Vegan Lifestyle

[magosienne]

Allow me to brag, i celebrated my birthday in advance and i made my own birthday cake

It's a chocolate/strawberry one i adapted from Vegan with a vengeance (the original recipe called for raspberries), and my mother couldn't believe there wasn't any egg in the cake

. Everyone enjoyed it and no one realised it was vegan !

 

[HairEgo]

OoOoO You should post the receipe!

 

[magosienne]

Here it comes !

Raspberry blackout cake with ganache-y icing

Serves 12

175g/6oz plain flour

50g/2oz cocoa powder

1teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

350ml/12 fl oz plain rice or soy milk (i use soy milk)

125ml/4 fl oz rapeseed oil

275g/10 oz raspberry preserves (reserve half for the batter)=>i used my homemade strawberry jam

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (which i didn't have)

250g/9 oz sugar (i actually used cane sugar and 200g)

Fresh raspberries for decorating and yumminess=> fresh strawberries

*Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Spray two 20cm/8 inch round springform cake tins with cooking spray. If you don't have springform then use parchment paper rounds on the bottoms of two ordinary 20cm/8inch cake tins to prevent sticking.

*Sift together the flour, the cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Combine the rice/soy milk, oil, half the jam, the vanilla extract and the sugar and mix in a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer or a strong fork. The jam should be mostly dissolved with the rest of the ingredients ; some small clumps are ok. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches and mix until everything is incorporated. Divide the batter betweenthe two cake tins and bake at 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 for 40 to 45 minutes (45 for me), or until a cocktail stick or knife comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in tins.

=> i baked them the night before, mostly to gain time the next day.

*When the cakes have cooled fully, spread one layer or cake with a thin layer of the reserved raspberry jam (give the jam a quick mix with a strong fork for spreadable consistency) ; spread a layer of chocolate icing on top of the jam. Place the other layer of cake on top and spread its top with jam. Carefully spread the chocolate icing over the top, then ice the sides. I like to put a circle of fresh raspberries around the circumference of the top. If you happen to have a pipping bag and nozzles around, you can alternate a rosebud or a star flourish with a raspberry, and a few raspberries in the center will finish it off.

That's pretty much what i did !

Book : Vegan with a vengeance - Isa Chandra Moskowitz

I'm going to eat dinner so the ganache recipe will follow after !

 

[HairEgo]

Oh man, my tummy is growling after reading that....I'm gonna try to make that for mothers day next weekend

Thanks for sharing!

 

[magosienne]

Chocolate ganache-y icing

If you don't plan on decorating the cake, you can halve the recipe.

175ml/6 fl oz soy cream

6 tablespoon margarine

275g/10oz plain chocolate chips (i used regular chocolate cut in squares)

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the soy cream to a low boil. Add the margarine and melt, turn off the heat, and stir chocolate chips until smooth. Let sit for at least 1 hour. It should still have a pourable consistency at this point. If you want a spreadable consistency then refrigerate for an hour (if you refrigerate for more than a few hours, it sets too much to spread easily, so you will need to reheat it, then let it sit at room temperature before using).

I was surprised because this cake allows you to be greedy and still manages to be light, i think it's because of the soycream&milk and the absence of eggs, truly vegan desert recipes are great !!

I also have three other books from that author, and i really suggest Vegan cupcakes take over the world. I don't about the world, but my kitchen certainly ! The second book about cookies and bars is just out, i haven't tested any recipe (yet) but omg, the pictures, yumminess !!

 

[Johnnie]

I've been wanting to try chocolate cakes with preserves but they were intimidating. This one sounds good. Have you tried it with whole wheat pastry flour because our family doesn't eat white flour? Ever since I transitioned from AP flour to only whole grain, the texture obviously lacks but I find it also depends on the baked good. For me, it's especially cakes.

Isn't that ganache amazing? I've always frosted my baked goods with this and it's so addicting. I only use Earth Balance vegan buttery spread. That stuff is better than real butter.

 

[magosienne]

Oh yes, i actually think about making it again and add hazelnuts finely chopped and slightly roasted, i think a ganache makes a very good base for homemade Nutella.

