You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'chocolate' tag.
Happy World Vegan Day! It is also time to reveal the most recent Daring Bakers’ challenge: Macarons. Well, truth be told, it was actually time to reveal the Daring Bakers challenge last Wednesday. Better late than never I say. There was no way I was going to miss out on trying my hand at making vegan macarons, and what better way to celebrate World Vegan Day, the kick off to World Vegan Month.
The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.
Macarons were made famous in France, although they may have originally been brought there from Italy. According to Serious Eats, ‘the English word macaroon is derived from the French macaron, which in turn comes from the Italian maccherone, or “fine dough.”‘ These delicate cookies are traditionally made with almond flour (finely ground almonds), confectioners’ sugar, and egg whites. To veganise them, I would have to replace five egg whites. After following the early feedback of my fellow vegan Daring Bakers, I decided to use Ener-G egg replacer to do this. For those unfamiliar with this product, Ener-G is basically a mix of starches and chemical leavening to which water is added – it is particularly well suited to cookies.
I have to say, I was a bit trepidatious upon embarking on this culinary adventure. Whenever the replacement of a mountain of egg whites is in order, things can get dicey fast. I was, however, pleasantly surprised with the results. I achieved a delicate thin crust and a deliciously chewy centre. I had some difficulty piping the dough initially – mine was far too stiff to yield the desired shape. I somewhat rectified this by adding four teaspoons of water to thin the dough a bit. Still, the visual result is not the perfectly smooth dome you might have seen in the pages of Gourmet or the window of a Parisian patisserie – or indeed, the heights of biscuit beauty achieved by many of my fellow Daring Bakers. Nonetheless, I was fairly pleased, considering.
I flavoured the dough with vanilla bean and cocoa and whipped up a batch of the delightful Chocolate Mousse from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, to use as my filling. If you would like vanilla macarons, omit the cocoa. I thought Matcha green tea powder would make a great alternative addition.
This is my veganised version of Fleming’s original recipe.
Vegan Macarons
- 2 ¼ cups Confectioners’ sugar
- 2 cups Almond flour
- 2 Tbsp Granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp + 1 tsp tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer
- 6 Tbsp water + 1 tsp
- 1 Tbsp Cocoa powder (omit for vanilla macarons or try Matcha powder instead)
- 1 Vanilla bean (seeds only)
- Filling of your choice, prepared.
1. Preheat the oven to 200F. Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl.
2. Beat the Ener-G and water with an electric mixer (or stand mixer) until it holds soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the Ener-G mixture and stir gently to combine. Add vanilla bean seeds, and Cocoa (or Matcha) if using. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Don’t overmix.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip or a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off. It’s easy to fill your bag if you stand it up in a glass and fold the tops of the bag down over the edges before filling with batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized mounds of batter onto parchment lined baking sheets.
6. Bake the macaron for 5 minutes at 200F. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375F. Once the oven has reached this temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or until lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling. I think any soft filling would work nicely – the cookies are delicate so you don’t want to be pressing them together too roughly. I chose to use the Chocolate Mousse recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for my filling. You could also try your favourite ganache recipe.
Enjoy.
Let there be vegan macarons a plenty.
It’s Vegan MoFo III, the Vegan Month of Food, Day 30.
Will you look at the crumb of that cookie?
Chocolate chip cookies are a very personal thing I find. Some like them crispy, others like them soft. Some like them huge, others prefer them to be more dainty. Some like them loaded up with chocolate, others prefer restraint in that area. You get the picture. Truth be told, I’ve never met a cookie I didn’t like. I’m a cookie monster and I’m not afraid to admit it.
What is it about chocolate-chip cookies that brings out the perfectionist in bakers? I’ll admit, I’ve made my fair share of them in an attempt to attain that elusive perfect cookie. I’ve never been completely satisfied with what I’ve made so far. There was always something not quite perfect – the texture, the sweetness, the crumb.
So when I whipped up these delicious cookie specimens from Hello Veggie blog a while back, I knew I was close – oh so close. In fact, those cookies are amazing, and it was quite by accident that I altered the recipe.
I was low on all-purpose flour and so I lessened that and increased the whole wheat pastry flour component. I also used golden sugar in place of dark brown, and reduced the amount. I did not have almond butter on hand (as with my previous attempt) but I did have almonds, so I processed a cup in the food processor until they stuck together when pressed. The almond definitely did not turn into butter but rather a very fine, moist powder. As I discovered later (when I re-made the cookies using almond butter) this makes a significant difference to the crumb of the finished cookie. It adds a lightness that I love and a truly perfect crumb.
