Checkerboard Cake (and tutorial)! And some brownies.

A few years ago I found myself eyeing a checkerboard cake kit in the baking section of a craft store. Later I discovered special pans are completely unnecessary to achieve that effect.
I give to you…the checkerboard mini cake!

The cake is your basic cupcake batters from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, with chocolate peanut butter spread between layers.

I think I felt the need to have a reason to make a cake so it didn’t seem like it was just for the hell of it like it really was, so here’s the special occasion I came up with while piping on the words and not really paying attention to what I was writing. “Happy Kelly’s Last Week in Home”?

Here’s how to do it:

I was asked to make some brownies for a party last weekend, so these are a heavily modified version of the Fudgy Brownies in Vive Le Vegan, complete with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

Recent Eats

I only have a week left until I move to Milwaukee (without a kitchen, so I presume my blog posts will become quite creative), so I think I’m going to start cooking more elaborate meals this week when I have a fully-loaded kitchen.

Pad Thai (somewhat of a combination of the Thai Bowl from Yellow Rose Recipes and Brooklyn Pad Thai from Vegan with a Vengeance )

Sauteed Kale and Crispy Kale Chips atop pasta, drizzled with Goddess dressing and tossed with cherry tomatoes and small pieces of mozzarella Teese

Potato Salad
This is the potato salad I grew up on, veganized. SO good. I hope to include the recipe in a future (very future) zine.

I had just finished my container of PB and Co’s Dark Chocolate Dreams, so I decided to mix up my own version with sugar syrup, cocoa powder, and vanilla added to peanut butter. This works better with melted chocolate chips, but I didn’t have any on hand.
On toast (with sprinkles, why not?):

And new in my Etsy shop, knitted rainbow pride pillow! Check it out!

There are still a few Vegan Candyland zines remaining as well!

Vegan Candyland Zine and Stuffed Felt Veggies now available!!!

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE ON ETSY

****NOW SHIPS WORLDWIDE****

$3.25

The first in a series of cookzines from the blog, Seitan Beats Your Meat, this issue is all about DIY candymaking. The recipes are easy to follow and produce sweet and satisfying gourmet-like results. Complete with cute little illustrations on each recipe page.

Recipes include:
Fudge
Peanut Butter Fudge
Chewy Caramels
Baby Ruths
Bullseyes
Peanut Butter Cups
Butterfinger Bars
Peanut Butter Eggs
Coconut Cream Eggs
Crunchy Toffee
Kit Kats
Nutty Bars
Tootsie Rolls

Also, I’m selling little stuffed vegetables on Etsy. There’s eggplants, tomatoes, garlic, and carrots! Get in sets of 3 or 4, or individually! I spent all week sewing them together and am super happy to finally have them for you guys!

Mini Muffs, Teese, and Toast

Mini Mocha Chip Muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance
I’ve made these muffins dozens of times. VwaV is always my go-to book when I feel like cookin’ something.

Teese Pizza, Braided Breadstick, and Garlic “Butter” Sauce
There has been a lot of talk about Papa John’s pizza with garlic sauce on the PPK recently, which inspired me to accompany my Teese pizza with breadsticks made from extra pizza dough and garlic sauce, which is basically melted Earth Balance with granulated garlic mixed in. You could also probably make a less skanky version with real garlic infused in the margarine, but we’re replicating the garlic sauce of a chain pizza joint (which incidentally happens to be vegan, fyi), so granulated or powdered garlic is perfect for this homemade version.

Dancing at discos, eating Teese on toast..
Also with the mozzarella Teese, I made toast topped with tomatoes and melty Teese sprinkled with fresh dill and black pepper.

Toast Art
I striped this toast with regular peanut butter and Peanut Butter and Company’s Dark Chocolate Dreams, which is really really good by the way.

Cheddar Teese and Review of Go Max Go Candy Bar

Here’s some of the loot from Ethical Planet in Evanston, IL (Not pictured: Luv A Dub Cranberry Pomegranate Soap OMG, Ricemellow Cream, Desert Essence Organics Grape Lip Gloss, and Merry Hempsters Lip Balm). I got two packages of Teese, cheddar and mozzarella, and one of the new candy bars from Go Max Go, the Twilight Bar.

Teese Fries were imperative with cheddar Teese in the house.

Grilled Teese on homemade beer bread from Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen (the Sun Dried Tomato Bread, minus the tomatoes plus herbs and coarse salt), with a iced coffee/”hot” chocolate drink.

Refried Bean Taco

Not Teese, but after recent indulgent foodventures, a fruit and veggie plate for dinner one night sounded really really good. I made it through about half.

I also got to try one of the new candy bars from Go Max Go Foods, the Twilight Bar.

It was pretty good! The caramel was smooth and the nougat was lovely. It doesn’t remind me of a Milky Way bar exactly, but it’s a nice treat. I haven’t had milk chocolate since before I was vegan, over four years ago, so I’m used to dark chocolate. I think a dark chocolate version of these candy bars would be yummy too!

Nice inside shot

Louzilla and Kelly: The Chicago Food

Pick Me Up Cafe after Pride
3408 N. Clark Street

Cheese Fries

Falafel Wrap

A few pictures from Pride

Veggie Bite
1300 N. Milwaukee Ave.
We met up with molasses jane and zuzucooks (and her boyfriend, Alap) from the PPK for Veggie Bite and iCream.

Italian Beef Sandwich

Chili Cheese Dog

Philly Cheesesteak

Veggie Burger

Chili Cheese Fries

Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake

DHAC and Oreo Milkshake

iCream
1537 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Our next stop was iCream, the new ice cream place in Wicker Park where you choose your milk (soy), a flavoring, and add-ins if you choose. Then it goes in a Kitchenaid mixer with liquid nitrogen and you have your ice cream mere minutes later.

She got coffee (left) and I got grape (right).

The Chicago Diner is a necessary stop for any vegan or vegetarian visiting Chicago, so I would’ve been a pretty crappy “tour guide” to leave it out of our week.
3411 N. Halsted Street

We were all milkshake-d out from the week (not pictured are milkshakes from Earwax as well), so we decided to go for another kind of ice cream drink, Root Beer Floats.

Louzilla

Me

I had the Dagwood Sandwich

She had the notorious Radical Reuben. I believe this sandwich has won an award. It’s so freaking good.

Our last stop was Evanston. We went to Ethical Planet (more on that later), Addis Abeba Ethiopian Restaurant and Blind Faith Cafe for dessert.

My friend Lemon joined us on this day.

Chocolate Cake from Blind Faith Cafe

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake from Blind Faith Cafe

(My Harry Potter shirt was bought at the Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry! If you’re into HP, go! We loved it.)

The food set:
The whole set:

Louzilla and Kelly: The Homemade Food

DontHaveACow came and stayed with me for a week and a half recently (explanation for my blogging hiatus) and here is part of the food aspect of her visit, the stuff we made at home.

Tofu Omelette from Vegan Brunch
We filled it with potatoes, onions, Tofurkey slices, and black bean salsa.

Pancakes from my recipe
We added blueberries and chocolate chips, topped them with Cherry Chip Soy Creamy ice cream from Trader Joe’s.

Pierogis from Vegan Brunch

Louzilla/DontHaveACow

Me/Kelly

The Rainbow Cake

All decorated

Inside shot

Sliced

Elaborate Breakfast of Leftovers
Drippy rainbow titcake, HM gay cake, pierogi, mango, blueberries.

Tacos!
Refried beans, guacamole, olives, tomatoes, lettuce, and salsa.

Seitan Stirfry
With red and orange peppers, and watermelon.

Sparkler Pie
Chocolate chip cookie crust, peanut butter fudge layer, cherry chip ice cream layer, peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough layer, and chocolate ganache on top.

