Tuesday 4 October 2011

Cookbook Challenge Day II

Yesterday was the start of the cookbook challenge & I continued today with another three recipes. First out of the hat was Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. Amazing. I was very pleased with this start to the day! The random number generator picked me page 107 the Coconut Lime Cupcakes but as I'd already made these (I've made quite a lot of recipes from VCTOW!) I had to pick again. This time the generator directed me to page 89 where I saw the recipe for Apricot-Glazed Almond Cupcakes.

This actually might not have been a recipe I'd have made if it hadn't have popped up in the challenge, I haven't had the best results baking with soy yoghurt in the past & I'm very much a chocolate girl when it comes to baking cupcakes for myself.


I'm so glad the recipe generator picked these cupcakes though. They're unbelievably good & I think I've actually been convinced that there is a cupcake better than a chocolate cupcake! These remind me of an apricot version of a cherry bakewell, one of my favourite pregan desserts that I still haven't gotten around to veganising...partly because a cafe just around the corner from my house sells a vegan version! I picked toasted almonds for the topping just because I thought they'd be more fun than regular almond slices & I really enjoyed decorating a cupcake with something other than buttercream for a change.

The second cookbook of the day was Kelly Peloza's The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur. This was shaping up to be a very good day indeed! The recipe the generator chose was the Vanilla Thumbprints & it looked like a great easy recipe. I also liked that the baking with jam theme was continuing.


This is one of my newest cookbooks & whilst I've spent a lot of time flicking through it & bookmarking recipes this is actually the first recipe I've baked from it. You can use any jam you like in the cookies & I picked raspberry. These cookies are so fucking delicious that I actually had to stop Nick eating them straight from the baking tray because I was running out of cookies to photograph! They're also super simple to make & don't use any complicated ingredients. The only thing I did differently to the recipe was that I pressed them down a tiny bit before baking the second tray because my first batch were a little rounder than the picture in the book.

I was amused when the third recipe of the day came up as the Prosecco Spritzer from The Urban Vegan. Apparently the universe doesn't want me to eat any real food today! Whilst I do drink alcohol I certainly do not drink expensive prosecco on my own on a Tuesday afternoon so I decided to make this drink with soda water & cranberry juice rather than the suggested prosecco.

Nick has the day off work today & he doesn't ever drink alcohol so the non-alcoholic option was a good way for him to join in with the fun too. I definitely like this drink, in fact I am about to pour myself a second, and I will happily make the alcoholic version one day.

Today has definitely been a fun day but I do currently have a bit of a sugar buzz after eating two cupcakes, 8 cookies & a glass of cranberry & soda water. I think I might need to go & find myself something sensible to eat! See you all again tomorrow!

28 comments:

  1. ooo yum. cupcakes look book. i do have the vegan cupcakes take over the world book but pretty much make the vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting each time.

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  2. Haha, this looks like a fun day of delicious baking! I've never tried those cupcakes but I actually love soy yoghurt for baking, so I'll have to look up that recipe later.

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  3. Those cupcakes look scrumptious, but it's the jam cookies which are catching my fancy. Yummo!!

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  4. I'm enjoying so much reading about your cookbook challenge day. I should do it someday too cause sometimes I think I have too many books and I don't use them as much as I should!

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  5. Your cookbook challenge sounds awesome. Knowing me, I'd limit the books to to the cupcakes and cookies volumes... Yum!

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  6. What great picks! I haven't tried that cupcake recipe before either but you've convinced me to give it a go. Have you got a Lidl near you? They do good but inexpensive prosecco both in a bottle and in a can!

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  7. We've had those apricot almond cupcakes at our bake sales and they were a hit, I really need to make some & yours look perfect!

    I would have made the non-alcoholic version of that drink too, it sounds very refreshing!

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  8. Tea and Sympatico I do have a Lidl near me & Prosecco in a can sounds brilliant! I only looked in Sainsburys, M&S and The Co-Op because they label which stuff's vegan, how do you find out about the Lidl stuff? Do they have a list like M&S or do they label stuff too?

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  9. I'm totally craving cookies now! I've never tried Apricot Cupcakes - but I love apricots. I want to wash it all down with that martini - yum!

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  10. Oh, those cupcakes look amazing!

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  11. I guess you were meant to have a day of decadence! Love VCTOTW and also Kelly's adorable book. I'm tickled that the universe included my cookbook in the mix. (It's better with Prosecco ;)

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  12. I've tried the chocolate thumbprints (with raspberry jam) from the VCC. They're pretty good too. We finished them off in no time. I love your cookbook challenge. I need to do that with a few of my unused cookbooks that have been sitting around for ages.

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  13. Cupcakes, cookies and mocktails, what a great day!

    I love the Apricot Almond Cupcakes, they taste amazing. I haven't made the vanilla thumbprint cookies, but I have made her chocolate ones (with blueberry jam OMG amazeballs!).
    I actually do not have Urban Vegan, so I have made nothing from there! Do I need to remedy this? Lots of people talk about it.

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  14. Those cupcakes look so fancy and delicious. And the cookies! they look great too.

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  15. Oh my. Everything looks great, but I would really like to have that Spritzer right now (it's 08:00 a.m. in the morning, mind you..).

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  16. Yummy! They all look very good, I don't blame you for eating lots of them.

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  17. I love how you're using a random number generator to pick out your recipes - so brave, and so, so cool!

    Those cupcakes (and cookies!) look excellent.

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  18. those cupcakes look divine! I bought a jar of apricot jam for a recipe months ago and haven't used it again since, this could be a good excuse. If it hasn't gone furry that is...

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  19. I've been wanting to make those cupcakes for ages. They look gorgeous!

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  20. these are some of my favorite cupcakes from the book!
    I really like your cookbook challenge thing.

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  21. I am loving your cookbook roulette immensely!! And the cupcakes you picked from VCTOTW sound really, really good. Not something I would have picked either, so thank you for the idea ^_^

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  22. You know I’ve owned VCTOTW for almost a year, I’ve made SO many cupcakes from it, and I always want to make the apricot almond ones and somehow it never happens. Each time I bake cupcakes I want to make those, next time I’ll definitely have to do it! You’ve inspired me!

    I’ve really been wanting to get the Cookie Connoisseur cookbook, but haven’t yet. However those cookies look delish! I’ll have to put the book on my x-mas wish list.

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  23. I've made those Thumbprints from Kelly's book! They're pretty flippin' awesome.

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  24. I finally bought the Cookie Connoisseur! We're using that one for our baking swap in December.

    Life is short. Sometimes you have to eat dessert first, or just instead of dinner!

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  25. oooh those cookies.. i love kelly's cookies.. the apricot cupcakes super yumm too. i bet you are liking making these and eating them all too!


    Richa @ Hobby And More Food Blog

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  26. I'd be sugar buzzed too! That spritzer looks so good and I do love Prosecco!

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  27. To be honest I have never checked if the Lidl prosecco is vegan, just assumed it probably was as a lot of sparkling wine/ champagne is. just noticed they now have a contact form on their website so I should probably check and see if they have a list of wines as they are getting pretty good about labelling the food these days.

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