Sugar rush! For last week's Game of Thrones viewing, I put those candied lemon peels to good use & made Sansa Stark Lemon Cakes. People who have read the books might remember that lemon cakes were a common treat that Sansa liked to indulge in (before shit went down!). Even if you're not at that level of nerd-itude, you can still enjoy these tasty cupcakes. The recipe comes from "Vegan with a Vengeance" & they are the ultimate cupcakes for lemon-lovers---they're so tangy & don't weigh you down, like those (delicious) towering buttercream ones. <3
Lemon Gem Cupcakes
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup almond milk
- 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350*F. Line your cupcake tin with paper liners & set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, & salt. In a small-ish bowl, whisk together the almond milk, sugar, lemon juice, oil, lemon zest, & vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones & whisk until just combined. This will be frothy! Fill the cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely, then glaze them.
*recipe makes 1 dozen, but I got 14*
Lemon Glaze
- 1/4 cup softened margarine
- 2-4 tablespoons almond milk
- 2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Beat the ingredients together till smooth, adding a bit more milk if necessary.
After glazing the cakes, you can get all fancy & top them with candied lemon peel, tinted sugar, or sprinkles!
As if those sweet cakes weren't enough, I also made a Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake for my friend Sage & I. She came down from Vancouver, B.C., & we needed something to nosh on while we gossiped. The recipe is from here, but I made it in a tart pan, & used a cookie crust, rather than a graham cracker one. It's very delicious, but next time I'll spread the crust with peanut butter before adding the filling, so it's peanut buttery-er.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake
Filling
- 1-12.3 ounce container firm silken tofu
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted
- 2 tablespoons almond milk
Crust
- 18 Newman-o's
- 1/4 cup melted margarine
Make the crust first, by putting the cookies into your food processor. Once they're reduced to crumbs, drizzle in the margarine & give it another whirl. Press into whatever pan you want to use (pie plate, tart pan, springform) & chill it while you make the filling.
Wipe out your food processor (a few crumbs won't hurt!), then put all the filling ingredients into it. Blend it all up, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl several times till it's smooth. Pour the filling into the chilled crust, & spread it around in a cute pattern. Chill for a few hours till firm. Slice & enjoy with your buds!
My friend Thom hosts a Game of Thrones viewing every Sunday, & I'm unofficially in charge of bringing the treats (which rules!). I wanted to make a Jon Snow-centric pastry, because he's so pretty, & this idea popped into my head a couple weeks ago.
First, I made the Toasted Coconut Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but they were missing something...
Nerd time: I printed out a dozen cropped copies of my fave picture of Jon Snow onto cardstock, then used a 2-inch circle punch to cut out his face (you could also cut them by hand). I also punched out a dozen plain cardstock circles for the backs. (Thom thinks I should have used another pouty picture of Jon for the backs, then we could've twirled the toothpick around, animating Jon's pouty face. Nice.)
To make the toppers, I just applied a circle of glue around the perimeter of a plain circle, with a small blob for the toothpick area. Then I twirled the toothpick through the glue, so I'd be sure of adhesion. Lastly, I sandwiched a Jon onto the top, holding it together for 30 seconds or so. Don't press on the toothpick area, only around it, or you'll crease the paper & leave an unsightly imprint on his face. Do not want!
I found that my afghan was a useful place to stick these while they dried, though it was a bit intimidating!
And here's the finished product! Thom said the coconut represented Jon's stubble. :)
Yeah, I'll probably just make boring old cookies or something next week.
