Birthright.

My mother was baking cookies when she went into labor with me. It's really a chicken vs egg situation. Was she baking cookies because I was on the way or did the smell of the cookies tempt me out of the womb? Considering the intensity of July heat, I'd like to think my sweet tooth was already calling the shots. 

I decided it was high time I start whipping up a few batches myself after I bought a Cuisinart last fall. It was the first time taking a crack at them since my sophomore year at Rutgers. Cookies are deceptively tricky to back. It's all about finding the right recipe and keeping your eyes on the clock. So far, I've made chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips and the reverse. 

Eat Your Heart Out!

First and foremost, let us please bow our heads a give a moment of silence to my hand mixer. Poor thing died while stirring the batter. I've had it since college and it gave me some good years. Especially considering I bought it for $10 at a CH Martin in New Brunswick. You've in a better place now, but your legacy lives on. RIP.

So Saturday morning I decided to finally bust out my heart shaped mini cake pans. I don't know what absurdly sappy mood I was in the day I bought those cake pans, but they are kinda fun. And it was my friends birthday which was another good excuse. {Joyeux Anniversaire Garan!} I took a basic chocolate cake recipe from the back of a Toll House container and I improved it. One tip for keeping the moisture in vegan baking is to use natural applesauce instead of eggs. 1/4 of a cup of natural applesauce {I stress natural for a reason} equals 1 egg.

Another tip is to not over fill the cake pans. I remembered that about 10 minutes after I put them in the oven. The end result is not too terrible but I had to trim them down a bit.

Whoops!

I made a cream cheese frosting to top it off. So pretty!

 

Coconut Pudding Cake w Ganache & Toasted Almonds. {What?!?!}

So, I was dead set on baking a coconut pudding cake today. The problem is that I couldn't find a recipe that wasn't, "Take a yellow cake mix, add pudding mix, and some extra ish." What's a girl to do? It's simple really. I found a recipe for yellow cake from scratch, added the pudding mix, and some of my own extra ish. I would say it's not easy being a genius, but sometimes it is. Savor! 

Birthday Suit

Lusciousness . . .

Awww, Shit, look who's dressed up and hittin' the town!

One of the benefits to eating beans all day is that you have room/calories to indulge in some sweets. I prefer to bake my own so I know exactly what I'm ingesting & digesting. I found this simple peanut butter chocolate chip brownie recipe on cooks.com. I actually found 6oz of chocolate chips to be too rich for my blood, so I made a ganache and blended it through the batter. They came out perfectly soft & moist. Fantastic recipe.

New Pie Smell!

Peep this coconut sweet potato custard pie. 

Heaven!

Ahhh, look at that shine! 

Happiness is . . .

Fresh cornbread in the morning! I made the recipe on the side of the Indian Head Cornmeal Bag with a few minor alterations. I tried & failed to find a link to it, but I did come across some moonshine concoctions. These might pair well with the Southern Style Breakfast I had of cornbread, fried fish, & scrambled eggs w hot sauce.