Lemon Cranberry Loaf

I was in a pinch one evening wanting to have some kind of loaf in the house for a friend's weekend visit, but had no more time to run to the grocery store for anything.  The bananas I had on hand weren't ripe enough for banana bread, but I did have plenty of lemons and fresh / frozen cranberries.  I was more than happy with how the loaf turned out, tangy and sweet with the fresh pop of the cranberries.  The texture would fool anyone into thinking there were eggs in the batter, soft, moist and bouncy without being wet and heavy.

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups white flour
• 3/4 cup cane sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 1/2 350gm (12oz) pack firm silken tofu (so 175gm or 6oz)
• 1/3 cup light oil of your choice
• 1 cup soy (or rice, almond, etc.) milk
• 3 lemons, zested and squeezed
• 1 - 2 tsp lemon extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• approx. 1 cup frozen / fresh cranberries (can use up to 1 1/2 cups)

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare a loaf pan by lining it with parchment paper.

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients.

Zest the lemons, placing the zest in a medium bowl.

In a blender or bullet, combine the silken tofu, oil, soy milk, and lemon juice.  Pour mixture into the medium bowl with the lemon zest, add the extracts and stir to combine.

Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the wet mixture into it.  Stir gently until well combined.  If the batter feels a bit too thick, add a little bit more soy milk.  Fold in the cranberries.

Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 45 minutes before checking.  The top should be a little golden, and the loaf should feel 'bouncy' when tapped lightly on top.   

Carrot Cake with "Cream Cheese" Icing

Mmmmm, carrot cake. Who doesn't love carrot cake?  This is a deliciously moist cake - lots of carrots, rasins, walnuts and icing, yum!  If you don't want as much icing as the above photo, just make half the recipe, or make the whole recipe and save the remainder for some cupcakes or something else tasty.

cake ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (I use 1/2 whole spelt flour, 1/2 white flour)
• 1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (can omit if you don't have it)
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil of your choice
• 1 cup soy, rice, or almond milk (plain or vanilla)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups finely grated carrots
• 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 3/4 cup rasins

frosting ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Earth Balance Buttery Spread
• 8 oz vegan cream cheese
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• optional: 1 tsp lemon or vanilla extract

method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Line a 12" x 9" loaf pan with parchment paper, or grease the pan with some Earth Balance

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the cake and combine well.

In a medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients for the cake and mix well.

Make a hollow in the dry ingredients and pour the wet inside, mix gently with a large spoon.  Fold in carrots, rasins, and walnuts.

Pour batter in to the prepared tin and bake 50 - 55 minutes, or until cake gently springs back when touched in the center. 

Allow cake to cool on a wire rack before frosting.

To prepare the frosting, combine frosting ingredients in a bowl and mix with a beater.  Spread on cake and enjoy!

vanilla cake with variations

This is a good base recipe which really lets you play around with tasty enhancements depending on what you have on hand.

The following recipe makes enough for a double layer 9" round cake. I usually just make the one cake and cut it in half rather than making 2 cakes with half the batter each.

dry ingredients:

• 1/2 cups flour of your choice
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• optional: 1 Tbsp vanilla flavored soy protein powder

wet ingredients:

• 3/4 cup soy or rice milk (vanilla or plain)
• 1/4 cup sunflower oil
• 2/3 cup organic cane sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

method:

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl sift together dry ingredients.

In a small bowl whisk together wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.

Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix well.

"Grease" a 9" round springform pan (or other pan of your choice - an 8"x8" brownie pan will work as well); I use Earth Balance.

Place in oven and bake 25 min. or until top is golden and springs back to the touch.

Cool on wire rack for 1 hr. before cutting in half and allowing to cool more before icing and decorating.

a few icing ideas:

• chocolate frosting (this mousse recipe works very well if you use about 1 1/2 cups vegan chocolate chunks instead of 1 cup)
• raspberry jam
• combine the chocolate frosting with some raspberry jam - super yum!!
  
• strawberries
• lemon icing (sorry, no recipe yet...)

Recipe by: Trudel; April 2008