Monthly Archives: July 2012

The Princess and the Cookie Dough

30 Monday Jul 2012

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And some flowers.

Maybe a frog.

But mainly: Cookie Dough Dip! Playful cookie dough dip, of course!

Cookie Dough is definitelly a fun flavor, as well as cake batter. I know it’s a typical (ice cream) flavor in the US. Well – can you imagine a country without cookie dough ice cream? You can, as long as there’s cake batter ice cream? Well, … there isn’t cake batter ice cream either…

It was not an easy childhood. The only cookie dough flavored things was… cookie dough. And as long as your parents are watching, you’re not allowed to eat (too much) cookie dough…

The playful twist…

Do I have to tell you that I love anything cookie dough? I think there should be a cookie dough version of every dessert. Guess that’s a big project!

I know there were many variations of cookie dough dips posted all over the blogoshphere lately. (Did I really just write that word? It’s come to that…). My version is inspired by CCK’s chickpea based cookie dough dip.

I wanted to put my own playful twist on it though!  My version contains yogurt, which makes it a little “fluffy” and lighter than the original version. It’s gives this dip it’s wonderful creamy consistency!

Playful Cookie Dough Dip 

  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 1/2 cup soy yogurt (or any other plant based yogurt)
  • 3 tbsp rolled oats or oat flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract or powdered vanilla
  • 6 dates
  • Sweetener to taste: more dates, agave syrup, stevia…
  • optional: chocolate chips

Drain and wash the chickpeas. Put all the ingredients (except chocolate chips)  in your food processor or blender (you might need a tamper) and mix. One minute later, the ingredients magically turned into a delicious cookie dough dip…

Variations:

For a richer dip: Add any kind of nut butter! Cashew is great if you want that vanilla flavor, for a peanut butter cookie dough dip add peanut butter! (about 1/4 cup)

Snicker doodle Dip: Add cinnamon

Brownie Batter Dip: Add cocoa

Cake Batter Dip: Add some butter extract

Actually, this is such a basic recipe, you can add anything that tastes good! Don’t add fries though. Nor tomatoes. Okay, you see where this is going…

You can add lego frogs, too. Just don’t forget what I told you about eating legos…

The Viking’s spread

27 Friday Jul 2012

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Time to get some cream cheese on your sandwich!
Vegan cream cheese, homemade! It’s just like tofutti… with some extra awesomeness, of course!

Making your own cream cheese is really easy. I always though that it must be really complicated, or at least a big mess, but, well, lets say… the mess wasn’t bigger than usual. It’s okay when you can tell from a glance in the kitchen that you just prepared something delicious!

Plus, it’s really fun to see the milk curdle. It makes cream cheese making really special. Cream cheese is not just cream cheese anymore. You’ll actually know how it’s made… and how to make it, too! And it’s cheaper than tofutti…

So, here’s how to make your own cream cheese!

  • 4 1/4 cups (1 liter) soy milk (NOT low fat!)
  • 4 Tbsp Lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp oil
  • white vinegar
  • Salt
  • Optional: dried tomatoes, herbs, spices…
  • Optional: 1 pinch guar gum

Put the soymilk in a big pot and bring it to a boil.  Once it boils, stir in the lemon juice. Wait for the curd and the whey to separate. This could take a few minutes… Line a strainer with a dish towel or cheese cloth. Once the whey and curds are completely separated put everything in your strainer and let the whey drain off. It’s tofu now!
Put your homemade tofu in a food processor or blender, add the oil, vinegar, salt, and any spices, herbs or optional ingredients you want. You can make any cream cheese flavor! Use guar gum if you want your cheese to be less smooth. I like the texture when you add just a little guar gum, but you don’t have to add it. Blend until smooth (if it’s not smooth enough add some whey, oil or soy milk)

Do NOT use low fat soy milk in this recipe, it won’t work! Check for the protein content in your soy milk, it should be at least 3%, otherwise the recipe won’t work!
Let your cream cheese cool down before you use it. Store in the refrigerator.

Yummy. Homemade cream cheese. If you leave it plain and just add salt it will taste like tofutti cream cheese! I used sun dried tomatoes (from a jar, otherwise you might have to soak them), pepper, oregano and basil for this version.

Edit: As I caused some confusion by using the words whey and curd for this non-dairy cream cheese: It’s soy curd and soy whey… quite the same thing except for that it’s from soy! I use the words whey and curd rather functional. When making the cream cheese, the soy protein (curd) firms up and separates from the liquid soy whey (which might be greeenish, that’s normal). You can pour the soy whey away and make your cream cheese from the curd. (Tofu is nothing elso but soy curd! ;) )

One photo of the plain version:

Homemade Almond Butter

24 Tuesday Jul 2012

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There’s one thing I really don’t like about almond butter: It’s expensive.


That could be me… 

That’s the only thing I don’t like about almond butter. In other words: I love almond butter! Ever since I got my first glass of almond butter, I was addicted.  From then on I got almond butter for special occasions, like christmas or for my birthday. I cared more for the almond butter then any other christmas candy! And I did my best to let it last as long as possible…

I still love almond butter. Straight from the glass. On top of bananas or rice cakes. In oatmeal…

Actually… I only need a spoon. And my glass of almond butter. That’s it.

