in case you missed part one of the vegan cupcake extravaganza, i’ll catch you up to speed. jamie, tyler, mike, and i perused the cookbook vegan cupcakes take over the world, by isa chandra moskowitz and terry hope romero, and bit off more than we could chew in one night by selecting two recipes. we started the project late in the evening, and didn’t thoroughly read the directions for the creme pie cakes, which includes not one, not two, but THREE steps of chilling ingredients for at least an hour.

now, i don’t know about you, dear readers, but i am not an extremely patient person and i do not like to wait around while my food chills. especially when it comes to dessert. and even more so when we’ve set an arbitrary goal to make two cupcake recipes in one night.

but alas, the refrigeration periods were really necessary to make the cupcakes, so we reconvened the next night to finish them. we grumbled a lot over the time it took to make these suckers, as well as the fact that this recipe called for more page flipping than the last one! but in the end? we came to the unanimous decision that they are most definitely worth the wait. and possibly replaced the lime coconut recipe from the night before as my new favorite cupcakes!

so it’s a little redundant to say i would make them again in a heartbeat, but i really would (let me know if you need cupcakes made for any reason, people!) – because after knowing how the vanilla creme in the middle mixes with the rich chocolate ganache on top and light, flavorful cake on the outside, i realized they are really worth the wait! enjoy the decadence!

brooklyn vs boston creme pie cakes

adapted from vegan cupcakes take over the world, by isa chandra moskowitz and terry hope romero
yields 12 cupcakes

• filling
• 1/2c soy milk
• 1/2t agar powder or 1½t agar flakes
• 4t arrowroot powder
• 6oz silken tofu
• 1/3c superfine sugar (we used granulated, and it worked just fine)
• dash salt
• 1½t vanilla

• ganache
• 1/4c soy milk
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 2T maple syrup
  

• cupcake
• 1c soy milk
• 1t apple cider vinegar
• 1¼c all purpose flour
• 2T cornstarch
• 3/4t baking powder
• 1/2t baking soda
• 1/4t salt
• 1/2c non-hydrogenated fake butter
• 3/4c granulate sugar
• 2¼t vanilla
  ______________________________

1. for the filling, pour 1/3c soy milk into a small saucepan (keep the remaining soy in the measuring cup, you’ll need it in a minute) over medium heat and add agar, stirring constantly
2. bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 4 more minutes, until the agar is completely dissolved (we used agar flakes and it took longer than 4 minutes to dissolve, and never really dissolved completely. the creme still turned out delicious)
3. whisk arrowroot powder into rest of soy milk, and add to agar mixture, constantly stirring
4. allow to cook for 2 more minutes, until it resembles a thick pudding, then remove from heat and chill for an hour
5. crumble tofu into blender, add the sugar, salt, and cooked arrowroot mixture and blend until creamy
6. add vanilla and blend again
7. scrape mixture into a container and cover, then let chill for another hour
8. for the ganache, bring soy milk to a gentle boil in a small sauce pan
9. immediately remove from heat and add chocolate and maple syrup
10. stir mixture until it is fully melted and smooth, then set aside til ready to use
11. for the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350º and line muffin pan with cupcake liners
12. whisk soy milk and vinegar together and set aside a few minutes to curdle (it’s kind of gross, but don’t skip this step, the cupcakes will be delicious)
13. sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and ensure combined
14. cream fake butter and sugar for 2 minutes until light and fluffy, then beat in vanilla
15. alternate beating in soy milk/apple cider mixture and dry ingredients
16. bake for 22 minutes, then remove and allow to completely cool
17. make a hole in the center of each cupcake, then press the sides and bottom of hole to make it larger (we tried just making a small hole with a thimble and it really didn’t work, so you should definitely follow these directions)
18. fill a pastry bag with a large nozzle, then place filling into bag
19. press tip into cupcake and fill each center with as much filling as possible
20. spread the tops of the cupcakes with ganache
21. chill for one hour and FINALLY enjoy!

hi there! are you still reading? if so, i wanted to let you in on a tip: the ganache recipe above is amazing. i made it as a topping to my mom’s chocolate birthday cake, and it is now my go-to ganache recipe, because it’s so simple and not too sweet – it’s practically perfect in every way!

