On Birthdays and Cake

Throughout the year I post several pictures of the cakes I make for the kids' birthdays, and throughout the year many of you lament that you wish you could decorate cakes just as well.  The truth is: you can!    Decorating cakes (at least the ones I do) takes a bit of skill, but it's mainly about having a steady hand and an almost infinite amount of patience.  While I prefer designing my own cakes, more often than not I end up using a Wilton cake pan.  You can rent them from our local bulk food stores, or sign them out of the library.  These pans are really made for the home baker, so decorating them is pretty easy (and you can download .pdf instructions from the link above).  Basically, you just need the time to do hundreds of little icing stars, usually with the #16 tip.  Above is the cake that Son #1 made me for my birthday yesterday.

So, what about recipes for cake?  And icing?  Although it's not perfect (a little too dense, I think) I have had the best results using Isa's cupcake recipe (chocolate or vanilla).   I have also used this recipe, but find the end result to be rather tough and chewy.  Also, the measurements are annoying when doubling or tripling (or I just hate math).  A double to triple batch will work in the shaped pans, and 40-50 mins baking time.  Just make sure to follow the instructions re: preparing the pan.

On to the icing.  I use buttercream frosting which is made exactly the same way as its non-vegan counterpart with the exception of subbing margarine (Earth Balance) for butter.  I usually use half the liquid and make a stiffer icing that will keep its shape even in the hot days of summer.  I colour the icing with Wilton Icing Colours.  The company assures me that their "icing colors are plant based and vegan."  I like the gels because they are concentrated (a little goes a long way) and they don't thin down your icing.  Here is the Hello Kitty cake I made for Vegan Daughter's birthday.

For birthday dinner I signed The Conscious Cook out of the library and made the Summer Chopped Salad

and Pine Nut and Basil Seared "Chicken" with Lobster Mushroom Beurre Blanc, Braised Kale and Roasted Fingerling Potatoes.

I loved the salad, especially the peppery bite of the arugula with the creaminess of the avocado.  I usually don't eat a slab of veggie meat like this (you could just as easily use tofu), but the recipe looked really good.  I think I pulsed the pine nuts too much for the breading, and my sauce broke (as you can see) but overall everyone loved the dish.  The sauce together with the kale and potato was delightful.

Summer Tart

 Summer has once again blessed us with her bounty.  The backyard has yielded an abundance of raspberries, and strawberry picking is winding down after a great season.  Vegan Son #1 and I collaborated on this dessert.  He helped make the pastry cream and designed the layout of the fruit for the top of the tart.  I made the dough.  The trick with the pastry dough is to be patient and gentle when bringing it together.  Only use as much water as is necessary--too much will make for a harder final product. 

Tart Dough
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine (1 baking stick)
- 200g (1.25 cups) cake and pastry flour (or all purpose)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp vegan cream cheese
- 3 tbsp ice cold water (more if needed)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD
1. Place margarine in the freezer for 30 mins.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together flour and sugar in a medium bowl.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together cream cheese, water, and vanilla until smooth.  Place in fridge until needed.
3. Grate cold margarine into the flour and gently work with your fingers until it resembles coarse bread crumbs (it should not take too long).  Add cream cheese mixture and use a fork to bring together into a dough.  Add a few drops of water if needed.
4. Immediately roll out into a 12 inch circle on a floured surface and transfer to a 9.5 inch tart pan.  Gently press dough into the bottom of the pan and trim to allow 1/2 inch overhang.  Fold overhang back into the pan and press into the sides.  Refrigerate until firm (30 mins).
5. While dough is chilling, preheat oven to 375 degrees with rack in the bottom third of the oven.  Cover dough with foil and half fill with dried beans.
6. Bake for 20 mins, then lift up foil to see if crust is light golden and no longer wet.  Return to oven for a few mins if it is not.  When crust if light golden and dry, remove foil and beans and bake for another 5-10 mins, or until golden.  Allow to fully cool on a wire rack.

Summer Tart
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tart shell (above)
- 1 recipe pastry cream, cold
- summer fruit of your choice (halved strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries is what I used)
- 1/3 cup apricot jam

METHOD
1. Remove tart shell from pan and place on a serving dish.  Fill with pasty cream and smooth.  Top with fruit.
2. Heat apricot jam in a small saucepan over medium heat until runny.  Strain out chunks then brush fruit with the jam to glaze.  If jam gets too sticky, just return to heat until it is runny again. 

