the ransom cake files

My Blogger Was Hacked... Apparently...

2011-02-12T09:20:00.000-06:00

I was offline for quite sometime, only to come back to find my recipe blog was hacked by some crazy person. Writing a recipe blog has been a dream of mine and I am very upset that this has happened to me, in a sense destroying my new reputation. I will most likely not be re-posting here, or on anything from Google or Blogger. I hope all of those who found me here will find me again out there. Thank you.

Summertime Shortcakes

2010-07-06T23:04:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it is already July... before you know it, it will be October and that means (that's right) my wedding day. Thankfully that is another story for another time...

Today's post is solely dedicated to one of the most delicious cakes I've ever made. I made this dessert for the 4th of July; my inspirations were Americana, summertime, and strawberry-shortcake-childhood memories. This cake is perfect for a backyard barbecue, romantic picnic, or summer a potluck. It is light, airy, and subtly-sweet.

And now for the recipe...

Summertime Shortcakes
The flavor of the yogurt really stands out in this cake- use one that you most enjoy eating. I used my favorite: strawberry soy yogurt from Trader Joes.

1 - 6 oz. container strawberry (or raspberry) soy yogurt
2/3 cup plain soy milk
the juice squeezed from a half of one lemon - approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup granulated cane sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream-of-tartar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon powdered lemon peel -or- fresh lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lightly grease a 12-cup mini-bundt pan (-or- a regular muffin pan) with vegetable oil or shortening
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the strawberry soy yogurt, soy milk, and lemon juice. Then add the oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk until the mixture is nice-and-frothy.
4. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients and sift well.
5. Combine the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold gently together until just mixed.
6. Fill prepared pan with batter approximately 3/4 full. Bake for 15-22 minutes, check cakes by inserting a toothpick into the center of a cake, if the toothpick comes out clean, your cakes are done! If not, bake for an additional 5 minutes (depending on your home oven; my cakes baked perfectly at 15 minutes only).
7. Allow cakes to cool in pan, or transfer them to a wire rack. Cool completely before serving.

Serve cakes with slices of fresh strawberries and fresh blueberries and a topping of sprinkled powdered sugar or soy-whip cream (if available).

Mexican-Inspired Lasagna

2010-06-08T18:26:00.001-05:00

Before I get to the delicious lasagna recipe, I must post some food-porn photos of the awesome homemade bagels I made yesterday. Ready.... here we go...

The recipe can be found here. My fiance was so impressed by these bagels; he is now convinced we can open a bagel shop. This recipe is simple and fun, and the bagels are so delicious. I love veganbaking.net.

Ok, now on to the "lasagna" recipe. I had originally planned on making enchiladas, but as I was cooking everything and getting ready to "roll-up" I was apparently in more of a "layering" mood....

Mexican-Inspired Lasagna

Ingredients:
12 tortillas de maiz (corn tortillas)
1 package Trader Joe's Soy-Chorizo (or other veggie-meat, such as ground seitan)
15 oz. cooked vegetarian refried beans + 3 tbsp. spicy salsa

1 medium yellow onion, sliced into strips
2 bell peppers, 1 red, 1 green, seeded and sliced into strips
1-2 tbsp. olive oil (for sauteing the onion and peppers)
1 cup super-sweet corn
1 cup shredded vegan cheese (daiya is my new favorite)
2 tbsp. drained sliced black olives
3-4 large roma tomatoes, diced

shredded lettuce
hot sauce, to taste
vegan sour cream
more diced tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
1. Start out by sauteing the onion in a bit of olive oil in a large stir-fry pan; cook on low heat until the onion is translucent and begins to caramelize.
2. Add the sliced peppers to the pan and turn up the heat, cook for approximately 5 minutes.
3. Add the corn to the pan and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring the pan constantly. Turn off heat.

4. Coat a large rectangular casserole dish with a thin layer of oil and place a layer of the tortillas on the bottom of the pan (about 5-6 tortillas).
5. Spread the refried bean mixture on top of the tortillas, and crumble the soy-chorizo on top of the beans.
6. Place another 2-3 tortillas on top of the soy-chorizo and top the new tortillas with the onion, pepper and corn mixture.
7. Sprinkle some vegan cheese on top of the pepper mixture, top the cheese with a few more tortillas, then top with the remaining cheese and some diced tomatoes and sliced black olives.
8. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.

I served this dish in square lasagna-style slices and topped it with shredded lettuce, vegan sour cream, fresh diced tomatoes and a few sprinkles of hot sauce. Delicioso!

Non-Fancy No-Bake Cookies

2010-05-23T17:12:00.007-05:00

It is 93 degrees today and so it goes without saying that it is too damn hot to be baking cookies in the kitchen! What's a girl to do when homemade cookies are needed on such a warm late May afternoon? No-bake cookies to the rescue. No fancy kitchen equipment needed for these bad-boys; I used a large mixing bowl and a fork... and that's it (which made clean-up a breeze). I think even my boyfriend could handle making these cookies...

"Non-Fancy No-Bake Cookies"

1/2 c. natural peanut butter
3 tbsp. brown rice syrup
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 tsp. vegan cane sugar
3 tbsp. flax seed flour
1/2 c. raw unsweetened shredded coconut
1 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp. almond milk

Line a baking pan or cutting board with wax paper.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and incorporate well until a stiff-moist dough forms.
Form dough into 1/2 inch size balls and flatten (if desired) on the wax paper.
Chill.
Enjoy.

This recipe is extremely versatile. I used almond milk but you could use soy or hemp-milk. I also used salted chunky peanut butter which gave the cookies a lovely texture. You could substitute the peanut butter for almond or cashew butter, use agave or maple syrup instead of brown rice syrup, throw in some dried cranberries... the possibilities seem almost endless! As it happens, to-the-best-of-my-knowledge, these cookies are raw and gluten-free.

The next couple of days are going to be 90-something degrees, so I will be thinking of some other cool recipes and ideas to pass along.

P.s. Thanks for visiting, as this happens to be the launch of my new blog and my first entry. Peace.