Sugar Shock

Heat Wave-Treat Wave

2009-07-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

So, hottest summer ever. Hundred degree heat at all times, for the most part. Yikes!

Between a trip to visit family in Mass. (where I learned a lot about the history of women cooking/baking in my jewish side of my family), and working and baking and trying NOT to die of overheating, I've been pretty busy.

The day before I left, Billie had a potluck and I decided to make Chocolate Peanut butter fudge. I also put a layer of toasted coconut in the middle and decorated each piece with a toasted pecan! It was SOOOO sweet, but very delicious. Billie's boyfriend Ryan loved it. I'm pretty sure men in general LOVE chocolate and peanut butter together. I'm not sure exactly why...but judging from experience, it's a true story.

Here's a mouthwateringly sweet picture for you!

And an order from a couple of weeks ago. Chocolate Mint Cupcakes, which I thought were particularly cute, and delicious.

I have a lovely new roomie(Hannah) now, so I will now go try and help organize our chaotic house. I hope everyone is having a delicious summer and is staying cooler than we are down in the Tejas sauna.

cheers.
meghan

Matt & Amy get hitched...

2009-06-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

After much anticipation and lots of nervousness, I pulled the wedding cake off without a hitch. The Bride and Groom, Matt & Amy Noska were lovely and very very happy with the way their cakes looked and tasted! PHEW!

They didn't want the cakes to be vegan, so I agreed to make them traditional. Their wedding colors were a burgundy and a royal blue, and Amy liked the idea of having butterflies on the wedding cake. SO...that's what they would have! The wedding & groom's cake were my gift to them, and would also be a great way to get my wedding cake portfolio started.

First, the Groom's Cake. Before I moved to Texas, I had never heard of this tradition. We don't have that tradition in New York. In the southern U.S., however, it is customary to have a second cake, and often it depicts the groom's favorite activities or something fun like that. The tradition goes that this cake was sliced up and given as party favors for the guests to take home. I also read that unmarried women were then supposed to take the slice home and sleep with it under their pillows so that they might dream of their own prince charming...or something like that. ANYWAY, these days most people just eat it at the wedding, along side the wedding cake. I'm pretty glad, because sleeping with cake under my pillow does NOT appeal to me! (can you imagine the bugs??)

Here is the Groom's cake, which is Matt's favorite kind...German Chocolate. Also NOT vegan, this buttermilk chocolate cake with custard pecan coconut filling and topping & fudgey frosting turned out one of the most amazing cakes ever.

Now for the wedding cake.

As I said, I was very nervous to build and decorate this cake. I mean...it's someone's WEDDING cake. Amy wanted traditional white cake with buttercream frosting. It was definitely interesting to work with a NON vegan cake, because the texture is totally different. I think its easier than the light and fluffy cake I usually make. I also had wanted to make Italian Buttercream for it, but decided against it since Italian Buttercream is made up MOSTLY of butter. This wouldn't have mattered except that we had to transport it 45 minutes, from Austin to Bastrop, in the Texas heat. Even with the AC blasting, I figured a more stable frosting would be a better choice. We made it there, and once I had set the cake on its rightful table, I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief, as my job was now over and the cakes were perfectly in tact!!

Here it is, in all its glory. Not bad for my first one, right?

I can't wait for my next order!

The butterflies were hand sculpted out of gum paste, and then painted by hand, before hardening. The embellishments on the cake were made of fondant that I tinted to match the wedding colors.

Knee deep in frosting, as usual!

2009-06-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

The latest, although I don't have time to write much...I'm waiting for my crumb coat to set so I can decorate my FIRST ever wedding cake. Today Matt & Amy are getting married, so congrats to them in advance!

Let's see....

The middle cupcakes have banana flavored frosting, at the request of a customer. I thought it would be kind of weird, but the frosting was actually pretty good!

and some more naughty cupcakes, that actually kind of make me nauseous while making them at some points. haha, kidding (at least half kidding anyway!)....but I DO like the way the booty with the ruffly panties turned out!

in other news, my friend brian came to town and he and britt and i got "bro-tats" to rep ithaca, the 607. HA! mostly we just thought it was funny to keep saying BRO TATS!

