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CHAPTER 1
Sweets & Treats
Sophia Loren once said, "Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti." I'm no Sophia Loren, but I feel the same way about cupcakes. They took me to the Food Network as a judge on Cupcake Wars, to the Cooking Channel where I demonstrated my award-winning Banana Bread French Toast Cupcake recipe on The Perfect 3, and now, they have brought me to you — which might be my most exciting adventure yet! So while I don't have Sophia's sweet bod, she never wrote a cookbook, so who cares? (Dang it. I just Googled and she wrote two cookbooks. I shake my fist at you, Sophia Loren!)
Since launching Bake and Destroy in 2006, I have made cupcakes inspired by everything from slasher films to Andrew W.K. and it only gets weirder and more delicious from there. In this chapter I've included my award-winning recipe as mentioned above; a chocolate, coconut and caramel cupcake inspired by pro wrestler Samoa Joe; and a handful of other easy-to-make and even easier-to-eat cupcakes.
I've also included an over-the-top cake named after my favorite late-night B-movie hostess, Rhonda Shear, and some from-scratch snack cakes that might look familiar, but they certainly don't taste like Mom didn't used to make. Along with those, you'll find whoopie pies that look like tiny burgers but taste like a banana split and a couple of homemade cake mixes that make it easy to whip up dessert in minutes.
Brownies made with flaxseeds? Cheesecake made from tofu? What sorcery is this? This is what I do, dudes. I can turn a handful of cashews and a can of coconut milk into dessert faster than you can say, "This is vegan." And you can do it, too — so c'mon, let's get some sugar into you before we all starve!
Banana Bread French Toast Cupcakes
If you've spoken to my mom lately, you might know that I won a Cooking Channel competition with this recipe. Inspired by a dish at Salt & Pepper Diner in Chicago, these moist cupcakes combine cinnamon, maple and banana for a breakfasty-dessert.
Makes 12 cupcakes
[Ingredients
CUPCAKES:
½ cup (113 g) mashed overripe banana
VEGAN MAPLE BUTTER CREAM FROSTING:
2 cups (250 g) confectioners' sugar
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a twelve-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
Throw your mashed banana in a blender or just smash it with a fork.
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and sugar into a large bowl and mix well.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the oil, rice milk, vanilla, almond extract and mashed banana.
Stir or fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Small lumps are fine. Finally, add the walnuts, folding gently.
Fill the liners two-thirds full. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely before frosting.
To make the vegan maple buttercream frosting, beat all the ingredients together in a bowl until they're light and fluffy.
Samoa Joe Cupcakes
These cupcakes might be inspired by my favorite Girl Scout cookie — or they could be inspired by a six-foot-two, 280-pound professional wrestler. Take a bite and see which one comes to mind when the chocolaty, coconutty, caramelly goodness puts the Kokina Clutch on your mouth.
Makes 12 cupcakes
Ingredients
CUPCAKES:
1 ½ cups (187 g) all-purpose flour
SALTED CARAMEL-COCONUT BUTTERCREAM:
½ cup (113 g) vegan margarine
CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE:
½ cup (85 g) vegan chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a twelve-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
To make the cupcakes, in a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the water, oil, vanilla, and vinegar, and fill the prepared cups two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 21 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.
While the oven is still on, spread the 1 ½ cups (140 g) of shredded coconut on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Toast for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring once or twice, until toasted. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Use a chopstick or a straw to poke four or five small holes in each cooled cupcake. Reserving ¼ cup (60 ml) of caramel sauce to use in the buttercream, use a spoon to drizzle caramel sauce into the holes.
To make the buttercream, beat the margarine and shortening together until well combined. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar on low speed, then increase speed to medium and beat 3 minutes until fluffy. Add the reserved caramel sauce, salt and coconut flavoring and beat to incorporate. Fold in the shredded coconut.
To make the drizzle, set up a double boiler and melt the chocolate and shortening together. Transfer the mixture into a resealable plastic bag and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.
Use a piping bag or offset spatula to pile the buttercream high on each cupcake. Dunk each cupcake, frosting side down, into the toasted coconut. Place the cupcakes on a sheet of waxed paper, snip the corner from the bag containing the chocolate and drizzle a zigzag of chocolate over the top of each cupcake. The chocolate will set up in a few minutes.
Peach Cobbler Cupcakes
When I was a kid, my whole family vacationed together — uncles, aunts and piles of rowdy cousins. On one particular outing, we jammed the whole family into a buffet-style restaurant in Branson, Missouri. We were about to be late to a Yo-Yo Ma performance, but my Uncle Jim refused to leave until they replenished the giant hotel pan full of peach cobbler. Ever since then, "peach cobbler" has been a running joke among all of us. This recipe is dedicated to Uncle Jim, who had his priorities straight.
Makes 12 cupcakes
Ingredients
¾ cup (94 g) all-purpose flour
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a twelve-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
Sift together flours, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cardamom. Stir in the soy milk, oil, vanilla and vinegar. Allow the batter to rest for 5 minutes, then fold in the peaches.
