100% Organic Red Coloring

For some reason, not all food colorings are vegan! This surprised me a lot the first time I read about it; apparently, they use some kind of... meat fat derivative? Actually, I have no idea. It's more likely that they're processed on machinery made of bone marrow, or something.

Anyways, here's a recipe for a relatively simply homemade red food coloring made from beet juice:

Beet-Based Red Food Coloring

4 large beets
water

vinegar

1. Cut the leaves and the root tips from the beets, and wash under cold water. Wash the skins very well with a dish or potato scrubber. Peel the skin.

2. Put the beets in a pot. Cover the beets completely with water (or use less water for a more concentrated dye), and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down, and let simmer 30 minutes. Take the beets off the heat, and let sit 1 hour.

3. Slice or chop the beets and return to the beet water. Let sit for 3 hours.

4. Strain the beets from the beet juice, and set aside. Transfer 3/4 cup of the juice (water) to a bowl (stainless steel or glass --- nothing that will stain!), and mix in 2 teaspoons of vinegar. Ta da! Red dye! This makes a lot of dye (depending on how much water you use), so be ready with a large bottle.

You can use the beets if you like. I didn't, because after they soak for a couple of hours and all of their juices are drained, they're pretty flavorless. However, you can definitely use the trimmed beet greens. Cook them as you would collards or kale. Delicious!

I used this dye in the vegan red velvet cupcakes (post coming soon!). Enjoy!

Chocolate Mystery Cake

My mom used to call this recipe Chocolate Mystery Cake. It was my favorite after school snack for years -- note: after school. My brilliant mother only made this cake when neither me nor my brother were in the house, because she knew that if we knew the mystery of the cake we would never eat it again. I guess I was about 11 when she finally trusted me with the secret: the mystery was Zucchini. Yes, it was your basic chocolate zucchini cake, but I never knew it. I never knew that when I enjoyed this chocolaty loaf, I was also enjoying a helping of veggies and I suppose some extra fiber. Anyways, here is my mom's recipe -- vegan addition (sorry-- some measurements are by weight):

Chocolate Mystery (Zucchini) Cake

230 g. sugar

1/2 t. salt

1/2 T. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

75 g. unsweetened cocoa

270 g. white, unbleached flour

3 eggs worth of EnerG Egg Replacer (sold at most grocery stores --- usually in Gluten-Free section)

350 g. grated zucchini

1/2 c. (+ about 1 T.) canola oil

1 t. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Sift the sugar, salt, baking powder & soda, cocoa, and flour into a bowl. Mix together.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the zucchini with the egg replacer, oil, and vanilla.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix just until the ingredients come together completely.

5. Grease a standard loaf pan with canola cooking spray and dust with cocoa powder, or line with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the loaf pan, and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Thanks, Mom!!!

Homemade Almond Milk

Almond milk is byfar my favorite milk alternative. Soy, rice, and coconut milk are all too sweet for me. Almond milk goes down similar to regular milk -- that's to say that I can chug almond milk the same way I did skim cow's milk. However, some store-bought almond milk brands (like Silk) tend to be really separated or watery, and are therefore really hard to drink straight-up. I do like the brand Almond Breeze a lot, but sometimes it's fun to make your own! This almond milk is smooth, and consistent:

Homemade Almond Milk

9 oz. raw, unpasteurized almonds
6 c. cold, filtered water
(optional -- vanilla extract, almond extract, agave nectar, stevia -- for flavoring and sweetening)

1. Place almonds in a large container or bowl, and cover with the cold water. Cover tightly, and let sit in refrigerator for 18-24 hours.

2. Place almonds and water into a blender, and process for 90 seconds on high, starting slow, and speeding up, so as not to splash the mixture. It is best to do this in one run (not little by little), so that the milk is consistent, and no bit is more watery or more almond-y than another, while I suppose it wouldn't matter once you mixed all the milk together. Anyways, if you prefer to separate the water and almonds into two separate containers during step 1, so as to get consistent milk throughout, go ahead.

3. Optional: Strain the milk. If you prefer to not have little leftover bits of almond skins and grit at the bottom of your milk, then you should strain the milk with a very fine mesh strainer (like a yogurt strainer) before storing and/or drinking. This is a very long, messy, tedious process, but worth it in the end. Pour the gritty milk through a yogurt strainer into a separate bowl. You will have to stop pouring to squish the milk through the strainer with a spoon, and to discard the almond grit in the strainer. 

4. Once you have your final milk product (pulpy, or pulp-free), add any sweeteners or flavors you like, or non at all, then transfer to a jug or bottle for easy storing and pouring. Refrigerate for up to a week. 

The Best Vegan Cupcakes

I have recently become addicted to the show Cupcake Wars. That show is intense. While I despise a lot of the people that walk onto that show (I seriously have no idea why. Sometimes they annoy me, I suppose), I love the concept, and I'm excited by the idea of a dessert version of Iron Chef America. The following recipe is famous for being the first vegan cupcake to win Cupcake Wars, and for good reason: the cakes are  moist, and sweet, and chocolaty, and even my brother -- the kid who can differentiate the texture between American Kraft Dinner and Canadian Kraft dinner (yes, there's a difference) -- couldn't tell that they are vegan. They have the springy, spongy texture that a cupcake should have, without any egg or butter. This recipe brought to you by Chef Chloe:

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

1 1/2 c. white, unbleached flour
1 c. sugar
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. almond milk (or any other milk substitute, like rice or soy milk)
1/2 c. canola oil *or* applesauce
1 t. instant coffee powder
2 T. white vinegar
2 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.

