Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook (90 page)

Read Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook Online

Authors: Isa Chandra Moskowitz,Terry Hope Romero

Tags: #food.cookbooks

PREHEAT THE oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9 × 5-inch loaf pan. Place the cubed bread in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together ½ cup of the soy milk and the arrowroot powder until no lumps remain. Add the remaining 1½ cups soy milk, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and whisk to mix thoroughly. Pour over the cubed bread and stir to coat every piece.
Allow the mixture to sit for at least 15 minutes, for the liquid to soak into the bread. Depending on what kind of bread you use and how stale the bread is, add more soy milk (¼ cup at a time) and allow more soaking time until every piece of bread is saturated and there’s a little bit of extra liquid in the bowl. The mixture should look mushy and wet.
Fold in the chocolate chips and bananas (using your hands is the easiest for this), mashing the bananas slightly. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan, patting down to make an even top.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is puffed, slightly browned, and feels firm.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before slicing and serving.
CARAMEL-APPLE-SPICE CUPCAKES
 
MAKES 12 CUPCAKES
TIME:
ABOUT AN HOUR
 
 
This is a tender cupcake, bursting with caramelized apple chunks, with just the right amount of spice and old-fashioned, fun-to-say penuche frosting with a light caramel flavor. Have a few extra cupcake liners handy as there can be some leftover batter, or enjoy a shot of apple batter with a friend.
2 tart, firm cooking apples, such as Granny Smith or
Northern Spy
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon nonhydrogenated vegan margarine
1 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
⅓ cup canola oil
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
 
Caramel-penuche frosting:
½ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons nonhydrogenated vegan margarine
1 tablespoon molasses
⅓ cup soy creamer or soy milk
2 tablespoons plain or vanilla soy milk powder
Pinch of salt
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup chopped, roasted peanuts for sprinkling
 
 
Penuche
 
WHAT is penuche and why would anyone put it on a cupcake? Penuche is actually a really old-fashioned American fudge candy, so old school in fact there’s no chocolate or cocoa in it. Its deep, caramel flavor is achieved primarily by boiling brown sugar (along with butter and maybe a little vanilla). We skip to the chase in this recipe and use a combination of white sugar and molasses, because that’s all that brown sugar really is. The texture of the frosting does indeed have a dense, smooth homemade fudgy quality that really delivers.
 
 
PREHEAT THE oven to 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.
Leaving the skins on the apples, core and dice them into small pieces (about ¼-inch cubes), for about 1⅓ cups of diced apple.
Heat the brown sugar and margarine in a heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring, until the mixture begins to bubble. Add the apple pieces and stir to coat. Cook the apples, stirring occasionally, until almost all of the water has evaporated and the apples are lightly caramelized, about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before proceeding.
In a large bowl, whisk together the soy milk and lemon juice, and allow to sit for a minute to curdle. Add the canola oil, granulated sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla, and beat well. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg the and stir only until the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in the sautéed apples along with any remaining juices.
Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters of the way with batter, and bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
When the cupcakes are done, remove them from the oven and cool on wire racks.
While they cool, prepare the Caramel-Penuche Frosting: Combine the sugar, margarine, molasses, soy milk, powdered soy milk, and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir and bring to a boil. Allow the mixture to boil and foam for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat.
When the frosting mixture has cooled slightly and is still a little warm, stir in half the confectioners’ sugar and the vanilla, then beat with electric beaters for 2 to 3 minutes, until creamy. Slowly beat in remaining confectioners’ sugar until a thick, smooth, fudgelike frosting forms. (The frosting can be spread warm or slightly cooled, but too much cooling will make the frosting too stiff to spread. If this happens, just let it warm to room temperature.)
Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.
JELLY DONUT CUPCAKES
 
MAKES 12 CUPCAKES
TIME:
ABOUT 40 MINUTES
 
 
Here is a treat that defies all logic: it’s both a tender cupcake and sugared jelly donut at the same time. They’re cute, yummy, and deceptively easy to make, too. No need to use a pastry bag to fill the cupcake in order to create its amazing jelly donut effect; the jam bakes right into it, doing all the work for you. Add a sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar and you have yourself one heck of a cupcake moonlighting as a jelly donut.
1 cup soy or rice milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup canola oil
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
About ⅓ cup raspberry jam or preserves (you can
use strawberry or grape if you prefer)
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
 
PREHEAT THE oven to 350°F. Pour the soy milk, vinegar, and cornstarch into a measuring cup and set aside. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt. Create a well in the center of the flour to pour your wet ingredients into.
Stir the soy milk mixture with a fork to dissolve the cornstarch, then pour into the flour mixture. Add the oil, granulated sugar, and vanilla. Stir until well combined.
Fill the cupcake liners about three-quarters full with batter. Place a heaping teaspoonful of jam on the center of each cupcake. You don’t need to press down on the jam or do anything else; the baking will take care of all of that and it will sink in.
Bake for 21 to 23 minutes. You can’t really do a toothpick test here because of the jelly filling, but the cupcakes should be done by this point. The tops should be firm.
 
➣
The cheaper your jam, the more authentic your donut will taste, so skip the organic spreadable fruit stuff here and go for the bright red, ambiguously “berry”-flavored supermarket brand. The cops down at the station will thank you for it.
 
➣
The trick to these cupcakes is to leave them out in a cool place overnight, so make these a day ahead if you can, although it’s fine if you can’t wait.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely on wire racks.
Once cooled, set them someplace cool and dry, and leave uncovered. If it’s winter, leave them in your coldest room. If it’s summer, leave them somewhere air-conditioned, if possible. If it’s not possible, don’t sweat it—just don’t leave them anywhere very warm. Let them sit overnight and preferably up to 24 hours. This will make the tops dry and a little bit crispy and more donutlike.
Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar (using a sifter if you have one). Serve with coffee.
VANILLA-YOGURT POUND CAKE
 
MAKES 1 LOAF
TIME:
ABOUT 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES
 
 
Pound cake should be simple: just sweet enough, with a hint of vanilla, citrus, or other aromatic flavors. Densely textured yet moist. Lovingly delivers abundant calories directly to your thighs and waist with each meltingly tender bite. Without the usual pound of butter and eggs, in this recipe we’ve made good use of vanilla soy yogurt and silken tofu to get the job done. The flavor and texture of this cake develops as it cools, so be sure to allow the loaf to cool to room temperature before slicing. And don’t forget that pound cake loves to be adorned with fresh berries, or sliced and lightly toasted with a little dab of your favorite vegan margarine.

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