Successes and Messes

Hello there friends of the blogiverse! So, true to my word, I decided to test some of the recipes I discussed in yesterday's post.

Here's how it went.

New twist on rice-krispy treats? THUMBS UP! They are delish. I was a bit disappointed to discover that the organic brown rice cereal that I had gotten from Whole Foods was described as lightly sweetened - not to mention the fact that I was striving for a completely vegan and gluten free product, and the box was marked Kosher / DAIRY! But there wasn't a single dairy ingredient. I guess they just have to list it as such when the product is made in a factory where other dairy products are manufactured and the equipment is not thoroughly purified or "koshered" in between batches. I was hoping to have a more wholesome product. But the end result is definitely not as cloyingly sweet as the original. It is, however, every bit as delightfully crispy and chewy and satisfying. Now, mind you...this is not your grandma's rice-krispy treat with marshmallows and butter and rice krispies...oh no! This was made of brown rice cereal, brown rice syrup, raw cane sugar, natural creamy peanut butter and lots of love. Oh - and, of course, a prayer or two and some crossed fingers. It was also topped with some vegan chocolate chips that were melted with a drop of canola oil.

So while the final product is absolutely spot on I will have to look for an alternative cereal product and try again in order to market the product as vegan.

Shira, my sweet little princess who sat and watched me very patiently as I coated the cereal mix with melted chocolate, really deserved to lick that spoon. So I handed her the chocolate scepter and waited to see how much of it would make it into her mouth. After a chocolate body-painting experience I hope never to forget we both headed to the shower.

Next, power bars. Let me tell you what warmed melted coconut oil smells like. Imagine, if you will, a balmy tropical breeze on some far away island and the sun warming that breeze further until it fills your nostrils with a fragrant toastiness. That's what it smelled like in my kitchen as I warmed the oil slightly just to melt it. I then combined it with some roasted almond butter, unsweetened coconut, pepitas, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, almond meal, flax seed meal, dried cranberries and some natural sweeteners and put them to bed in the refrigerator to firm up a bit. I can't wait to see how they turn out. I couldn't resist tasting a bit of the mixture before dishing it into the pan and OH MY GOODNESS that was tasty! I know I would probably be making the power bars completely sinful by topping them with chocolate, so I am now toying with the idea of coating them in carob. Then again, dark chocolate is not all that bad for you. It's got those super antioxidants...doesn't it? Well then...power to the chocolate!

Finally, the vegan cupcakes with tofu frosting. Ahhh - the cupcakes turned out a lot better than expected. They were made with soy milk, soy nut butter, whole wheat flour, flax seed meal, raw can sugar, agave syrup, and a bit of canola oil, and some standard leavening products. They were baked to golden perfection and were light and moist and had a nice crunchy top...just the way I love 'em. But the frosting...OY. What a bowl of slop. I was truly hoping for something unctuous and fruity, but it ended up being just plain gross. I started with what I had hoped to be a delicious jam...it was marketed as a high antioxidant product...made of pomegranate, acai, morello cherries and red grapes. It tasted like cough medicine. I guess I was hoping the medicinal taste would go away after boiling it down to thicken it and add it to the silken tofu base - but no such luck. So I am off to my thinking chair to entertain new ideas for something that will be more pleasing to the palate.

Oh well...win a few, lose a few.

All in the day of the experimental baker.