Vegan Cupcakes

There were more..... I think 128 in total...

Those on the left are really banana bread.... my personal favorite.

I've been excited about vegan baking lately. Especially since I've discovered a cheap trick to avoid buying expensive egg replacers. I borrowed this recipe idea from CHOW, who borrowed it from 'Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World' (Moskowitz and Romero)- What a fun title :P

I wanted to make something special to contribute to our friend T's 30th birthday surprise party, that his lovely wife G organized in a large warehouse, complete with DJs and almost 160 guests. Congrats G on an awesome party no one will ever forget, least of all T. 

1 cup soy milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla sugar

1 cup flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Line a cupcake tin, or I used these reusable, yet disposable individual tins.

2. Stir the vinegar into the soy milk and set aside for a few minutes. This causes the milk to curdle a bit, and is the magic to eggless baking (and a lot cheaper than buying egg replacer). 

3. Add the sugar and oil to the milk mixture. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. I never used to understand why this was an important separation, but cocoa powder is much finer than regular flour, and doesn't absorb so much liquid, so unless you mix dry together before wet, you're going to have a heck of a time de-clumping those little bits of cocoa powder that stick together.

4. Mix the wet and dry ingredients well.

5. Pour into the lined cupcake tins, half full (or half empty, your call)

6. Bake about 18 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. (after my 6th batch I had it down to an exact with my stopwatch, but every oven is different.)

The icing or frosting (whatever you like to call it) can be made in a lot of different ways. Since I was making quite a lot, I made two crucial decisions.... Not to ice the cupcakes until they'd arrived at their final destination (unless you consider tummy.... toilet.... am I taking this too far?) The second was to spare myself the hassle of covering them completely. Most people I've met that are not ::ahem:: American, don't like sugar overload, so just a dallop will do ya....

Therefore, this is the rough version of what I did with the icing: 

3 dl vegan margerine, softened

about 3 cups of confectioners (powdered) sugar

a tsp (tlk in Finnish abbreviation) of soy milk (or vanilla soy milk)

You can of course play with this, add cocoa powder, coloring, or follow a vegan butter cream recipe like this one, from CHOW.

I also made some of the cupcakes without cocoa, for those weirdos that don't like chocolate, and even a few cupcakes that I made with a vegan banana bread recipe. (I'll post that recipe in just a bit and add the link). 

That's me and Seyhan, making sure the crowd gets their fill. 
(Picture by Kevin Pollard)

Dutch Caramel Cashew Praline Cookies

I have posted about these cookies before on my other blog. The blog is known as 'Make Yourself' and features my adventures in crafts, do-it-yourself projects, ramblings on books I've read and Buddhism, and of course, cooking and baking. You can read the full post on these cookies here.

They're so simple and they turn out perfectly every time. I made them again for my friend J's visit. He was only in Finland briefly before going back to Brussels, but I'm certain that when B finally has her baby, they'll both be back for good ;)

Rhubarb Apple Pie

Since rhubarb is also in season, I bought some last week just to see what I could do with it. Apparently rhubarb goes well with strawberries, since I found a lot of interesting recipes that pair them. Though for simplicity I just went with apples this time.

Since my dinner guest was 'watching the waistline', I ended up eating this entire pie in 4 days by myself. Great. It makes a great breakfast though ;)

pie crust

500 grams rhubarb, chopped

4 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup corn starch

2 tbs lemon juice

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup flour

4 tbs butter

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Bake the pie crust for 12-15 minutes until golden.

2. Mix the rhubarb, apple, sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, lemon juice, and corn starch thoroughly in a large bowl.

3. Pour rhubarb mixture into the pie crust.

4. Mix walnuts, flour, butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl with hands until a coarse crumbly mixture is attained.

5. Sprinkle the crumbles over the entire pie and bake for 45 minutes.

6. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Good with vanilla or strawberry icecream!

Munkki

Munkki is part of the traditional foodstuffs of Vappu, the Finnish labor day holiday on the 30.4-1.5. Among lots of other traditions, such as wearing your highschool graduation cap, drinking sparkling wine, paying too much for a helium balloon the shape of 'Hello Kitty', wearing jumpsuits, picnicing.....

.... well the list goes on. Other foods include Silli (herring), Sima (fermented yeast soda), nakki (little sausages) and tippaleipa (from what I can tell this is stale funnel cake).

Needless to say Munkki, or sugar coated doughnut holes, are probably one of the best. My friend Jenni made this over a vat of spatting oil and survived. If she can do it, so can you.

