Vegan Month of Food Day 9: Retro Recipe

Already at day number 9! Today we were tasked with bringing you a "retro recipe." Especially for you, I've created a "wacky cake" also known as a "war cake." My twist is that this recipe is an allergen free version.... no nuts, no soy, no gluten, no wheat, and of course no eggs, dairy or cruelty. "Wacky cakes" are what I call "accidentally vegan." When eggs and dairy were being rationed back in the depression, people simply used vinegar and baking soda to make great cakes. I sometimes call these "company cakes" because they're so easy to whip up for company in just minutes. After you watch the video, scroll past and you will find a little more commentary from me, as well as my original recipe which I am sharing with you today.

Make cake, not war.

Wacky cakes are so easy, why complicate them? Prepare your pan (remember if you're going soy free, check any vegetable oil spray you may be using to make sure it is indeed soy free and gluten free). I used organic shortening to grease the pan, dusted with cocoa, and then put a small piece of parchment in as a liner to insure it was no stick. I knew I would not be serving in the pan since this was for a video, so the parchment wasn't a problem. Don't use parchment if you're serving straight from the pan.

Also, as this is a gluten free cake, you should know a couple tips that help me when baking gluten free in this tropical climate with so much humidity this time of year. Sift your ingredients, not once but twice. Yes, I know, this is a wacky cake. I sifted. Twice.

When I made this cake last night for Meetup, it was ok, but I knew I could do better. The cake in last night's Meetup video was a little dry, I knew I could do better. Among the changes, I increased the fat slightly,  and used half oil and half vegan mayo. It vastly improved the cake, it was SO moist the 2nd time around. Also, you can use any liquid you like instead of the coconut milk, especially noting that most depression cakes simply use water. When making gluten free baked goods, you've essentially removed the protein from the cake because there's no gluten. Gluten gives cakes structure, so gluten free cakes need something to help with that. I added some guar gum, you could use xanthan gum instead. Also... you'll see I did not use water, I used unsweetened coconut milk. This gave the cake more structure than my first try, maybe because there is a little protein in the coconut milk. If that's true (protein), then I would imagine if you don't care about your cake being soy free, use soy milk, you'll probably get an even firmer structure, but still with a good crumb.

When I bake gluten free cakes, I like to use combinations of medium and lightweight flours. I almost never use a heavy weight flour in gluten free cakes (i.e.: almond flour, coconut flour, chickpea flour, etc) because they give me a far too dense end result. Despite this, I still combine different flours, and any time I use rice flour in a cake I like to do a "mix in" to help overcome any gritty texture that may exist in the baked cake. Rice flour helps give structure, but since I also cannot find superfine rice flour in bulk, I use regular organic rice flour. Here in this case, I've mixed in the allergen free chocolate chips. I find that rice flour is great in most cookies, and there is never an issue with texture. Different beast I guess.

And, lastly, I'd like to mention that I do use almost entirely organic ingredients. For some reason I am unable to find organic sorghum flour through the suppliers down here, but other than that, EVERYTHING in my cake is organic. Also, here we support fair trade so know that my sugars, cocoa, extracts, and chocolate in this cake are fair trade. I like to use the Multiple Organics line of allergen free organic fair trade chocolate chips as it comes in bulk quantities. Usually you'll find the Enjoy Life line of allergen free chocolate chips on most supermarket shelves, which are good too, just not fair trade.

Enough chit chat, let's get to the recipe. This is an original recipe of mine. Even if you are not allergic to things like nuts, soy, gluten or wheat, it's always good to have a recipe like this around the house in case someone dear to you with allergies comes for a visit and you want to be the hero and give them cake.  If you share this recipe, please tell people where you got it from, and that it was me. Only fair as I do that all the time as well.

Allergen-Free Double Chocolate Wacky Cake - use organic as much as possible!

Serves: 1 8" or 9" layer
By: Jen D. at Deer Run Bed and Breakfast, Big Pine Key, Florida

DRY INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup sorghum flour

3/4 cup arrowroot, corn starch or potato starch

3 tablespoons rice flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup organic sugar (regular sugar is NOT vegan, use organic or certified vegan sugar)

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp guar gum OR xanthan gum

WET INGREDIENTS:

1 cup non-dairy milk of choice (I used coconut to keep it allergen free)

3 tablespoons vegan mayo (ie: Vegenaise or Just Mayo, make sure its GF/SF/NF)
3 tablespoons safflower oil

1 teaspoon chocolate extract (use vanilla if you don't have chocolate)

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

MIX IN:

1/3 cup allergen free vegan chocolate chips

METHOD:

Prepare one 8" OR 9" pan by greasing and dusting with cocoa. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees (yes, 300). Either sift your ingredients in a bowl, or sift them into the prepared pan (that's a wacky cake tradition). Add in your wet ingredients directly to the dry--either in the bowl, or in the pan--and stir. If you are mixing your ingredients in a bowl first, really whisk your ingredients well.... think of the air as an ingredient, whisking very well will help make your gluten free cake fluffier. You cannot over mix a gluten free cake, as there is no gluten in there to develop, ok? I whisked mine by hand about 5 minutes, it became glossy, shiny and exceptionally smooth.

