Trying to Make Pam an Inaugural Birthday Cake

I have been all over the internet looking for a good birthday cake recipe. Here is something that I found that I thought was interesting on the website: http://www.steviainfo.com/?page=cooking_tips

//www.steviainfo.com/?page=cooking_tips

Instead of Regular Butter:

Substitute Apple Butter made with stevia instead of regular butter for a special treat that will keep your taste buds satisfied.
Recipe: Easy Apple Butter:
7 cups applesauce
7 tsp stevia clear liquid
¼ cup vinegar
1 tsp. cinnamon or allspice
Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat and turn down and let boil for 15 minutes; stirring occasionally. Pour into jars and seal at once.

Please remember when cooking and baking with stevia that for every 1 cup of sugar that is replaced by stevia there should be 1/3 cup of a liquid or other “bulk” added to the recipe. The liquid is needed to create the bulk affect that the sugar normally would. A few liquid substitutions include:

Yogurt
Apple sauce
Apple butter
100% Fruit juice: apple, pineapple, grape etc.
Fruit puree
Egg whites (use egg substitute)
Water
Any liquid that pertains to the recipe will work just fine, for example, use extra banana puree for the liquid in a banana bread recipe.

I finally found a vegan recipe for chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I am not sure how it will be received, so I will keep you on the edge of your seat and let you know after tomorrow night.

Here We Are - 2009 Already

Here it is already. Where did 2008 go? Pam's birthday is on January 20th so we are going to have a Birthday Inauguration Dinner at a Stanley and Seaforts, a steak restaurant in Tacoma, Washington. They have good salads and potatoes, so we should have a great dinner. I have been checking on the internet trying to find a vegan birthday cake recipe.

My brother John forwarded me a recipe for soft molasses cookies that turned out great! So here it goes....

Vegan Molasses Cookies

1/8 cup - Brown Sugar/Splenda Sweetener (If you use actual sugar, use 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup - Applesauce (unsweetened)
1/2 cup - Cold coffee
1 tbsp - Baking Soda (Dissolved in the cold coffee)
1 cup - Molasses
1/2 tsp - Ginger
2 tsp - Cinnamon
1/4 tsp - Sea Salt (I left this out and it worked fine)
4 cups - Multi-Purpose Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup - raisins (optional)

Whip together the sweetner, applesauce, coffee, dissolved baking soda and molasses until frothy.
Stir in the remaining ingredients.
Chill the dough overnight. (If you can't wait, chill at least 1 hour)
Drop cookie dough on a non-stick cookie sheet and press cookies down with a fork. (Dough drops should be about the size of a silver dollar.)
Place in an oven that has been pre-heated to 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.
Cool, scrape from the cookie sheet and enjoy.

I also received a recipe for Chewy Bread Machine Bagels. I couldn't get a picture of them because they were eaten so fast that I didn't have a chance. Pam loved them and said "This could be trouble".

Here is the recipe:

Chewy Bread Machine Bagels
Recipe by Kim Scott

3 tsp - yeast.
4 cups - all purpose flour
2 tbsp - sugar
2 tsp - salt
1 1/2 cups - very warm water

Serves 12 bagels.

Place ingredients in the bread machine. Select dough or manual cycle. When cycle is finished, remove the dough from the machine and roll into 12 snakes about 10 inches long. Press ends tightly together to form a doughnut shape. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place bagels in the boiling water for 2 minutes. (The longer they boil, the chewier they are). Remove from water and place on a stick free cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown in color.

Try also: half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. Add 2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 cup raisins and an extra tbsp of vegan sugar for Cinnamon Raisin Bagels.