Testing, 1-2-3

Golden Vanilla Vegan Cupcakes

"If you are afraid of butter, use cream".
-Julia Child

I am often asked if I am a purist and only use butter when I bake. Yes, I use only butter, and so does the CSCA. It's funny that some people almost seem afraid of butter. Even some of my classmates dislike getting it on their hands. I was actually raised on margarine, probably another one of my parent's money saving tactics. When reading through recipes in my mother's cookbooks and I would come across a recipe calling for butter, my mind would do the instant translation to margarine. It was never questioned. I even made shortbread with margarine (I shudder to think of it now). I only got to taste butter when going out to eat and you'd get the little foil wrapped pats in your bread basket.

At some point in my adult life, probably after I started reading gourmet cooking magazines, I became a butter convert. It wasn't long before I became a firm believer in the one, true and only unsalted butter for baking. My sisters seemed a little shocked when I first told them I had begun baking only with butter. My what a rebel I was!, but they quickly followed suit. Butter really just tastes better and has better results. However it has been said anyone can be bought for a price.

Last week I meet with a lady who plans events and she is interested in hiring me to make some pastries for her events. There is a catch, the pastries need to be Vegan. She asked if I had any experience with making vegan pastries and I had to admit no, but I know that they are possible. Then came the usual question about am I a butter purist. If I am making it for myself or close friends, definitely. But I understand that in this day and age you sometimes need to be flexible. There are so many different dietary restrictions; nut, wheat, egg allergies, lactose intolerance, vegetarian, vegan and kosher lifestyles. I count myself very fortunate to not have any food allergies that I am aware of. I would hate for someone to not be able to experience some of my creations because of a dietary restriction. I am willing to learn how to make vegan and/or gluten free pastries. Not only may it open more creative outlets, but it will allow me to share with a larger audience.

In my first attempt of making a Vegan pastry I tried a recipe from the book, "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World". I tried the basic Golden Vanilla Cupcake recipe. Not too much different from a regular cupcake except their are no eggs. Milk has been substituted with Soy Milk and Butter with Margarine or Oil. I was admittedly a little skeptical at first, but thought if they put in a book and are selling, how bad can it really be? They turned out really good. The cupcakes had a nice texture and crumb. The flavor was good. I would guess most people wouldn't know the difference if they weren't told they were Vegan. Great as they were, I'm not planning on becoming Vegan anytime soon. I'm still a Butter and Eggs kinda girl, but a little experimentation never hurts.

Sweet, cake-y bite

Another project I took on this weekend was making a birthday cake for my friend Adriane. This cake was a mixing of old baking style with new pastry school learning style. I have made this cake recipe over many times and my friends love it so much they personally request it. It is called a Black Russian Cake. It is normally a chocolate cake with Khalua and Creme de Cacoa in it and a sugary syrup of the same poured over it.

I decided this time to make the cake more like the French cakes we have been making in school. I baked the batter in my cake rings, and cut them into thin layers. Instead of mixing the coffee, Creme de cacoa and Khalua with powdered sugar as the recipe instructs, I made a heavy syrup and mixed the coffee and liquours into it and used it to soak the cakes. I then made a coffee mousse to fill between the layers of cake, and a bittersweet Chocolate Ganache to frost the outside of the cake. Adriane loves stars, so of course some bittersweet and white marbled stars were in order for the decorations. I couldn't wait for her to see it.

The cake didn't come out exactly as I had planned, but Adriane thought it was great. I thought my Ganache was a little too stiff and I need to work on my gelatin proportions for mousses. But it was fun to take a basic cake that I have been making for years and reinvent it useing techniques I have learned from school. I'm going to scan some more of my old recipes and see if there are more ones that I can redesign with my new education.