Vegan Strawberry Cake with Buttercream Frosting

This is my second attempt at this recipe.  The first time I tried it with gluten free ingredients.  They rose very nicely and tasted great.  But, the gluten free cooking takes some practice.  Even though they rose like cake should, they didn't level off and were very unusual looking. I'll keep trying though.

This recipe made with the wheat flour worked very well.  My friend Bill told me he'd be interested in a vegan cake when I could get it "Betty Crocker" moist and fluffy.  Well, I think I've finally managed it.  The Coconut Cupcakes had a wonderful texture. I think they got better after chilling overnight. 

This is another recipe from Vegan Thyme.  I really like visiting this blog, she has some great cake recipes.  While writing this and looking up her link, I noticed a great buttery cake with chocolate frosting I think I'm going to have to try this weekend. I didn't change much in her recipe.  I didn't have vegan sour cream, but made my own with the coconut creme and lemon juice.  I used coconut sugar and my egg replacer comes in bulk at People's Coop, so I am not sure if it's the same.  I really like it though, it whips up frothy like egg whites.  I have two more bags of frozen strawberries left from last season. They're from Crawford's Strawberries 'n Cream Farm, so this is truly Strawberries & Cream cake. I baked my little cakes in heavy pans similar to bundt pans so the outside was kind of crispy and the center moist.  Donna said they'd pass as a 'fried' doughnut from a shop.

Vegan Strawberry Cake

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup vegetable margerine

1 1/3 cup Florida Crystals or other "healthy" sugar

3 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 4 tablespoons warm water (equiv. of 2 eggs)

4 oz. of vegan sour cream

1 1/2 cup puree of fresh strawberries (a pint and a half should do it)

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350º. 

Lightly spray two-8" round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper. Slice your strawberries up and place in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar (this helps them soften up a bit.) Set aside. 

Prep your Ener-G egg replacer and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, cream the margarine with the sugar and set aside. Add the egg replacer to this and mix well. 

In another bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. 

Puree your strawberries so that they mixture is pretty smooth--pour them into a small bowl. You'll still have a few chunks, that's okay. Whisk your strawberry mixture with the sour cream and vanilla. 

Next, in alternating additions, add about a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mix well. Next add a third of the berry mixture, mix well. Repeat this--ending with the flour mixture. Be sure to just hand mix after the final addition of the flour--this will help create less gluten formation. 

Pour into prepared pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Vegan Pink Buttercream Frosting

4 tablespoons vegetable margarine or Earth Balance butter

4 tablespoons vegetable shortening

2 cups powdered sugar (or more depending on thickness you want) 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

1 drop red food coloring (or any amount you want depending upon your "pink" craving)

In a large bowl cream the margarine and shortening with about a 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar. Then add the extracts. Continue mixing with blender, adding the powdered sugar until desired "fluff" has been met. Add a drop of red food color until desired "pink" has been met! Frost the cake only after it cools completely! 

   

Raw Buckwheat Pancakes

Friday night I put some pancakes in the dehydrator.  Yep, eight hour pancakes.  They were worth it.  Not much work involved in the batter and very few ingredients.  Waking up to the smell of apples and cinnamon was quite nice Saturday morning.  These whole grain pancakes were very filling, I only ate one, but my son enjoyed four.  They are a great source of protein and fiber.  A serving of two provides 4 g protein and 6 g fiber. Paired with some fresh fruit, it's a great way to start the day.  I took some of the strawberries I had frozen in June and warmed them with a little pure maple syrup for a nice warm fruit topping.

Raw Pancakes
     A recipe from Vegan Fusion
            The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Raw, pg 196

1 cup red apples, seeds removed, and chopped
8 dates, pitted, and soaked at least 30 minutes
1/4 cup date soak water
1/2 cup agave nectar (I used coconut nectar)
1 TB vanilla extract
1 tsp. lime zest
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 TB golden flax seeds, ground
Pinch sea salt
1 cup buckwheat groats, ground (I grind them in a little coffee grinder I have specifically for grinding food)
1/4 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened (optional)

1.  In a food processor fitted with an S blade, or a blender, place apples, dates, soak water, agave nectar, vanilla extract, lime zest, cinnamon, flax seeds, and salt.  Blend on high speed for 15 to 20 seconds or until a chunky batter forms.

