Candy Cane Coffee Cakes

Every year my parents come over to my home for Christmas breakfast, and then for dinner we all potluck with extended family. I've decided to show you what we had for breakfast and what I brought for dinner and dessert. Following the photos, I'll have my recipe for my Candy Cane Coffee Cakes, my dessert contribution. I veganized a recipe several years ago from a newspaper clipping. They are labor intensive but worth the work and time. By the way, any glaze that happened to drip onto the platter, or even threatened to, was quickly scooped up by my three blessings!

For the breakfast we had:
Tofu Scramble with broccoli and red bell pepper
Waffles with boysenberry and homemade maple syrups
Fried Potatoes with red onions
Fruit Plate (courtesy of my mom)
Mixed nuts in their shells
Turkish Delights
Eight kinds of homemade Christmas cookies
Happy Birthday, Jesus, Cake
Coffee
Hot Apple Cider with cinnamon sticks
Hot cocoa

For dinner I brought:
Tropical Seitan Pasta Salad

For dessert I brought:
Candy Cane Coffee Cakes


Candy Cane Coffee Cakes


Christmas Breakfast

Tropical Seitan Pasta Salad (I will post this recipe at a later date.)

Candy Cane Coffee Cakes

Ingredients:

Filling:
1/2 cup vegan sugar
3 Tbs. water
1 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbs. water
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 tsp. dried grated orange peel

Bread:
5 to 6 cups flour
1/2 cup vegan sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2 envelopes RapidRise yeast
2 tsp. salt
1 and 1/4 cup soy milk
1 Tbs. vinegar
3/4 cup vegan sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1 Tbs. egg replacer mixed with 4 Tbs. water
Pam

Glaze:
1 and 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 and 1/2 Tbs. soy milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
maraschino cherries

Directions:

Make the filling first, so it has time to chill. In a medium pot, stir together the sugar and water over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. And the dissolved cornstarch and stir. Add in the cranberries and cook until they begin to pop, about three minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the orange peel. Chill in refrigerator. For the dough, first mix together the soy milk and vinegar in a medium pot with no heat under it. Let it set until it thickens into a vegan buttermilk, about five minutes. While that is setting, in a large bowl combine with a whisk 1 and 1/2 cups of the flour, sugar, baking powder, yeast and salt. Set aside. Heat the pot with the vegan buttermilk on medium, and add in the sour cream, 1/2 cup water, and margarine until all is mixed in well and very warm. I touch the liquid with my fingertip, and if it's too hot, it's ready. Don't get it to the boiling point. Mix in the warm buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture on medium speed with an electric mixer for two minutes. Add the egg replacer mixture and another cup of flour and beat two more minutes on high speed. If your beaters start to overheat, turn it down to medium. The consistency of the dough will begin to change into a stretchy appearance. Using your hands or a large spoon, add enough of the remaining flour, a 1/2 cup or so at a time, to make a soft but not sticky dough. Turn it out onto a lightly floured board, sprinkle the top with a bit more flour and knead for ten minutes. Dust with additional flour as necessary, if it gets sticky while it is being kneaded. Cover with a dish towel for ten minutes. Take your filling mixture out of the refrigerator. Divide the dough into three equal parts, and roll each into an approximate 6x15 rectangle. Transfer each one to its own cookie sheet that's been sprayed with Pam. Spread 1/3 of the filling down the center of each rectangle. With a sharp knife, make cuts from the filling to the edge on both sides about one inch apart all the way from top to bottom. Now, fold each of these strips over the center at a downward angle, starting at the top, alternating back and forth, all the way to the bottom. Shape each rectangle into a candy cane. Cover with dish towels and let rise for 45 more minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees and bake each coffee cake for 20 minutes. Cool completely on cake racks. When cool, mix together the first three ingredients for the glaze, and drizzle on the coffee cakes, following the pattern down the center. Where each pair of strips meets in the center, nestle in a maraschino cherry. Lots of work, but it makes three - one to eat, one to give away, and one to freeze. Feeds more than five hungry vegans.

Cheesy Hot Dog Roll-Ups

This is an easy, yummy dinner that doesn't take much time to make. It makes a lot, so if you want to make less, simply adjust the ingredients. We eat them uncut, but the picture shows what they look like inside. Hope you like them!

