Yes, more cupcakes! Another Wendesday came and went, after all - and it's not a proper Project Runway experience without cupcakes. (And we really needed them this week to console ourselves when Kayne got the boot.) In my search for interesting cupcake varieties I can across a decidedly non-vegan bakery that make key lime pie cupcakes. I love cupcakes. I love lime. I used to love key lime pie. What could be better? I had to make them. These cupcakes were not optional.

I used the Lemon Gem cupcake recipe from VwaV, but I subbed lime juice and zest for the lemon and added a bit more flour to make a thicker batter. They rose much better this time around, incidentally. I made a cream cheese frosting with Better Than Cream Cheese, Earth Balance, powdered sugar, and lime juice, and then sprinkled crushed graham cracker crumbs on top. They came out really well - very light and limey, but still creamy from the frosting. The graham cracker crumbs added a nice cinnamony crunch as well as a cute finish.

Mission: accomplished. I'll definitely be filing this one away for future use.

Posted by Amanda at 2:12 AM | Permalink | Comments

And these I made the other night when I was super stressed and wanted to bake something. It's the PPK blondie recipe with cashews and a chocolate ganache drizzled on top. These were SO good. I sent most of them to work with Adam and everyone raved about them. They tasted very much like brownies to me, I think because I had to use mini-chocolate chips for a portion of them (I ran out of the regular ones. For shame!) and they melted into the batter. I'm glad I added the toppings, too, because it added some textural interest. In any case, these are definitely a keeper.

The only changes I made were to sub applesauce for half of the soy yogurt (I didn't have enough) and reduce the oil to 1/4 cup.

I have actually been eating non-dessert food, but it's been boring stuff that I don't feel the need to post about. Such is life during the school year.

Posted by Amanda at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments

This is a terrible picture of a really delicious cupcake. Last week for Project Runway Night (I usually have people over to watch it) I made oreo cupcakes. I basically just took your standard wacky cake recipe, subbed black cocoa powder for half of the regular stuff, and topped them with with a buttercream-ish frosting with crushed generic oreos mixed in. Originally I made a shortening-based frosting for them, because I wanted it to be white, but I had my suspicions about my shortening and one taste of the frosting confirmed it: rancid. So gross. So I scrapped that and made up an Earth Balance-based frosting that was delicious. These were a big hit.

Posted by Amanda at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

It's been a while since I last posted - my first week of school is winding to a close, and between that and work it's all I can do to cook some pasta for dinner. I forsee a lot of simple meals in my future, which is unfortunately bad for food blogging. We'll see how that goes.

Last weekend I made the Potato and Tempeh Sausage Pizza from VwV, only without the homemade crust. I used a sourdough Rustic Crust instead, because I love them and I was too lazy to make my own. I pretty much knew I'd love this pizza. And I did. Adam did too. It's chewy and substantial and basically just delicious. I used the optional soy mozzarella (Vegan Gourmet) and left off the fennel, because I'm not overly fond of the stuff.

Two thumbs up. I'll definitely make it again.

Another thing that's been occupying my time lately is the Super Secret Blogging Project I mentioned once before, which is no longer super secret because it's finally done. Jessiegirl and I have started a joint photoblog: iso365. The idea came up when I went to visit her for the first time, I believe, and we've been plugging away at it ever since. We're alternating days, with a new image posted every day. So if you're interested in that sort of thing, or just want to see what we get up to when we're not in the kitchen, stop by and check it out.

Posted by Amanda at 8:58 PM | Permalink | Comments

This morning I made a batch of Lemon Cornmeal Waffles from VwaV, sans blueberry sauce. Throw in some nectarine slices topped with a little agave nectar and vanilla soy yogurt and call it breakfast. These are probably my favorite waffles ever, because lemon = awesome.

Posted by Amanda at 6:08 PM | Permalink | Comments

Yesterday I drove to York and hung out with Jessiegirl. We spent the day walking around York and taking pictures, then had a delicious dinner of Tempeh and White Bean Sausage Gravy and Baking Powder Biscuits from VwaV. We also brainstormed for a super secret (not really, but it sounds more fun that way) joint project we're working on, which was awesome. We're so similar in so many ways that it's seriously like hanging out with a much less annoying version of myself. I love it.

For the record, she's a much better biscuit maker than I am.

Posted by Amanda at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments