Apologies and Green Tea Cupcakes

I am ashamed... These past five months have been insanely busy, as I applied to college and finished up the first half of my senior year in high school (last chance!), but it's a lousy excuse of my total lack of updates. I've been doing plenty of cooking and baking, even in all the academic chaos, and I'm ready to make it up with plenty of new posts and recipes!

I take Japanese for my language class at school. Valentine's Day is a popular holiday in Japan, and they celebrate it slightly differently than Americans typically do; it's not so much a holiday for couples, but a day when girls express their feelings to a guy they choose, by giving them dark chocolate (guys return the feelings--or not--a month later, on White Day with white chocolate). We follow the tradition in Japanese class, although in reality everyone partakes in the fun. I made green tea cupcakes, with a green tea-almond glaze and little marzipan hearts! Marzipan is incredibly easy to make, and fun to boot! My hearts may leave something to be desired, but that's what freehand gets you.

Plain Ol' Chocolate Cupcake...

Sorry I haven't posted in so long! Getting back into the groove of school is pretty hectic, especially it being my Senior year and all. I have been cooking and baking, and I'l be sure to fill you all in as soon as I can!

Not much to say right now, all I have is a revelation to share. A cupcake revelation. 

I have been a hardcore hold-out for traditional cupcake wrappers -- none of this Italian ice cup stuff going on here. But when some of these wrappers fell in front of my face, I sucked it up and gave them a try. 

What can I say? I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Yes, as I predicted, these babies are a pain to open (if things get desperate, you could always squish them out like an icee...), but they have redeeming qualities I had not foreseen! Because these wrappers, unlike usual ones, hold their shape, the cupcakes are given far more support when rising, making lovely high-domed cakes. I bake mostly for friends, so portability is important to me; these actually stayed in place better than the usual! 

Most importantly, aesthetics. I never wanted to use this style of wrapper because, as my sister put it, they look creepily like medical cups. But look how much cuter they get with cupcakes inside of them! Done.

Credit to my good friend C (with the awesome camera) for this picture!

Dobos Torta

I don't have much time to post so early in the morning! In the meantime...

The August 2009 Daring Baker's challenge was hosted by Angela of a Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. 

I made a quadruple chocolate dobos; the buttercreams are white chocolate, milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate and dark chocolate. The outside is covered in a dark chocolate buttercream with chocolate shavings. 

Eskimix Review

My very first food review! Since I cook for myself a lot, this blog won't be too heavy on these, but I'll definitely note some of my vegan favorites across the city. Now, without further ado...

The newest food fad in New York has got to be frozen yogurt -- a Pinkberry or a Red Mango seems to spring up every week. These are times that try vegan's souls. 

Enter Eskimix. The dairy-free option is so incredibly creamy, my (very non-vegan) sister actually prefers to have it over the three other diary options. And unlike some crummy sprinkling of diced fruit that most fro-yo places offer, Eskimix's frozen yogurt blender makes yogurt with raspberries into raspberry-flavored yogurt. (Speaking of which, I recommend raspberry.)

Mango-pineapple and raspberry-peach, both dairy-free.

The store itself is small, but clean and has a very cute, igloo-themed interior. The staff is young but perfectly nice and quick to serve. The prices are certainly not cheap, but very reasonable in comparison to other fro-yo shops or Jamba Juice -- about $4.50 for a small or $5.25 for a medium. 

Overall, I highly recommend Eskimix. It's certainly one of the best options for a cool, vegan summer treat in Manhattan. 

Eskimix is at 318 Bleecker Street, between Christopher & Grove Streets (near 7th Avenue).

Recipe-less Spicy Noodles, Chickpea Curry and Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Yes, sometimes I use actual cookbooks, not just recipes from online. In fact, I own a horrendous number of them. So, in this post, all I will offer you is food porn! Who doesn't like that?

Burmese Noodles with Chili Sauce from The Asian Vegan Kitchen

A word of warning: So... Spicy... But also delicious!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins from The Candle Cafe Cookbook

Best muffins I have ever had, ever. Period. 

Chana Masala from The Asian Vegan Kitchen

Featured in my Indian Feast post. 

Sloppy Joes

No, this is not a pretty picture. What it is is a delicious recipe for the great American classic -- the sloppy joe. This recipe is from one of my favorite blogs, so it's obviously delicious. Also, wonderfully messy!

Sloppy Joes

Adapted from Closet Cooking

Makes 4 or more servings

Ingredients:

2 cups dry textured vegetable protein

2 cup water

1 cup onion

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup ketchup

2 cups tomato sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon mustard

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 (30 ounce) can red beans

hamburger buns

Directions:

Heat the water on the stove or in the microwave, until lightly boiling. Mix together the TVP and hot water in a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. (I prefer more beans, so I add less TVP. If beans are not your thing, add about 1/2 cup more of TVP.)

Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for a minute or until fragrant. 

Turn the heat down to low. Add the TVP, beans, tomato sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard, sugar, chili powder and cumin. Bring the sloppy joe mixture to a simmer and cook until you're ready to eat, stirring occasionally. 

Serve on buns!

Chocolate Madeleines

I can't remember if it was a vegan food blog or not, but I do remember reading about one woman's quest for the perfect madeleine. A quest that made me hungry. So when I was flipping through my never-used copy of Great Chefs Cook Vegan and saw this recipe with a madeleine serving suggestion, I got to it! 

I also made some mini muffins, but the madeleines were by far superior (and cuter). From what I've seen in the vegan food blogging community, Great Chefs Cook Vegan isn't the most popular cookbook. Which I guess is to be expected; these madeleines, like all the recipes in Great Chefs, are but one component in an elaborate dish, of which I am not yet baker enough to make. (I would definitely recommend the book anyway, especially if you're a chef -- vegan or not -- looking for a challenge.)

Regardless, these madeleines are delicious and have a great, complex flavor that would go really well with tea or coffee. 

Chocolate Olive Oil Madeleines 

Slightly adapted from Great Chefs Cook Vegan (Chefs Charlie Trotter & Matthias Merges)

Makes a huge pile

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup sucanat 

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 cup brewed coffee

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. 

In another bowl, whisk together the coffee, vinegar, vanilla and olive oil. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry one and whisk together until smooth. 

Lightly oil a madeleine pan. Fill each mold with 1 scant teaspoon of batter. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the center of a madeleine springs back when touched (I suggest checking at 8).

Allow the cakes too cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove and cool the rest of the way on a cooling rack. 

Repeat for forever! (Or until the batter is used up.)