Vegan Irish Soda Bread

There are two things I associate with St. Patrick’s Day: wearing green and being pinched if you forget to wear green (meanwhile claiming that you are wearing green underwear, so please stop pinching me!). But now that I feel like I am a verifiable amateur home cook, I am now adding a third item to the list – learning how to cook some new Irish recipes every year in March.

I don’t recall ever having Irish soda bread, but I was definitely ready to try it. There are so many variations of this bread, many of which call for eggs, that I wanted to find something that could be veganized without the use of an egg substitute. I was really pleased for two reasons when I came across Nana Dot’s Irish Soda Bread Recipe – first, it had no eggs (yay!) and second, it is a family recipe that comes from Ireland. I love it when I find something that has history and authenticity.

I was also really curious by the list of ingredients. A lot of the recipes I had run across did include things like raisins, but this was the first I had seen using caraway seeds. The recipe had so many rave reviews, though, that I trusted I’d probably like it with the added unusual flavor. The end result was most certainly interesting – very scone-like, not too sweet, and a lot of balanced flavors milling about together. Truthfully it reminded me very much of other European breads I had years ago when studying in Spain, which was a nice thing because it just added to the authenticity of this bread.

Vegan Irish Soda Bread
Adapted from Nana Dot’s Irish Soda Bread Recipe on Allrecipes.com

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegan butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup currants (You can substitute raisins if needed.)
• 2 teaspoons caraway seed, optional
• 3/4 cup vegan milk
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and grease two baking sheets (or you may use silicone baking sheets in place of greasing).

Stir or whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl until evenly blended.

Whisking together the dry ingredients

Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

Cutting in the vegan butter

Stir in the raisins, currants (if using), and caraway seeds (also if using).

Stirring in the raisins and caraway seeds

Make a well in the center of your mixture and pour in the milk and vinegar. Stir with a spoon until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Combining the wet ingredients with the dry

Turn the dough out onto a well floured work surface, and knead gently 8 to 10 times.

Kneading helps to combine the remaining dry and wet ingredients

Divide the dough into two balls, and place onto the prepared baking sheets.

Ready to go into the oven!

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven’s heat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake until the top of the bread is golden brown, about 15 minutes more. You will bake your soda bread for a total of about 30 minutes, however you may need an extra 5-10 minutes (I should have baked mine for another five minutes at least as it was still a little doughy in the center). Allow the bread to cool before cutting or storing.

Cooling on racks

Cut into wedges, then serve! They are perfect as they are, or you can add vegan butter.

Lots of goodness going on here!

Have you ever made Irish soda bread? What is your favorite variation?

And P.S. Don’t forget to wear green this Thursday!

Baked apples

I am a big fan of apple crisp – the sweet, crunchy topping with the tender, juicy apples – but sometimes I just don’t have the right amount of apples or time on my hands. And sometimes I don’t really want to make all that extra effort of peeling and cutting up the fruit. I decided to try to find a recipe that would allow me to make apple crisp on a smaller scale and that would still have the taste of crisp without too much extra effort.

This baked apples recipe is so versatile – it’s hard to mess it up. Make it yours – add raisins and walnuts, or bake it in apple or orange juice. It’s really up to you what the final dish will be. Plus it’s great for breakfast or dessert.

Baked Apples
This recipe yields four servings.

• 2 apples, cut lengthwise and cored
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup white flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• Cinnamon
• Dash of salt
• 2-3 tablespoons vegan butter
• Raisins or nuts, optional
• 1 cup water

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare your apples by cutting them in half. You can also peel your apples if you do not like the skin, and you can also discard the stem.

Cut your apples in half

Core your apples with a melon baller. It might not be entirely even, but that’s okay because you’re going to cover it up with topping.

Coring apples with a melon baller

Mix all of your dry ingredients together. Note that since this is a small batch, I didn’t measure out the cinnamon. I just sprinkled in a little bit (probably about 1/4 teaspoon).

Mixing the dry ingredients together

Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, add the vegan butter and incorporate with your bare hands. It should become a crumbly mixture, yet still a little moist.

Mixing in the vegan butter

If you want to add in nuts or raisins, now would be a good time to add those. Just mix them in with a spoon or with your hands.

