Break Radio Silence

Vegan Tiramisu and Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

There is no denying that there has been a serious lack of posts on this site as of late, but that is not to say that I have not been busy in the kitchen. In fact it would be fair for you to make the assumption that the less I post on here (or any of my online outlets) the busier I am.

I do bring tidings of great twitterpation! In the culinary world we refer to it as Wedding Season. The time of year when brides-to-be are making their preparations for the big day. I had the great privilege of not only making two new acquaintances, as well as being invited to create the wedding dessert spread for Brianna and Aaron! Seriously a couple of sweethearts. I am always so inspired by people with genuine energy and zeal for living.

Right off the bat they won me over with their flavor selection. Chocolate Hazelnut and most importantly Tiramisu! My goodness is there anything better than Tiramisu. No, no there isn’t. The fun part about all of this is not only do they want cupcakes for their wedding, they have requested that they be Vegan.

If you are at all familiar with Tiramisu you can see what I mean about it being challenging. How you recreate a custardy, egg-ridden, mascarpone cheese laden dessert with no animal product and in cupcake form?! Well, I’m glad you asked!

As I have previously mentioned and will continually remind you, I’m Italian and I have a younger sister who’s favorite dessert EVER is Tiramisu. So for the many years that I spent as a Vegan I had some serious motivation to get this dessert right. Two things I will say on the subject of Vegan products and then we’ll move on to the good stuff. Earth Balance and Tofutti Cream Cheese are gifts from Heaven for the Vegan community. Straight up.

So having these two gifts at my disposal it was really just a matter of recreating the familiar flavors of tiramisu and reconstructing it in a different form.

The base for Tiramisu are little, soft biscuits called Lady Fingers. They have a delightful crust on them so they soak up the espresso (and booze) without becoming soggy. So for the cake aspect, rather than combining the espresso and the Amaretto Liqueur for the soaking liquid, I made an Amaretto flavored cake. For the espresso soaking liquid I pressed freshly ground Espresso beans at double strength, then combined it with Kahlua and a dash of sugar over a medium-high heat in a saucepan to burn away the alcohol and intensify the flavors. The buttercream is where it got a little bit tricky and slightly fancy. Ordinarily if I’m going to be making a cream cheese buttercream, I use a 1:2 ratio of butter (Earth Balance) to cream cheese (Tofutti), in this case though I reversed ratio. I used 12 ounces of cream cheese to 6 ounces of butter. The Mascarpone in the Tiramisu is what gives the dessert that luscious, full and soft mouth feel. To round out the flavor of the Tofutti and the Earth Balance I added Vanilla Beans from two pods and added just a dash of Amaretto. All right, enough back-story.

Espresso Soaking Liquid

• 4 ounces strongly brewed Espresso, cooled
• 1-2 tablespoons of Kahlua or Bailey’s Coffee Liqueur
• Sugar, to taste

1. Combine the ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat and boil for a minute to burn away the alcohol.
2. Reduce to a simmer. If a skin develops on the mixture, scrape off with a spoon and discard.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Amaretto Spice Cake

• 2 cups Soymilk, Unsweetened and Plain
• 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 ½ cups Sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1-2 tablespoons Amaretto Liqueur
• 2 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
• Optional: ¼ cup Cornstarch or 2 tablespoons of All Purpose Flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ½ teaspoon of Nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon of Cinnamon
• ¼ cup of Safflower Oil

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF and prepare your cupcake tins.
2. To start, we’ll be making Vegan Buttermilk. To do this combine the Soymilk and Apple Cider Vinegar in a mixing bowl and whisk the ever loving daylights out of it until it submits to your authority and becomes frothy and light. Set aside to thicken for 5-10 minutes.
3. In the bowl of your mixer, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (also the Cornstarch if you choose to use it. I typically only use the cornstarch when I am adding wet ingredients such as fruit).
4. Once your Vegan Buttermilk is nice and thickened we’ll be adding the sugar, vanilla extract, and Amaretto. Whisk until the mixture has become frothy once more.
5. Next, while adding the oil it is important to whisk the milk mixture as you slowly pour in the oil as to incorporate the fats and maintain a lightness to the buttermilk.
6. Turn on your mixer to a low speed, using the paddle attachment, and slowly add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients. Once the liquid is added scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and turn the speed up to a medium-high speed for about 20 seconds, then scrape the sides of the bowl once more. Return the speed to a medium-high speed and beat for a few seconds more or until the major lumps have been beaten out and the mixture looks billowy and luxuriously smooth.
7. Immediately fill your lined cupcake tins with the cake batter filling it 3/4 of the way full. We want a level cupcake, not a muffin top!
8. Pop the cupcakes in the oven for 18-21 minutes. You want them to be a rich, golden brown.
9. Cool the cupcakes for 5 minutes in the tins then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Using a straw, poke a hole in the tops of the cupcakes being sure to only go down half way! Spoon a small amount of the espresso liquid into the hole, then lightly dip the top of the cupcake in the espresso as well. We want a soaked cake, not a soggy one. Pop them into the freezer for 10-15 minutes to help set the liquid.