1 cup milk, warmed

25 grams dry yeast

1 egg

a pinch of salt

1/5 cup sugar

2 1/5 cups of flour

50 g butter, softened or at room temperature

oil for frying
sugar for coating

1. Proof the yeast in the warm milk and sugar.

2. Incorporate the egg, butter and flour graduatlly until a soft dough forms.

3. Knead dough to eliminate lumps, about 5 minutes.

4. Allow the dough to rise, 1 hour, covered in a warm place free of breezes.

5. Roll balls of dough between floured palms to the size of ping-pong balls. Allow the balls to rest covered for about 10 minutes.

6. Heat oil to about 375. I check to see if the oil is read by taking a small bit of dough and dropping it in. The ball should take about 3-5 seconds to get golden brown.

7. Fry in small batches of 3-4 to avoid cooling the oil too much. Turning once in the process.

8. Remove munkki with a slotted metal spoon when they are golden brown.

9. Drain on paper towels until cooled enough to handle.

10. Coat munkki in sugar while still warm. I used a bag half full of sugar, dropped the munkki in, closed the bag, and shook.

For Mom and Apple Pie

Apple pie is probably one of the easiest, cheapest, most standard pies ever made. But it's also one of the most delicious. As I've come to embrace my Americanism in the last years being abroad, I must say there's something to 'American as apple pie'. Let's hear it for this cutural icon.

When asked why they were going to WWII, soldiers often said 'for mom and for apple pie'. When I think of these kind of cultural icons I think of Simon and Garfunkle's America or Bela Fleck's version of 'America the Beautiful.' Or I can laugh along with Ruudolf's videos in Finland in which he's wearing huge Hulk-Hogan-style American flag pants. I'm on the lookout for a pair of my own.

This apple pie recipe isn't for exactly your traditional pie with a bottom and top crust and lots of this gelled substance on the inside. It's more of a tart. Also I've switched from cinnamon to apricot and almond for flavoring. But of course, this recipe is as simple as it is versatile.

• 
  
  basic pie crust, lightly pre-baked
• 
  
  5 granny-smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 
  
  1/2 cup sugar
• 
  
  1/4 cup apricot jam
• 
  
  2 tbs Disarrono almond flavored liquor

1. 
   
   Preheat the oven to 175C. When the oven is ready, prebake the pie crust in the tart shell with aluminum foil pressed into it to avoid the shell sinking into the pan and losing its shape.
2. 
   
   While the crust is baking (about 10 minutes), toss the apple slices in sugar and whisk the apricot jelly and liquor.
3. 
   
   Take the crust out of the oven, remove the foil, allow to cool for a few minutes.
4. 
   
   Layer the apple slices in the crust evenly. Spread the jelly mixture on top of the slices.
5. 
   
   Bake pie in the oven for about 35 minutes, until the top is becoming golden.

Tangyuan

A common Chinese dessert is Tangyuan, or glutinous rice balls. They've got to come up with a better name because 'glutinous' and 'balls' together doesn't sound so appetizing (ok maybe a few of you need to wipe the drool from your mouth, but only a few of you) . Actually, it's a popular dessert in various Asian cultures, although each culture has different adaptation of this. The version I've made here is very simple and easy to make if you take a few shortcuts. The cooking time will vary depending on how you prepare your filling, and if you make a syrup or not. Since the recipe will vary according to how much you want to make and what you want to put as your fillings, I'll provide only a simple explanation:

Start with the glutinous rice flour- Using about 1 cup of flour will yield about a dozen filled balls.
Mix cold water slowly into the flour, enough to form a stiff dough.

Your fillings can be either savory or sweet, in this case sweet- depends on how you like your balls! Examples of typical fillings include peanuts, sesame paste or mung bean paste (as I used). In this case, the red mung bean paste was bought from the Asian market pre-made, but can also be made by soaking mung beans in water over night. Then blanching the mung beans and removing the skin, and finally mashing the beans into a paste with sugar (or if you're really awesome you'll grow your own organic mung beans first).

.

I would recommend portioning small marble sized balls of filling and then freezing them on a baking sheet. This makes it much easier to encase in the dough when it comes time to wrap them. Using about a large marble-sized ball of dough, flatten into a pancake in your palm. Place the filling in the center, and gently wrap dough around the filling to seal. Avoid tears in the dough or else the filling will come out when boiled.

Next, boil the balls in water for approximately 3 minutes. If you'd like to eat them in a syrup, syrup can be easily made by melting brown or white sugar in a saucepan, adding aromatics, like ginger, orange peel, or star anise.