This cookie is heavenly.
While the almond paste appears to be the magic ingredient in achieving the awesome texture of this cookie, it does not impart an almond taste – so, to keep the flavour neutral I ran with that idea and made another change: I omitted the almond extract that the original recipe calls for. I chose unsweetened almond milk as my non-dairy milk of choice.
Best Chocolate-Chip Cookies
(recipe adapted from Hello Veggie)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, unbleached organic
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, unbleached organic
- 1 cup almonds (whole raw, with skin on)
- 1/4 cup non-dairy margarine
- 3 Tbsp almond milk , unsweetened (or soy or oat milk)
- 1/2 cup golden sugar, packed
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375ºF
Add almonds to food processor and process to a very fine grind – stop just short of allowing the almonds to turn into butter. You should get a very fine paste that sticks together when pressed but that will still crumble apart if disturbed. It might take upwards of 5-10 minutes depending on your processor. Be sure to stop the processor occasionally to stir the paste up from the bottom and get the drier top bits down there.
In a medium bowl, cream together almond paste, almond milk, vanilla, and non-dairy margarine until smooth.
In a larger bowl, add both flours, baking powder and salt. Whisk lightly to ensure dry ingredients are combined – do not over beat.
Add wet ingredients to dry and stir to combine. Once dough is combined, fold in chocolate chips.
Spoon dough onto ungreased baking sheets. I used a modest-sized ice-cream scoop to measure the dough (I got 22 cookies one time and 24 the next).
Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies should just slightly turn golden at some edges or rough corners that might be poking up, otherwise they should stay fairly white. Do not over bake.
Allow cookies to remain on baking sheet for 3-4 minutes before removing to cooling rack to cool completely.
Makes 22 to 24 cookies depending on how big you make them.
Try not to eat them all in one go. It’s not easy.
Click here to be transported to a whole list of Vegan MoFoers.
It is Vegan MoFo III, the Vegan Month of Food, day 29.
My husband was looking for something sweet and went about going through all the cookbooks in the kitchen, in search of something with the right stuff. Let it be chocolate. He picked up Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s The Joy of Vegan Baking, and soon settled on the Hearty Spiced Cocoa Muffins. I’d never made them before and was all for trying something new.
When I think of muffins I think of something hearty, substantial, something with a little weight – these are light as air. Super light. I’d call them cupcakes. They’ve been infused with a hint of cloves and cinnamon, just enough to compliment the chocolate nicely. They’re like Mexican hot chocolate in cupcake form.
We whipped up some dairy-free cream and made our own spicy hostess cupcakes.
And they taste as good as they look.
Click here to be transported to a whole list of Vegan MoFoers.
It is Vegan MoFo III, the Vegan Month of Food. Day 26.
Chocolate muffins for breakfast? I’m in.
Jae posted the recipe for these scrumptious chocolaty things recently on the front page of her blog, Domestic Affair. Made with yummy spelt flour, they’re super good.
Click here to be transported to a whole list of Vegan MoFoers.
It’s Vegan MoFo II folks, the third annual Vegan Month of Food.
Let’s bring it back to dessert today, shall we. It wasn’t so long ago that I made my own phyllo pastry from scratch, for the Daring Bakers Strudel challenge. It was somewhat time consuming but, ultimately, it was a lot easier than it looked. Traditional phyllo pastry also happens to be naturally vegan – no eggs, dairy or any other animal fats, go figure. If you’d like to learn how to make your own phyllo, take a look at my Daring Bakers post – otherwise do what I do most of the time and use store bought phyllo.
You’ll find store-bought phyllo pastry in the freezer section of your grocery. I’ve never seen one yet that wasn’t naturally vegan but double check the ingredient list of yours to be safe. This is what is contained in the ingredient list of my phyllo package: enriched wheat flour, water, corn starch, canola oil, dextrose (a type of sugar derived from wheat or corn), salt, wheat gluten, inactive yeast.
The phyllo is stored in your freezer at home until you’re ready to use it. When you want to use your phyllo, you will need to let it thaw out – mine says either on the counter for five hours or overnight in the fridge. Follow the directions on the package. Ditto for baking times – everything will be explained clearly on the box.