And although it's not a nice occurance, this is a bird I accidentally hit with Britt's car on our way outside of town. I was so sad. We gave it a nice funeral near some water in Austin. I researched it, and found out that this is a male Painted Bunting. Must be one of the prettiest birds I've ever seen. RIP, little guy. I'm sorry!

And a sneak preview of wedding cake stuffs....

Bar explosion, ATX

2009-05-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Well, Austin is exploding with new bars. It's actually pretty crazy. I, of course, love it when new things come to SOUTH Austin...because the more things come, the less I have to go north. HA...that MIGHT make me a south snob...but anyone who lives here knows how lame traffic can be, especially when crossing the river too much. And south has almost everything I need.

ANYWAY, one of the newest contenders in the south (and pretty far south, at that) bar biz is The Red Shed Tavern. The owners Andy & Kelly (and a partner who i don't know) are awesome awesome awesome! They are the nicest people ever, which is just the first reason to support their establishment. The second is that...well...its RAD! It is really cool inside and has an amazing patio, and cool little stage in a RED SHED out back. I love it. GO!

Why exactly am I going on about The Red Shed Tavern on a baking blog,you might ask? WELL...last Saturday was their grand opening. SO...they asked me to make them a cake. Decked out with their logo, this cake was Almond flavor cake with raspberry filling and vanilla buttercream. It was topped with a hand painted fondant logo. I also made a whole bunch of mini cupcakes to supplement the cake. They loved it and said it was a huge hit! I am so glad. I had to work and couldn't stay longer than to drop off the goods, which was kind of sad.

Here's the cake:

Turned out ok, right? Always a challenge, but fun to do!

It's definitely summer!

2009-05-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

Texas is HOT. Have I mentioned this before? Summer is here, for sure. Soon I might even convince myself to go swimming.

As always, lots of baking happening around here.

Two more blog-worthy things this week:

The first...
Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes with buttercream frosting and chocolate cookie "dirt", with plastic bugs on top! For someone who is an environmental engineer, apparently.

I thought they were super cute. I made an extra cupcaked and my roommate ate it. It looked MESSY as all get out, with the jam oozing out. peanut butter cupcakes are one of my favorites though.

In other News, my friend Adam (who is going to marry the lovely and talented rebeca, who i work with) had a birthday the other day. Beca told me she wanted me to make him a cake. When asked what kind he wanted he just kept saying VANILLA, and beca thought that was too boring. SO...one night, late at night as she and i were counting tips at the bar and discussing what kind of cake he might like...i texted him. The text went something like this "What kind of frosting goes with vanilla cake?". To which he texted back "TWIX". As though that really had any meaning. BUT...i took it literally and decided that that is what he would get.

They are not vegan, and neither is twix...so i figured I would put caramel in there for good measure. SO...

This cake is vanilla cake (which in itself is vegan, coincidentally), with buttercream frosting (which again, was vegan before adding the twix), topped with Twix Mini candy bars. It is four layers and in the middle layer the buttercream has crushed up Twix in it, which gave it a crunchy texture. Then the top was drizzled with caramel syrup (which i didn't make myself, since i didnt want to buy and mess around with a bunch of milk)...and decorated with more candy.

They thought this was the best cake ever. AND told me that when they eventually open their own coffee shop, they want to have the Twix Cake all the time!

Anyway, that's last week for me. This week brings a bunch of donuts and a special cake for some friends.

More on that later...i'm starving and in desperate need of coffee myself!
Cheers!
Meghan

PS: Beca and Adam named their new kitten after me, which is bizarre. SO...here is a picture of "Little Kitty Meghan Krasnoff" (aka: little meghan) waking up from the flash of my camera, whilst sleeping in my lap. Sorry little kitty, I didnt mean for the flash to be in your eyes!

CUTE!

May the Fourth Be with You. (even though it's the 7th now)

2009-05-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

Well...Haven't I just been baking up a storm. It's been super busy. Except that Britt is sitting next to me and is sad, because there are officially no treats baked in my house at the moment.

Anyway...Biz has been just that...BIZZY! ha. Two things I've baked in the last couple weeks are worth posting...here you go.

My friend Mariana ordered these for her friend Jake, who is apparently moving to Japan sometime soon. These might have been the most fun cupcakes I've made in some time. Who knew that you could roll Fondant JUST like you would roll sushi? Except that it's actually a little bit easier.

