Vegan Brownies and PB & Banana Vegan Ice Cream

Well, hello there. I didn't expect to see you here. I'm glad you didn't give up on this little space of the blogoverse. Because I sure as hell almost did.


We had a lot going on over the summer, what with all the bakers markets, special orders, and the whole 'getting married' thing. I barely felt like I had a summer at all. Before I knew it, August 18th had blown in - I suddenly found myself locked in a small classroom with twenty-five tweens for eight hours a day. They weren't excited about the situation. And, to be frank, neither was I. Not only did struggle through the school day, but I found myself lesson planning, developing, and grading for hours every single night. The weekend just meant I could work even more.  No time for myself. No time for baking.

With the new school year crashing into me, I decided that maybe I should give up the blogging way of life. Forget about twitter, flickr, and foodbuzz. Forget about cookies and cupcakes. Then I could concentrate totally and completely on my rowdy little group of Grade 6s. I already give 110% to my teaching profession. Now I could give at least 43% more.

Halwa Cupcakes with Kulfi and Cashew-Lime Cookie Toppers

Sometimes you have to take a flavour profile by the horns and run with it. Our favourite profile comes from the unique tastes and smells that are born from Indian cuisine. Thanks to my new Flavour Bible, I could rattle off a real long list of that would make any Indian dessert perfect.

Or I could just show you.

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream (and Cake!)

Ice cream and I? We're not exactly buddies. It's more of abusive relationship than anything: I consume and enjoy it, then it beats its way out of any orifice it can (as fast as it can). Gross. I know. I never considered I had a lactose intolerance until I started I started my journey into veganism. Without the extra cheese and cream, I felt the same way I did when I dropped meat from my diet - lighter, healthier, and happier. Except for the ice cream problem.

I love ice cream. I f-ing love ice cream. This was the little hiccup in my plan - whenever I sneaked that DQ or Ben & Jerry's, I not only felt a twinge of vegan guilt, but also I felt sick to my stomach. Literally and figuratively. There had to be a way I could enjoy my ultimate vice without all the vomiting and such.

Enter The Vegan Scoop.

Oatmeal & Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches

I'm a baker who's always looking for the next great flavour adventure. At home, I rarely make recipes more than once - why make a batch of cookies we've tasted when there's billions of different cookies that haven't made the journey to my mouth yet? Participating in online challenges - such as Cupcake Hero and Mystery Box - really gives me a chance to stretch my flavour profile muscles and come up with something new and exciting. If I had to bake the same cupcakes or ice the same cakes over and over again, I wouldn't be in this business.

Friends and family sometimes throw a wrench into my baking stride. When a birthday or celebration comes up, I always eagerly volunteer to bake the sweet things. I throw some ideas their way and, usually, I get the "whatever you think is best" answer. Yes. I like that answer. That means I can play Frankenstein in the test kitchen until I create something completely unique. There is the odd time, however, that I get someone who knows exactly what they want. And it is boring. Just vanilla would be okay, they insist. Vanilla? Like Vanilla bean with espresso and homemade dulce de leche? Oh, no. Just vanilla. 

Vanilla people, you are crazy.

My Dad's birthday went very much like this. Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, please. Yep, not anything with layers or fondant. Just oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. He's a simple man to please. Luckily, he's a chocolate type of guy, so he gave me a lot more to work with than just vanilla.

Homemade Lemon Ice Cream

The sun has been pounding down on us for the last couple of days. Finally, the rain seems to have given up the fight and allowed summer to begin. Hopefully this lasts more than a week - you never know around here.

Our little garden has given me hope that this is, officially, the start of warm weather. Yesterday I peeked out our window and saw an electric yellow zucchini flower bursting out from underneath one of our plants. This made me extremely happy - not just because it meant we would have more summer squash than I will know what to do with, but because I'd like to think these warm, sunny flowers are telling me that only summer days lay ahead.

The only downside of the summer sun is the tropical climate it causes inside our apartment. About half of our walls are windows, and they always seem to catch the morning and afternoon sun. If we don't close all the blinds in the house, our living room turns into a sauna by noon. This is not good - especially when I want to experiment with new cake or cookies recipes in our own kitchen. Putting the oven on is a sin during this time of year - once it's on, you will not be able to cool down for the rest of the day.

This means that I'll have to look for different recipes. Recipes that don't require the oven. Recipes that create tasty treats that help cool the summer heat.



Ice cream! Of course!