Tag Archives: honey

Vegan Honey Mini Cakes for a Sweet New Year

vegan honey mini cakes
vegan honey mini cakes

This week was a celebration of the Jewish New Year. The tradition is to eat honey cakes at this time to ensure sweetness in the upcoming year. Because honey is not a vegan food, vegan bakers can turn to a honey substitute to have a sweet new year.

I have a honey-like syrup in my files from my “A Sweet New Year Apple Muffins,” so I went in search of a honey cake recipe that I could use it in. What I found was perfect because the spices in the cake would go well with the fruit in the vegan honey. Also, the cake was already vegan, but I amped it up by using my own egg substitute described in “Super Flegg – A Perfect Egg Substitute.”

Next I put the high altitude spin on it by adding flour and liquid (in the form of applesauce), then reduced the leaveners. The batter was divvied into mini cake pans to help with rise issues caused by altitude, but that had an added bonus. I now had several mini cakes so each person could have their own tasty treat to enjoy while ringing in the new year.

Vegan Honey Mini Cakes for a Sweet New Year adapted from Vegan Honey Cake for Rosh Hashanah

for the vegan honey
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/8 cup pure maple syrup
1/8 cup agave syrup
1/2 teaspoon vegan sugar
1/2 organic orange, thinly sliced
1/2 organic lemon, thinly sliced
for the cakes
1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
3 tablespoons aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas)
1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1.25 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup raisins, optional

To make the vegan honey, combine the syrups and sugar in a medium saucepan with high sides. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Add the sliced fruit. Lower the heat and cook at a low boil for 15 minutes, stirring a few times. Adjust the heat as needed to maintain a low boil. Once a syrupy consistency is reached, pour the liquid through a mesh strainer into a heat-safe measuring cup, discarding the fruit. If you do not have 1/2 cup of syrup, then add agave syrup to reach that amount. Set aside to cool.

For the cakes, preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour the cups of a mini cakes pan, or a muffin tin.

Prepare the super flegg by putting the ground flaxseeds and the aquafaba in a small bowl and stirring well. Set aside to thicken.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves into a large bowl. Place the applesauce, oil, vanilla, vegan honey, and super flegg into a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Stir in the raisins, if using.

Divide the batter among the cups of the pan you are using. Do not fill the wells completely or your cakes will overflow while baking. Bake for 18 to 23 minutes, depending on the pan used, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out with a few small crumbs. Place the baking pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then tip the cakes onto a wire rack to fully cool.

Until next time, Happy New Year and happy baking!

A Sweet New Year Apple Muffins

sweet new year apple muffin

sweet new year apple muffin

The Jewish New Year is celebrated this weekend. The holiday offers new beginnings at a time when hope is welcome. Traditionally, apples are dipped in honey, two symbols of the sweetness and joy of a new year. Although it may seem a long way off until the Gregorian calendar ends in December, now I give you a festive treat of apple muffins drizzled with bee-free honey.

For the muffin, I tweaked a recipe already in my repertoire. I traded peaches for apples, used applesauce as the liquid, and scattered apple pieces over the tops — all chosen for the most apple flavor. For the vegan honey-like drizzle, I adapted a recipe I learned at Rouxbe Online Culinary School. The end result was like dipping apples in honey, but in muffin form.

A Sweet New Year Apple Muffins adapted from my Cardamom Peach Morning Muffins

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup agave syrup
3 TBS canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup + 2 TBS non-dairy milk
1.25 cup apples, peeled and diced into small cubes, divided
vegan honey (recipe to follow)

Preheat oven to 375F and line a muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl, sift together the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, whisk together the agave, oil, vanilla, applesauce, apple cider vinegar, and milk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until the batter is just smooth. Gently stir in 1 cup of apples.

Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of apples onto the tops of the muffins. Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool the muffin tin on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then gently remove each muffin and place on a rack to cool completely.

While the muffins are cooling, make the vegan honey. When the muffins have cooled, drizzle each with a generous spoonful of the warm honey. Store in an airtight container, at room temperature, for 1 day.

Vegan Honey

1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup agave syrup
1 tsp vegan sugar
thinly sliced orange, organic
thinly sliced lemon, organic

Combine the syrups and sugar in a medium saucepan with high sides. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Add the sliced fruit. Lower the heat and cook at a low boil for 15 minutes, stirring a few times. Adjust the heat as needed to maintain a low boil. Once the desired consistency is reached, pour the syrup through a mesh strainer into a jar, discarding the fruit. Cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 weeks.

Until next time, happy baking!

Ginger Lollipops

ginger lollipopsIt’s almost Halloween and that means … candy! I know it’s not baking but I had never successfully made candy before and I like a challenge. I found a recipe using simple, natural ingredients (read – no corn syrup) so I gave it a whirl.

A few tips about candy making: 1) Set aside some time to make this and be patient. The process of heating the sugar mixture seems slow but it will happen. 2) Do not leave the pot unattended. I attempted candy making once years ago, but each time I did I got distracted and ruined it. My recent attempt at Halloween candy met with the phone ringing and then the door ringing seconds later. I was mere degrees from the correct temperature so I wisely ignored both. Shortly thereafter the honey smell became very strong and then instantly I hit the right temp. A few seconds later and it would have burned. 3) Wash the pot and utensils immediately after pouring the mixture into the molds. I washed the pot and thermometer quickly after pouring but I forgot the spoon for a few minutes. Getting the now-hard candy off of the spoon was more difficult than you would imagine. 4) This recipe makes 20 round lollipops, but molds vary. I had a tray with parchment paper at the ready for pouring out the overage. Do not use the extra to overfill the molds. Overly full molds are a pain to unmold.

In case you’re still wondering about cooking candy and not baking, I can let you know that my chocoholic taster was very enthused with the finished product in spite of the lack of chocolate.

Ginger Lollipops adapted from achs.edu
vegetable oil, to grease molds
candied ginger, chopped very fine
2 cups organic sugar
2/3 cups agave nectar
3/4 cup water
10 drops organic ginger (Zingiber officinale) essential oil
Use oil to grease lollipop molds. Drop a few pieces of candied ginger into each mold. Insert lollipop sticks and set aside. In a heavy-duty saucepan, combine sugar, agave and water. Insert candy thermometer, making sure not to touch bottom of pan. Cook at medium heat, stirring until ingredients are dissolved. Check pan occasionally to make sure mixture is not bubbling over.
Once thermometer reaches 300F, remove from stove. Once bubbling subsides, add ginger essential oil. Stir well. Pour mixture carefully into molds, making sure sticks remain secure. Let cool before removing from molds. (If lollipops are difficult to remove, briefly run hot water over back of mold tray.) Place in plastic bags or plastic wrap.

Until next time, happy un-baking!