2.  Transfer to a bowl, and combine with buckwheat and coconut until well incorporated.

3.  Scoop onto Teflex-lined deyhydrator sheets to desired sizes.  They'll flatten out a little, so make them about 1/2 inch thick to start.

4.  Dehydrate at 110ºF for 6- 8 hours.  Keep an eye on them, you don't want the outsides to be too dry.  Pushing down on them will tell you if the insides are still mushy, which is ideal.

Serve hot off the trays, topped with maple syrup or a flavored agave nectar, if you want.  Pancakes will keep in an air-tight container for 3 to 5 days.

Strawberries, Rhubarb, & Sago

I played with some of the strawberries I put up last spring/summer this weekend. I made this strawberry rhubarb tapioca pudding and some strawberry ice cream. (Ice cream post to come later.)

Strawberries, Rhubarb, and Sago (Tapioca Seed)

I thawed some rhubarb sauce I made this summer and froze and layered it with some cooked Sago. I lightly cooked sliced rhubarb, an Orange, and a couple tablespoons of Agave down to a nice sauce and put some in the freezer last summer. I also thawed out a few strawberries

I found an easy vegan recipe for Rhubarb and Sago from a blog called "Cook Almost Anything" and used my rhubarb sauce.

Coconut Sago
½ cup sago (seed tapioca)
1 cup coconut cream
1½ cups water
½ cup sugar (I used sucanat)

Place the sago, coconut cream, water and sugar into a small saucepan and cook over a medium heat. Be careful not to let the mixture boil and make sure you stir this often so the sago cooks evenly.

The sago will swell and the mixture will become quiet sticky as the starch is released. Once the sago has become translucent, it will be cooked and remove it from the heat.

Layer the pudding and the Rhubarb sauce and chill for a little while.  The pudding gets thicker as it cools, it doesn't take too long to set.  This can be eaten warm or chilled.

Dairy Free Triple Berry Mousse

This is a variation of the dairy free mousse, Dairy Free Strawberry Mousse, I learned to make last winter with avocados and bananas.

I used about four small ripe avocados, one banana for sweetness and texture, about three cups of fresh local strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, mixed, and almost a teaspoon of liquid stevia.  I made a smooth puree of it all in the food processor and poured into a large mixing bowl.  I folded in some whole fruit and a half tablespoon Agar dissolved in a half cup of hot water.

Summer Fruit

Frozen cherries are great on a hot day.

I had too much fun at the farmer's market Saturday. The strawberries are almost over and I wanted to make sure I got some more before they are gone. The raspberries are plentiful and the blueberries are starting to show up everywhere. There were also some Washington apricots and cherries. I spent $120 at the market, that's quite a bit. I usually spend about $30-60 depending on what fruit is in season. The garden will lower that cost shortly.  Soon, I will be buying boxes of lovely Washington peaches and pears. As well as all the fruit, I did pick up much of our vegetable groceries too. There were fresh beets, carrots, cucumbers, corn, and just about everything we need to eat well for the week. I also bought some locally made chocolates and locally roasted coffee too. I almost don't have to go to the conventional grocery store at all this time of year.

I almost scared myself when I got home and saw all I had purchased. I was worried I wouldn't get it all processed. My husband was happy to help, he likes pitting cherries. We have a little cherry stoner he likes to use. We put a flat of blueberries, a flat of raspberries, 2 flats of strawberries, about ten pounds of cherries, and a huge batch of rhubarb sauce in the freezer this weekend. 

Kitchen freezer before they go to the Big freezer downstairs.

I like to put as much fresh fruit away in the freezer while in season so we have plenty of fresh fruit in the fall and winter too. I had fruit all the way up until January this year. I post a lot about dinner meals and desserts, but I don't talk too much about breakfast. That's because there isn't a whole lot to it. We eat a fruit smoothie everyday, no recipe, just whatever is available. I fill the blender with fruit, add a little water and blend. I used to put protein powders and flax oil, but finally just went with fresh fruit. I put an avocado in just about every day which makes it thick and creamy and the fat from the avocado keeps me satisfied until I have my morning snack of more fruit around 10:00 a.m. I think I have five servings of fruit everyday before I leave my house.