So here’s the good message: You can make your own almond butter! All you need is a food processor or a heavy duty blender.
It’s as good and as creamy as the store bought one. Trust me. I know what I’m talking about!

Make your own almond butter!

Recipe

Homemade Almond Butter

  • 2 cups almonds

All right, that was obvious ;)
Now the interesting part: Roast your almonds in the oven for about 10 minutes (350F). Be careful not to burn. Let them cool a little bit (it’s works better when they are still a little warm, so don’t let them cool down completely). Put them in your food processor or blender and mix! If you use a food processor, you have to stop and scratch the sides several times, until it’s creamy. Be patient.

If you use a heavy duty blender, like a vita-mix (that’s what I use!), push the almonds into the knife with your tamper. It won’t be long until you have a creamy, yummy almond butter!

If you feel like it’s not creamy enough, feel free to add one tsp native oil, like almond oil or walnut oil. This could happen when the almonds are a little older.

Creamy Almond Butter. You can’t imagine how excited I was when I finally got my vita-mix and could start making my own almond butter!

Wicked Spaghetti

21 Saturday Jul 2012

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Green spaghetti! Homemade. Raw. And… did I mention green? Greenified?

All right, I have some Wicked songs stuck to my head. The musical.

Doesn’t the witch look like Elphaba? And those noodles come from Emerald City…

“One short day in the Emerald City…”

“Defying Gravity!” But I gonna have some noodles first!

I know, the idea to make zucchini noodles is not new. What you need to know: you don’t need a special spiral vegetable cutter. A simple potato peeler will do the job. And it’s much less expensive!

Raw Spaghetti

  • half a zucchini
  • one big carrot

That’s it. Just peel them with the potato peeler. And don’t stop until nothing is left anymore.

Toppings

Cashew Cheese Topping

Mix one or two hand Cashews in your food processor. Add one or two dried tomatoes, a dash of salt and some pepper. Stir in some herbs, like basil, thyme and oregano.

Spaghetti aglio olio

Mix one or two tbs native olive oil with salt, pepper, half a squeezed clove of garlic and herbs like basil and oregano.

Avocado Spaghetti

Mix one avocado with some lime or lemon juice, salt, pepper and (optional) some granulated garlic.

If you don’t necessary what it raw, you could also mix some vegan cream cheese with hot water!

Put seeds like sesame, hemp, sunflower, pumpkin (…) on top of your spaghetti! You could also add some nutritional yeast, it will taste like parmesan!

Pink Princess Cupcakes

19 Thursday Jul 2012

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A forest of frosting. That’s what my friend called these pictures.

A forest of PINK frosting!

So you can easily guess what was the girls and what the boys ate at the party…

Not a single guy dared to eat a pink cupcakes… well, they missed out on something great. If you ever want to keep your cupcakes from your boyfriend or other male people, you know what to do: treat them to a pink frosting!

Princess of Forest Frosting Cupcakes

  • 1 3/4 cups (220g) flour
  • 3/4 cup (150g)sugar
  • 1 cup  / 240ml almond milk
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) oil
  • vanilla extract, vanilla sugar or bourbon vanilla powder (I use vanilla powder)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • dash of salt

As simple as it could be: mix everything together with a hand mixer, fill in a muffin pan lined with paper cups and bake at 350 F for about 20 min.

Forest Frosting

  • 1 cup margarine / vegan butter
  • 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
  • Vanilla sugar or vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)
  • a few drops of red food color OR 1 tbsp strawberry puree

First mix the margarine with your hand mixer or food processor until creamy, that add the other ingredients. Mix until smooth!

In order to apply the frosting, you can simply use a ziplock bag with a hole. It’s as easy as it could be.

Put on your crown and be the Princess of Forest Frosting.

Strawberry ambush!

18 Wednesday Jul 2012

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This is not funny.

Strawberry ambush.

If there’s one thing I won’t share, it’s strawberries. I really like to share any recipe I create, I can share everything that’s in the fridge, I can even share almond butter (might be my second favorite. Guess the first one.)
I won’t share strawberries though. They usually come in one pound boxes. One pound is for me. If a friend or roommate  also wants strawberries, we have to buy two pounds. Remember, strawberries are not for sharing.

One more thing. It’s a pity, but I simply can’t do recipes with fresh strawberries. Sometimes I’d love to, but… they simply don’t last long enough…
And there’s no recipe that could taste better than fresh strawberries. No way.

My friends and family accept that I don’t share strawberries. seems like I still have to train those little yellow guys…

Level up!

17 Tuesday Jul 2012

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Busy days! I’ve been making a birthday cake, pink cupcakes (tomorrow’s post) and my first homemade seitan sausages…! The later ones are not pictured (yet) cause they taste way better than they look…

Oh, talking about looks! I’ve actually never decorated a cake the fancy way. Until now, cake decoration was arranging fruit, cream, nuts or chocolate on a cake. I’ve never used fondant! Actually, living in Germany, I think that’s the “American way of cake decoration”, even though people start using it here more and more, too. Those copycats.