Pour into prepare pan (if you used a separate bowl), then bake 22 minutes. Check for doneness with a wooden toothpick... a few moist crumbs should cling to the toothpick. If not, bake another 2-3 minutes and remove. Gluten free cakes cook faster (usually) and can overbake quickly. Always remember, your baked goods will continue to bake a few minutes even after you've removed them from the oven. Trust me, reduce your oven temp on this recipe, and don't let this go longer than I've recommended.

Cool in pan on wire rack, and dust with confectionary sugar or cocoa prior to serving. Or, if desired, frost with your favorite frosting, I used my own version of allergen free vanilla vegan white frosting, and dusted with cocoa.

Lastly... use an oven thermometer. I will not be blamed for a crappy oven. My baker's oven runs almost 30 degrees hotter than I set it for. This is pretty much normal.

Go vegan, stay vegan.

xo

Vegan MoFo 2015 Day #8: Make A New Friend!

I'm writing this post with just minutes to go before the clock strikes midnight in my timezone, so I best hurry up. Today our assigned topic was "Make A New Friend." A few weeks ago, I decided to start a Vegan Support Group down here. By chance, I chose today, September 8, as the first Meetup. Talk about a stroke of luck.

Tonight I complied and made a new friend. I also saw some old friends. I am SO happy to have started this group. If you ever feel a little more alone than you wish you did as a vegan, I urge you to start a Meetup in your area. We had a nice turnout tonight, although everyone was camera shy except me, trust me it was a success. I'm REALLY happy about this right about now, and basically wondering why I didn't do this a VERY long time ago.

See you tomorrow!

xo

VeganMoFo 2015 Day 7: Make Food Inspired by a Book or Movie

Make food inspired by a book or movie? This post was a bit of a pain as I work. A lot. I usually fall asleep during most movies, and I have a stack of books I WANT to read, but haven't gotten to in ages. If it's not a tabloid magazine, I don't have time to read it. When I find a movie I love, I can watch it dozens of times and be happy. My favorite genre of movies are either comedies or children's movies  (well, ok, I love Ironman but food isn't really integral there...) Children's movies are interesting to me, as they so very often are geared towards adults with lines built in exclusively for us grownups. Also, so often children's movies are about animals, my favorite topic! When exactly is it in our lives where the innocence we are born with is smashed out of us so much so that we think it's normal to torture and eat animals? I find it almost astonishing how so many children's movies actually are pro-animal, and pro-compassion.... yet so many people cannot see that compassion IS the way.

My inspiration for today's food comes from the children's movie "Finding Nemo." Seriously, this is one of the best movies ever. I live by the words "just keep swimming," and even better the movie reminds us all that "fish are friends, not food!"

Here's my video for today, I hope you enjoy it, see you tomorrow!

xo

Vegan MoFo 2015 Day 6: Recreate a Restaurant Meal

Today I'm supposed to recreate a restaurant meal for you. Scroll down and you'll find my short video. Today I'm showing you my interpretation of a vegan raw meal at Present Moment Cafe in St. Augustine. We found Present Moment on the last night of a quick stop through St. Augustine last year. It's a lovely mostly raw vegan restaurant. Back in the day I never would have even considered a raw food restaurant, yet for the last several years I now seek them out. I could possibly see how someone on the typical standard American diet (it's called "SAD" for a HUGE reason!) might be more than a little surprised by a meal in a raw food restaurant, but thankfully more and more people are waking up to not only the benefits of eating raw, but how it can be elegant as well. The presentation at Present Moment was gorgeous (admittedly I didn't put as much pizazz into my presentation, I'm on a limited time frame), the food was delicious, and the people in there were so friendly. Almost a year later and we still talk about our meal there, and how we cannot wait to go back (it's quite a hike for us up to St. Augustine, but we'll get there again!) While we were there, I was so impressed by the food that I bought a copy of their cookbook (uncookbook?) on site. Although many of the recipes do contain nuts, I've been able to alter them for my own purposes with success anytime needed. For purposes of this video, I stuck with the recipes even though I'm still nut and oil free. The other happy vegan absolutely devoured the food the minute the video was finished, and pronounced it "deeeeeelicious" in his best Pop voice.

Here's my video, I've recreated a raw vegan pesto "pasta" using spiralized zucchini with nut "parm," and a raw brownie banana split. Instead of using the ice cream recipe from Present Moment, I did use the 4 ingredient ice cream recipe from the Vegan 8 blog. It's not raw, but has no added sugar, no nuts, and is absolutely decadent.

Recipes in this video were mostly from the book "Handmade in the Present Moment," but also include one from "The Vegan 8" blog. The vegan "Magic Shell" was one I pulled off the internet, you can use any recipe as long as it's vegan. Chocolate and coconut oil ARE magic when combined and drizzled over ice cream. I highly recommend Present Moment Cafe in St. Augustine, but until you can get there, pick up their book. I love it!

xo

Vegan MoFo 2015 Day 5: Best Sandwich Ever!