Holidays are a Good Thing

Friday off and I get to leisurely get ready for the day.  We have some nice plans for the weekend.  Nothing too stressful or far away. Tonight we will be enjoying music outdoors with friends at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland.  I am looking forward to it this year, as always, but this year is a little more speical as I couldn't go last year due to my broken ankle.  I friend of mine offered to carry me, I declined that offer.

They all have to work today, so I'll make sure to have something ready for dinner when they arrive.  I'm going to start some dough to rise and visit the local produce stand for some additions for a Vegetarian Pizza.  I picked up some of the best strawberries in the area yesterday from Crawford Berries 'n Cream. I am thinking of adding a fresh strawberry pie to tonight's menu.  That should be a nice summer surprise. 

Early tomorrow we might check out some of the fourth of July festivities at the local lake.  A cardboard boat rigatta was started last year and it looked like it was great fun.  I am hoping to check out some artistic seaworthy creations and get some photos.  As for the rest of the holiday, we might visit the Blues Festival once more time, but other than that, it's gardening and relaxing.

Speaking of the garden, Isabelle has a friend now.  I am encouraging more gardeners to put up a funny scarecrow.  We had so much rain, the garden isn't as tall as it usually is at this time of the year.  There are about 120 gardens in the community plot.  I think it would be fun to turn it into a little sculpture park.

Isabelle's Friends

Strawberry Scone Shortcake - Vegan Dessert

And what did I do with the some of those strawberry scones I made this morning?  I added some more crushed berries and some cashew coconut creme with fresh vanilla bean.

Breakfast - Vegan Strawberry Scones

I was thinking about what I will do with my strawberries this weekend.  I wanted to make some jam, which I did.  I made some freezer jam with 3 cups of sucanat for ten cups of crushed berries.  Much less sugar than conventional jam.  But what kind of fun, healthy snack can I come up with?  I thought about strawberry scones and when looking through the vegan recipes that came up when I searched, I hit on this one Strawberry-Coconut Scones.  I didn't make many changes to the recipe;  I used sucanat for sugars, plain coconut milk yogurt, and coconut milk creamer.  These came out very nice, firm, but flaky and moist, thanks to the chunks of strawberries.

 I served them with the strawberry jam I made yesterday, a fresh fruit salad made with:  mango, bananas, kiwi, sliced strawberries, and a handful of coconut shreds.  I also grilled some strips of sesame garlic tempeh marinated in shoyu. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Glaze Pie

What did I do with my strawberries this week?   Many of them did get frozen, but we eat as much as we can while they are in season and fresh.  We'll have strawberries in most of our breakfast smoothies this week.  Then there are the strawberry goodies.  This semi-raw pie is very simple.

I made a strawberry rhubarb glaze with about two cups chopped rhubarb, two cups sliced strawberries, the juice of an orange, and about 1/4 cup raw agave.  I just let them simmer on a medium low heat until they are tender and saucy, about 3-5 minutes at most.  Remove from the heat and add to the fruit sauce 1/4 tablespoon powdered Agar dissolved in a 1/4 cup of boiling water.   I added about a teaspoon of chopped orange zest to the mixture after it was removed from the heat.

For the crust I used one cup raw almonds, seven med jool dates, and a dash of salt.   Soak the almonds in water for an hour or so and pulse them with the dates in the food processor until the mixture can be shaped into a ball.  Sprinkle about 2-3 tablespoons of raw coconut shreds at the bottom of a glass pie pan.   Press the almond and date mixture in the pie pan to form a crust on the bottom and up the sides.

Then I just layered sliced fresh strawberries in the crust and poured the strawberry rhubarb sauce over the strawberries.  I kind of mixed them a little to get the sauce distributed.  This will chill in the refrigerator for about an hour to set.  I garnished it with orange zest and a couple cantaloupe flowers from my garden.

I think I will serve it with some cashew lavender creme sauce.  I'll try to remember to post a picture of a slice when I cut it later.