Cheesy Hot Dog Roll-Ups

Ingredients:

16 vegan hot dogs
Water
Pam spray
2 pkgs. Pillsbury Pizza Crusts
2 cups of finely shredded vegan cheese (We used Vegan Gourmet, cheddar style.)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Boil several cups of water in a medium pot. Once the water boils, turn off the heat and put in the hot dogs for two minutes. Drain and set the hot dogs aside. Spray cookie sheets with Pam spray. Spread out each of the crusts as much as you can on each of the cookie sheets. Sprinkle the cheese over the crusts. Cut the crusts in half lengthwise, then cut each strip into four squares. You should have a total of sixteen squares. Lay a hot dog on a square and roll up the dough around it. Pinch it shut along the side. Bake one tray at a time for seventeen minutes. If you can bake both at the same time and have them cook evenly, then do that, but I need to bake them separately. Child-friendly! Feeds five hungry vegans.

Scrambled Tofu

Scrambled Tofu is a classic vegan dish that I love to make. I've learned that everyone has their own favorite way of making it, so let me show you one of the ways I like mine. We enjoy ours for breakfast and dinner. The photo below shows our breakfast version served with sourdough toast. And, I think I'm also getting pretty good at capturing steam in my photos.



Scrambled Tofu

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. canola oil
2 pkgs. extra-firm tofu, drained
1 Tbs. turmeric
2 cups of your favorite veggies - we used:
1 yellow onion, halved and halved again lengthwise and sliced
1 cup of broccoli florets, sliced small
1 carrot, grated
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
(I also use garlic powder when I have it on hand)
1 tomato, diced

Directions:

Heat oil in a large pan on medium high heat. When ready, break the tofu into 4 large chunks, each, and put in pan. Mash up with a potato masher. Cook tofu until water, if any, is gone, and the tofu begins to brown, while stirring occasionally, about five to ten minutes or so. Turn the heat down to medium, and shake the turmeric over the tofu until there is a good sprinkling, maybe a tablespoon's worth. Stir thoroughly. Add everything else but the tomato, and continue cooking for about five to seven more minutes, until veggies just begin to get tender. Add the tomato, stir and cook until heated through, just a minute or more. I love this with Sriracha hot sauce drizzled on top. Serves five hungry vegans.

Chunky Miso Soup

This is one of my favorite soups; I serve this a few times a year. I actually got the start for this off a miso container lid. It was a miso soup recipe that I had never seen before. Anyway, over the years I've tweaked it just enough to make it mine. I really like this photo, too. See the steam still rising from the bowl? I have to put this away right after dinner, or else I'll literally be eating it all night long until bedtime. Hope you like it as much as I do.

Chunky Miso Soup

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. canola oil
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 small cauliflower, florets sliced
2 large carrots, grated
1/2 head of cabbage, sectioned and sliced thinly
4 cans of vegetable broth
4 cups of water
1 package extra firm tofu, drained and diced very small
1/3 cup of peanut butter (or your favorite nut butter)
1/4 cup miso

Directions:

In a large pot, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook until just tender, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining ingredients and keep cooking for about another 20 minutes, until the peanut butter and miso have dissolved and been mixed in. A note on the peanut butter: it can be smooth or crunchy - I prefer the crunchy because I love to crunch the bits of peanut. Also, you can use cashew or almond butter, as well. They all work deliciously in this soup. Feeds five hungry vegans.

Brothy Beans with Sausages

Tonight's dinner is a hearty, warm dish to serve on a cold December night. It's just got a few ingredients and is spiced very simply. One note on this: when I tried to take a picture of the dish, my husband chimed in that he thought the picture made the food look unappetizing. Well, actually, he didn't say it quite so nicely. He suggested I add some color, like a red or green bell pepper set on the side of the plate. Knowing that I didn't have a bell pepper of any color in the dish, I thought about it, and said I was going to put an onion next to it. He didn't think it was up to par, but I like it. So, tell me - how do you handle photographing a dish that may taste great but doesn't look good on camera? By the way, I love brown (note my blog's background and my outfit in my pic), and I think this dish looks and tastes delicious!