The food set:
The whole set:

Yum, cheeze fries.

Yesterday I had the impulse to make some kind of cheezy fries. I only had one small potato, so I ended up with a modest portion of oven baked fries and put a few tortilla chips on the plate to hold the remaining cheeze sauce.
I used the recipe for the innards of Gooey Grilled Cheese from the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook, thinned out with a bit of water to make a saucier consistency. I love this recipe because the cheese is mild, yet extremely flavorful. It doesn’t have that unpleasant “bite” from the nutritional yeast as I’ve experienced with other sauces.
All in all, this vegan version of cheese fries is so tasty and decadent, but also on the wholesome side since the fries are baked, not fried, and the cheese sauce doesn’t rely on a ton of margarine for its creaminess.

Pancakes

I immensely enjoy making pancakes. I used to make them every Sunday as a kid and although that tradition hasn’t continued exactly, I do make them almost weekly, a different variation every time.
Here’s a little pancake compilation.

Three Kinds: Blueberry, raspberry, and chocolate chip

Tip #1: Flip your pancakes when the batter starts to bubble and the bubbles remain, but don’t wait until they all remain or they will be too brown.

French Vanilla Coffee Pancakes with Strawberries and Chocolate Drizzle

Tip #2: Lower temperature, longer cooking time. A high temperature will result in browned pancakes on the outside, but they’ll be underdone on the inside.

Pink Strawberry Pancakes

Mini Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Tip #3: There are no limitations on pancakes add-ins! Try all kinds of berries, dried fruits, nuts, or chocolate. Dried cranberry chocolate chip is really good!

Coconut Pancakes

Here is my all-purpose pancake recipe that I change up and add stuff to all the time. Enjoy!

Pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or more white flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
some salt
1/2 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups soy milk
1 tablespoon margarine

Combine all dry ingredients, stir with a whisk.
Make a well in the middle and add applesauce, vanilla, and soy milk. Stir until almost combined.
Preheat pancake pan(s) (I use non-stick pans, but whatever) at medium heat, rub some margarine on one of the pans and melt the rest in the other. Pour melted margarine into the pancake batter and stir until combined.
Drop by large spoonfuls or pour batter onto the pan and flip when bubbles start to form. Don’t let them turn too brown if you want them to look colorful, but don’t undercook. Repeat and eat!

Food that looks like dessert

I work in a bakery as a cake decorator and I guess I can’t seem to stop. making. cakes.
But this one is a little more nutritious and filling than its sugary counterpart. The cake layers are made from cornbread and the frosting is actually mashed potatoes, blended super smooth with a hand blender. Then garnished with avocado slices, salsa, and carrot slices.

I’ve made a sweet potato frosting variation previously, but I didn’t have sweet potatoes today, so I opted for plain white potatoes with roasted garlic, Earth Balance, and spices blended in for flavor.

Sliced

Making a decked out cornbread cake is more of a guideline than a recipe.
You’ll need: cornbread baked in cake pans (see my recipe below), a big bowl of mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes (5-6 medium-sized russet potatoes was sufficient), salsa and maybe some black or refried beans for filling, and avocado/carrot/olives/anything for garnish.

Kelly’s Cornbread

Double this recipe to bake in mini cake pans

1 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry or white whole wheat flour
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 TB non-dairy milk
1/3 cup sugar or ¼ cup agave nectar (reduce the amount for savory)
2 1/2 TB vegetable or corn oil
3 TB applesauce
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
dash salt
1/3-1/2 cup raisins, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes (opt.)
Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients in a medium to large mixing bowl.

Mix in soymilk, oil, then applesauce. Stir. Fold in plump raisins if using.

Spray/grease 8×4 baking pan with oil.

Pour mix in pan and bake for 15-20 min or until you can poke the center with a toothpick and it comes out clean.

Slice and enjoy.

Serves: 9-10 slices