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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.
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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.
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It is Vegan MoFo III, the Vegan Month of Food. Day 27.
This is Apple Pie Coffee Cake from VeganYumYum blog, where you will find this delicious and simple recipe, and many more.
I thought this idea was genius, personally. You take a simple coffee cake and make it awesome by adding canned apple pie filling. Pick up an organic one and you’re sorted. You could make your own filling, of course – but this is the sort of recipe you turn to when time is of the essence. It whips together in a flash and it tastes amazing. The cake has a beautiful soft texture, with just the right amount of sweetness.
I recently found myself in need of a dessert to bring to a dinner on short notice and this was just the ticket. It was a smash success.
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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.
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It is Vegan MoFo III, the Vegan Month of Food, day 25.
I picked up a fair few pumpkins at the Farmers’ Market this month. I pureed them. And I have begun to bake with the resultant sweet pumpkin gold.
I was leafing through Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s excellent The Joy of Vegan Baking recently and came across several recipes making use of pumpkin, one of which was this Baked Pumpkin Pudding. I felt compelled to make it. Must use that pumpkin puree after all.
This baked pudding is like pumpkin pie in a little cup. Mmmm, spicy. Fragrant. Comforting. It’s simple, quick, and entirely delicious. And the perfect use of any pumpkin puree you might have on hand.
If you don’t have a copy of The Joy of Vegan Baking, why not use your favourite pumpkin pie recipe? Divide the pie filling into single serving ramekins and omit the crust. Easy. And if you don’t have a pumpkin pie recipe, this recipe looks promising.
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It is Vegan MoFo III, the Vegan Month of Food. Day 24.
This is Pumpkin Bread from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s The Joy of Vegan Baking.
Colleen has infused this bread with all the spices you’d expect to find in a pumpkin pie. The result is a spicy, mildly sweet, very pumpkin-y, super moist cake. Very, very moist. Think banana bread, except with pumpkin. My mum, who loves all things pumpkin, could not get enough this cake. We enjoyed it with coffee, and then again the next day for breakfast. Hearty.
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It’s Vegan Mofo III, the Vegan Month of Food, Day 23.
You are looking at Maple Layer Cake from Jae Steele’s upcoming second book, Ripe From Around Here (due out in Spring).
This is one beautiful cake. And delicious. Rich. Decadent. It’s sweet and spicy. It fits the bill for any special occasion. It’s pretty. It’s also sweetened with maple syrup. Did I mention it’s delicious? And the icing is drop dead gorgeous. Ethereally beautiful, in fact. Pearlescent. Opaline. And yes, it’s delicious. In fact, it’s my favourite icing yet.
After testing a fair few of the recipes for RFAH, I think I can safely assume that you’re all going to love Jae’s new book. I feel so enthusiastic about it that I am going to give away a copy when it comes out, and spread the love. I’ll keep you posted about that.
In the mean time, behold the photos.
That’s Batzy. Busted.
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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!
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It’s still Vegan MoFo III, the third annual Vegan Month of Food.
There are invariably times when you need to whip some baked goods up in a jiff but you’re either short on time, ingredients, or both. Perhaps an unexpected guest is on their way over and you need something to serve with tea, not wanting to rely on conversation alone. Or maybe you ran out of cereal and are looking for breakfast.
My mum had a box of organic corn muffin mix in her pantry. She had a hankering for some muffins but had no eggs on hand. ‘No worries,’ said I as I read over the short list of organic ingredients on the back, ‘I can replace that egg no problem.’
And it got me thinking – wouldn’t it be nice to have an easy baking mix on hand that you could throw together in a few minutes and toss in the oven while you’re putting your mascara on? Being vegan needn’t mean we must give up such conveniences.
Veganizing store-bought baking mix is easy.
Sure, homemade is always better and most ready-made baking mixes out there are filled with crap. No one wants to consume chemicals, artificial colours or flavours. But sometimes we like to avail of convenience, and guess what? There are many decent organic baking mixes out there with nice, short lists of quality ingredients and no chemicals in sight.
Take this corn muffin mix, for example, with its short list of ingredients: organic wheat flour, organic brown sugar, organic degermed yellow cornmeal, organic degermed yellow cornflour, salt, baking soda, cream of tartar.
If you’re vegan, you’re already an expert in reading labels.
All you need to do here is read the label of the baking mix you’re interested in making, be it cake, muffins, cookies, what have you, ensure that there are no offending ingredients (milk products, egg bits, gelatin, etc), and look at the instructions to see what you are required to add to the mix – usually liquids. Such mixes almost always ask for water and oil to be added, and may also request milk or eggs. Milk is easily dealt with – if needed, substitute your preferred non-dairy milk, i.e. rice, almond, oat, or soy. If you need to replace and egg, use an egg replacer.
To replace eggs, you can use something like Ener-G or Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer, but my personal favourite egg replacement for most baked goods is the flax egg: 1 Tbsp flax meal (ground flax) whisked with 3 Tbsp water and allowed to gel for 5-10 minutes. Since one function of eggs in baking is to add leavening, I also find it general good practice to up the leavening by 1/4 tsp for each egg replaced – baking soda in this case. Why baking soda and not baking powder, or yeast for that matter? I looked at the ingredients on the box, saw that baking soda was already on the list, and merely increased what was already a part of the recipe.
In my organic corn muffin example, the instructions specified that one should add water, vegetable oil, and one egg to the mix. I added the water and oil as directed. I added my flax and water mix to replace the egg. And I added 1/4 tsp of baking soda.
Easy peasy. I had already mixed up the batter before the oven was even fully warmed up.
So next time you’re shopping for groceries, check out the baking section and see if there aren’t some tasty-looking organic baking mixes to stock your pantry with – for social emergencies.