However, you can’t just walk into a store and buy fondant here! You’ll have to be creative and do it yourself. Okay, I was a little lazy. I used almond paste (marzipan) instead. That again is not so readily available in the US. I know you can find in big grocery stores though, sold in tubes or cans.
Almond  paste might be the German fondant. It’s tastes more like almonds, of course and it’s less sweet.

So, that’s what I did. Using natural  food colors and almond paste!

Yes, it is nerdish. It’s supposed to be. Look at the sweet little dragon! And please take into account that almond paste is much harder to form and more sticky than fondant and natural food colors aren’t as bright.  Plus it’s my first cake of that kind… I like it. Fluffy cake layers filled with a chocolate butter cream. I ate way too much cream while making and filling the cake! It’s worth it.

One more. Because I like it.

Level up! Kill the monster, steal the treasure, stab your friends. Something like that. Not those friends who can make cake though.
I guess I’m lucky…

Here’s the recipe!

Fluffy cake layers

  • 300g (2 1/3 cups) all purpose flour
  • 50g (1/3 cup) corn starch
  • 150g (3/4 cup) sugar
  • ca. 450ml (2 cups) almond milk
  • Vanilla extrakt or vanilla sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder

Mix everything together using a hand mixer or food processor! Line a backing pan (I used a 20 cm / 8 inch ) with baking paper. You can grease the bottom but you should line the side of the pan cause the fat can prevent the cake from rising or pull the cake down again when melting.
Bake for about 25 min at 350F (200C).
Check the oven in between, every oven is different!

Let it cool down completely until you cut it into two halves.

Filling

  • 1 cup / 200g margarine or vegan butter
  • 3 tbsp cocoa powder, unsweetened
  • confectioners sugar

Mix the butter and the cocoa with your hand mixer. Add confectioners sugar. I didn’t measure the confectioners sugar. Actually, there is no perfect amount. Just add enough to make the cream a little thicker and as sweet as you like!

Let the cream it in the fridge for one night.

Fill your cake and decorate it, using either almond paste, fondant, natural food colors, vegan whip… or just leave it plain!

Guard the cake from hungry monsters (do you remember those old lego dragons?).

This is how my cake looked from the inside. It’s just a cell phone pic, but there was no other opportunity to make a better picture at the party, cause the cake didn’t last for too long! (Oh, and please don’t worry about birthday cakes not being overly healthy. It’s just once a year! And all the fun while making and eating it will totally make up for that!)

Yummy.

Little Helper’s Milkshake

15 Sunday Jul 2012

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Tastes like cake batter…

These days, I have to study for my exams… it’s a never-ending story! By now, my  head is spinning… You simply can’t reach a point where you’re done. You can always learn more. However.

Milkshakes help. They help with many things. When your head is spinning – milkshakes help!

Especially my Little Helper Milkshake! Look at that little guy! He’s a little bit shy, hiding behind the glass.

Sprinkles just make everything so colorful.

So here’s what you need for the

Little Helper’s Milkshake
one large serving or two medium servings, in case you’re willing to share 

  • a very ripe banana (unfrozen or frozen. The shake will be more “icecream-like” if you use frozen)
  • 1 1/4 cup soy milk (300 ml)
  • 3-4 Tsp. rolled oats
  • sweetener to taste, such as stevia, agave syrup, marple syrup… or sprinkles!
  • 1 tsp vanilla extrakt and for a cake batter flavor some butter extrakt
  • optional: sprinkles and soyatoo or any other vegan whip
Put everything in a blender. Mix! Before serving, stir in a few sprinkles… and serve with vegan whip and some sprinkles on top. Voilà.

One more picture… showing the whole scenery. Macbook, papers… and even more piles of papers which are not in the pic.

And just to let you know what I’m going through. Learning in this house really isn’t easy. That guy wants to keep me from learning, too! He won’t succeed though. Hey, he’s a dwarf, after all!

Fruity Food Fun

14 Saturday Jul 2012

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Ever wondered what playful food could look like?

Well, here you go.

 

Once again:

 

No, I don’t think you’ll need a recipe for a banana. But you do need legos. Just remember to remove them before eating it…

Note how all these different people from all this different times life together so peacefully. Until you take away the banana!

Playful and hungry!

14 Saturday Jul 2012

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Uh. What’s that? Another food blog?

Yes, another food blog. But a fun one. And trust me – the world really needs this blog. You might wonder what kind of recipes to expect. Here you go.

  • Everything you find on here will be fun! Decoration, pics, the preparation… It will always be a playful approach
  • Everything will be vegan
  • There will be a big variety and I will also be experimenting with raw food
  • Many things will have a healthy approach! Playful and feeling guilty just don’t go together!

I also try to post some nice food photography (food porn?). Still practicing, but I hope you like it!

Have your parents ever said anything like “Don’t you play with your food!”? Forget about it. No use. It’s fun. You’ll see! And play…

This blog will become more busy in about a month. Stay tuned!