AND...Ed and Lynette ( I hope I spelled that correctly) got hitched this last weekend here in Austin, Tejas. They needed a groom's cake to go with the Tree wedding cake they had ordered. They wanted the second cake to be vegan, and mocha with raspberry....so this is what I made:

Britt helped me make the leaves and the wee yellow pearls around the edges, as well as super cute (and subtle) acorns. She is the best...and if I could ever afford to pay her, I gladly would. SOMEDAY!

Stay tuned because I have a TON of projects coming up...
xo.

PS: Here is a picture of (the mighty) Quinn Lee Spaw, my bosses' amazingly cute little guy. He is 3 weeks old. CUTE! Love him...

Easter for some...

2009-04-15T15:01:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of a very bright pink Easter Egg cake.
I thought the cake would be bigger, but because it was so small, I made some easter bunny cupcakes as well. They actually turned out to be kind of cute, I think...

I spent my Easter day biking around a small lake in a very pretty park in Bastrop, Texas. There was one family there, with a whole bunch of kids. They were fishing and overall just enjoying the beautiful day we had last sunday. When I saw them, I started thinking that going to a park on a holiday is one of the best ways I can think of to celebrate. SO...when (ahem...IF) I ever have a family, I think that will be something I weasel into our traditions.

I always wonder what families do on holidays....anyone have any good/unusual/fun things they did on holidays that they want to share? FILL ME IN!!

xo.
Megh

March

2009-03-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

Well, sxsw is over. I made it through another one. Which means there is now time for things like baking again.

I'm not going to say much, but I will post some stuff that I've done lately, which is now the trend on this much neglected blog of mine.

This is what I look like whilst making these delicious treats:

Valentine's day cupcakes. Made for Rebecca, since I love her, and she loves my cupcakes.

Sock Monkey Cupcakes for someone's baby shower (i convinced them to let me make them vegan, but i did end up using m-n-m's for the eyes:

Here are some very very naughty one's that I made yesterday for someone's bachelorette party. Who knew I was SO good at sculpting female genitalia? haha....

and finally, here is a cake that Billie made (with some help from me with regards to the assembly and decorating of it) for her boyfriend, which is the Peach Melba Cake from Hannah's, My Sweet Vegan. I can't say how it turned out yet, because the b-day potluck is tonight. Looks pretty delicious though, doesn't it?

And so concludes my post. I wish I had more time to update with more regularity. But I'm a busy girl and have been forgetting to photograph!

Hope everyone is doing well, and enjoying the upcoming spring season.

xo.

Still going...

2009-02-21T11:32:00.000-08:00

So yeah,
I've been super busy.
Trying to figure out what to do with life, I guess.
Sugar Tooth is going pretty well, it's more of a side project right now, due to the economy and lack of wanting to take a giant risk.

I have been working with Ventana del Soul a lot lately, which is the non-profit cafe and cultural center. I may have mentioned it before, I can't remember. Anyway, I'm going to do a partial open of their coffee house this coming monday, and I will have some bakery items there. Until we get more funding and staff, however, we will have limited hours and such.

I have also decided to apply to go back to school in the fall, i'm pretty sure. Crazy, right? If I can get in, I will go back to St. Ed's (where i did my undergrad) to get my Master's in Counseling.

Anyway, that's what has been up lately. Today I'm making a tower of vegan donuts for Rachel's birthday. The last one I made was super delicious and SUPER messy. But I think that's all part of the fun! Basically it's a ton of mini donuts stacked up with chocolate poured from the top down.

I hope you are all well and things are going amazingly for you all this year so far!

Cheers,
Meghan

Not so hot with a camera...

2008-12-28T14:13:00.000-08:00

One thing I have been doing lately is taking lousy pictures! I think in part it is due to my baking in the evening and having no natural light to shoot with.

ANYWAY, I have, however been super busy. As usual, baking up a storm.

A few recent orders:

A Completely UN-VEGAN flan I made for Southside Tattoos staff xmas party dinner thing. I have never in my life made flan before. That being said, it came out pretty well, as far as people said! I also thought it looked pretty after being taken out of the mold and put on this plate. The most fun was dry caramelizing sugar. It is very illustrative of the science that takes place in the cooking process, where you actually SEE proof of the compounds breaking down into their parts. Maybe that's a little TOO nerdy of me.

yep. holiday flan! fun!

