Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Cakes, Cupcakes, Cookies + Ice Cream; recent sweets from my kitchen!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

With all of my travels as of late, one would think there wouldn't be much going on in my kitchen, but that's quite far from the truth! Happy to be in my familiar surroundings again, I've been churning out an assortment of sweets from cakes of all sizes to cookies added to ice cream & thought I'd share some of them with you!

As you may know, I've been working on the campaign for Californians for Humane Farms & I'm proud to say, we gathered enough signatures to make it on to the ballot! If you're in California, PLEASE make sure to vote on this important initiative in November. Due to our success, we had a victory party & I decided to bring over 100 mini cupcakes to share with the celebration. Needless to say, it was a bit of work, but well worth it! I was in a rush, so the photos are lacking, but thankfully, the flavors are not; Lemon cupcakes topped with Strawberry Mousse & Chocolate cupcakes with Cinnamon Spice Buttercream. They went over well & were quickly swiped from the table, I even caught people trying to sneak over for seconds! I also had the pleasure of meeting some of the VegNews crew & they mentioned the shindig on their Press Pass blog.

The very next day was my Dad's birthday. His favorite cake has always been German Chocolate, but the rest of the family are not fans, so I opted for a cute little 5 inch cake, so he could share a slice with Ryan & keep the rest for himself. I would have liked to use multiple types of frosting, the sides always look lovely with fudge, but after the mini cupcake extravaganza & having to work that morning, I was a bit wiped out! I did use large flakes of coconut though, which makes for a bit of a different texture than the standard & Dad thought it was a nice touch!

Another event I attended was a weekly dinner co-sponsored by the San Francisco Vegetarian Society & Wellness Central. While it wasn't a potluck, I talked with the organizers & we agreed a cake would be a nice addition to the meal. With all the lovely organic fruit in season, I opted for a vanilla cake filled with Lemon Curd & topped with Strawberry Mousse. It went so quickly, I hadn't even finished my dinner before I had to run & get a slice for myself; I suppose that means it was well received?!

Ryan has been on the road a few times since we've returned from Europe & he's feeling worse for the wear. To cheer him up after returning from one of his business trips, he came home to "Thin Mint" cookies, Girl Scout stylee, a recipe from Kelly & Garrick's cookie book. Of course, I couldn't just stop there; I also made chocolate mint ice cream in my handy ice cream maker, for Thin Mint Cookie Ice Cream ala (the very un-vegan) Dreyer's. I opted to make the components separately, then combine them & re-freeze everything, which worked out great. You do have to work quickly with the ice cream though, it tends to melt faster than expected! We enjoyed the ice cream & cookies over the weekend, but I also hid some cookies from Ryan, so I could take them to friends.

One of those friends, was the awesome Amey from Vegan Eats & Treats who I met up with while sampling the vegan baked goods available in Santa Cruz with my favorite roller derby gal, Panda (aka Megan). We all had a fun day taste testing way too many cakes, bitching about life & love, & enjoying the sunny day. As for the goods we tried, I'll just say the company was better than the cake.

Well, that's all for now. I assure you there's plenty more to come from reviews to more kitchen concoctions. By the way, check out a little piece I did for Cakespy & their Cakewalk series; the first vegan cakewalk & it takes place in Berlin! Enjoy!

33 comments:

Unknown said...

I can't see the Berlin Cakewalk! but I might just be missing the caffeine to be smart and find it. guide me?
happy belated birthday to your dad, what a lovely cake you made for him!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Celine, you're too quick! hehe. It will be up for Tuesday.

Anonymous said...

Oooh, all of your baked goods are always so lovely! Those cookies are calling my name. And that strawberry cake is too gorgeous.

Good luck on the ballot!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

My oh my, I am quite impressed by all the baking you've done lately!!! I envy you, haha.

The cake that you made for your dad is DEFINITELY my favorite :0)

Anonymous said...

Wow--what an amazing bunch of treats--can't believe how much baking you did! Everything looks great. Looking forward to reading your article, too! (it's not up just yet. . . ).

Alicia said...

Ow, and I don't even have a cookie to eat with my tea?
I'm also eager to see the article about Berlin Cakewalk!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Can't wait to read more about Berlin on Cakespy! And wow, over 100 mini cupcakes, you are too awesome. I would have definitely snuck seconds (and probably thirds).
Those thin mint cookies sound excellent. Hope Ryan gets to spend more time home (and next time he goes to seattle, he brings you mighty o's like he should :-)

Anonymous said...

