Teese Review

So, it finally came--the ubiquitous Teese! I literally squealed with excitement when I saw the box from Vegan Essentials. And it's as good as they say!

It didn't melt exactly like normal cheese, but it didn't take on the texture of plastic or burn like other vegan cheeses. It did have a little bit of that vegan cheese aftertaste, but only when eaten by itself. Or maybe I'm so unaccustomed to normal cheese that it tastes the same and I'm just not as much of a fan anymore. Who knows!

The first thing I made was pizza, using VWAV dough and sauce and about 1/4 of the Teese package. Here's the before pic:


And here's the after. Melting shot!


It probably would've melted more if I had left it in past eight minutes, but the crust was already brown and I hate brown/burnt crusts. It tasted EXACTLY like "real" pizza, folks. Even my family said so! I ate about half of the pie by myself.

The next thing I used it for was a grilled Teese. I sprinkled garlic powder over the Teese pre-frying, and it was love.


And finally, I made mozzarella sticks inspired by this post on the PPK. I based the recipe very loosely off of her instructions and three or four recipes I found on RecipeZaar. They didn't get stringy like non-vegan mozzarella sticks, but the inside was warm and gooey and good enough for me. Omni approved!

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Mozzarella Sticks
Makes 8 sticks


1/4 package Teese (or 1/4 lb vegan cheese)

1/3 cup flour
2 T cornstarch
1/3 cup non-dairy milk

1/2 cup panko (or regular breadcrumbs)
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon basil
3/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon thyme

Oil, for frying

If using a new package of Teese, cut in half width-wise, cut that piece in half length-wise, and cut one of those pieces in half width-wise again. Cut each of those two pieces into four final pieces (lengthwise). If using other vegan cheeses, cut into sticks roughly 3/4" thick and the length of your index finger.

Combine the flour, cornstarch, and milk in a small bowl and the other ingredients in a different bowl. Preheat a pan with enough oil to coat the bottom. Dip the sticks in the flour mixture first, then the breadcrumb mixture. Fry for a minute to two minutes on each side, or until lightly browned.

Serve with marinara or pizza sauce.

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Bonus Review!

With my Teese came two Nutrilicious donuts--Cinnamon and Pumpkin Pie. Pictured is the pumpkin pie donut.


These were good. Not traditional, but good. They tasted a bit "healthy", and the soy yogurt glaze had a weird texture pre-nuking. These are worth buying if you miss donuts and don't have the materials to make them, but do yourself a favor and microwave them for twenty or thirty seconds before eating. The cinnamon flavor was okay, but I reccomend the pumpkin pie.

I still haven't used the Soy Curls from my Vegan Essentials order, so I'll either update this post with a review of them later or tell you about it in the next post.

Love,
Jillian Renee

Chocolate Candy Cane Cupcakes

Hi there! In this installment of my wondrous blog, we witness the return of the prodigal candy cane cupcake: chocolate edition!

The first attempt at this was a complete flop--they barely rose, the texture was.. well, horrible. I experimented for a while and came up with these. And they're lovely! They would make a great base for a regular chocolate cupcake if you replaced the peppermint extract with chocolate, almond, or more vanilla. I have some leftover unfrosted ones that I'll be experimenting with later..

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Chocolate Candy Cane Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes


1 cup flour
1/3 cup + 1 T cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup + 3T sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1/2 cup crushed candy canes (optional)
1 batch Candy Cane Icing
1 batch Chocolate Ganache

Crush the candy canes in a blender or food processor, if using. Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Whisk together the soy milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside. Sift together the dry ingredients (down to salt) in a small bowl. Mix the rest of the wet ingredients (down to the extracts) in a large bowl and add the soy milk and vinegar, then the dry ingredients. Whisk with a fork or handheld blender until no lumps are left. Add the chocolate chips and crushed candy canes, and fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes.

Chocolate Ganache

1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 T soy milk
2 T maple syrup

Melt together all ingredients on the stove at medium to medium high heat. Stir with a rubber spatula until completely combined and remove from heat. Store in the fridge until ready to assemble the cupcakes.

To assemble:
Store cupcakes in the fridge until completely cooled. Ice with a spoonful of Candy Cane Icing, add a dollop of Chocolate Ganache, and top with more icing or a piece of a leftover candy cane.

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In other news, my Teese came! I made pizza yesterday (which is gone), and I have a half day of school today, so I plan on making me some grilled Teese when I get home. (!)