Place the apple halves in a deep dish and spoon the topping onto each apple. The topping should cover as much of the top of the sliced apple as possible.

Adding the topping to the apples

You can add the raisins and nuts on top of the topping, but when I did this it did dry out the raisins a little bit.

Add the water to the baking dish (don’t pour on top of the apples), cover with foil and put in the oven for about 30 minutes. The apples may not be entirely done at this point, so remove the foil and bake for another 10 or 15 minutes. Check with a knife to see how soft the apples are. If you need to continue baking them, allow them to bake for 10 or 15 minute intervals.

Once done, allow them to cool for a few minutes and then serve. You can serve with a vegan ice cream, vegan whipped topping or just by themselves.

Yum - the taste of apple crisp without too much effort!

I do admit that the apples didn’t seem to bake long enough. I think that next time I might try increasing the oven temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or I might try to bake for a little longer. Still these turned out really nicely, and I liked the addition of walnuts and raisins.

Do you ever make baked apples or apple crisp?

Vegan chocolate truffles

Time for some sweet confessions on when I was not vegan one afternoon nearly a year ago. It was late March and I had surprised my husband with a long weekend to Cape Cod for his birthday. If you have ever been there, you’ll know that this is not exactly the best time to go to the Cape as far as weather is concerned – it’s cold, windy and rainy, but in some ways it is the best because traffic is light and innkeepers and shopkeepers are more likely to spend extra time with each customer.

Such was the case at this little chocolate shop we randomly found as we drove around exploring the area. The Chocolate Peddler is located slightly off the beaten path in Brewster, Massachusetts. When we stepped through the door, it felt more like we were walking into a parlor or salon, with a very friendly (and large) dog greeting us. The place, although small, was bursting with rich reds and golds, and we soon met the Chef Paul himself. As we were his only customers for the better part of half an hour, we got to sample more than our fair share of his very creative truffles. As soon as we thought that we had tasted the most exotic one, he’d bring out another, then another and then another.

When I used to think about truffles, I’d think of dark rich chocolate – and not much else. But that was completely turned on its head in this little chocolate shop. Think passion fruit, black pepper, mint, coffee and truffle oil. Think truffles with the names of Toes in the Sand, Georgia-Ray and Little Red Corvette. As a self-proclaimed foodie, I knew that we had stumbled upon someone who appreciates not only putting together a good quality piece of chocolate, but unexpected art.

When I was thinking a few days ago about what I wanted to make for Valentine’s Day, I realized that I wanted to make something that I’ve not yet tried. Then I thought back to that lovely little encounter with Chef Paul and I said to myself, I’ve got to make vegan truffles. I came across a very simple recipe with a lot of rave reviews and decided to use it as a base. I can’t say my truffles turned out quite so creative as those in Cape Cod, but they are dark, rich and creamy and would be perfect to give to that special someone (even if that special someone is yourself).

Vegan Chocolate Truffles
Based upon the Vegan Truffles at Recipezaar
This makes approximately 50 truffles

• 3/4 cup raw cashews
• 3/4 cup cold water
• 1 pound bittersweet chocolate (I used Trader Joe’s Pound Plus dark chocolate)
• cocoa powder
• 1/8 cup raisins, optional
• 2 tablespoons rum or brandy, optional
• 1 or 2 tablespoons peanut butter, optional
• 2 tablespoons pistachios, chopped, optional
• powdered sugar, optional

If you choose to use rum or brandy-soaked almonds in your truffles, mix your raisins and rum or brandy together in a small bowl and set aside.

Soaking raisins in rum

Put cashews and cold water in a blender and blend at high speed for 1-2 minutes.

Blending cashews

Scrape the sides down and blend again until the mixture is the consistency of heavy cream.

Get your double boiler ready. If you do not have one, you can use two pots, with the bottom pot holding water that you will bring to high heat. This will allow your chocolate to melt more slowly, which is what you want.

Homemade double boiler

Put your chocolate in the top pan and stir constantly until it is all melted, then take it off the heat. I used a 72% dark chocolate from Trader Joe’s. This is not a bittersweet chocolate, however it still produces a very dark and rich truffle and it is vegan.

Melting chocolate

Cool the chocolate until it’s comfortable to work with and fold in the cashew cream (making sure not to stir too fast or you’ll create bubbles).