Today's prompt is for the best sandwich ever, which is also probably the easiest prompt for me all month as I just LOVE sandwiches. While I enjoy creativity, I must admit I also love simplicity. My favorite is a tempeh reuben. This recipe for a beer baked tempeh reuben is delicious. A very simple tempeh reuben, with just rye, baked tempeh, sauerkraut and dressing. I don't typically pollute my reuben with pickles, nor do I typically use cheese. In this video, I'm using Daiya, but I prefer Chao (I love Daiya too, just not on sandwiches). I don't put onions on a reuben (can you even IMAGINE????? but, yeah, I've seen that....), or anything else. That's like putting peppers and onions in hash browns.... you hear me, right? When we travel, if a reuben is on a menu it's what I will order. I've had them in many ways.... fancy restaurants like to do silly things like serve them "deconstructed" or whatever it's called, while some diners pile them high like a Jewish deli. I've had good, bad and ugly, but this home made version is divine.

I don't mention the onion rings in the video because it's about the sandwich, but I did a modification of the recipe from Betty Goes Vegan, which also included me baking them not frying. As you'll see in the video, you will have half a bottle of your vegan IPA left after you make your reubens. You can drink it, OR make beer battered onion rings! If alcohol isn't your thing, use apple juice for the reubens, I've done it and works just fine. Here's the video. Scroll past the video if you'd like the recipe.

Recipe (credit: so sorry, I have NO idea.... I do know I took this off VegWeb LONG ago)

BEER BAKED TEMPEH REUBENS

1/2 a 12-oz bottle beer (go for an IPA, it's more flavorful) make sure it's vegan

1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire (I use Wizard)

1/2 tsp caraway seeds, optional (I omit)

a few dashes of liquid smoke (make sure it's vegan--I use Colgin, so far still vegan)

1 8 oz pack tempeh, cut into quarters, then halve the quarters

1/2 cup vegan mayo (I use Just Mayo or Vegenaise)

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons chopped pickles or relish (I prefer sweet, you can use dill)

hot sauce, to taste

8 slices vegan rye bread (use a multigrain if you cannot find rye)

vegan margarine as needed

1/3 cup sauerkraut per sandwich (I like more.....!)

Vegan Cheese - optional (I use it in the video, but I do not like it on my own, do as you please)

Mix your IPA in a shallow pan with the Worcestershire, seeds (if using) and smoke. Cut your tempeh, place in pan, cover with foil and marinate about 1/2 hour (I usually leave it overnight, but this is not required).

Preheat your oven to 350 (325 if convection), bake the tempeh, covered, 25 minutes.

Mix up your mayo, ketchup & pickles to make your dressing.

When tempeh is ready, heat a skillet or griddle, spread bread with margarine, place on the griddle a minute or so to start to brown, then add tempeh, kraut and some dressing, assemble sandwiches on griddle, press down with spatula, flip, give a few more minutes till both sides are equally brown.

Enjoy!

xo

Vegan MoFo 2015 Day 4: Weird Food Combinations

Today I'm supposed to tell you about something weird that I eat, or a weird food combination. True confessions, nothing I eat is weird. Nothing anyone eats, as long as it's vegan, is weird. I did the best I could with this topic, the other happy vegan says this snack is weird, but it's just SO not.

By the way, aside from mangoes, bananas, vinegar and chocolate, ketchup is Nature's next perfect food.

Happy MoFo, enjoy the video!

xo till tomorrow!

Vegan MoFo 2015 Day #3: Quick, Easy and Delicious!

Today's topic is one I can really get on board with... "quick, easy and delicious!" When it comes to food, that statement is my mantra.

Mango mango mango! Everywhere I look in my kitchen, it's about the mango, so is today's video. My true confession about mangoes: I never liked them before I moved here. Well, I THOUGHT I didn't like them. Turns out, I never had a mango off a tree before moving here, only little mango-like rocks sold in supermarkets up north where I am from (those are just not what I'm talking about here). Shortly after moving here, a friend gave me a whole basket of mangoes straight off her tree for my birthday. I thought "what the heck, I'll give one a go..." The rest is history.

This summer brought a bounty of hundreds and hundreds of mangoes into my kitchen, 99.9% of them have come straight from the trees at the Grimal Grove on Big Pine Key (what's that 0.01% you ask?  Gifts from friends gardens, yay!) I've dehydrated the large majority of them for a special coconut mango biscotti I created as an on-going fundraiser for the Grimal Grove on Big Pine Key. It's wonderfully tropical in flavor, and chock full of Grimal Grove dried mango. This past December I bought a 10 tray dehydrator (similar to an Excalibur, without the price tag). I absolutely love it. I got it at Food for Thought in Marathon, it was a floor model and wonderfully discounted to an affordable price. My decision to go high raw was much easier because it's summertime and also was in the middle of our local mango season. There's still a few Grimal Grove mangoes trickling into my kitchen, but season is mostly over for them. I'm very lucky to have any at all coming in right now, thus my frozen and dried stocks are like gold to me.

Everyone all over is getting ready for pumpkin, but here in the tropics we're in the thick of triple digit heat indexes and and frozen mango drinks.

In my best Howard Cosell.... "let's go to the videotape...."

See you tomorrow!

xo