The last time I made this, I rolled the balls in flaked coconut, making them easier finger food. Next time I want to try the Japanese version with salty balls, and maybe fill 'em with smoked salmon or avocado inside. Suggestions for other filling combinations welcome :)

Mämmi

Finally it's time for Mammi, a Finnish treat for Easter holidays. It's truely a relic of midevil times, and there are dozens of varying recipes for it, as well as recipes that include Mammi in them. I recently heard of one Finnish beer brand up North that even makes a Mammi beer!


The main ingredients include rye malt, rye flour, molasses and orange rind or extract. It's slightly fermented before baked and lasts several days, which is why it took popularity around Lent when on Good Friday, cooking was forbidden. Other symbologies of Mammi during Easter include it's laxative properties, which represents the purging of our sins (oops, should have thought of that before I started eating massloads for breakfast this morning right from the box!)

Finnish people either love it or hate it, and they serve it to foreigners with glee, awaiting with baited breaths the expected look of horror when a newbie sees Mammi for the first time. Afterall, it looks like dog excrement in a box. But it's good I swear! I know we eat with our eyes, so if you want to eat it like the Finns do, you can either pour a little cream over top and sprinkle it with sugar, eat it 'a la mode' or spread it on a piece of bread.

Here I'll provide the basic recipe, but I warn you that it's much easier just to buy the premade produce in this case. If you're truly adventurous, or don't live in Finland but are curiuos enough to give this a shot, here it is:


This recipe is for quite a large amount of Mammi, but if you're going to go through all the trouble, you might as well make a lot and then have some to share!

• 7 litres water
• 2 kg rye flour
• 1/2 kg rye malt
• 3 tbs syrup or molasses
• 2 tbs salt
• the grated orange rind of two oranges

1. Heat the water to about 60C.
2. Using about 2 litres of water, mix in just enough flour and malt to make a thick but soupy mixture, likened to porridge.
3. Sprinkle a thin layer of more flour and malt on top and let the mixture sit one hour to sweeten.
4. Add another litre of hot water to that mixture, mix in more flour and malt to regain a thick consistency, and sprinkle generously with more malt and flour and let sit again.
5. Continue step 4, until all flour, malt and water has been used.
6. Cook on low heat for about an hour, stirring frequently, adding the other spices, such as orange peel, salt and molasses.
7. Remove from heat and continue stirring while cools.
8. Place in several small containers (made from Birch if you like!) and bake on about 100C for several hours.
9. Allow to cool and serve chilled, with cream, sugar, ice cream or however you like

Normally, I'd have an Easter brunch with friends that don't otherwise have family in Helsinki to celebrate Easter with. This year, my current apartment is doesn't have the living area space big enough to be conducive to such a thing. But in any case, I'm moving in a few weeks to my own studio apartment! Other Easter things I had aspired to make, but won't make because I am celebrating alone this year? Paskha and Kulich (Russian desserts). That doesn't mean I can't make them on a day which isn't Easter, right?

Cloudberry and Lingonberry Custard Pie

I literally dreamed this pie up Friday night. Maybe I was hungry. Maybe Finland is finally getting under my skin. Maybe I just needed to have my fix of sweetness.... Whatever the reason, it was still in my head after I woke up. After I had brunch at Fanny Goes to Hollywood on Bulevardi, I was all the more inspired to do some cooking of my own.

• Basic pie crust
• 2.5 dl cooking cream
• 1.5 dl milk
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 dl sugar
• 1 tbs vanilla sugar
• pinch of orange zest
• 1.5 dl lakkahillo (cloudberry jam)
• 100 g puolukka (lingonberries) dusted in flour

1. Bake the pie crust at 175C for about 15 minutes.
2. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla sugar, and orange zest.
3. Heat cloudberry jam in a small pan until it becomes runny.
4. Fold in warm jam into egg mixture.
5. Pour egg and jam mixture into pre-baked pie crust.
6. Sprinkle lingonberries all over the pie.
7. Bake for about 45 minutes or until set.

This turned out well, although a little more egg-y and a little less sweet than I had hoped. I think I will try this recipe again, using more sugar, or more jam (or more of both), and perhaps some orange flavored cream cheese, to make it a hybrid between a custard and a cheesecake. In my dream of this recipe, I also melted some white chocolate and lined the pie crust with it once it had cooled. During execution of the recipe, I wanted to keep things simple and practical, so I omitted the white chocolate- maybe next time. We'll see how it goes. I'm always up for some experimentation!