(and back to vegan stuffs....)
Next, a Bike themed cake for Kirk's birthday. Design, of course, stolen from a traffic sign. It was chocolate cake with chocolate mocha icing. YUM! Quite a caffeine kick in it too. And we all know how I love my coffee....mmm....

One more...A Unicorn cake for my friend Liz's daughter Mia. I really thought I'd gotten in over my head trying to draw a unicorn on a cake. Seeing as how my artistic talent is pretty much limited to cakes, I wasn't sure I could pull this off. My plan was actually to find an awesome unicorn figure for the top, but I ended up deciding to go for it anyway. I was actually pretty psyched at how it turned out. I thought it was cute in a cartooney sort of way. And I really liked the colors.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned...photos at 6am before the sun rises do NOT do well in my house! Ignore the poor photo quality and focus on how delicious a chocolate cake with strawberry filling must be!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Kwanzaa or any other holiday you may have celebrated. I also wish you all the best for the coming year. I, for one, have high hopes for it as far as we are ALL concerned!

Happy Celebrating, Happy Baking!

xo
Meghan

Already the middle of December! Who knew?

2008-12-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

I feel like before I even blink the holidays will be over.
and I'm just fine with that. Again, I have a ton to do, and will hardly notice that it's holiday at all.

For example, I've been baking my head off. YAY! Very happy about that.

Here is the stuff I've been doing. Sorry that my posts are so boring, and mostly just pictures of some things I've made. I also kind of miss everyone in the blog world, since I barely get time to update this, let alone READ other people's. That's a little sad. So I apologize for not showing my love...but trust me, it IS there.

And now...

This Cake was for my "little bro" Corey. He rules. And although this cake doesn't LOOK fancy, it might be my favorite one in a while. It's 3 layers of cake: peanut butter, chocolate and peanut butter with peanut butter buttercream in between the layers, and then covered with chocolate ganache, and finally smothered in crushed peanuts. HOLY deliciousness!

For Jose's Bday, he wanted donuts. SO...i thought...YEAH WHO NEEDS CAKE? when you could have a TOWER of vegan donuts. Right? Super fun, super delish, obviously.

Not much to say about these other than it's a match made in heaven: Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream. Like a chocolately dreamsicle. mmm...

The other day the lovely and talented Billie and myself catered an art opening at the bike shops she works at. It was hosted by The Austin Flyer's, which is a non-profit, working to foster the growth of cycling in the Austin community.

For the event, we made roasted red pepper hummus tea sandwiches, and mini cupcakes...among other things.

And finally, today's project...a cake with Asian style lanterns on it for a little girl named Heide who is turning 7. She obviously has the coolest mom around! I really like the way this cake turned out!

In other news, I've been listening to the hip-hop station all day whilst baking, and I SWEAR they only play about 7 songs. Do the stanky leg, something about "if you liked it you shoulda' put a ring on it", and a couple more. I really really like hip-hop...but maintstream hip-hop seems to be in a serious rut this month!

Cheers, and happy holidays and all that.

xo.

Busy Busy

2008-12-04T00:55:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything.
The reason for that is that I've been super busy!
Holidays are always hectic, regardless of whether or not your family is around.
People out of town, my little bro from Australia visiting me, a brief tattoo convention trip, covering shifts at the bar, making cakes, volunteering at the non-profit i'll be baking at sooner than later, slinging cupcakes and booze. The usual, and then some...

I've made a few cakes, some holiday cupcakes. The bakery stuff is going well, but the real stuff is on hold until the non-profit that I'm baking in permanently gets their doors re-opened for business.

I'm excited about it all, but also a little antsy for it to happen quicker.

Until then, check out a couple of the cakes I've made recently (although I wish i had had more time to work on them)...

The prince cake was for a girl named robin, from her bf, and it was carrot with cream cheese frosting. The one on the right was a yellow cake with strawberry filling and vanilla buttercream frosting for some sweet girls, marla and emily. The were both all vegan.

and my faves...snowman cuppers. ridiculously cute, right?

more cake pics and such to come, as well as news.
oddly, it's kind of cold here in austin...for a welcome change!
i love scarf weather!

Maneki Neko, for Julia

2008-10-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

This week, one of my custom orders was a "beckoning cat" cake for jon. He was ordering it for his wife, Julia who is vegan. He said last year he ordered a cake from somewhere and it tasted like corn bread. I was VERY glad to help remedy that situation so that Julia could have a more delicious birthday this year! Here it is...

