Vegan Cupcakes Take Over My Tummy! (and the tummies of others)

Oh boy, do I have some food pics!

On Friday night we had some friends over for dinner. Our friends Chris & his wife have a fantastic online weekly vegan comic called Totally Not Vegan! It is updated every Friday and it's very fun. They like to capture those moments, as a vegan, where you are humbled or baffled by others and the vegan experience. You can see the latest ones and the archives online.

Anyhow, we had them over for dinner and I made a dinner from bloggerland. I made Dreena's Morrocan Chickpea patties (with ginger dipping sauce), as well as Don't Get Mad's Green Goddess Potatoes and an incredible Hazlenut Red Wine Stuffed Mushroom recipe that Jess wrote, which will appear in the next issue of Herbivore. I forgot to take a picture until I was half way through my plate, but this is what it looked like:


My first time cooking with fennel and kale. Not too shabby!

For dessert, I wanted to make a treat from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but I couldn't decide which kind to make, so I made two varieties: s'mores and chocolate orange.


You'd think, in Portland of all places, that you could find vegan graham crackers. Nope. But I used ginger snaps and they worked out deliciously. The recipe didn't have enough chocolate involved for my taste, only a sprinkling on top, so I smeared a layer of ganache on top of each cupcake before frosting them. To the left you can see the tops of the chocolate orange ones.

I never tried one of those chocolate orange candies before, so my decision to make these was out of pure curiousity. I was afraid that they were going to be too orangey- there's orange in the cake, in the pudding filling and marmalade on top- but they were perfect. It's all very subtle. An instant favorite.


These were especially fun because it was my first time piping a filling into a cupcake. I liked it so much, I don't know if I can go back to regular old unfilled ones! I also got to use some of the marmalade that I made this summer. It's spread in a super thin layer on top, under the ganache. You can't see the filling that well in the picture, but it's there.

Our lovely guests brought a treat for the hostess- fancy olives! I've just recently joined the land of grown-up olive-eaters and I'm enjoying the journey. These are so brilliantly green, they look like little apples in person. I'm not sure what kind they are (Kate, if you're reading this, little help?), but they are firm with an almost floral or fruity undertone.



I had some leftover orange pudding from the cupcakes and didn't want to waste it because it's heavenly on its own. So I used it to top some VwaV pumpkin pancakes the next morning, along side some rosemary potatoes.


I usually have thawed frozen fruit on my pancakes, I'm not really into maple syrup, so this was a nice change for me. I'm as in love with the pudding alone as I am with the cupcakes. It's incredible! Jim just stuck to dipping this dripping-with-EB-pancake-bites into a ramekin of maple syrup. Yuck.

Last night Jennifer McCann came to do a book signing of Vegan Lunch Box! She was just as sweet in person as I'd imagined. And much taller! But everyone is taller than me. No Shmoo, though. He's apparently very bored by the book and he and dad went to see the Star Wars exhibit at the science museum.

Here's an enormously dorky picture of my getting my book signed. And I have red eye. Sexy. Josh was taking the pictures, so this is best one. He's really into artistic angles. :)

After work, I called in a to-go order at Ya Hala and stopped to pick it up on my way home. Saturday nights there guarantee at least a 1-hour wait, so it's nice to stop in and just pick up your bag and eat it in the quiet oasis of home. Well, I got there and low and behold, the Shmoos were there, with some friends, patiently waiting for their table! So if that doesn't tell you something! Jennifer McCann comes to Portland and has dinner at Ya Hala, out of all the restaurants!

I have tomorrow AND Tuesday off, so some bulk cooking is guaranteed. Oh yeah, I think I have to draw a winner for the drawing too... ;)