Strawberry Pie

Sorry for the lack of posts, kids, I have been very busy with research and writing this summer.  I had great success at the Massachusetts Historical Society, and am getting ready for a conference in Baltimore (do any SHEAR members read this blog?) and a stint at the Library of Congress.  I am glad that I was back home for the last week of strawberry season.  Of course, that meant strawberry pie!  Last year I made a Glazed Strawberry Pie with Shortbread Crust (which is fabulous), but this year I wanted to try my hand at a more traditional pie.  I would like to improve my pastry skills, so this was an experiment in ingredients and method to produce a flaky crust and a gooey but not runny filling.

Pie Dough (makes two crusts)
INGREDIENTS
- 2.5 cups (400g) all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup Earth Balance vegetable shortening
- 1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine
- 6-8 tbsp ice cold water

Filling
INGREDIENTS
- scant 5 cups hulled and quartered strawberries
- 2 tbsp instant tapioca
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup sugar

METHOD
1. Place shortening and margarine in the freezer for 30 mins.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.  Prepare the filling by whisking together tapioca, cornstarch, and sugar, and then gently tossing with the strawberries to coat.
3. Grate shortening and margarine into the flour.  Gently work into the flour with your fingers until it resembles coarse bread crumbs (it should not take long).
4. Mix in enough water with a fork to bring together into a dough.  Don't over mix.
5. Divide dough in half and shape into two discs.  Immediately roll one out on a floured surface into at least a 12 inch circle and transfer into a 9" pie pan, trimming it to leave 3/4" of overhang.  Add filling and shape into a dome.
6. Roll out top crust on a floured surface and lay over top, trimming to leave 1" overhang.   Fold top crust overhang under bottom crust overhang and press to seal.  Crimp or flute the edge as you see fit.  Cut designs into the top crust to allow steam to escape, refrigerate the pie for about 30 mins, or until the crust has firmed up.
7.  While pie is chilling, heat oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the bottom third of the oven.  Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until crust is golden both top and bottom and the filling is bubbling.  Let cool before serving.

Smoked Tofu Pizza

This is my favourite new pizza.  It's kind of a version of Pizza Alla Pugliese, a sauceless pizza with smoked cheese.  Instead, I use smoked tofu (another new favourite thing) and Daiya.  I'm usually not the biggest fan of too much ye olde vegan cheese on pizza, but this particular combo strikes me as delicious.  Use as much or as little as you see fit.  

INGREDIENTS

- pizza dough

- sweet onion, halved and sliced

- smoked tofu, grated

- Daiya 

- olive oil

METHOD

1. Saute onions over med-hi heat in some olive oil until lightly browned.  Place as much onion as you see fit on a pizza crust, top with as much grated smoked tofu and Daiya as you like.  Drizzle some olive oil over the toppings.

2. Bake on a pizza stone at 500 degrees until crust is done.

Ancho Corn Chowder

Every time we have Mexican food I make some kind of corn soup.  There have been many variations over the months, but this is the one that I think is blog-worthy.  Here's why: 1. the ancho chiles provide some heat (add more if you like it hotter), colour, and wonderful flavour.  2: cilantro root!  I hope your grocery store sells cilantro with the root still on because it totally makes this soup (unless you hate cilantro, then forget it).  The roots packs all the flavour of the leaves but with a little more earthiness, and without adding green to a red soup.  3. Tomatoes: I've always loved tomatoes and corn together--I still make corn as a side dish when I serve pasta marinara because I loved it as a kid.  I used the chopped tomatoes I had frozen from the garden last summer and they worked perfectly.  Use fresh corn if you have it, but frozen works too.

INGREDIENTS
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 sweet onions, diced
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 8 cilantro roots, well-scrubbed, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2-3 dried ancho chiles
- 2.5 cups chopped tomatoes
- 2 cups veggie broth, or water
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 4 cups corn, divided
- 1/4 cup soy creamer (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste

METHOD
1. Heat oil in a stockpot over medium heat.  Saute onions, celery, cilantro roots, and garlic for 5 mins, or until onions start to get translucent.  Stem chiles and rip into large pieces into the pot (seeds and all).  Saute for another 5 mins.
2. Add tomatoes, broth, sugar, and 2 cups of the corn.  Bring to bubbling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 mins, or until tomatoes well-cooked and breaking apart..
3. Blend mixture very well in a blender (in batches) or with an immersion blender right in the pot.  Make as smooth as possible.
4. Return mixture to the pot over medium heat and add remaining 2 cups of corn.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cook until corn is soft.
5. Remove from heat and stir in creamer.  Serve.