I had SO much fun making the kitty! If you don't know the story of Maneki Neko, you should really check it out. It's really great. And I bet you always wondered why there is a little cat in most asian stores and restaurants, seemingly saying hello to you.

Anyway, Julia messaged Sugar Tooth on myspace, and told us she loved the cake and that it was delicious! Very glad to help!

Hope everyone is doing well, and stay tuned for more updates, as I've been a really busy girl lately.

xo,
megh

The busiest slacker of all!

2008-10-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

I have been BUSY BUSY! But that is a great thing, considering that all of my busy-ness can be attributed to getting my bakery stuff going! When you're working toward your own goals, a little sleep deprivation and hours and hours of work somehow doesn't seem so bad!

ANYWAY, before I get into the Maker Faire, which was a TOTAL success, I will post a picture of the most delicious banana almond muffins I made. For myself, because I like them!

OK, so NOW...the Maker Faire. As I said, it's an awesome event! Pedal powered stuff (this year, cyclecide had a pedal powered guitar wheel! kick ass!). So many crafty awesome people, and brainiacs and technowizzes etc...etc...

My booth was in the Edible Austin Food Maker Pavilion, and I was there giving out (ahem...1500!) mini cupcakes over the 2 day event. For this feat, I enslaved my BFF Britt, who was a SERIOUS trooper, and who I couldn't have done it without! my boyfriend was also amazing and helped out alot, including making my AMAZING signage. Super DIY, super fun, super nice people. A good networking plan!

SO...here's the run-down, even though the pictures aren't great!

And here I am, tired but having a good time!

We even got an Editor's Choice award, which is AWESOME!

THEN, if baking that many cupcakes wasn't good enough, my friend Mari had a birthday on tuesday! SO...of course I had to bake her a cake to show her how much I love her! It was yellow cake, with strawberry puree filling and frosted with almond buttercream icing. (all vegan, of course!)
Here it is...I like the colors a lot!

The weekend was awesome, business is going really well so far, and coming up in the next few weeks, I will disclose the very exciting news regarding Sugar Tooth Bakery!

Hope everyone is doing awesomely. It's going to get COLD finally for a minute here in Austin, so we are all very excited to bundle up.

Cheers!
Meghan

Austin Bikes Grand Re-Opening Cake!

2008-10-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

No time to post really, other than the pictures of this sweet cake I made for Austin Bikes' Grand Re-Opening party.

The owners are great, and the shop looks awesome, so if you live in town, definitely go by and check it out. The party is tonight, but as usual, I will be behind the bar.

For now...a little eye candy...er...cake.
And yes, it's all vegan.

Sugar Tooth Bakery at Maker Faire Austin 2008!

2008-10-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

"Maker Faire is a two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It's for creative, resourceful people of all ages and backgrounds who like to tinker and love to make things. So much to see, you will need 2 days to see it all!"

The Maker Faire is an AMAZING display of creativity in a million ways!
From Bike powered carnival rides, a life-sized Mouse Trap "game",
food, bands, arts...if it's quirky and amazing, you'll find it here!

AND...this year, we will be in the Food Maker's Section giving away FREE samples of vegan treats, and holding a raffle to win FREE delicious vegan goodies!

That's right...Sugar Tooth Bakery will be at the Maker Faire this year, and we sincerely hope that you will consider attending the Faire and stopping by to see us!

We're really excited to be participating, and in part this will be a grand opening of sorts for Sugar Tooth Bakery!

For more info click here:
Maker Faire Austin 2008

Hope to see you all there, October 18th & 19th at the Travis County Expo Center.
Please please come. It is guaranteed to be more fun than you can shake a stick at!!!

Cheers,

Meghan
Sugar Tooth Bakery
Austin, Texas!

My 27th...

2008-09-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday I got older.

And today Billie is making me a delicious carrot cake, which is my fave. It's kinda nice when other people do the baking sometimes.

Sigh...

Vegan Gluten-free brownies & Birthday Cupcakes

2008-09-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

I guess I've been baking a lot. I have, however, not been taking the best of photographs...so some things don't end up here. Someday (ahem...when I have more money) I will buy a better camera. Sigh...to be born rich...I tell ya.

Anyway....

