Rum Cupcakes, Sushi and Spring Rolls: Vegan Yumminess!

This weekend has been a cooking frenzy! Aerospace Boyfriend has presented me with Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World which I have wanted for ages, so at his request, the first recipe I tried was Rum & Raisin cupcakes. You can find the authors' websites, full of scrumptious vegan treats, at www.theppk.com and http://vegancupcakes.wordpress.com.




Here they are after coming out of the oven. A word of advice here; American cupcake wrappers must be significantly larger than standard British cake cases, because the recipe states it makes 12 cakes, but we got 24!



Here they are topped with Rum Glaze and Rummy Buttercream Frosting (and sprinkles)!



Gratuitous cake porn, on the tiny saucers from my Ridgway Homemaker mocha cups:



Mmmmm.



This weekend was also my first foray into sushi making. It was really easy and everyone should try it! The rolls on the left are filled with fried smoked tofu sticks, cucumber, shredded spring onion, carrot, yellow pepper and vegan mayonnaise. The ones on the right (which were my first try and came out a little loose) are filled with vegan mock duck, carrot, bamboo shoots and cucumber.



I also made vegan spring rolls. They were filled with carrot, beansprouts, mushroom, green beans and bamboo shoots. To make them, I first simmered everything for two minutes in a broth made from water, soya sauce, garlic, sesame oil and Chinese five spice. I then placed the vegetables onto ready made pastry sheets from my local Asian catering supplier, adding a teaspoonful of the broth before rolling up and frying. Spring roll sheets can be found in most Asian shops or larger supermarkets, alternatively you could use filo pastry or samosa sheets. The key to these is cutting everything into tiny strips, and not overfilling them.



Here is the result of me trying out making California rolls. These were a bit more difficult than the standard rolls where the Nori (seaweed) is on the outside, and they came out too loose. They could also have done with some sesame seeds to stick on the outside. They were tasty though, with wasabi and soya sauce dips!