Vanilla Bean Cream Topping

• Tub of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, cold
• 6 ounces Earth Balance, cold
• 3-4 cups sifted Powdered Sugar
• 2 pods of Vanilla Beans, split and scraped (reserve pods for future use)
• 1 teaspoon of Amaretto
• Non-dairy milk, used if necessary for thinning

1. Combine the Tofutti and the Earth Balance in your mixing bowl and beat until combined. A very important thing to keep in mind that Vegan “fats” have a higher water content than their dairy cousins, so start cold and DO NOT over mix. The water will separate and you will be left with something…well, weird.
2. Once the mixture is smooth add the vanilla beans, Amaretto, and powdered sugar in small stages (3 is a nice number), start on a low speed and work up to a medium-high speed fully incorporating the sugar until the mixture is smooth.
3. You will know when your buttercream is ready to go when you pull your beater out of the mixture and turn it right side up and the buttercream slowly curves downward. You want it soft, but not runny.

Time to Assemble!

1. With an offset spatula or small rubber spatula, put about two tablespoons worth of frosting on the top of the cupcake. Using your secondary hand to rotate the cupcake and your dominate hand to frost, turn the cupcake as you use a circular stroking motion evenly distribute the buttercream around the entirety of the cake while still maintaining a flat top. They don’t need to be perfect, we’ll be covering them with cocoa powder!
2. Once your cupcakes are frosted, get your sifter out and lightly dust the top of the cakes with cocoa powder and just like that, you have Vegan Tiramisu Cupcakes!

It seems like a lot of steps, and it is. I can absolutely promise you this: your home will smell amazing and the sense of accomplishment that you will have once you take your first bite will make you forget about all the labor you just went through!

Better Luck Next Time

This is one of those bummer stories. The kind where things don’t exactly go the way you had hoped, but contains a silver lining. As is the case most of the time with me, the silver lining is inevitably good food.

My friend Michelle began the 26 year of her life this past weekend and wanted to bring it in with her closest friends around her in a relaxed setting, making crafts, and eating delicious treats. My kind of night. Michelle loves anything chocolate and coffee studded and I had every intention of delivering on those goods.

Here’s the background. I don’t own a car, and quite frankly I don’t want one. The only purpose I see one of those behemoths serving is to get me to Disneyland in a time efficient manner. But I digress. I also work nights, which means I have the sometime elusive task of catching my “z’s” during the daylight hours. This was not in the cards for me this past Saturday.

Living across the street from a gorgeous park is utter perfection, until a wretched, indiscernible  70’s cover rock band plays from 9am until 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Needless to say, not a whole lot more than internal desperate pleas for silence and constant tossing and turning until eventually, surrender was inevitable. This unfortunately left me with no energy and feeling ill, which left me unable to make the trek to my friends’ home (it would have been an hours journey, half by bus and half by bike).

This truly hurt all the more because upon walking into my kitchen at 3 o’clock that lovely Saturday afternoon, to what would normally be a view to inspire childlike joy, to look at a plate of perfect, soft, moist, billowy, fudgey, and espresso ridden Brownies. Ah yes, brownies. The deceptively simple, yet complicated dessert. The downfall of women and the weakness of grown men. The childhood favorite, and the future bringer of world peace. Yes the Brownie is all this and so much more, but my sweet Michelle would miss out on these specially made morsels.

That morning that I returned home from work I immediately set to work on these monsters. I am going to be perfectly up front with you about my brownies. I do not like black out, over the top, sugar studded Brownies. Yes, I’m pointing the finger at you box mix! To me chocolate is something to be celebrated and highlighted. You should taste the chocolate, not overwhelmed by it. Second point I will emphatically make. Healthy and brownies will never go in the same sentence. Don’t talk to me about diets, fat free, whole grain, low sugar, or any of that other nonsense when we are talking about brownies. There are certain things that need to be what they are, and brownies should never be diet. So unfortunately if you are one of my health nut or Vegan readers, I must bid you adieu at this point (or stick around if you need a guilty pleasure in your life. I promise not to disappoint).

