(Vegan) Pumkin cupcakes

 We've been trying to switch to being vegan. Baking was one of those things which I thought would be so hard to do as a vegan. But I'm amazed at the weather of vegan recipes be it through blogs or through books. I found the recipe for these cupcakes at Nora Cooks. We've tried a couple of vegan recipes from her blog and they all turned out so delicious!

These cupcakes with maple frosting were so moist, fluffy and just delicious! Even DH who's not so fond of cupcakes, loved them! They were just right - be it texture or taste! We baked them with the kids so all four of us pitched in!

Yields: 12 cupcakes

CUPCAKE

Ingredients

• 7.5 oz pumpkin puree (we used homemade)
• 1/8 cup unsweetened applesauce (homemade as well)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• tiny pinch of cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit and line a cupcake pan with liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk puree, applesauce, oil and sugar together until well blended.
3. Add rest of the ingredients.
4. Fill the cupcake molds half-full and bake for 18-22 minutes. Do the knife test - insert a knife into one of the cupcakes and it should come out clean.
5. Let them cool on a cooling rack.

FROSTING

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegan butter
• 1-2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp maple syrup (this does add a lovely hint so try not to skip it)

Method

1. In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy.
2. Add sugar gradually (keep beating) till you get the consistency you want.
3. Add the maple syrup and mix it as well.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, frost them and enjoy them!

English muffin toasting bread

 

Just like the name says - it is a perfect bread for toasting and spreading with jam and butter! The coarse texture makes for a crispy toasted bread! So delicious!

Ingredients

• 3 cups (361g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon (14g) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1 cup (227g) milk
• 1/4 cup (57g) water
• 2 tablespoons (25g) vegetable oil or olive oil

Method

• Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl.
• Combine the milk, water, and oil in a separate, microwave-safe bowl, and heat. It should be hot, not lukewarm, but not scalding hot either.
• Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. 
• Using an electric beater, beat at high speed for 1 minute; the dough will be smooth and very soft. If you don't have an electric mixer, beat by hand for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and starting to become elastic.
• Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan.
• Scoop the soft dough into the pan, leveling it in the pan as much as possible.
• Cover the pan, and let the dough rise till it's just barely crowned over the rim of the pan. When you look at the rim of the pan from eye level, you should see the dough, but it shouldn't be more than, say, 1/4" over the rim. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour, if you heated the liquid to the correct temperature and your kitchen isn't very cold. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Remove the cover, and bake the bread for 22 to 27 minutes, till it's golden brown.
• Remove the bread from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

Yet another (delicious) pizza recipe!

 Pizza is an all-time and everybody favorite in our house! I'm sure that must be true for most houses. DH and I are always looking for new pizza recipes to try. So when I saw this recipe for Crispy Cheese Pan Pizza I knew what we were going to make that weekend! This recipe does require you to plan-ahead; at least 24 hours in advance. The more the merrier!

We made two different pizzas from this recipe. I made 1.5 times the dough per the recipe and then used 1 part to make the pan pizza and the rest to make a regular pizza. While both were delicious, I liked the regular pizza more - look at that crust! Crispy on the outside and light and airy on the inside! The pan pizza was yummy too although I liked it as a bread.

The below recipe (quantity) is for making one pan pizza. Half of that quantity will give you one regular pizza.

Crust 

• 2 cups (240g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast or active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup (170g) lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon (13g) olive oil + 1 1/2 tablespoons (18g) olive oil for the pan

Topping

• 6 ounces (170g) mozzarella, grated (about 1 1/4 cups, loosely packed)*
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup (74g to 113g) tomato sauce or pizza sauce, (we use tomato puree of san Marzano tomatoes and add a little bit of Italian seasoning to it)
• freshly grated hard cheese and fresh herbs for sprinkling on top after baking, optional*

Method

1. Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess.  
2. Place the flour, salt, yeast, water, and 1 tablespoon (13g) of the olive oil in the bowl of a stand mixer or other medium-large mixing bowl.
   
3. Stir everything together to make a shaggy, sticky mass of dough with no dry patches of flour. This should take 30 to 45 seconds in a mixer using the beater paddle; or about 1 minute by hand, using a spoon or spatula. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to gather the dough into a rough ball; cover the bowl.
   
4. After 5 minutes, uncover the bowl and reach a bowl scraper or your wet hand down between the side of the bowl and the dough, as though you were going to lift the dough out. Instead of lifting, stretch the bottom of the dough up and over its top. Repeat three more times, turning the bowl 90° each time. This process of four stretches, which takes the place of kneading, is called a fold. 
   
5. Re-cover the bowl, and after 5 minutes do another fold. Wait 5 minutes and repeat; then another 5 minutes, and do a fourth and final fold. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest, undisturbed, for 40 minutes. Then refrigerate it for a minimum of 12 hours, or up to 72 hours. It'll rise slowly as it chills, developing flavor; this long rise will also add flexibility to your schedule.
6. About 3 hours before you want to serve your pizza, prepare your pan. 