The other day my endeavor was Vegan Gluten-Free Agave Sweetened Brownies, with Pecans.
They turned out really great! I love Agave sweetened treats because they are just a bit less sweet than treats with sugar in them. And as sweet as my tooth MAY be, I actually prefer subtlety. The texture was also great on these...Moist, and not a bit gritty.

Today is my friend Jamie's Birthday. He just had a beautiful baby girl with his lovely lady, Kymmie. They named her Zion Twyla Lux. She is perfect and snuggly and wonderful and lucky to have awesome parents! Although Jamie has to work today, word has it that he will stop by and see me at work this evening. SO...I made him a small batch of cupcakes to show the love! Vegan Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Hazelnut frosting. I realized that I have misplaced my large open star piping tip...which I'm kind of sad about. The smaller ones just don't have the same swirling fluffy effect that the large ones do!

Happy ACL festival to everyone down at Zilker park, and I'll see you later behind ye ole bar.

Vegan Bling Cake

2008-09-20T14:57:00.001-07:00

My friend Kevin might be one of the craziest people I know. For a while, he was trying to outdo himself each night by wearing more and more bling. It's pretty funny, really.

To give you an idea of just how theatrical it all becomes on occasion, I stole a photo from his myspace. Keep in mind that this particular photo was for some party, it's not QUITE so outrageous on the nightly. ha...

Tonight, his friends are throwing him a "30th Birthday Pool Party". The irony here is that it is neither his 30th birthday, NOR will there be a pool. But, as I said...totally nuts!

Anyway, he's a really good dude, and I decided that I should take the opportunity to have a fun cake project with it, since I have to work and can't go to the party.

Here is the Bling Cake. Complete with giant "gold" chain on top, fondant diamonds, and gold flake. It's Chocolate with Vanilla Buttercream, and the top two layers are covered in rolled fondant.

I really love this cake for some reason. Probably just because it is SO silly. Which is totally my style!

Well, a belated happy birthday to kevin, and to everyone else...

I hope your weekend is awesome!
Off to work, yet again...

Hannah's Oatmeal (sans)Raisin Rolls...vegan miniatures.

2008-09-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

We all know I'm pretty psyched to have My Sweet Vegan in my hot little hands now. I have been eyeing the Oatmeal Raisin Rolls since the second I got it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE cinnamon rolls, and have made them a couple of times, but they always take SO much prep, and SO much time. These, however, did not! I was pleased.

I am not the biggest fan of raisins. Once in a while I'll be into them, and the exception of course is oatmeal raisin cookies. So, to change Hannah's recipe to my liking, I made them into cinnamon rolls with no raisins. I also used almond milk instead, which i love. I made them very small, because mostly in the morning I like to drink coffee and have a little snack.

And by little snack I mean that I liked them enough to eat 3 of the minis! yum.

I have decided that the next time, I need more filling, maybe change it up and use a cinnamon streusel instead of just brown sugar, a brush of margarine and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Anyway, it's a delicious morning treat and you should (if you haven't already) rush out, buy the book and start baking!

In other news, Ike may have torn up the coast, but we in Austin haven't seen so much as a single drop of rain. In fact, right now its sunny and humid. I'm glad that we didn't have a shit storm, but some rain and a few cracks of thunder would be a welcome change! I hope everybody down south is ok. The world is a crazy place.

Now to get ready to go open the bar...

Prickly Pear- Don't Touch It!

2008-09-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

Prickly Pear Cactus is widely found in texas.

The Stem/leaf parts are called Nopales, and are eaten as a vegetable, sauteed and put in tacos in Mexico and here in Texas. I'm not the hugest fan, myself, but alot of people really like them. The fruit, the prickly pear itself, has big hard seeds inside, but the flesh is sweet and tastes a little like a slightly more acidic kiwi, really. Not to mention it has an AMAZING color. Alot of sorbets and jellies are made from the fruit.

That being said, DO NOT touch the prickly pear with your bare hands! Not only will the large spines stick firmly into your skin, but the tiny hairlike spines (called glochids) will too, and it SUCKS! Even though we took precautions, I am still finding a tiny spine in my hand here and there...a couple days later!

Anyway, now that you know about it...let me tell you what WE did.
Not knowing the extent of their prickliness, I picked some with my hands, but mostly we cut them off the plants with a knife, letting them drop into a paper bag.

