When I first started this blog, I had every intention of getting into gluten-free baking as well as vegan. I somehow wandered too far over to the vegan side and now I have no desire to do gluten-free. I mean, let's face it; it's intimidating! There's about a billion types of non-wheat flours out there, all of which are extremely pricey, and the proportions of flours to binders (also equally expensive) blows my mind.
I'm starting to realize, however, that gluten-free is the newest diet craze, and that while vegan is unique, it's not as niche of a market as it was five years ago. Just yesterday, while at a farmers market, I was asked if any of my stuff was gluten-free by about four people! My lame answer was that I was working on a vegan and gluten-free recipe (even though that's a total lie!).
So I've been racking my brain to make something that's gluten-free, vegan, salable at a farmers market, AND somewhat inexpensive and easy to make. This is my first attempt, which I think is pretty good. I'll need to come up with a few more experiments before I start providing the masses with gluten-free goodies, though. If you have any suggestions or references on gluten-free, please leave them in the comments! Thanks!
Recipe below!!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup raw whole almonds 1 Tbsp chili powder 1/4 tsp cayenne 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp black pepper 1 1/2 tsp salt 2 Tbsp olive oil 6 oz. chocolate
Directions:
Mix spices together in a medium bowl. Add olive oil and almonds. Stir until the almonds are coated. Pour into a baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until fragrant.
Let cool completely on the counter. Once cool, spread out on a sheet of wax paper.
In a small sauce pan, melt the chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly to keep the chocolate from burning. Drizzle over the cooled almonds, then sprinkle coarse sea salt over the top, if desired. Enjoy!
I know there's been a lot of cupcakes on this blog so far, but fall/winter is a time of plentiful birthdays, so I've been making a lot of them for friends. There's some history behind these cupcakes that I'd like to share with you.
Every year, I have a giant feast where I make a wonderfully decadent five-course meal in which I invite my closest friends, and the cake is the grand finale of the meal. At one such dinner, one of my friends who sat at the opposite head of the table from me, had been blown away by each course, just sat in total amazement with each bite he took.
When the cake came out, he just couldn't contain himself any longer. He started talking about how wonderful this cake was, how it was just the best food he had ever tasted. It was hard for him to find words for what he was experiencing. Finally, he came out with it: this cake was interstellar.
These cupcakes are the vegan version of this cake. I have modified this recipe to fit a vegan cupcake format. Hopefully you'll think they're interstellar as well!
This is the mess I make in my kitchen as I cook.
This is after I've hollowed them out.
Here's with the blackberry filling. If you're not a big fan of frosting, you could just eat them this way. They're gorgeous and not too sweet.
Here's the final product sliced down the middle. Recipe below.
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup (1 stick) vegan butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup almond milk
12 oz blackberries
1/4 cup sugar
8 oz vegan cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
1 lb powdered sugar
Directions:
In a small bowl, mash the blackberries with a fork until a lumpy liquid is formed. Stir in 1/4 cup sugar and let sit for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, sift dry ingredients together. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract.
Mix the flour mixture into the sugar mixture. Then add almond milk and mix until uniform texture is achieved.
Pour into greased muffin tin and bake for about 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into each cupcake comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire cooling rack to let cool completely.
Once cupcakes are cooled completely, cut around the edge of each cupcake at a 45 degree angle about half-way down the cupcake so a cylindrical pyramid shape comes out of the top of each one. Then spoon blackberry mixture into each depression up to the top of the cupcake.
In a medium bowl, mix vegan cream cheese and vegan butter until smooth. Add in confectioner's sugar and mix until incorporated.
Ice the top of each cupcake. Enjoy!
