Pretty, pretty food...

And lots of it. Happy spring all!






Cilantro-pignoli pesto on brown rice fettucine and steamed broccoli.












Fried plantains and citrus-cayenne-garlic black beans and corn over brown rice with avocado, salsa and cilantro-basil-pecan pesto.












Pistachio rosewater cookies from Veganomicon are fantastic, just make sure not to over bake them!










Really delicious coconut cupcakes from an everybody loves sandwiches recipe. The texture is a little more dense than the VCTOTW coconut-lime recipe, which my sister and I decided tasted somehow more traditional. Like the cupcakes you brought in for an elementary school bake sale or class birthday. Also note the ironic decorative papers-- Easter eggs on ovo-free baked goods, heh.

PB&J, Ginger-Chocolate, and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip with Cinnamon Icing Cupcakes

Made cupcakes for office's "Happy Designated Mid-Month Birthday Lunchbreak" party. Both of the other vegans at work were born in February, so I had to come through, plus my baking was subsidized by the petty cash box. Oh, I *have* come a long way baby, I have. Now, why do you ask?

The trio in all their glory: PB&J are the Fluffy White Cupcakes from Schmooed Food that always seem to come out perfectly topped with VCTOTW peanut butter frosting, which, if made correctly (use the mixer for the correct amount of time people) comes out super awesome. They are also filled with organic raspberry jam of course. Also pictured are the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing from Vegan Cupcakes take over the World. I had been skeptical that these would be muffin-y, but behold, very cake-y and the extreme cinnamon goo on top was a nice compliment. Finally we have Ginger-Chocolate Cupcakes which are just the basic chocolate recipe from VCTOTW with a ginger infused ganache topped with chopped crystallized ginger. They look very classy-like but are quite simple to pull off.


Here is a shot of the PB&J cakes sliced open. Look at the cute little "v" I made by scooping cones out of the cake tops, filling the holes with jam and re-inserting the cake bit. It was um, so intentional...

The Joy of The Joy of Vegan Baking

Buy this cookbook now-- there are no excuses. Observe:


Pumpkin cheesecake. Perfect for the Thanksgiving, duh! This is a more "cheesy" cheesecake, so add more brown sugar if you want to cut that tartness a bit.
















Strawberry cupcakes really do have a subtle strawberry flavor so please use organic fruit in there. Topped with vanilla buttercream (best vegan buttercream I've had so far.)















Pumpkin bread (canola oil variation with chocolate chips.) I forgot to take a picture of them, but the loaves rise beautifully. This was really popular with everyone, and I'll be making it again soon and probably adding some nuts and dried cranberries to the mix.















Chocolate peanut-butter no-bake pie...tastes like a giant truffle and is insanely easy.















Lemon bars. Perhaps my favorite of all: pretty, not too complicated, no crazy-sounding ingredients.















Cocoa spice muffins. You *must* make these with the cayenne!













I really can't say enough good things about this cookbook, or Colleen. I met her at the Boston Veg Fest and she is so sweet in person. If you haven't already you should totally check out her Vegetarian Food For Thought Podcast (link to your left) and her cooking DVD which is really well done. Everything I've made so far from JOVB has been gorgeous and delicious. You may want to add a little extra sugar to a few of the recipes (I'd say the cheesecake and muffins benefit from just a little extra) but that is subject to taste. Just test the batter before it goes it the oven.