When we got home, we used heavy work gloves, and cut the fruits in half, exposing the beautifully colored pink fruit.

Then, we scooped out the middle with a melon-baller, being careful only to get the red part in the bowl.

Then, I simmered the fruits with some agave nectar and lemon juice until it was nice and syrupy. Finally, I strained out all the seeds and big fleshy parts (you definitely want the seeds out, they are hard...the pulp is up to you!)

This product can (and should, for deliciousness purposes), be used in making margaritas. I, however, used the syrup to make soda spritzers, which i love to do with almost any juice.

As much as I loved the process, and the taste and colorful beauty of this endeavor...the spiny prickles definitely make it a bittersweet adventure.

Here is my lovely spritzer, and my lesson learned that nature WILL prevail.

Speaking of which, the Texas coast is getting slammed by hurricane Ike over the next couple of days. People in Austin are preparing for storms, 50mph hour winds, and possible power outages. I will be at work the next couple of days, hoping that my basil plants and my dog's psyche hold up through the storm.

Updates on Sugar Tooth Bakery and new baking projects to come...Stay Tuned!

Cheers to staying safe and dry.

xo.

What do MotoX, My Sweet Vegan & Smoothies have in common?

2008-09-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess the three things in the title actually have very little in common. Except that they are what I'm thinking about today!

First, the Vegan Motocross cake that my friend ordered for a friend of his the other day. I should have made it larger, and made an entire course...but seeing as I work on the weekends, once again I didn't have time. It was vegan chocolate chocolate and I thought it turned out pretty well. Sarah liked it a lot, apparently...so I'm glad!

What do YOU think? I clearly did NOT make the motocross bike or the rider. I'm sure it was made out of some very high quality plastic though! Ha.

Anyway, next...Why Hannah and my friend Billie are awesome. My birthday is coming up at the end of the month, and Billie brought me my early birthday present. My Sweet Vegan, the wonderful book by Hannah Kaminsky. I can't believe I don't already own it. But I have a tendency not to buy things for myself, so it really is the perfect gift! (and hannah, if you're reading this, once again...you are amazing. I am especially glad that it is chock full of not only delicious recipes, but beautiful photographs as well! I hate cook books devoid of pictures. Must be the kid in me!)

SO...those of you who don't have it yet...go buy Hannah's book. Seriously.

y una mas cosa para hoy... SMOOTHIES!

today's smoothie recipe...just for fun:

1 small banana
1/4 cup frozen organic strawberries
1/8 cup frozen organic bluberries
splash coconut milk
2 tbs. almond butter
approx 1/3 cup soy milk

It was totally an entire meal, and packed full of protein and anti-oxidants. YAY!
i heart nutrition.

Hope everyone's having a great Saturday!
xo.

Mediterranean Potluck!

2008-09-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

My friend Erin has parties once in a while. Usually I can't go because I have to work on the weekends. So when I got a text telling me that she was having a potluck on Wednesday I was very excited, since not only could I go, but I also had time to make things!

She decided that the theme was Mediterranean. It was a small gathering, and probably one of the most successful and delicious potlucks I've been to in a while. Almost everyone made something, and everything tasted amazing!

Erin made vegan schwarma, which was phenomenal. There was hummus, of course, fatoush (LOVE that word AND the salad itself), Billie made a great rice and lentil salad. I bought a GIANT can of Aegean Dolma's. As seldom as I opt to buy things in a can over making it myself, this time was definitely worth it. Billie and I agree that every time we've tried to make, or buy home made Dolmas, we are disappointed. Aegean are by far our favorites. And SO....a giant can was to be had!

No meal is complete without dessert, of course, and you KNOW that this is my favorite part to make (and sometimes consume). So, I threw myself head first into the world of vegan baklava, and came out successful. Although next time I would change a couple of things, these tasted AMAZING! I used walnuts and half evaporated cane juice, half agave nectar. mmm....

I documented a few steps of the process...which I've nestled throughout the post. BUT..here is the finished product! YUM! yum yum...

Everyone was really psyched on the Baklava. I think an Indian themed potluck is next, because Billie loves it so much. She has definitely perfected more than a couple of dishes!

I'm a lucky girl to have good friends and so much good food in my life.
You know, just to get a little emo for a sec! haha...it's true though.