Stirring in the cashew cream

Cool the mixture in the fridge for 2 hours (to set).

Using a small spoon or melon baller, scoop up a small ball of chocolate and then roll it into a ball with your hands.

Creating my first truffle

Roll it in the cocoa powder, then set into a dish that you will use to cover and store the truffles in the refrigerator or freezer.

Rolling the chocolate truffles in cocoa powder

If you want to add filling like the rum-soaked raisins, peanut butter or pistachios, you can roll out the chocolate into a ball then flatten with your palms.

Truffle fillings and cocoa powder

Place a small amount of filling in the middle, then fold the chocolate around it and roll into a ball again. Roll the truffle in cocoa powder. Repeat until all of the truffles have been made, then store them in the refrigerator so they will set.

Adding filling to a chocolate truffle

In the end, I think these turned out well, but I think that the fillings were sparse and the cocoa powder was bitter. My suggestion, if you try these, is to increase the filling or to mix up the filling with the chocolate. I would also suggest mixing the cocoa powder with powdered sugar or rolling the truffles in an alternative ingredient like coconut or nuts.

Pistachio, rum raisin and peanut butter truffles

Have you made truffles before? What flavors did you make?

Vegan chocolate truffles

Happy and Sweet Valentine’s Day! xoxoxo

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

After launching my new Facebook fan page for Novel Eats, I asked if anyone had requests for pre-Thanksgiving recipes. Someone suggested pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and others chimed in that they would love to see them. Sadly, as you can tell, it’s a little post-Thanksgiving. With traveling, vacation time, and still trying to get our bearings in Washington, I just couldn’t post until now. I did make these before the holiday, if that counts!

Big disclaimer – this is a very experimental recipe. I haven’t played around with the cinnamon rolls recipe too much, so I still have to figure out what its limitations are in relation to all the ideas floating out there. Since it’s an experiment, this is a smaller batch, but even then I found I had to add extra flour for the dough to be firm and smooth after the additional moisture that the pumpkin puree brought to the recipe. I also discovered that it would probably do better to bake at a lower temperature for longer, because the dough was still too doughy after baking the rolls. If you choose to experiment with this recipe, I’ve added some notes throughout that may help you have a more successful batch than I.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Note: Since I was experimenting with this recipe, this is basically a half batch of the regular cinnamon rolls recipe that I posted a few months ago.

• 1½ teaspoons active dry yeast
• ¼ cup unbleached sugar
• ¼ cup pumpkin puree (Idea: increase the pumpkin for a stronger flavor, but you’ll need to reduce the liquid in the recipe as well as probably add even more flour)
• ½ cup vegan milk, warmed
• Egg replacer the equivalent of one egg OR 1tablespoons ground flax seeds whisked together with 3 tablespoons hot water
• 3 tablespoons vegan butter, melted
• 2 ¾ cups unbleached flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup brown sugar, packed
• ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon (Idea: maybe reduce this and add some other ground spices like nutmeg, ginger and allspice)
• 3 tablespoons vegan butter, softened
• Optional: raisins, nuts

Mix yeast, sugar, and heated vegan milk in a large mixing bowl and let stand until foamy. Add egg replacer, pumpkin, melted vegan butter, flour, and salt.

Making pumpkin cinnamon rolls

Mix well and knead for 5-10 minutes. The dough should be firm and smooth, not sticky. Note that I kept having to add flour to the mixer at this stage until it looked pliable like this. It was too sticky of a dough otherwise. My suggestion would be to add a tablespoon of flour at a time so as to not accidentally make it too dry.

Set the dough aside in a covered bowl and let double in size.

Mixing the dough

After the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a floured work surface, cover, and let rest for 10 more minutes.

As the dough is resting, mix the cinnamon with the brown sugar.

After the dough has rested, roll it out into a rectangle.

Preparing the dough

Spread dough with vegan butter, then sprinkle each dough evenly with your sugar mixture. You can add other items to your filling like nuts or raisins.

Adding the good stuff

Roll the dough on the longer side, then cut the rolls so that you have even slices. Tip – use a serrated knife – it’s so much easier!

Rolling and cutting the dough

Place rolls in a lightly greased baking pan. (A cookie sheet also works fine.) Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.