Fill each muffin cup two-thirds full and bake for 22 to 26 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Frozen Lemonade Pie
Years ago, my mom would mix frozen lemonade concentrate with a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream, spoon it onto a piecrust and bask in the glory of my sister, brother and me shutting up long enough to gobble up every last bite. Eventually I won my husband's heart with that very pie, and I've re-created it here with a tart vanilla and lemon ice cream made with coconut milk, in a quick graham cracker crust.
Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients
CRUST:
1 ½ cups (375 g) finely ground graham cracker crumbs
ICE CREAM:
2 (13.3-ounce [403 ml]) cans coconut milk
Directions
Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
To make the crust, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and margarine until well combined. Press into a 9-inch (23 cm) pie pan and bake for 7 minutes. Let cool completely.
Use a whisk to mix all the ice-cream ingredients together, then follow the directions on your ice-cream maker to freeze it. If the ice cream is too soft to add to the pie shell at this point, scoop it into a lidded container and place in the freezer for 2 hours. Once it's set up, scoop the ice cream into the pie shell, smooth the top with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm enough to slice.
Pinterest Pie
I hate Pinterest. It's a place where weird moms post their corny party ideas and it creeps me out. So when my friends all started going nutty over some magical "frozen banana ice cream" they saw on Pinterest, I got ready to delete them all from Facebook. But before I committed mass Facebook murder, I gave pureed frozen bananas a try and I'll be damned — they taste like ice cream. But I still think Pinterest is stupid, so I improved upon the original by adding creamy peanut butter and pie-ifying it.
Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients
CRUST:
1 ¾ cups (122 g) crushed pretzels
FILLING:
5 peeled, very ripe bananas, sliced into coins and frozen until solid
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) and spray a 9-inch (23 cm) pie pan with cooking spray. In a medium-size bowl, combine the pretzel crumbs and sugar, drizzle in the margarine and mix, then gradually add the soy milk — the dough will be crumbly. Scoop the mixture into the pie pan and press into the sides and bottom. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, then let cool before coating with the chocolate. Melt the chocolate using a double boiler, and pour the melted chocolate onto the cooled crust. Tilt the pan to coat the bottom; if you have extra, keep tilting the pan to get some chocolate on the sides, too. Set aside to cool and set up — you can also place the pan in the freezer to speed up the process.
Puree the bananas in a food processor until they resemble soft-serve ice cream (You may want to do this in two or three batches, depending on the size and power of your food processor). Add the peanut butter and agave and scoop into the prepared pie shell. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until set up enough to slice into — about 2 hours.
Burger Time Whoopie Pies
BurgerTime, for those of you who are too young to be reading this book; is an early '80s video game featuring Chef Peter Pepper's quest to assemble giant hamburgers by running over the ingredients while fighting off killer hot dogs, pickles and eggs. It's one of the stupidest, most fun video games ever made, and I honor it with this really goofy dessert — whoopie pies that look like burgers and taste like a chocolate-covered fruit salad.
Makes 12 large burgers
Ingredients
BUNS:
12/3 cups (207 g) all-purpose flour
CHOCOLATE "BEEF PATTY":
1 1/3 cups (166 g) confectioners' sugar
"MUSTARD":
2 tablespoons (28 g) vegan margarine
OTHER TOPPINGS:
1 cup (93 g) shredded coconut
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) and spray your whoopie pie pans with cooking spray. If you don't have whoopie pie pans, simply line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper. In a large bowl, beat together the margarine, shortening and sugar. Start on low speed to combine the ingredients, then switch to medium-high for 3 minutes, until the mixture is fluffy.
Add the banana and the vanilla and almond extract and beat for 2 more minutes.
Add half of the flour mixture and half of the soy milk, and mix until combined. Then add the remaining flour mixture and soy milk and mix until combined.
Drop 1 heaping tablespoon (20 ml) of batter into each cavity of the whoopie pie pan, or onto a lined cookie sheet, leaving at least 2 inches (5 cm) between each one. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top of half of the unbaked whoopie pies — these will be the top buns. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the "patty," beat together the margarine, shortening, confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder on low speed, increasing to medium, until the mixture is crumbly, about 1 minute. Add the soy milk, vanilla and salt, and beat on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scoop into a piping bag or resealable plastic bag and refrigerate until firm — about an hour.
To make the "mustard," beat together the margarine and shortening on medium for about 1 minute. Add the confectioners' sugar and beat on low speed until combined. Add the soy milk, vanilla, and enough drops of yellow food coloring for the mixture to resemble mustard. Beat until smooth, about 4 minutes. Scoop into a piping bag or resealable plastic bag and refrigerate until firm — about an hour.
To make "shredded lettuce," place the shredded coconut in a large resealable plastic bag, add a few drops of green food coloring, close the bag and shake until the color is distributed evenly.
Wash and slice the strawberries to make "tomato" slices.
To assemble, invert a whoopie pie without sesame seeds and pipe on the chocolate buttercream in a large circle, resembling a burger patty. Sprinkle with some green coconut, and top with two slices of strawberries. Pipe the "mustard" over the top of all of the other toppings in a zigzag pattern. Top with a sesame seed whoopie pie and press down lightly, so the ingredients ooze out just like a juicy burger.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Bake and Destroy"
by .
Copyright © 2013 Natalie Slater.
Excerpted by permission of Page Street Publishing Co..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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