My husband came up with dessert idea. He made an out of this world delicious savoury version first (I’m working on him to write down the recipe) and then came up with this sweet dessert version – and dessert doesn’t get much simpler than this.
Simple Chocolate Phyllo:
- 1 package phyllo dough
- good quality dairy-free chocolate chips or bar chocolate, finely chopped (amount variable, up to 2 cups)
- banana, finely sliced (optional, 1 or 2, to taste – adds delicious creaminess)
- canola oil (or other light-flavoured oil like vegetable or sunflower)
- cinnamon and/or nutmeg (optional, to taste)
- confectioners’ sugar
Thaw phyllo pastry as directed on package – also preheat oven according to package directions.
Lay two or three sheets of phyllo over top of one another on a large, lightly greased baking sheet (depending on how much dough you like). Brush a small amount of oil over your pastry. Sprinkle chocolate liberally over pastry – this part is not rocket science, just use as much or as little as you’d like – the amount will change depending on how big your phyllo sheet is. I like my chocolate density to amount to approximately 3 or 4 chips per square inch of phyllo. The more chocolate you use the more rich and decadent the dessert will be. Distribute banana slices if using. Sprinkle with spices if using.
Carefully roll up your phyllo until everything is contained in one neat cylinder. Rest the roll on its seam – you can either tuck the ends underneath or leave them open. Brush the exterior of the phyllo roll with a small amount of oil.
Slide baking sheet into preheated oven and bake according to package directions, usually about 8-10 minutes – it doesn’t take long at all. In fact, be careful not to let it burn.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar – not completely necessary but confectioners’ sugar always makes everything instantly gorgeous. The added sweetness is a nice addition to the tangier Berry Variation below. Slice as desired.
You could also make smaller individual serving rolls and then you don’t need to slice it.
That’s it. Told you it was simple. You now have a dessert that will have everyone thinking you spent all day working on it.
Berry Phyllo:
Skip the chocolate and use fresh or frozen fruit instead. This dessert works particularly great with blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Sprinkle some cinnamon or cardamom on top of the fruit and enjoy the tastiness.
Behold, a slice of blueberry heaven:
Enjoy!
Click here to be transported to a whole list of Vegan MoFoers.
We’re into the second week of Vegan MoFo, the Vegan Month of Food!
And we’re back to sweets. I love doughnuts. What can I say: I’m Canadian. But making the traditional fried sort of doughnut is time consuming, messy, and not exactly figure friendly. These doughnuts are baked – you will need a doughnut pan.
If you’re going to indulge in doughnuts, these sweeties are the way to go. The lovely Happy Herbivore has devised a recipe that is both vegan and fat free. There is even added fibre in the form of whole wheat pastry flour.
These doughnuts are chocolaty, with just the right amount of sweetness. I have a strong personal belief that there can never be enough chocolate so I strongly recommend adding the optional chocolate chips. Further along that line of thinking – I finished these babies off with chocolate icing and sprinkles. If I’d had chocolate sprinkles I would have used that – but the multi-coloured sprinkles are cute, n’est ce pas?
I winged the chocolate icing by throwing together about a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar (sifted), 1/4 cup cocoa powder (sifted) and 1 Tbsp of almond milk.
Try not to eat them all. Sharing is good.
It is Day 2 of Vegan MoFo III!
First things first – I have edited yesterday’s post on Sweet Potato Date Muffins to include a link to a similar recipe (though not quite the same as the test recipe) that Jae has posted on her own blog, Domestic Affair – in case you’re mad for some sweet potato in your muffins – and you should be, because it’s damn good. I haven’t tried that particular version but, based on Jae’s formidable baking and cooking prowess, it’s a safe bet that it’s awesome.
Today I bring you another test recipe from Jae: Constellation Cookies. Each cookie is a like your own personal starry night that you then eat. And they’re delicious, those chocolaty night skies peppered with amaranth stars. I can’t share the recipe for this one as it’s from Jae’s upcoming book, Ripe From Around Here.
More Vegan MoFo III posts coming – and fear not, some will point you to recipes - starting with tomorrow’s. Promise.
Be sure to check the interwebs for more fabulous Vegan MoFo III fare.
I was rather gleeful to see this month’s Daring Bakers challenge revealed: Dobos, the famed Hungarian cake. I enjoyed many a slice of it back in the day. And I’ve been wanting to make such a cake for a long, long time. I even skinned some hazelnuts, despite swearing off such activities sometime last summer.