Letting the rolls rise

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (Idea: I would try reducing the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit), and make your vegan cream cheese frosting. I just came across this vegan cream cheese made by Follow Your Heart, the company that is responsible for the goodness that is Vegenaise. Their cream cheese works great in the frosting recipe.

Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Cream Cheese Alternative

Bake rolls in your preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes (Idea: if you reduce the temperature, bake for 20 minutes and check to make sure they are done – if not, bake another five minutes and check again).

Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

In the end, these rolls did not taste a lot like pumpkin, but they were still good. I do wish that I had kept them in the oven for longer, but as you can see in the picture above, they were already getting brown on top. To be honest, I doubt that I will try to improve this recipe. While I like pumpkin, I do not like it enough to try to make this particular recipe work for me. I have too many other ideas I want to try – so be on the lookout for those in the future!

Yum.

Have you made pumpkin cinnamon rolls before? How did they turn out?

Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

I guess you could say that I’m on a cookie binge lately. I really love cookies, but I don’t make them very much because I don’t really like to share, which always means more for me! – but also means, more for my thighs! If only “vegan” preceding “cookie” meant calorie-free, bland, and boring in our household; I’m afraid it’s quite the opposite.

I have been meaning to try to find a vegan oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, but haven’t really spent the time and effort until just the other day. Luckily for me I found a winner on the first try which doesn’t always happen. This is an amazing recipe: plump and sugary raisins, a little crispy where the brown sugar didn’t get fully mixed into the rest of the batter and still chewy on the second day. It’s a rich and hearty cookie, too, so you only really need one or two before you’re satiated.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Via VeganFamilyFavorites.com

Note: I halved this recipe and it still yielded me 14 cookies. For bigger cookies or for two dozen normal sized cookies you can make the full recipe.

• 1 cup vegan butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Egg replacer for 2 eggs (If using flax, you can mix 2 tablespoons ground flax seed with 6 tablespoons of hot water)
• 1-1/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups oats
• 1-1/2 cups raisins
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large mixing bowl, beat margarine, brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Mixing the first part of the batter

Add egg replacer eggs and beat until well blended.

Adding egg replacer

In another bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to margarine mixture (or vice versa, which is what I did!) until well blended.

Continuing to work on the batter for oatmeal raisin cookies

Stir in oats, raisins, and nuts (if using).

Finally - the stars: oats and the raisins!

On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or a nonstick cookie sheet) drop the dough by 1/4 cupfuls (or large spoonfuls) and pat down slightly. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until edges begin to brown.

Ready to go into the oven

Let stand for 3 minutes before removing from baking sheet.

Yum - vegan oatmeal raisin cookies

A lot of cookies allow for a ton of creativity, but these cookies are kind of fun with how much you can do. Maybe next time I’ll add in some peanut butter and/or peanuts, and substitute chocolate chips for the raisins. How do you make your cookies?

Cinnamon & Chocolate Rolls

A few days ago when I was going through all of my old recipe posts and tagging each with the appropriate ingredients, I soon realized that there was a little bit of a trend going on that I had not really noticed before. I have thought for most of my life that I am not a big one for sweets, but after tagging many of my recipes with the ingredient “sugar”, I realized that I do indeed have a sweet tooth. If anyone has this concept in their minds that a vegan diet is healthy, all they need to do is visit my blog and have a look at the “Browse by Ingredients” list. Sugar, vegan butter, salt… Now that we have that out of the way, let’s jump in and take a look at my latest sweet success (which, dear reader, was made as a thank you to my husband for all of his hard work on helping to make this redesign even possible).

A couple of years ago I was really craving cinnamon rolls – the warm, gooey and total comfort-food kind – and so when I came across a vegan recipe that had rave reviews, I thought that I had a winner on my hands. Unfortunately, the cinnamon rolls were a complete disaster and I wound up defeated and deflated. Of course, I gave up, that is, until a few weeks ago when I was craving them again. I did another search for a good recipe online and came across a recipe that claimed to be better than the rolls you can get at Cinnabon. Again, people raved. Again, I decided to follow the masses. Yet this time, I was so utterly blown away that I purposely held off on taking pictures and writing a blog post because I wanted to be sure to “have to” make them again for you. I finally succumbed and here we are, but believe me I’m trying to come up with another excuse to make them again very soon.