for the main course, i had to go with the eggplant tagine after my recent education/obsession with tagines! the dish had five distinctly different and delicious components: couscous with mint, pistachio “pesto,” coconut lentils, sauteed veggies, and eggplant that was not doused in oil and still firm and very flavorful.

mike decided on the mediterranean wellington, which featured phyllo dough encased seitan, potatoes, and veggies, along with braised apples and fennel, sauteed mushrooms, a faux cheese sauce, and black olives marinated with candied oranges.

i can’t recount in detail the rest of our group’s amazing entrees, but everything looked amazing and all of us left the restaurant full and content and barely able to manage a slice of barbara’s mouthwatering apple pie.

after a brisk walk from our hotel in brisbane around the marina the next morning, we headed to the farmer’s market at the ferry building and enjoyed consuming and oggling all kinds of food under the surprisingly hot san francisco sun. what a celebration!

1. we began the month celebrating jamie’s birthday at sky high sports, where we jumped to our heart’s content on a humongous trampoline, dove into foam, and played some dodgeball. we capped off the night with some thai food, a lemon cake, and vegan chocolate banana muffins.  exercise evaluation: it was more challenging to jump on trampolines for an hour than i ever imagined it could be, but also more fun, totally meriting an achy back for the next few days. food evaluation: delicious, filling, varied.

2. shortly thereafter, we proceeded to celebrate tyler’s birthday at the new norcal sports complex, where we took turns batting:

this delightful party ended with some taco bell chow at the new fancy taco bell on mission street, a blueberry pie & an apple pie, and a stimulating game of riff. exercise evaluation: this involved some serious hand eye coordination, and out of nowhere, old tips from my parents started emanating from some long-lost corner of my brain – like “keep your eye on the ball, step into it as you swing, make sure to really swing through, choke up on the bat,”  etc, etc. my arms could definitely feel the exercise the next day. food evaluation: unusual (haven’t had tb in a LONG time), ended the night groaning with fullness.

3. in the middle of all the birthdays, we paused for a respite with shoveling dirt at a dear friend’s house, then helping plant a garden in front of her new home, then helping her move into said house. exercise evaluation: exhausting manual labor that felt good but led to the realization that i could probably never chose farming for a career. food evaluation: delicious – over the course of 3 weekends, we were treated to easter jelly beans and m&ms, scrumptious dharma’s food, an amazing veggie & cheese tray from gayle’s and perfect pastry cakes from the buttery, not to mention delicious ice cold new-refrigerator-filtered-water.

4. in continuing with the deviation from the stream of birthdays, we celebrated easter with my family’s religion: delicious food! exercise evaluation: the easter baskets contained frisbees made out of nylon that can be folded and packed to take to any event.  the afternoon deteriorated into three frisbees flying all over the living room while ness and mike challenged each other to a frisbee/juggling match.  food evaluation: we put together an absolutely amazing brunch, with every family member pitching in to make something tasty.

5. getting back to the regularly scheduled birthdays, we celebrated chuck’s birthday (mike’s dad). chuck’s birthday is technically in between jamie and tyler’s, but he and barb were in arizona for the big day at spring training, so we all celebrated when they visited santa cruz. they stayed at our house while in town, so mike and i utilized a towel oragami book (thanks, dad!) to create a birthday cake made out of towels….yes, it was a little martha stewart-y, but pretty cool too. exercise evaluation: rolling towels for oragmi may not be incredibly physically challenging, but truly a test of mental endurance. food evaluation: we enjoyed delicious mexican entrees and margaritas (ok, not me – you all know about me and margaritas.  and if you don’t, ask mike – i don’t want to relive that story!) from palapas followed by creamy and sweet flan, all while watching the gorgeous sunset over the water.

6. last but definitely not least, we celebrated my dad’s 60th birthday in san francisco with a trip to the legion of honor to see the annie leibovitz photos and the dead sea scrolls, then headed to el mansour for a moroccan feast.  exercise evaluation: standing and looking at art work for hours can be quite challenging for the legs, not to mention the long walk we had from our car to the legion of honor and back. food evaluation: this event packed in two meals, with a brie and kalamata olive filled picnic prior to the museum and a delicious 5 course moroccan meal afterwards that was completey fabulous.

so, dear readers, there you have it: a trip through the pogan’s march madness.  in between all of the eating, exerising, and eating some more, it’s completely understandable why i didn’t blog for almost a whole month, right?!?