Love,
Jillian Renee

Pina Colada Bread

Hey guess what? I have a recipe for you today!

And with it comes an announcement--for the past few (three?) months or so, the lovely Nicole (aka Veghead) and I have been collaborating on a rough outline for a cookbook. We're still in the very early stages (and I tend to have more ideas than recipes xD), but in a few weeks or so we're probably going to be looking for testers. Much of my contributions so far have been sweets and baked goods, but I'm delving into new territory and attempting to come up with my own meals. I'm really enjoying working with Nicole and looking forward to having a more concrete version of what we want to accomplish. Stay tuned!

I'll probably stop posting most recipes when we ask for testers, but I'll keep all of the old ones up (vegan secrets, vegan shmecrets!).

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Pina Colada Bread
-- makes one loaf


This doesn't have any alcohol in it (sorry!), so I guess we could call it Virgin Pina Colada Bread. Regardless, it has a nice subtle coconut fruity taste, like the drink we all know and love. And the texture's awesome. So just have your liquor on the side, you drunk!

1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
1/4 cup + 2T pineapple juice
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup + 2T sugar
3/4 t coconut extract
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 t allspice
1/8 t nutmeg
1/2 cup crushed pineapple (optional)
1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 and grease a medium sized loaf pan

In a large bowl, mix together the wet ingredients down to the extract. Sift in the dry ingredients down to nutmeg and mix until just combined (a few lumps are okay). If the batter is too thick, add more pineapple juice, but don't overdo it. Fold in the crushed pineapple shredded coconut, or even chocolate chips if you want, and pour it into the loaf pan.

Bake for 55 minutes to an hour.

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I plan on (finally) testing that chocolate candy cane cupcake follow-up soon, but in the meantime you'll probably see another post of reviews from me tomorrow. Things are a bit less hectic for me right now, so I have more time for what we all know is most important: baking and posting it on the PPK (and here, I suppose. =D).

Much love!
Jillian Renee

While I was gone..

So, there you have it. Typical me: Start a project, get excited about it, work on it really hard for a week or so (more or less depending on the project), lose interest, and wander off.. only this is different, I swear! Vegan cooking and baking isn't something I can get sick of. I just have to get off my ass and post about it here!

I haven't experimented with any new recipes of my own, but I was inspired by raddish's post on the PPK to get back in the swing of things with the month's recipes in review.

First, a plug for Kelly and Garrick's cookie book I've been testing for. That book is going to be seriously rad.

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Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

The Cinnamon Rolls are a Garrick recipe and the Scotches are a Kelly recipe, I believe. The cinnamon roll cookies were the perfect merging of two of my favorite desserts. They were a bit difficult to assemble, but totally worth the extra effort. I personally enjoy sugar way more than can be healthy, so if I made them again I would add an icing drizzle, then they would be perfect.
The Butterscotches were achingly reminiscent of the ones from my pregan days. The recipe called for butterscotch chips, but I used butterscotch extract with good results.

Both of these recipes are worth buying the book for alone, but seriously folks, it's going to be well deserving of your money. They've got ace recipes for all of the essentials (chocolate chip, chocolate, sugar, peanut butter, etc.), vegan takes on old favorites (Thin Mints, Nutter Butters, Oreos, Peanut Butter Cups), creative new ideas (Iced Fudge Brownie Cookies, Chai Cookies, Root Beer Float Cookies), and there's even a recipe for vegan dog treats! And if that doesn't get you to hand over the cash, we'll just put their chocolate and vanilla swirl hypnosis cookies to use on you.

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Next up, what I've made from Isa and Terry's books in the past few weeks. I've been neglecting it since acquiring Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan and Joy of Vegan Baking in the span of a few days, but it never fails me, as you can see in these pictures.

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Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh w/ Mashed Potatoes and Jalapeno Corn Gravy
a la Veganomicon

Okay. WOW. I've recently discovered my love for tempeh, so I've been baking up a shitstorm with the stuff. I'm not a fan of spicy things, but this was perfect. Besides tempeh bacon, it's my favorite recipe for it yet. And that gravy? Way too fucking good for such a simple recipe. Terry and Isa are goddesses, I swear.

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Leek and Bean Cassoulet w/ Biscuits
a la Veganomicon

This has got to be my favorite recipe ever. I rarely ever cook something twice (so many vegan cookbooks, so little time!) but I've come back to this three times now. Comfort food to the max. Make it. Die of happiness. 'nuff said.