I used Bryanna’s genoise recipe for the cake, the caramel from the original recipe (see our hosts’ posts below), and a new chocolate butter-less-cream that I’ve been tinkering with (more to come on that later).
As a child, I always did love the caramel bit best.
The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ 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.
Check out what the other immensely talented bakers are making at the Daring Kitchen.
This month’s Daring Baker challenge is all about cookies.
The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network. That said, I would be going a different, vegan-friendly route. I chose Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s delicious looking recipe for vegan milanos, which I highly recommend. See that stack of milanos in the photo? They are but a distant memory – not a crumb remains.
I’ve said it before (and I’ll say it again) – I am an unabashed cookie monster. Cookies make me happy. Milan cookies, or milanos, are an old favourite. Two delicate vanilla cookies sandwiched together with chocolate ganache. Simple. Perfection.
For the challenge, we were allowed to make one or both cookies. I fully intended to make both. I looked at this challenge as an opportunity to conquer the vegan marshmallow monster. I had a recipe to try. I tried it. It wasn’t quite marshmallowy. I shall persevere. Today it’s all about the milanos.
Sometimes the simplest things are the best things.
I’ll take a raincheck on those mallows.
Guess what? It’s Daring Bakers time – and when this month’s challenge was revealed to be cheesecake I was thrilled. Why? Until now, I had not been afforded the opportunity to make cheesecake since going vegan and, I must say, I’ve been quite anxious to try my hand at making one for some time.
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.
Truth be told, even when I was free to eat them, I was never a huge cheesecake fan. Too rich. Too heavy. No, not for me. Well, let me tell you something – these vegan versions have turned me. Light textured, smooth as silk, decadently delicious, delightfully toothsome, these babies knocked my socks right off.
I am now, most definitely, a fan. And guess what? No dairy, no egg, no cholesterol, low-fat – plus all that protein from the tofu practically makes this dessert nutritious. Yeah, I know – whatever, pass me another slice.
In order to choose the appropriate vegan recipe, and since I’m a vegan cheesecake novice, I looked to someone who knows exactly what they’re doing – finally settling on Sarah Kramer’s basic recipe for Apricot Tofu Cheesecake from La Dolce Vegan, which you can conveniently find in its entirety here.
I really wanted to make up for lost cheesecake time and thus planned to make as many flavours as possible in the allotted time. Using Sarah’s basic recipe as my base, I added several elements for a total of three different cheesecakes: Lemon with Candied Figs, Black Cherry Syrup & Blackberry, Key Lime with Candied Key Limes, Clementine Syrup & Pistachio, and Chocolate Peanut-Butter with Rich Chocolate Ganache.
First I prepared the basic recipe, including everything but the lemon juice and lemon zest. I then divided the filling into four separate bowls. I added lemon and lemon zest to one bowl, as per the original recipe – I just quartered the required amount. I added key lime juice and zest to the second bowl. To the third bowl, I added 3 tbsp of all-natural peanut-butter (just peanuts). The fourth bowl received 3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted.
The lemon and key lime cheesecakes were made in tiny 4-inch springform pans. I followed the original recipe for the crust – adding a layer of coconut to the crust of the key lime cheesecake. The chocolate and peanut-butter bowls were layered in one 9-inch springform. I added crushed dark chocolate (vegan) digestives to the crust.
Then it was time for candy – candied key limes and candied figs to be exact. After using it with great success when making candied clementines and bundt cake, I revisited this method from VeganYumYum blog for candying the fruit.
Candied key limes were then added to the key lime cheesecake along with clementine syrup and crushed pistachios. Stewed black cherries were combined with the candied figs before adding as a garnish to the lemon cheesecake along with the blackberries.
The peanut-butter chocolate cheesecake received a simple layer of rich, decadent chocolate ganache. To make the ganache, I used 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/4 cup of soy creamer, 2 tbsp maple syrup. Heat soy creamer on the stove, remove from heat, stir in chocolate chips and maple syrup, allow to cool.
Based on this experience I’d say without hesitation that Sarah’s recipe is excellent, both on its own and as a base for other flavours. Beautiful texture. Luxurious. Delicious. This is company’s coming quality stuff.
Be sure to see what the other Daring Bakers are up to at the Daring Kitchen.
