancy pantsy food for a living and host a show on the travel channel. If that doesn't say "rebel", I don't know what does. But seriously, here's his infamous comment on veganism:

"Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, and an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food (Kitchen Confidential p.70)."

I believe that says it all....well, basically it's saying he's a narrow minded sadist, but maybe that's just my opinion.
Anyways, the point of this post is to bring your attention to the best new vegan blog, Hezbollah Tofu (http://hezbollahtofu.blogspot.com/). It's mission is to veganize Anthony Bourdain's recipes and show him that vegans aren't a bunch of starving twig eaters. You should definitely submit a veganized recipe...I'm going to get one of his cookbooks from the library and veganize some freakin recipes.....I might also draw a Hitler mustache on his picture...

Geisha Painting and Magazine Cover

Here Is a painting I finished in January which I'm going to enter into a show, either the Badger Conference Art Show or the Congressional Art Show. I like it, but being a perfectionist, I notice all of the little mistakes first.

And below is the cover of the literary magazine I made...I just made the graphic and had nothing to do with the font.

Healthy Banana Muffin Cookies with Raw Icing

Like the majority of the population, I love baked goods. Being a fairly healthy person, I shy away from those full of refined sugars, flours and lots of fat. I also usually just cook for myself, so making a recipe that yields dozens usually means I probably eat more than I should or things go bad. When I'm craving some type of baked treat, I just throw a bunch of ingredients into a cereal bowl and pop whatever I've created into the oven. Today I made some banana "cookies" but they definitely have a muffiny texture. Since I never measure ingredients, I'll estimate and feel free to tweak and add whatever you want. These pack a nice banana flavor and have a nice moist, spongy texture. They're fat-free if you don't add any nuts or icing (but you should because nuts are bursting with nutritional amazingness) and only use a tad bit of extra sweetner!

Banana Muffin Cookies
1/2 one large banana or one small banana mushed
2 t Maple Syrup (pure!!! no HFCS)
1/2 t Vanilla Extract
3/4 to 1 C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 t Baking Powder
1/2 t Baking Soda
1/2 t Cinnamon
3 Dates, chopped
1/8 C Walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Mush the banana in a good sized cereal bowl ( probably about 3-4 cups in size), it's okay to leave some small lumps because it gives the cookies some nice texture. Mix in the vanilla and maple syrup. Sift in flour, BP, BS, and cinnamon. If the batter is too dry, add some "milk" or water and if it's to liquidy, add some more flour (the batter is very sticky, think "thick muffin batter"). Try not to over stir because this will make the cookies tough instead of tender and soft. Fold in the dates and walnuts.
Scoop hunks of batter onto a greased cookie sheet (I got 3 cookies from this recipe) and flatten with a fork to about 1/2 an inch thick. Pop them into the oven for 10 min, it's fine if they're still a little mushy but you want them to brown a little on the bottom. Let cookies cool on a rack for 5 min. or, if you're like me, let them cool on a plate or in your mouth.



Raw Icing
1 1/2 T Raw Cashew Butter
1 t Raw Agave Nectar
1 t Raw Maple Syrup

Mix all of the ingredients together and slather on cookies while they're still a bit warm. They take your cookies from just plain delicious to divine.


I hope you enjoy this recipe. It would make a great breakfast or snack and you don't have to feel guilty about anything.