I even found a vegetable margarine without any dairy stuff in it at my supermarket, we don't have Earth Balance here and it's hard to find margarine that doesn't include some dairy stuff in it (and lactose ! it's a cruel world for allergics). I wish we had, everywhere i search for vegan recipes, i hear good things about Earth Balance.

I used basic wheat flour (that's what we had in the cupboard), and i didn't want to try a gluten free mix and ruin my cake. I don't think it would make such a difference, if you're worried it would be too heavy, you could always use less wheat flour and add some cornstarch instead.

I'm not used to baking with jam, the cakes were cooked, they just looked shiny, probably because of the rapeseed oil. But i also had to bake them without baking soda, it's a mini quest to find some here.

 

[Seraphine]

A quick hello from a fellow vegan

I am big on raw and organic foods.

 

[magosienne]

Hi !

I'm not so much into raw food myself, apart from the salad i eat at work. I like buying organic whne i can, especially bananas. I'm very fond of them and the ones we get at the supermarket comes from a polluted ground due to the intensive use of pesticides

.

 

[Johnnie]

Originally Posted by Seraphine /img/forum/go_quote.gif A quick hello from a fellow vegan

I am big on raw and organic foods.

Well, well, well...this is great! Hi and welcome! ;^)
Have you tried any spaghetti, pates, "cremes" and other gourmet-type recipes?

I have found Jennifer Cornbleet's Mediterranean Kale salad to be so good!

Hey Mag, have you tried the cake recipes w/out rapeseed oil? Like sub'd for apple sauce or another oil?

 

[magosienne]

No, actually the rapeseed oil is new for me, i usually use canola oil, and i see no difference. They both have the same viscosity and a neutral taste, so to me why use one over the one depends on what's left in stock.

Or i use my "sexy low fat" vanilla cupcakes recipe (it's from Cupcakes take over the world, i love that cookbook). It substitutes apple sauce for a large part of the oil amount and it uses soy yogurt.

 

[Seraphine]

Originally Posted by Johnnie /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, well, well...this is great! Hi and welcome! ;^)
Have you tried any spaghetti, pates, "cremes" and other gourmet-type recipes?

I have found Jennifer Cornbleet's Mediterranean Kale salad to be so good!

Hi Johnnie!Thank you

Yes I've done the gourmet raw foods, but I am more interested in the simplicity of raw foods these days. When I lived in NY I would go to these raw food cafe's often and they are ingenious! But I do feel that they are a bit too heavy for me, but yeah, every now and then, it's wonderful

I try not to eat 100% raw because that makes it harder to go back to eating something cooked, and I like to be open to eating out non-raw every now and then too!

Great to be in this thread with vegan make up talk girls!

 

[vicky86]

Originally Posted by Johnnie /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been Vegan for a while now and I must say that I love it. I feel very good: physically and mentally. Never was I a big fruit and vegetable fan but boy was I missing out. They're so good! Anywho..for my own personal reasons I've chosen to avoid meats and dairy. If you'd like to know why just visit MeetYourMeat.com. I'lll never look at food the same way ever again. Woo!

My meals consist of fruit/nuts for breakfast, vegetables for lunch, beans/vegetables/grain for dinner, and nuts/fruit as snacks. I also restrict my beverage intake to water only. Preferably, lemon water.

The best things I've noticed is the increase in my energy levels, I sleep better, no more headaches and I've lost 10lbs without trying

I'd like to know if anyone else is living Vegan and if you'd like to share, why?

Oh, admire you. If it's me, I cannot insist long time

 

[Johnnie]

^Thanks Vicky!

Seraphine: I agree simplicity is better. I had so much fun doing the 'gourmet' thing. I'll do it once in a while still.

On a side note, I almost forgot to mention that Smashbox cosmetics and Gabriel Cosmetics are Vegan

 

[SalJ]

I've been vegan for about 2 1/2 years now and I love it and can never see myself going back. I feel much better. I gained weight though when I became vegan! hahaha, all those amazing baked goods and great food I think!

Someone mentioned the skinny ***** books above. I would just say if you're considering going vegan, please don't buy skinny ***** in the kitch!! It's a terrible book - the right message is there in the first one I know, although I don't like the way they put it across. But the recipes are rubbish - I don't need a book telling me how to make 4 types of veggie burger with a pre-bought patty.