My brownies focus on depth and combining flavors. It may seem complicated, but if you have a well stocked pantry this will be no big deal. I am a firm believer that in baked goods, never go with one type of chocolate, personally I believe in combining 3 different types, but 2 is absolute magic. This recipe is results in more of a fudgey brownie, not a cakey due to the fact that I melt down chocolate and do not use cocoa powder. The next biggest insight I’m going to lay on you, eggs. Lots of eggs. This not only gives the brownies moisture and structure, but the eggs act as your leavening agent and they give a nice glossy crust that forms on the top of the brownies giving texture as well as adding a whole depth of flavor. With all that said, here comes the recipe!

These Aren’t The Kind of Brownies You Take Home To Meet Your Mother (9×13 pan) (Inspired by Craft of Baking)

Brownie Batter

• 3 sticks Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• 3 oz High Quality Milk Chocolate, roughly chopped
• 3 oz High Quality Unsweetened Chocolate, roughly chopped
• 6 Eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 cups Dark Brown Sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 cups All Purpose Flour, sifted
• 2 teaspoons Sea or Kosher Salt
• 2-3 teaspoons Espresso Powder, finely ground
• Dark Chocolate Chips

Espresso Cream Cheese Swirl (There will be some left over, I do this on purpose to have on hand for other baking ventures)

•  6 oz Cream Cheese, soft and at room temp
• 3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, soft and at room temp
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Egg, room temp
• 1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
• Espresso Beans, very finely ground

1. With a hand or stand mixer, whip the cream cheese and butter until combined and fluffy.
2. Add the Vanilla and the Egg and whip until fully combined.
3. Sift in the powdered sugar and whip until fluffy and soft.
4. At this point you are going to want to add the Espresso Powder in small batched until you have achieved the desired coffee flavor. I wound up adding 3-4 tablespoons. The mixture looked like cookies and cream ice cream!
5. Cover and chill while preparing the brownies.

For the Brownies:

1. Preheat your oven to 375F as well as grease and line your baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Get a medium to small sauce pan and fill with and inch or two of simmering water and cover with a heat proof bowl (glass is perfect), making sure that the glass does NOT touch the water. We want to heat the chocolate very delicately and respectfully. Add your 6 ounces of chocolate and the unsalted butter. Using a rubber spatula fold the two together until fully melted and incorporated. Do not scorch the chocolate or leave it alone, burned chocolate will produce tears of bitter sadness. Once the mixture is fully melted. Turn off the heat, but leave the bowl on the sauce pan to keep the chocolate warm.
3. In a large mixing bowl whisk together your sugars and eggs until fully combined and billowy. Do not leave the egg and sugar mixture alone. There is a chemical reaction that takes place where the sugar cooks the eggs. (Isn’t science and baking awesome?!) Once the eggs and sugars are incorporated, slowly whisk in your cooled chocolate mixture.
4. Sift your flour and salt on to the chocolate mixture and using a rubber spatula, gently fold the mixture together. It is of the upmost importance not to over mix the brownie batter. Use a light and delicate hand and just before the mixture is fully incorporated add your chocolate chips and espresso powder.
5. Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish, starting in the center and gently working the batter to the edges. Grab your cream cheese mixture and add 6 dollops on top of the batter. Using a fork, knife, skewer, toothpick, or shoot your finger will work just fine; swirl the cream cheese mixture on the top level of the brownie batter. Be sure not to incorporate the cream cheese into the brownie batter.
6. Bake the brownies for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Check on the brownies at this point and get a gauge for the time. My brownies typically bake for another 10-15 minutes. You will know when they are ready to come out when the crust is formed and there is only a slight giggle in the center of the pan when you shake it. Do not wait until the brownies are stiff, they will be over baked. The more you bake brownies the better you will become at discovering the nuances of when to pull them from the oven.
7. Cool the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then pull up on the parchment paper and let the brownies cool completely on the wire rack.
8. At this point you may do as you please. But also know this, brownies freeze and reheat beautifully! If you are a mom, or a busy college kid who needs a dessert immediately and don’t have time for all these steps, you have a friend waiting for you. Make sure the brownies are completely cooled off then tightly wrap in plastic, these will keep for 2 months. To reheat, pop them in your oven at 350F for 10 minutes and you’re golden!

So the story goes that the brownies turned out absolutely delicious and had a wonderfully strong coffee flavor that was balanced by the creaminess of the cream cheese and the light chocolate brownie. Sadly, my friend didn’t get to have them for her birthday, but I relish the opportunity to be able to do something for her again in the near future. Se la vie.