Faves: Vegan Desserts

Some years ago, vegan baked goods started making inroads into the Austin scene. Wheatsville had carried them packaged for a long time, as had other health food stores, but suddenly Wheats had its own bakery case. Then there was Dhaba Joy, and vegan cupcakes (admittedly outsourced) at the cupcake sellers like Hey Cupcake.

I like vegan baked goods because they're usually not quite as sweet as regular ones, and their flavors can be more subtle because they're made with more spices, different flours, or other unusual ingredients. It's a less-guilty guilty pleasure.

Wheatsville's vegan Mexican Chocolate Cake

The wider acceptance of vegan sweets may never catch on, but Wheatsville is still going strong. They have about seven or eight cakes, cookies, and muffins that they rotate. This cake was crumbly, kind of like a coffee cake but less rich. It had a complex spicy flavor that I couldn't quite sort out, and made a nice mid-morning snack.

Remembering the Cold Drinks of Summer

I had a goal of collecting pictures from lots and lots of frozen/cold beverage purveyors over the course of the summer, but didn't get as many as I had hoped. Nevertheless, now that fall is around the corner, here are a few mementos of the most palatable form of nutrition when it's 105 every day...

Homemade Lassi

Just some ice cubes, sour yogurt, and honey (and I like to add rose water too). Delicious and frothy, and another use for the hand blender.

Shaved Ice from Hola Aloha

This little pop-up shaved ice stand features all-natural flavorings on their shaved ices. We got Mango with coconut milk and Ginger-Lime with coconut milk. Pretty good. Definitely less sweet than your average shaved ice.

Outside Hola Aloha

Horchata from El Chilito

Horchata, how I love thee. So creamy, yet not made of milk. Cinnamony and sweet, I can drink gallons of this stuff (though I try to restrain myself). El Chilito's version is pretty good.

Frozen Sangria at House Wine

Frozen sangria sounds great, but it didn't have as much flavor as I wanted it to. In general, it seems like it's rare to get a good syrup-to-shaved ice ratio for the more boutiquey shaved ices that are getting popular. But it did make a pretty picture.

Potato Zucchini Pancakes

Potato pancakes, or latkes as we sometimes called them when I was growing up, were one of the first things I learned to cook when I left home. The recipe I have, typed and sent by my mom to me at college, is spattered with oil. I always loved latkes, both because they're kind of like a glorified French fry, and because they have the same name as a great Andy Kaufman character.

I haven't made latkes so much in recent years, mostly due to the amount of oil involved in frying them. And the fact that frying is tedious and messy, especially in a small kitchen. But recently I decided to try pan frying--and it worked pretty well. These are very simple--grated potatoes and zucchini, egg, and seasonings. Even better with a little cheese melted over the top...

Coconut Milk Bread Pudding

An excess of coconut milk and a desire for cinnamon rolls collided recently in the form of this bread pudding, made from a modified "New Orleans Style Bread Pudding" JOY recipe (1 cup of sugar instead of 2, coconut milk instead of regular milk, and no bourbon sauce!)

The coconut milk I'm referring to is not the kind that comes in a can--this is a new product from So Delicious that has appeared at the grocery store recently, and that is being marketed as yet another milk substitute (along with soy, almond, hemp, etc.).

My question: can it be used in baking, and if so, will it leave evidence of its pleasingly faint coconutty flavor?

The bread pudding turned out fine, but lacked the coconut flavor. However, warming it with a little coconut milk poured over the top did the trick.

Summer Kitchen Tools

The summer can be depressing for cooks. Even though it is the season for wonderful produce, a lot of things still require the application of at least a little heat...and even the thought of turning on a burner can make you break out in a sweat, when the daily high is near 103.

I've had a lot of cereal this summer, but I've also managed to eat well on occasion, thanks in part to these tools:

The salad spinner

There aren't many kitchen tools that I think significantly improve the process they are meant for--most get used rarely and otherwise take up space in your cabinets and drawers. But the salad spinner dries lettuce better than the old paper towel method, with no waste, and can be used for storing salad too. I love mine a lot.

The toaster oven

As you can tell, mine is well-used. The toaster oven is for so much more than making toast. I've made baked eggs, roasted garlic, and croutons in mine, as well as innumerable toasted bagels and waffles (and toast). You can make many of the things usually cooked in a large oven (especially if you only need small quantities). Plus, it minimally heats up the kitchen.

The hand blender

Conveniently small, easy to assemble and clean, the hand blender can be used to make smoothies of all varieties and to blend soups, cold or warm. Mine is rarely stored because I use it almost every day.

Shanghai Restaurant

Word on the street, or at least on the internet, is that one of the best places in town to get dim sum is now Shanghai Restaurant, located near Highland Mall. One of the old places that used to draw crowds, Tien Hong, shut down about a year ago, so it was nice to try Shanghai and discover that it was as good as its internet reputation. Everything we had was well seasoned, and at noon on a Saturday, the selection was great!

Shrimp dumplings, shrimp & leek dumplings, and salt & pepper squid

Inside the shrimp & leek dumpling

Fried taro patties with shrimp and veggies inside

Eggplant with shrimp on top

The obligatory, and delicious, Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce

Turnip patty with shrimp and sausage

Noodles with pork (?)

Green tea balls with black sesame filling

Here is what some other people have said...

On Vacation (from the archives)

Gentle readers: Your loyal blogger is going on August recess for the next couple of weeks, so in the meantime please enjoy some of my early ventures into the realm of food photography. These are all pictures from my study abroad term in 2002; back then I thought of it as a travelogue, but in new places, the food (if it's interesting) so quickly becomes an important part of the overall experience...

Fresh seafood at an open-air market in Aix-en-Provence

I believe these are scallops, also known as coquilles St-Jacques

Fresh tunas await their fate

Marzipan fruits (also in Provence)

Window display of Easter chocolates in Paris

Restaurant-made crepe, in Paris

Learning how to make crepes at home

A large bowl made of bread (in Rome)

My friend and fellow gastronome Vanessa longing after Spanish sweets (Toledo)

Consuming churros con chocolate for breakfast (in Seville, I think)

French pastries! (Paris)

Closeup on those same beautiful pastries.

Can you believe there's a shop like this in every neighborhood in Paris?