They rely way too much on shop bought fake meats and cheeses - something I've never really liked most of since going vegan (with a few exceptions).

There are so many other great recipe books and resources out there by some brilliant authors like veganomicon, 500 vegan recipes, eat drink be vegan, vegan with a vengeance ......

I don't find being vegan hard at all, except occasionally when my friends want to eat in a pub or something. Most restaurants are cool but I struggle in pubs and usually have to end up with chips.

And make up too. So many of the less expensive brands are animal tested and nearly all of them contain either beeswax, lanolin or carmine. Even MAC - a lot of their products have beeswax and anything in the pink / red / purple (and some browns) colour range has carmine in. I wish cosmetic companies would stop using it - it gross anyway!!

I have a lot of non vegan stuff I bought in my pregan days still but I try not to buy anything new that I know isn't vegan. Thank god blacktrack fluidline is ok!!

 

[Johnnie]

^Thank you so much for the post!

I haven't read that book yet but if they've suggested as you said, different ways to make a meatless meat burger than eehhhh no, not interested thanks. LOL. I'll be sure to not purchase that book.

I get most of my recipes online. Many I simply vegan-ize because it's not that hard.

I'll never understand why they use ingredients like that either. There are plenty of great vegan products that are just as good. I haven't used blacktrack yet but that's good it's vegan?

Just had to add yet another eye popping, tear jerking, hearth aching, will make you rage video *sigh*

Meat.org | The Website the Meat Industry Doesn't Want You to See (WARNING GRAPHIC)

 

[BeautifullyMADE]

Wow, thanxs for your post Johnnie! Im not vegan because I love dairy, but I actually have decided to go vegetarian (today marks one week!). I have gone without meat before and did it for about 2 months...then starting back eating meat..now I am back to doing without. I mainly made the decision to go without eating meat for personal reasons.

I mean there are so many benefits you receive along with cutting out meat of your diet. The transition for me wasn't hard and I still cook non vegetarian meals for my family. So, it works well with me and for me. Not everyone can do it..I will say that.

I absolutely looove the way I feel without eating meat...I am already starting to see results with my weight and my skin is much clearer too!

I do remember watching a vid on peta and it brought me to tears..literally and know that eventually I with go vegan but for now I am sticking to doing just without meat.

Congrats everyone who has made the decision to go vegan/vegetarian! Love the support you guys are giving too.

Chelle

 

[SalJ]

BeautifullyMADE - WOOOO on your decision to go veg! Going veg was the best thing I ever did in my life.

 

[Johnnie]

Originally Posted by BeautifullyMADE /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow, thanxs for your post Johnnie! Im not vegan because I love dairy, but I actually have decided to go vegetarian (today marks one week!). I have gone without meat before and did it for about 2 months...then starting back eating meat..now I am back to doing without. I mainly made the decision to go without eating meat for personal reasons.
I mean there are so many benefits you receive along with cutting out meat of your diet. The transition for me wasn't hard and I still cook non vegetarian meals for my family. So, it works well with me and for me. Not everyone can do it..I will say that.

I absolutely looove the way I feel without eating meat...I am already starting to see results with my weight and my skin is much clearer too!

I do remember watching a vid on peta and it brought me to tears..literally and know that eventually I with go vegan but for now I am sticking to doing just without meat.

Congrats everyone who has made the decision to go vegan/vegetarian! Love the support you guys are giving too.

Chelle

That's so great to hear!! *high five*
I can't rave enough about how good my skin looks being vegan either. It makes such a huge difference. I was always puffy and almost looked like my face was bloated but now it's...well....it's not that way. Kind of like more defined and younger. LOL Hard to explain

Plus, I don't break out as badly as I used to either.

Honestly, I'm glad to know your goal is to go vegan. Hey, let us know when you do make that leap and how it's working out for you, ok?

*hugs*

 

[SalJ]

Johnnie, it's interesting you say your skin cleared up, because I used to get big patches of eczema on the back of my neck and I find since I gave up the dairy that I don't get them any more!