Brothy Beans with Sausages

Ingredients:

1 pound dried pinto beans, sorted through for grit
1 32oz. box of vegetable broth
4 cups of water, and more if needed
1 Tbs. of canola oil
2 packages of Smart Links (vegan sausages)
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 pound mushrooms, washed, ends trimmed and sliced
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:

Soak the beans overnight in water or for several hours in the morning. Drain and rinse. Put in large pot with broth and the four cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for one hour. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for another hour. Make sure there is just enough water to cover beans, adding water if you need to. After the second hour, keep cooking the beans, but in a separate pan, heat the oil on medium heat. Slice the sausage links into thirds on the diagonal and add to the pan with the onions. Cook for five minutes, then add the mushrooms. Cook for another fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally. Add to the large pot of beans with the salt and pepper. Cook for another ten minutes to blend the flavors. This is best the first day as the sausages tend to get a little mushy after that, so eat as much as you want! Feeds five hungry vegans.

Macaroni Salad

This is a very simple, child-friendly dish. It takes just a few moments to make, and children will eat it up. My three blessings seem to like less rather than more ingredients in any given dish. The more things I add, the more I risk them not liking it. So, this has been received well.

Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:

1 pound of small elbow noodles
2 large carrots, trimmed and diced small
4 celery stalks, trimmed and diced small
1 cup of Veganaise
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:

Cook noodles according to package directions. While the pasta is boiling, chop the carrots and celery. Drain the pasta and pour back into the pot. Add the carrots, celery, veganaise, salt and pepper. Stir thoroughly and pour into a serving bowl. Chill for at least two hours. Stir before serving. That's it! Serves at least five hungry vegans.

Tofu Nachos

Tonight's dinner is a big, goopy, sloppy, messy, high-calorie, kid-friendly pig-out. I make no apologies for the shortcuts or fat content of this meal. Every once in a while, I make my family a big platter of nachos, and we sit around the ottoman on the living room floor and eat together while we watch a favorite family movie. Tonight, we're back from soccer tournaments, and we watched "Bibleman vs. The Cheater" - oooh, watch out! Also, an entry on my nachos would not be complete without one of my family's favorite food stories. About a year and a half ago, before I really mastered how to melt vegan cheese, I made a platter of nachos. I turned on the broiler and put the platter on the top rack. In a few moments, smoke was billowing out of the oven, and my girls were shouting, "The nachos are on fire!" Thinking they were exaggerating, I opened the oven door and real, live flames came bursting out! Completely surprised, I hollered for my husband who came into the kitchen staring at flames licking out of the oven. He quickly pulled out the dish, set it on the stove and put a large lid on it to smother the flames. When we took off the lid, everything was burned, the chips were completely black, but our "meltable" cheese was wholly unchanged. The orange-colored shavings just leered back at us, challenging us to try and melt them in any dish of our choosing. Since then, I have learned to conquer this valiant opponent, and once again, I will share my way with you. Also, if you notice in the picture that the back of the nachos looks different from the front, that's because one of my daughters doesn't like cheese, tomatoes or chunky salsa. Soon, I will learn my lesson and create a kids' platter and an adults' platter where I can really spice it up. (For my gluten-free friends, this is a treat you can enjoy, as well.)

Tofu Nachos

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. canola oil
1 package extra firm tofu, drained
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 30oz. can vegetarian refried beans
Corn tortilla chips: 5 handfuls, 3 handfuls, 1 small handful, 1 large bowl-ful
1 and 1/2 cups Vegan Gourmet cheese, cheddar style, finely grated
1 can olives, drained and sliced in thirds
1 tomato, diced
1 package Tofutti Better than Sour Cream
1 package guacamole
1 cup of your favorite salsa (we used Herdez, medium)
Sliced peperoncini - the amount is your choice (we used Mezzetta brand)

Directions:

Make sure your oven rack is set from the second position from the top, and turn the broiler on. Heat the oil on medium-high heat in a non-stick pan. When hot, add the tofu and mash with a potato masher into pretty small chunks. Cook the tofu until it begins to brown, stirring frequently, about five minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and add the onion powder, ground cumin and garlic salt. Stir well, and continue cooking for another five minutes; then turn it off. In a small saucepan heat the refried beans. In a large platter, take the five handfuls of chips and cover the bottom. Add the beans then the tofu on top. Sprinkle the cheese over this. Broil for four minutes to melt the cheese. Take out of the oven and add the olives, tomato, vegan sour cream, guacamole and salsa. Sprinkle the peppers over all. Take the three handfuls of chips and line the outer edge of the platter with them. Take the small handful of chips and garnish the center of the nachos with them. Take the spare bowl of chips and the platter of nachos and dig in. We start with the outer chips and the garnishment then work our way down to the soggy delight beneath. The chips in the bowl are to assist you with your digging efforts. Feeds five hungry vegans. Enjoy!