For Pan Pizza

1. Pour 1 1/2 tablespoons (18g) olive oil into a well-seasoned cast iron skillet that’s 10” to 11” diameter across the top, and about 9” across the bottom. Heavy, dark cast iron will give you a superb crust; but if you don’t have it, use another oven-safe heavy-bottomed skillet of similar size, or a 10” round cake pan or 9” square pan. Tilt the pan to spread the oil across the bottom, and use your fingers or a paper towel to spread some oil up the edges, as well.  
2. Transfer the dough to the pan and turn it once to coat both sides with the oil. After coating the dough in oil, press the dough to the edges of the pan, dimpling it using the tips of your fingers in the process. The dough may start to resist and shrink back; that’s OK, just cover it and let it rest for about 15 minutes, then repeat the dimpling/pressing. At this point the dough should reach the edges of the pan; if it doesn’t, give it one more 15-minute rest before dimpling/pressing a third and final time. 
   
3. Cover the crust and let it rise for 2 hours at room temperature. The fully risen dough will look soft and pillowy and will jiggle when you gently shake the pan.
4. About 30 minutes before baking, place one rack at the bottom of the oven and one toward the top (about 4" to 5" from the top heating element). Preheat the oven to 450°F.
5. When you’re ready to bake the pizza, sprinkle about three-quarters of the mozzarella (a scant 1 cup) evenly over the crust. Cover the entire crust, no bare dough showing; this will yield caramelized edges. Dollop small spoonfuls of the sauce over the cheese; laying the cheese down first like this will prevent the sauce from seeping into the crust and making it soggy. Sprinkle on the remaining mozzarella.
   
6. Bake the pizza on the bottom rack of the oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and the bottom and edges of the crust are a rich golden brown (use a spatula to check the bottom). If the bottom is brown but the top still seems pale, transfer the pizza to the top rack and bake for 2 to 4 minutes longer. On the other hand, if the top seems fine but the bottom's not browned to your liking, leave the pizza on the bottom rack for another 2 to 4 minutes. Home ovens can vary a lot, so use the visual cues and your own preferences to gauge when you’ve achieved the perfect bake.
7. Remove the pizza from the oven and place the pan on a heatproof surface. Carefully run a table knife or spatula between the edge of the pizza and side of the pan to prevent the cheese from sticking as it cools. Let the pizza cool very briefly; as soon as you feel comfortable doing so, carefully transfer it from the pan to a cooling rack or cutting surface. This will prevent the crust from becoming soggy.
   
8. Serve the pizza anywhere from medium-hot to warm. Kitchen shears or a large pair of household scissors are both good tools for cutting this thick pizza into wedges.  

For Regular pizza

1. Oil a cast iron skillet. Using your hands press the dough to cover the skillet. Cover and let rise for 3 hours.
2. After the rise let's get the pizza ready for baking. For the regular pizza we did the opposite of what is suggested for the pan pizza. We spread the sauce first and then the cheese.
3. We didn't add too many veggies as the original recipe warned against using raw veggies as it might make the pizza soggy.
4. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
5. Once done, we did spread it generously with basil. It was just so yummy!

Vanilla cake with strawberry frosting

Made this cake for hubby's birthday and it was quite a favorite! It was moist and just rightly sweet. The recipe for the cake is from my trusted source KAF and for the frosting is from here. I felt the frosting could have been a little less sweet - it could be that our strawberries were very sweet. Will try to lower the amount of sugar next time. Even then it tasted awesome!

For the cake

Ingredients

2 cups (241g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour   

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups (397g) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon (14g) vanilla extract
• 1 cup (227g) milk (used 2%)
• 4 tablespoons (57g) butter, cut into pats
• 1/3 cup (67g) vegetable oil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. The recipe calls for using round pans. I didn't have two round pans of the same size. I used one 9x13 pan and then divided the cake into two so that I had two layers.
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until thickened and light gold in color, about 2 minutes at medium-high speed. The batter should fall in thick ribbons from the beaters, whisk, or paddle.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture in the bowl and mix — by hand or on low speed of a mixer — just enough to combine. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, then mix again briefly, to fully incorporate any residual flour or sticky bits.
5. In a saucepan set over medium heat or in the microwave, bring the milk just to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter and oil, stirring by hand until the butter has melted.
6. Slowly mix the hot milk-butter-oil mixture into the batter, stirring on low speed of a mixer until everything is well combined. Scrape the bowl and mix briefly, just until smooth.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-48 minutes.

For the frosting

The frosting was a tad less for this size of the cake but still manageable. Increasing it by 10-20% would probably help.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries
• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 tbsp water, if needed
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:

1. Puree the strawberries.
2. Add the puree to a small sized saucepan and cook over medium hear. Allow the mixture to boil, stirring consistently to avoid burning. Reduce to almost half the quantity.
3. Cool the mixture.
4. Add butter to a large bowl and beat until smooth.
5. Add about half the sugar and beat till well combined.
6. Add the vanilla extract and the remaining powdered sugar until smooth.
7. Add additional milk, if required, to reach desired consistency.

Hershey's perfectly chocolate cake

For mother's day, kids and I did some baking. Since all three of us like chocolate cake I thought to try out this recipe. It was simple (important when baking with kids) and delicious! We baked it in a loaf pan. It was delicious!

For the cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 3/4 cupHERSHEY'S Cocoa 
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 2 eggs 
• 1 cup milk 
• 1/2 cupvegetable oil 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 1 cup boiling water

Method:

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 2 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add eggs, milk, oil and Vanilla.
4. Beat on medium speed of mixer for 2 minutes.
5. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
6. Pour batter into prepared pans.
7. Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted comes clean.
8. Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely and then frost.

For the frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa.
2. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency
3. Add small amount of additional milk if needed.
4. Stir in vanilla