Cinnamon Rolls and Chocolate Rolls

Based upon this Better-than-Cinnabon’s recipe

Rolls

Note: One thing I want to point out is that I have only made this with flax seed as a binder and I have not used Ener-G egg replacer. I have no idea if this recipe turns out exactly the same or comparably if Ener-G were to be used instead. Because the flax has worked so well for me and because I have not been able to taste it (I hate the taste of flax) I just haven’t allowed myself to try the alternate method. If you do try it with Ener-G please report back to let us know how the rolls turned out for you.

• 2½ teaspoons active dry yeast
• ½ cup unbleached sugar
• 1 cup vegan milk, warmed
• 2 eggs worth of egg replacer OR 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds whisked together with 6 tablespoons hot water
• ⅓ cup vegan butter, melted
• 4½ cups unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup vegan butter, softened
• Optional: chocolate chips, raisins, nuts

Frosting

Note: If, like me, you don’t care that much for icing or prefer to let your cinnamon or chocolate rolls shine on their own, then these are perfectly fine without. I will say, however, that this is a good icing recipe and I sometimes will have some. The reason why I probably like it is because it isn’t just about the sugar. The Tofutti cream cheese and the vegan butter give it a smooth and creamy flavor that you wouldn’t get if it were just a plain sugar icing.

• About 3/8 (3 ounces) of a container of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
• ¼ cup vegan butter, softened
• 1½ cup vegan powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon salt

Mix yeast, sugar, and heated vegan milk in a large mixing bowl and let stand until foamy. Add egg replacer, melted vegan butter, flour, and salt.

Letting the yeast activate, then adding the other dry ingredients

Mix well and knead for 5-10 minutes. The dough should be firm and smooth, not sticky.

Mixing the dough in the Kitchenaid Mixer

Set the dough aside in a covered bowl and let double in size.

I allowed my dough to sit for about an hour to an hour and a half

After the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a floured work surface, cover, and let rest for 10 more minutes.

Letting the dough rest

Meanwhile, divide your brown sugar into two small bowls.

Getting ready to mix my cinnamon/chocolate roll fillings

Mix the cinnamon into one bowl of brown sugar, and mix the cocoa powder and vanilla into the other bowl of brown sugar.

Fillings are now ready!

Note: If you just want to do cinnamon rolls, increase your cinnamon to 2 tablespoons and mix it into the full amount of brown sugar, omitting the cocoa powder and vanilla extract. If you just want to do chocolate rolls, increase the cocoa to 2 tablespoons, the vanilla to 2 teaspoons, then mix it into the full amount of brown sugar, and omit the cinnamon.

After the dough has rested, get it into a shape that you can easily divide into two equal halves with a knife or by pulling it apart with your hands.

Dividing the dough in half

Note: If you are doing only one type of roll (i.e. cinnamon rolls) you will not need to divide your dough in half.

Take one half of the dough and roll it out into a rectangle. Here I am using the Vic Firth French Rolling Pin which I am totally and completely in love with.

Rolling out my cinnamon and chocolate roll dough

June 19: Be sure to enter my first ever giveaway for the chance to own your own french rolling pin. The giveaway ended on June 21st. See who won!

Spread dough with vegan butter, then sprinkle each dough evenly with one of the sugar mixtures.

Adding the filling to the cinnamon and chocolate rolls

You can add other items to your filling, like chocolate chips or raisins. I didn’t have any chocolate chips on hand, but I did have Trader Joe’s dark chocolate, which I just chopped up into chip-sized chunks.

I've added raisins to the cinnamon roll filling, and chocolate pieces to the chocolate roll filling

Roll the dough on the longer side.

Rolling the cinnamon and chocolate rolls

Cut the rolls so that you have even slices. I like to cut straight down the middle first (1), then cut straight down the middle of the two sections (2), and finally cut down the middle of the four sections (3). In the end you should have eight evenly sized rolls (or thereabouts) if you follow this method.

Cutting the rolls

Place rolls in a lightly greased baking pan (or two). (A cookie sheet also works fine.) Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tip: Use a pie pan or a larger pan where your rolls are allowed to expand. I found that the chocolate rolls made in the pie pan were fatter than the cinnamon rolls made in the straight-sided glass dish.