Another year down...

2008-09-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

As you might recall, this time last year I made some chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. The impetus of this was my friend Taj's Birthday. They were delicious! Taj loves cookie dough. He will eat a ton of it straight outta' the bowl.

This year, I didn't have much time to bake anything. SO, i no-baked again. What's up with me and the no-baking lately? I guess it's more of a time issue than anything else. OH right, and its HOT as sin down here in Texas in August.

These little nuggets of way-too-sweet-for-me goodness were literally just cookie dough dipped in chocolate. They were, of course, delicious if you're into that sort of thing. As I said though, a little too sweet for moi. Here's a shot of the bottom, which cracked open upon pulling them off the drying rack. It looks kind of nice this way though, don't you think?

When my friend Ryan bit into one he said..."oh, Meghan hates teeth!"...which was kind of funny, I thought. Especially given that bizarro lady who internet-yelled at me for promoting sugar consumption. Ah well...Hopefully Taj liked them. That's all that really counts.

If you love really sweet stuff, AND cookie dough, definitely make these!

I added wee tags spelling out my desired message, and put it all in a box. I think it looked pretty darned cute!

Finally Inspired: Avo Chimichurri, Veg Lasagna, No-bake cookies!

2008-08-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

I haven't been inspired to cook in ages. I mean, really cook. Not bake something, or whip up some treats, or run a test kitchen. I mean, FEED myself. I haven't been grocery shopping in a month, and I have been eating out every day. Not only is this not good for the body OR the psyche, but it is also not-surprisingly costly. Due to unexpected family trips, I find myself with less money than I normally have. Also with trying to get things together to open a wee bakery, excess spending is a terrible idea.

That being said, all these factors have come together to inspire me. I finally went grocery shopping yesterday, and have found my legs in the kitchen again. I think both my wallet AND my...ahem...girlish figure will thank me.

SO, you ask? What have I made.
Here's the list that has accumulated in the last 24 hours or so.
(Please excuse the poor photography, that is one thing I haven't been inspired on today!)

1. Vegan Lasagna, with mushrooms, spinach, fresh tomatoes, and basil (from my "garden"). Instead of red sauce, which I'm not the hugest fan of, I made a sort of vegan alfredo sauce. I did, however, top the lasagna with a tiny bit of red sauce for good measure. The alfredo was delicious, and had thyme from my garden, as well as hints of nutmeg.

2. I've been rather obsessed with this month's Veg Times, if you hadn't noticed. I have also been having serious avocado cravings. The two might be connected, as the magazine had avocados as their "One ingredient, Five ways" for the month. One of the recipes is an Avocado Chimichurri Bruschetta, which I highly recommend. I adapted it a bit and also used no oil except a slight drizzle on top of the toasts. YUM!

4. No-Bake Oat, Coconut, Almond Clusters.
This was ridiculously delicious, and ridiculously chocolatey. Luckily, however, there are tons of nutrients suspended amongst the sugar and chocolate, so I don't feel TOO bad eating them.

I didn't really follow a recipe, it's pretty classic, but I will tell you what I did.

Melted maybe 1/2 cup of evaporated cane juice in some earth balance and some coconut milk over low heat. Let that come to a little boil and hang out for a few minutes until it seemed syrupy. Then added a little less than 2 cups of oats, a handful of shredded coconut, and a handful of slivered almonds. Stirred it all up until it was all mixed. Then dropped clusters onto a waxed papered cookie sheet to go into the refrigerator for half an hour until they were set.

You could pretty much add anything to these. Dried fruits, chocolate chips or peanut butter...the list goes on!

Who doesn't love No-Bake cookies? Super easy, and super tasty. Super sweet though, so watch out!

As lame as it may be, I'm going to mention the new bakery in most of my posts from here on out. It's really all that's on my mind. It will take a while to get it all off the ground, but I need all the support I can get...so....

Check it out...South Austin's newest vegan bakery, Sugar Tooth, coming soon. Until then, order cakes and treats from us for your event or party, so that we can open sooner than later!

and be sure to check out our myspace and add us as a friend!

Sugar Tooth Myspace

If you aren't on myspace, feel free to email us at
Sugartoothbakery@hotmail.com for inquiries.

Sugartoothbakery.com is up, but we haven't really posted anything there yet.
More to come...

Cheers!
Meghan