Basic Cookie dough and variations

Another recent dinner invitation by J & F! I always ask them if I can bring anything and they always say 'no'. Haha, don't they know I'm always dying for an excuse to help out with cooking? This time finally they said 'Cookies!' I was able to arrive a little early to the dinner party to whip up the cookies together. I think doing things like that together is a good way to exchange ideas. And as soon as possible, I am getting the recipe from J of her delicious broccoli pie! So sweet of them to always make vegetarian options to eat every time I come over.

I use a basic cookie dough that is used for good old standard Tollhouse chocolate chips, that goes roughly like this:

• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1 cup of soft butter or baking margerine
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla sugar (or other extracts with variations, like orange or almond extract)
• 2-2 1/4 cup of all purpose flour (will alter the consistency, depending on your tastes)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• optionally any of your favorites: walnuts, almonds, cashews (any kind of nut really), candies (J requested M&M's), raisins, etc.

1. Preheat the oven to 175C.
2. The best way to mix them is with a blender, but if doing it by hand your life will be made easier by this simple order of mixing. Butter and sugar, then eggs, then dry ingredients, until a stiff dough is formed.
3. Mix in the additional stuff by hand, otherwise the blender will chop them up and it won't look as pretty. (although it'll still taste great)
4. Drop spoonfuls or roll a small ball of dough and lay about a dozen per baking sheet, either greased or lined with parchment paper.
5. Bake 8-12 minutes, supervised, so they don't get over cooked (or else you'll miss the chewiness)

Of course, if you vary your dough, you'll vary the end effect. If you like a crispier, thinner cookie, add more white sugar and less butter. If you like it chewier, add more butter. Butter and margerine have a different effect in the baking as well. Real butter is ideal for a chewy cookie.

Some of my favorite variations are those with homemade Dutch caramel and cashews and anything with lots of extra chocolate, like these Double chocolate cookies with peanuts.

This time, I made chocolate cookies with almonds and walnuts, and M&M cookies. The M&M cookies had more flour and I rolled them before placing on the backing sheet, so they turned out a bit more like cake-puffs. The chocolate cookies I spoon dropped onto the sheet, so they had a bit more rustic look to them. For these I added about a quarter cup of cocoa powder into 2 cups of flour.* The dough was not as firm as the M&M cookie dough, so the result was a bit chewier cookie.

*Tip: When adding cocoa powder to dough bases, it's best to add them to the dry ingredients first before adding to the rest. Otherwise, it is so fine that it tends not to mix evenly with the other ingredients.

Laskiaistiistai: Shrove Tuesday Buns

So instead of Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday! Ok, so it might not be as exciting as a parade with plenty of semi nude drunken people, but it's still a fun holiday nonetheless!

Reminiscent of most cultures' 'Fat Tuesday' preceding Lent, food on Laskiaistiistai was meant to be fatty, to symbolize the fattening of the pigs and a good harvest for the coming season. But since Reformation, Lent is not so strongly recognized or practiced in Finland. Instead, we make a point to go sledding with families or friends, eat pea soup, and eat Shrove buns.

I did go sledding with friend in Coffinpuisto off of Bulevardi, nearby a friendly yet trendy cafe, Fanny goes to Hollywood. We had a little picnic of 'pulla' (or buns), drank some warm beverages, and took turns sledding down the hill.

Shrove Tide Buns

• 1 cup warm milk
• 25 g dry active yeast
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3-4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp cardamom crushed coarsely (cinnamon is an acceptable, yet non traditional substitute)
• 1 egg, separated
• 1/2 cup soft butter
• almond flakes or sanding sugar for garnish (optional)
• Whipped cream
• Jelly or sweetened almond paste (marzipan)

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Proof the yeast in warm water with sugar for 10 minutes until foamy.
2. Add the butter, egg yolk, cardamom, salt and 2 cups of flour and mix well.
3. Add more flour, gradually, until the dough is still soft and somewhat sticky, but comes off the bowl easily enough.
4. Knead for several moments to firm the gluten in the dough and eliminate lumps.
5. Let the dough rise for about an hour covered in a warm place, or overnight in the refrigerator.
6. Punch down dough and form into approximately 12 small balls, and place evenly on a baking sheet. Brush with egg whites for the glaze, and sprinkle on any additional garnish. Let rise for about another half an hour.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top.
8. When cooled, cut off top third of the bun and layer jelly (strawberry or raspberry work best) or marzipan, then whipped cream.
9. Replace top third of the bun.

Hyvaa ruoka halua!