Allowing the cinnamon and chocolate rolls to rise

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Cinnamon (bottom) and chocolate (top) rolls straight out of the oven

While rolls are baking, beat together Tofutti, vegan butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Making the vegan cream cheese frosting

Unless I’m told a better recipe exists or I somehow lose this recipe, I will never try another. The rolls are amazingly fluffy and gooey and are just perfect straight out of the oven. If you were to take these to your non-vegan friends no one would be the wiser. These taste and have the consistency of what you or they would expect in a cinnamon roll, and there’s no reason for them to suspect that they are vegan. They are seriously that good and perfect.

This is a great foundational recipe, too, because once you have dough that works this well, you can get very creative. I recently saw on The Pioneer Woman Cooks a marmalade/butter filling and an orange flavored icing. I think you could do other jams (strawberry jam sounds great!) or you could try fresh fruit. You could probably do vegan caramel or toffee. If you like coffee, you could probably even go there, too. But for me, my absolute favorite is just the basic, gooey cinnamon roll. Perfection.

Vegan cinnamon rolls

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

I love it when I see a new Daring Bakers challenge that allows for easy veganizing and gives me a chance to try something truly new. This month’s challenge was all about the phyllo dough – you know, that paper-thin (or thinner than paper-thin) stuff you buy in boxes in the frozen foods aisle at your local grocery store. As with pretty much most challenges, we had to make the dough. The other stuff, the filling, was a piece of cake.

Before I launched into making the strudel, which is a good afternoon’s project by the way, I decided to see if there were any good videos on how to make it. Sometimes you need real time footage instead of photographic play by plays, but I was amazed and discouraged! When I did a search for “apple strudel video” all I came up with was a focus on the filling and then they used the stuff you buy at above said aisle in above said food store (shame Paula Deen, shame!). I finally came across a video that showed me exactly what I wanted to see and I was ready to rock.

Aside from substituting vegan butter for regular butter and brandy for rum, I followed this recipe exactly.

Apple Strudel

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum (or brandy)
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) vegan butter, melted, divided
• 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
• strudel dough (recipe below)
• 1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
• 2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking) Note that I used three Granny Smith apples

Mix the rum or brandy and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

Heat three tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands).

Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself.

Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel Dough

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

• 1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
• 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed.

You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.

Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.

Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric.

Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.

Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands.

Stretch and pull the dough until it’s about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time.

Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Making this recipe was a good challenge for me, although I’m not entirely sure if I’ll be trying it again any time soon. I’m not big on nuts in desserts, and I’m not a huge fan of this type of pastry, however it was delicious and if you like flaky pastries filled with fruit, this dessert may be a good project for you. It’s rich, though, and high in calories (I don’t know how many calories, but believe me, one taste and you’ll know that it’s packed with them), so keep that in mind when you’re having a slice or two or three (I believe I had three yesterday).

One warning: if you store this, it will likely loose its flakiness, which is one of the things that makes it so appealing in my opinion. It’s best eaten on the day it’s made, so be sure you have family or friends around to share in the goodness.

Since no work was permitted on the Sabbath, they prepared Saturday’s meal in advance, assembling a stew, a cholent, with potatoes, barley, and sometimes a piece of meat. A sweet and savory pudding made from leftover bread simmered within the stew. Her mother removed the pot from the coal stove and covered it with brown paper, then tied it around several times with string. Sala wrote their name on the paper and carefully carried the large pot around the corner to Shimon the baker, who inserted it on a long paddle into the recesses of his giant oven. together with dozens of other pots from neighbors, each tied and identified, ready to be served hot for the next afternoon’s meal.

-Sala’s Gift by Ann Kirschner

Bread pudding is both good and weird at the same time. It tastes sweet and filling, yet I sit there thinking that it’s a weird texture for bread – but yet again, it’s not exactly bread anymore; then I think that it’s a weird texture for pudding, but it’s not exactly pudding either. It’s almost like it is in this in between state of bread and pudding: not quite one or the other. A twilight zone of sorts.

This bread pudding turned out well, though. And oh my, it smelled wonderful while it was baking. I could have hyperventilated at the rate I was trying to intake that sweet and vanilla smell.

