Sorry I’m a bit late getting this up. This past Halloween, Chris and Crystal from Food for Lovers hosted a Vegan’s Rock Austin Halloween party- the food was catered by the amazing Chefs/owners of Madeleine Bistro in LA, Dave & Molly! In addition, I catered the dessert table!

Let’s get down to the food! Here’s the spread from Dave & Molly:

Everything tasted SO good- I’m not joking when I say it’s probably the best food I’ve had in a while. Austin is really missing a vegan fine dining restaurant. My favorite thing I ate was the blini with crème fraiche and smoked mushrooms. I actually ended up getting to help them assemble and plate some dishes, which was a total honor. It’s always awesome to work with people who’s work you respect!

Now, onto what I made: Blackberry raspberry hand pies, caramelized fig tarts filled with frangipane and homemade fig jam, pistachio gianduja truffles, orange ganache truffles, and rocky road mousse cups! The mousse cups were a big hit- they were layered with chocolate cookie crumbs, chocolate mousse, whipped cream, chocolate ganache, sliced almonds, and dandies vegan marshmallows.

Thanks to Chicago SoyDairy and Uptons Naturals for sponsoring this event, Chef Dave and Molly who flew out to provide us with delicious food, Ross from Vegans Rock Austin for taking pictures, and Chris and Crystal for organizing this event! Happy Birthday, Crystal!

First off, I’d like to thank everyone who has been commenting and reading from Vegan Mofo! I read every comment, and unfortunately I don’t currently have a way to ‘reply’ on my blog because my version of wordpress is sorely outdated. I’m working towards fixing that, so please don’t think I don’t appreciate your comments! :)

I’d also like to share a 4″ black forest cake and mini cupcakes that I made at work for one of my boss‘ birthdays yesterday! It’s a vegan chocolate almond cake with vanilla buttercream, chocolate shavings, and cherry filling.

I just got back from Counter Culture where Christy had her book signing party for her new cookbook, Blissful Bites! A portion of the proceeds of tonight’s book sales went to Sunny Day Farm- a BIG thank you to her for doing that! Also, Sue from Counter Culture was serving up a few items from the recipes in the book- I got a curry un-chicken salad sandwich, and a side of quinoa! The book looks so beautiful, and I can only imagine all the hard work that went into producing it. Congrats, Christy!

She also asked me to bring some cupcakes, so I made some mini strawberry cupcakes for everyone:

Cookbooks- I’d be willing to bet that everyone has at least one. I have to admit, I’m guilty of collecting them and then neglecting them. Sometimes I rely too much on the internet as inspiration, and forget that there is a wealth of information that people have taken a lot of time to write down so that we as bakers, chefs, homemakers (etc.) may refine our craft and increase our knowledge. I’d like to take a second to talk about a few books that have taught me a lot, or inspired me to be better and challenge myself in the kitchen:

• How Baking Works by Paula Figoni- This book is essential to anyone who is interested in baking, and especially vegan baking. Why? Because baking is essentially kitchen chemistry, and if you’re making substitutions for anything (eggs, milk, etc.), you need to know the properties of what you’re replacing and what purpose it serves in each individual recipe. This book has more information than you’ll probably ever be able to retain in your head, but it’s a great reference… or good for recreational reading, if you’re a nerd like me.
• Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz- What can I say? Where would I be without the PPK? Isa is one of the leading vegan cookbook authors, and has been for as long as I can remember. Her cooking show spawned a huge online community where I have made many friends, learned a lot, and continually found myself inspired. Why this book, out of the many she has written? Because this is the best cookbook I can think of to sum up vegan cooking. It’s great for new vegans, but still has some great dishes to inspire even the old-timers.
• Chocolates and Confections by Peter P. Greweling- This book is just gorgeous. Anyone who has ever wanted to learn how to work with chocolate, this is the book for you. Many recipes are easy to veganize and there is tons of information on the tools you need and how to temper and work with chocolate.
• Baking and Pastry: Mastering, the Art and Craft by The Culinary Institute of America- This was actually one of my textbooks in pastry school, but I still go back and reference it a lot. There are tons of techniques to learn and great starting points with recipes.
• Sunny Day’s in Texas Cookzine by Texas Bloggers and Chefs! – my newest addition to my cookbook colection, but probably the most heartfelt one. Our favorite local farm sanctuary, Sunny Day Farms, has been in some serious trouble due to the drought this year in Texas. Several of us got together (myself included) and donated our time and recipes to put together this cookzine to raise money for the farm. I’m really impressed and moved by the response from our vegan community in Texas; everyone came together within a matter of days and contributed something. There are even recipes from Spiral Diner, and the coveted Wheatsville Co-op popcorn tofu and cashew tamari dressing recipes! HUGE thanks to Stephanie for organizing and putting this zine together, and Molly for promoting it like crazy. Please buy a copy if you can- the animals really need it.

Milo think’s you should check it out, too. :)

I am so honored to be a part of another AustinBakes bakesale, this time for the central Texas wildfires that affected Bastrop (which is only about 20 minutes from Austin!). This time, I donated 5 dozen vegan cupcakes in two flavors: pumpkin with cinnamon buttercream, and raspberry blackout. :)

Together, we raised over $12,750 for fire relief! Thanks, as always, to Kathryn for organizing this event and also to Stephanie for picking up my baked goods and running the SoCo location of the bakesale!

Photo Credit: Liz Love Photography!

Photo Credit: Stephanie of Vegan Lazy Smurf!

I really, really love our Austin community.