Incredible- Both the sweets and getting on to the ballot! I wish I could vote, but I'll still have my fingers crossed over here on the east coast.

The Vegan Countess said...

Beautiful! I am certain they taste as wonderful as they look.

Meghan said...

ooooh, melisser, these all look amazing. i want your recipe for strawberry mousse. then i will promptly frost my entire life with it! haha....YUMYUMYUM!!!

Anonymous said...

So many sweet things. I wish we were neighbors and you could supply me with baked goods!

Bianca said...

Oh my god, those Girl Scout-style cookies look amazing. I haven't had a thin mint in years!

Anonymous said...

please please please open an online bakery so i can get some of your goodies! please?

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

i love every single thing you made! yr so sweet to make yr dad's fave cake.

Animal-Friendly said...

Congratulations on your success with the Californians for Humane Farms! That must be so rewarding!

All those cupcakes, cakes, cookies, and ice cream- wow! My sweet tooth is aching. The strawberry mousse frosting looks especially divine with the coming spring weather!

Cakespy said...

It's official, you're my favorite person in the world. :-) If I could send E-kisses I would. Hope that's not creepy. Thank you so much for a beautiful cakewalk, and dammit, all that cake and nice-cream (not ice cream but very nice?) look ridiculously-delicious!

JENNA said...

i'll take one of each please!

Penny said...

So many beautiful cakes! Keep up the great work Melisser.

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

I finally got an ice cream machine! I've made vanilla bean frozen custard (which wasn't that good) and raspberry sorbet (which was DELICIOUS!)

Wheeler's Frozen Dessert said...

Melisser I love your posts! Yum!

Amey said...

Mmmmm, those Thin Mints were GOOD!

It's fun to see all the cakes you told me about. Girl, they are looking great! You've got some serious skills.

You know, it's funny, I've been thinking about cake walks for the last couple years. When I was a little girl, my elementary school used to have a cake walk as a fundraiser. How sweet. I've been thinking how fun it would be to have an all-vegan cakewalk. But, the problem is, you'd have to only invite people who don't bake crap. I still firmly believe that good quality baked goods are the number one way to spread the Good Word of Veganism.

You rock!
:) Amey

Bee Roach said...

Everything looks awesome, Melisser :) I'm jealous of the german chocolate cake! That's my favorite cake, too. Hopefully, I'll get to run into you some time and try some of these awesome treats.

sarchan said...

The lemon cupcake with strawberry mouse and the thin mint chocolate icecream are inspired pairings! Love it. And it's so amazing what you all have managed to accomplish politically. Awesome.

julie hasson said...

Your baked goods look spectacular Melisser! Are you sure you don't want to open up a little pastry shop, maybe here in Portland?

I love reading your blog! I would kill for some of your ice cream now, or maybe a piece of that delicious looking cake with lemon curd. Hmmm...

Jess said...

I read that Cakespy piece the other day & thought it was great!

I can't believe how much baking you've been up to... Everything looks so delicious that I don't even know where to begin commenting. Both of those cupcake flavors sound (and look!) amazing, and that vanilla-lemon curd-strawberry buttercream cake is my dream. Wow!

And what a cute urban housewife you are for spoiling Ryan with those treats!

Melanie said...

All your post are so delish looking and drool worthy I just had to add you to my vegans that blog section! Cheers!

urban vegan said...

Um...if you ever find yourself....well...with...um...too many of those sweets to finish...just....wel... let me know. I'll DRIVE up to NYC to pick up the leftovers ;)

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

You're the awesomest! I love your cupcake combos, and they're even for the most worthiest of causes! also, eek, strawberry mousse... I think I need a bucket of that and a nice plastic spoon and some cartoons, STAT. :p

Chef Erik said...

Wow, they all look great. I would not be able to resist eating everything. Very nice!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

From now on, any time someone tells me they feel sorry for vegans because vegans must be deprived of chocolate and baked goods and must subsist solely on salad, I will recommend they go to your site! You always make the most gorgeous desserts!

Picks Over Peas said...

Melisser, your photo of the thin mint cookies just sold me on Kelly and Garrick's cookbook. Where can I pre-order? Thin mints were my favorite cookie as a child. I think it is incredible that they have come up with a vegan version. Thanks for posting them!

Dazy said...

Once me and my colleague had a chance to have Swiss premium ice creams, two scoops of Movenpick ice creams of our choice. They were simply soothing. This is something one can’t afford to miss. You scream, I scream for Ice Cream!!

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