For the love of Seitan

Who doesn’t love cupcakes? At work we used to get them every time someone had a birthday. Then I went vegan, and all I could do was stare at the lovely red velvet cupcakes everyone else was eating and dream of cupcakes past.

Enough of that, I said to myself. Here’s an awesome vegan red velvet cupcake recipe with the traditional cream cheese frosting, also vegan. I just made this recipe a few moments ago and it’s delicious! And the cakes rose up and everything – no doorstops here. This recipe makes about 24 traditional sized cupcakes, with just enough frosting for all.

Ingredients:

2 cups soy milk

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2.5 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 tbsp pureed applesauce

3 – 4 tsp red food coloring

4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup earth balance “butter”, room temperature

1/2 cup Tofutti “Better than Cream Cheese”, room temperature

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups confectioner’s sugar

Method:

1. Add vinegar to soy milk, mix well and set aside to curdle.

2. Put flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Whisk together. Then sift these dry ingredients together into another bowl.

3. Add to the vinegar / soy milk mixture vegetable oil, applesauce, food coloring and vanilla extract. Whisk together.

4. Pour liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, whisk well. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or so.

5. Break up the “butter” into little pieces in a large bowl. Do the same for the Tofutti. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract, then whisk until creamy.

6. Add the confectioner’s suger slowly, 1/2 cup at a time, whisking it into the butter / Tofutti mixture. Keep adding until the 4 cups are done and the frosting is smooth and fluffy.

7. Frost cupcakes when cool.

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Last week I was on a project at work where I had to research cinnamon rolls. After viewing millions of photos of these delicious buns, I just had to make them this weekend. Also, it was my first wedding anniversary and I wanted to make my husband something special. Anyway. So I found me a good looking cinnamon roll recipe, but I had to change it to be vegan. The good news? It turned out. Fantastically. These puff up big and chewy like traditional cinnamon rolls and taste rich, decadent and simply delicious. They are not by any means low-fat or healthy. But, they are tasty and easy to make (though quite time consuming – expect the entire process from start to finish to take around 3 or 3.5 hours).

Ingredients:

1-1/2 packages (about 3-1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain soy milk (hazelnut milk would be a wonderful substitution)
4 to 5 cups sifted flour
melted Earth Balance “butter”
brown sugar
cinnamon
(optional) toasted hazelnuts, chopped finely
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
soy milk (2 to 4 tablespoons)

Method:

1.Add the warm water to the yeast and soak 10 minutes.

2. Mix the flax seed with water, whisk vigourously for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture gets thick like egg whites. Set aside.

3. Warm the soy milk; pour over the shortening. Add sugar and salt and cool to tepid. Add the dissolved yeast and flax seed mixture. Add 3-4 cups flour, one at a time, beating after each addition. Dough should be soft and elastic yet firm enough to handle. Avoid too much flour

4. Knead on floured board until elastic and smooth. Place dough into well oiled bowl. Cover with a kitchen cloth, and let rise for 1-1/2 hours.

5. Press dough down and divide in half. Roll half of the dough out into a long rectangle. Baste generously with melted “butter”. Layer a generous amount of brown sugar. Sprinkle on cinnamon as desired, and sprinkle on the hazelnuts, if you wish.

6. Make slices lengthwise, about 1″ thick or so. Roll up into a coil (in jelly roll fashion). Place rolls in an 8 or 9 inch round greased cake pan, with one slice in the middle and other slices around it. Press rolls down to even out and fill pan. Cover with a kitchen cloth, and let rise for 1 hour.

7. In a medium bowl, sift sugar, and add “butter” and vanilla. A nice alternative to vanilla would be lemon extract or almond extract! Stir in the soy milk, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is a thick, barely-able-to-stir consistency.

8. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 15 – 20 minutes, or until the tops just start to brown. Remove immediately from pan by inverting onto a plate and then tip over onto another plate to right the rolls.

9. Spread icing over warm rolls as soon as they are placed on a plate to let the frosting melt and run into the rolls.

Tags: Uncategorized by kate
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