Bread Pudding
Based upon a bread pudding recipe from Everyday Dish

• 5 cups bread cubes I used about 2/3 of a loaf of Matthew’s Whole Wheat Bread
• 2 1/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup raisins
• Ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square glass baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together soymilk, sugar, maple syrup and vanilla. Add the bread cubes and let sit about ten minutes, or until bread is soft and has absorbed most of the milk. Add the raisins and a few sprinkles of cinnamon and gently mix together. Don’t over mix it. Scoop mixture into prepared pan. Lightly sprinkle top with a little more cinnamon.

Bake pudding in preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, or until puffed and golden and milk has been absorbed.

I didn’t measure out the vanilla on this one and I have to say that that was probably a good thing. I may have put in twice as much as it called for and it had the most wonderful vanilla/creamy flavor. Mmmm…

Another thing I did was sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar before I put it in the oven. What resulted was a sweet and slightly crunchy covering, and it was a great contrast to the mushy “pudding” part.

One thing that I totally could have left out, which surprised me, were the raisins. I enjoy raisins in bread, but in bread pudding? Not necessary at all. This bread pudding stands on it’s own without raisins.

I am not likely to make this again any time soon, but it’s a quick dish. It is perfect for breakfast, dessert, or as a sweet snack. For anyone who is lazy (like me), this is a great one to throw together.

The van’s doors were open, and several bags of contraband were heaped in the back, all taped up in clear plastic bags. A few of them had already been transferred to a waiting wheelbarrow. Tarquin was looking around furtively as another bear wearing faded Levi’s and a BEARZONE T-shirt cut open a packet of the contraband and carefully drew out a spoonful. He sniffed it suspiciously, mixed it with milk and heated it over a lighter before adding some brown sugar and salt, then sipping the result.
“This is good,” he said at last in a deep voice, making a few lip-smacky noises. “How much you got?”

-The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde

Reading Jasper Fforde’s novels is like watching Monty Python or a Leslie Nielsen film (Naked Gun movies come to mind) – the comedy is cheesy and completely funny, but mostly the language and dialog are clearly representative of a writer who loves wordsmithing.

I am no expert wordsmith myself, but whenever I read one of his novels I know that I am in for a very entertaining and satisfying read. The Fourth Bear was no exception – and this one left me trying to figure out which food to focus on for the blog.

First there were the prize-winning cucumbers, then the highly-sought after porridge, and finally the diabolical Gingerbread Man. There was also the diesel – but yeah, not so much.

I was very tempted to make ginger cookies, but realizing I was low on a couple of ingredients I decided to make porridge, for which I was amply supplied. According to the Internet, porridge can be made out of a variety of grains including, but not limited to, rice, barley, oats, and quinoa. I decided on the traditional steel cut oats.

I’ll admit that I am not the biggest oatmeal fan, so I took it as a challenge to myself to figure out how to make oatmeal that would make me craving for more. What resulted was a very creamy oatmeal with the appropriate amount of sweetness.

Prohibition Porridge

• 1 tablespoon butter (I used Soy Garden, which is vegan)
• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup milk (I used Silk, also vegan)
• Nuts, raisins, brown sugar, and agave nectar to taste

Melt the vegan butter in a medium-sized or large pan on low heat, and stir the steel cut oats into the melted butter. Stir the oats for a couple of minutes, toasting them on the low heat (increase the heat a little if necessary).

Add the 3 cups of water and stir. Leave it on low heat for about 25 – 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Your oatmeal will still be a little watery at this point, so no fear, it’s not done yet. Stir in the non-dairy milk. Let it continue for another 15 – 20 minutes, but keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t burn the bottom of the pan. Sample it as you get closer to the end to make sure it has cooked enough and is the consistency that you want.

Take it off the heat, pour some into a bowl, and add brown sugar, agave, raisins, or nuts depending on what you prefer. I added a sprinkling of brown sugar, about 1 tablespoon agave nectar, a few raisins, and some pecan pieces.

I enjoyed my bowl of oatmeal quite well. I don’t know if it could ever earn “illegal substance” status, but I will likely make it again. Next time, though, I think I will add more raisins and stir them in so that they can plump up a little. I also think that this would be great made with almond milk.