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Bluberry Cornmeal Pancakes
a la Veganomicon

These were made after a COMPLETE failure of ED&BV Raspberry Cornmeal Pancakes (I was determined, dammit!). The texture the cornmeal gave them was perfect, and it's topped with Celestial Cream (plus lemon juice) from ED&BV here, but they were also wonderful with a pat (okay, way more than a pat) of Earth Balance and pure maple syrup.

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On to the shitload of cupcakes of late.

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Fauxstess Cupcakes
a la Vegan With A Vengeance

Best cupcakes ever, I shit you not. I don't know why it took me so long to make these, but damn was I missing out. I think I will use the cake portion as my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe from now on. And that icing.. if I wasn't so full I'd be pissed I didn't have any of these in my house. (Okay, I still am.)

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Tiramisu Cupcakes
a la Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Not as excellent as the Fauxstess, but still damn good. I wasn't really a fan of the coffee filling.. it made the bottom wet and soggy and horribly messy. You can't really go wrong with cream cheese frosting, though. I think I'll make these again sometime and work on my presentation.

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Toasted Coconut Cupcakes w/ Coffee Buttercream Frosting
a la Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World

Pretty, aren't they? Pretty good, too. The coffee buttercream was heavenly. I think it would've tasted better on a vanilla coconut base, though.. but that's just my preference. The toasted coconut was a wonderful touch.

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Maple Cupcakes w/ Creamy Maple Frosting and Sugared Walnuts
a la Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

They look messy, don't they? Yeah, there's a lot of finger lickin' involved with these babies, but they're worth it. I've been meaning to make them for a while, but skipped over 'em in favor of fancier options. Obviously, if you like maple, you will like these cupcakes. And the walnuts! I love candied nuts. And you'll love these.

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I know I'm giving a lot of glowing reviews, and I value constructive criticism, but come on--how can you go (very) wrong with cupcakes (and Isa and Terry)? I've only made a couple things from Joy of Vegan Baking, but they're up next.

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Hearty Cocoa Spice Muffins

This was the first thing I made when I got the book. I've been looking for a good chocolate chocolate chip muffin, and this satisfied that craving. I don't like cayenne in my chocolate, so I left that part out, but the rest of the spicing was subtle and sweet. I think the taste might be improved by making it a bit more rich, and I might work on that and get back to you.. any suggestions?

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Cinnamon Coffee Cake

I have to say, this did not live up to my expectations. It was tasty, but the cake was a bit bland and not at all the pregan coffee cake I used to love. I'll keep searching.

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Chocolate Brownies with Buttercream

These were the first vegan brownies I'd attempted, and they were good. The buttercream was also from JoVB, and I enjoyed it, but I think I prefer Isa and Terry's. The texture of the brownie was a bit gummy, but the flavor was great. I'd still be interested in experimenting with other recipes, though.

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And finally, my reviews of the month for Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan. I am really falling in love with this book.

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Banana Cream Pancakes

First recipe in the book, and the first thing I made. The "cream" comes from coconut milk. These were fluffy, tropical, and delicious--an excellent introduction to the book.

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I mentioned the Celestial Cream in my review of V'con's Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes, and I won't bother reposting the picture, but I'll give my review here. This was perfect for spreading on pancakes--it mimicked the syrup-and-butter taste. My advice for aspiring Celestial Cream-ers is to NOT use vacuum packed tofu. Seriously. I added lemon juice to the cream (because I omitted the lemon zest from the blueberry pancakes) and it was fine, but without it you could detect a tangible vacuum packed tofu aftertaste. Do yourself a favor and buy Nasoya or something!

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Cashew Ginger Tofu

Pictured with sauteed kale and mashed potatoes. I discovered something while eating this recipe--I do not like baked tofu. Fried is awesome. Baked is chewy and weird. So, while I didn't enjoy this recipe, it wasn't really Dreena's fault--and the sauce was still tasty.

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Blackened Tofu and Tamari Roasted Chickpeas

So, Blackened Tofu first I suppose. This was an excellent idea (although I'm sure others have come up with it before, I'd just never come across it). I liked it, but I think I need to come back later and tweak the spices a little. I omitted the cayenne, but I think it was the fennel and celery seeds that got me. We'll see.

The Tamari Roasted Chickpeas? Jesus Christ (sorry Mom). If you have the book, make these suckers right now! It took so much willpower not to eat the whole tray. And they're easy to make, too!

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Well, this post turned out to be longer than I expected. Does that make up for my absence? A little bit?

Hell, it's not like anyone reads this anyway.

Much love,
Jillian Renee