2. In a separate medium bowl, combine the milk, oil, coffee powder, vinegar, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and bring together with either a whisk or a spatula. Do not overmix!

3. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake wrappers. Fill the wrappers about 2/3 way full with batter. Bake the cupcakes 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick can be inserted into the center and come out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack, and let cool before frosting.

I would frost these cupcakes with either a coffee frosting, or a berry frosting (strawberry or raspberry). Use shortening and/or a butter substitute (Earth Balance sticks?) in the frosting.

Triple Berry Pie

PIE!!!!!!!!! :D

Ok. Ok. Something you should know about me: my favorite dessert is pie, or anything pie-related. It's the perfect food if you think about it: it's buttery and crisp, but also melty and fresh, and you can eat it at ANY time of the year. A note on pies being fresh: how is it that pies, no matter what variety they are, always taste fresh (with a minor exception for most store-bought pies. You know the kind; with the goopy, gelatinous, cherry-dotted mass found between two buttery crackers). Anyways, in the summer, it's apple, peach and berry pies. Warm or cold, they're always refreshing. In the winter, it's pumpkin and creme pies. (for whatever reason; I mean, why do we eat cold pies in the winter?) And they're always filling, smooth, and creamy.

So, vegan pies. They aren't that different or difficult to make (unless you're making a creme or pumpkin pie of some sort). The crust is simply shortening, flour and water. Then the filling is just fruit. While you probably could have figured out this recipe on your own, here it is:

Triple Berry Pie

Crust:

2 c. white, unbleached flour

1 t. salt

2/3 c. +2 T. vegetable shortening (chilled)

4 T. cold water

1. Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture with a fork, butter knife, or pastry cutter, until the mixture is crumbly, and the shortening is the size of small peas. Add the cold water, and mix until the dough comes together into a ball. Create two smaller balls, wrap in plastic wrap, and let chill in the fridge for about 1/2 an hour.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough balls out into circles 1 at a time. Fold the first circle in half, then in half again, so that it is a quarter circle. Do NOT press down. the folds should be light, and you should be able to unfold the dough. Grease a 9-inch pie dish. Place the center corner of your dough in the center of the pie plate, so that the dough covers 1-quarter of the dish. Unfold the dough so that the entire dish is covered. Press the dough down lightly. Keep the second crust (dough ball #2) aside, and ready to cover the pie.

Filling:
2 c. blueberries
1 c. blackberries
1 c. raspberries
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. white, unbleached flour

1. Wash the berries in a colander under cold water.

2. Combine the berries, sugar and flour, tossing carefully with a large spoon so as not to crush or damage the berries.

PUT THE PIE TOGETHER!

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Spoon or pour the berries into the piecrust (the 1st one... the one already in the pie dish).

3. For the top crust, you can research different ways to arrange it over the pie. I made a lattice-top. This is somewhat (but not very) simple, but don't try it if you have a. Never dealt with a pie crust before, or b. if your pie dough turned out very dry or tough. For a lattice-top, cut the dough into strips of equal length. Use the strips to create a basket-weave over the pie. I'm not going to try to explain it here, because I would go too far into detail and bore and confuse you out of your mind (like I am doing right now...hm.) You may simply place your 2nd crust over the pie and pinch it to the bottom crust. Arrange the sides of the crust into any pretty pattern you prefer. 

4. Bake the pie for 10 minutes at 450 degrees, then turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees F., and bake 35-40 minutes longer (you may want to place a cookie sheet underneath the pie, because the fruit will bubble, and it may spill out a little). The pie will be done when the crust is golden, and the fruit is bubbling.

Graham Crackers

One of the things I miss the most, being vegan, is graham crackers. My family buys them by the case at Cosco, and I LOVE eating them in the winter (melting in hot cocoa or coffee), as well as in the summer (encasing melted chocolate and squishy marshmallows).

So, from the book 'Sweet Vegan' by Emily Mainquist, I stole this graham cracker recipe:

VEGAN AGAVE GRAHAM CRACKERS

Prep. Time: About 1.5 - 2 hours
Bake Time: 13-15 minutes
Store Time: Keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks

1/2 c. white, unbleached flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. evaporated cain juice (I used Sugar in the Raw) (Plus extra for later)
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
4 T. butter substitute (I used Earth Balance -- soy free)
2 T. agave
1 T. molasses
1/4 c. water

1. In a stand mixer, combine the dry ingredients (flours, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon). Once they are combined nicely, set the mixer to medium speed, and add the butter substitute one tablespoon at a time, and combine until the mix looks like course sand.
2. In a small separate bowl, whisk the agave, molasses, and water together.
3. With the mixer on medium-low speed, pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture, and let the mixture run until all the ingredients come together and form a ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap, and chill 1 hour in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4. After the dough has chilled, remove from the fridge, and lightly flour a work surface. Place dough ball on work surface and roll out as thin as possible. Using either a knife or a cookie cutter, cut dough into any shapes you like. Place the crackers on greased cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart. Prick the crackers with a fork,  brush with water, and sprinkle with extra cain sugar.
5. Bake for 13-15 minutes. The crackers should be crisp when done.

These crackers are textured slightly differently than regular store-bought graham crackers. The whole wheat flour really comes out in the flavor and in the texture, making them very flaky and grainy. The agave is subtle, but really comes out aromatically. They aren't overpowering in sweetness, so they work great for a little snack. All in all, the crackers are a fantastic replacement for honey grahams from the store.