Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

I’ve mentioned my mother’s Cinnamon Quick Bread here before and I was hoping to veganize it and relive its wonderfulness.  I could not find the recipe my mother always used so I searched around the internet to find one that was to my liking.  As I recall frequently enjoying the bread on snow days and today was a snow-ish day, I thought that today would be the perfect day to try it out.  I found one and made quite a few changes.

Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

1 cup soymilk
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 soy yogurt (I used So Nice’s Orginal)

For the Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbs cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a loaf pan.

1.  In a small bowl, combine the soymilk and the apple cider vinegar.  Set aside so it gets all nice and curdly.
2.  In another small bowl, make the cinnamon-sugar combining the cinnamon and brown sugar with a fork.
3.  In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.
4.  In a separate large bowl, beat together the canola oil, sugar and soy yogurt.
5.  Add the flour mixture, along with the soymilk/vinegar to the sugar mixture in batches.  (I did this in three batches)
6.  Add a third of the batter to loaf pan and then sprinkle with the Cinnamon-Sugar.  Repeat this twice.
7.  Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick or a knife is inserted into the loaf comes out clean.
8.  Cool and enjoy with a healthy dab of earth balance!

I really love the way it turned out!  It has a wonderful texture and is just as delicious as I remember it.  Next time, I’ll run a knife through the batter for more swirly goodness like my mother did with her bread.  But other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing, it’s perfect on a snowy day. 

Banana Bread

Yeah…I should be studying, writing and so on and so forth.  But when I’m stressed, I feel a need to bake.  It’s relaxing and it’s cheaper than therapy.  I also rationalized that it would be a shame if those extremely ripe bananas were to go to waste… 

This is the Lower-Fat Banana Bread from Veganomicon.  My family are all currently enjoying it very much and asking that I make another loaf.

Well, back to my paper on Veblen’s conspicuous consumption…

Cheddar Sheese Scones

My camera was found!  (and yes, my speculation as to its whereabouts was indeed correct)

A few days ago I made Bittersweet’s Cheddar Sheese Scones, these were amazing!  They were so good, especially warm with a dab of earth balance and a spot of tea.

Coming up hopefully later today, I’ll post about my Thanksgiving dinner last night.

Perfectly Fluffy & Flaky Biscuits

Someone over at the ppk mentioned these biscuits and just by seeing the picture that accompanied said testimony, I had to try the recipe out for myself.

These are hands down the best biscuits I have ever baked. They were perfect, with lots of flaky layers and were delicious slathered with earth balance. My dad, who always talks of his mother’s biscuits, stated that these biscuits were just like my grandmother’s. He also requests that I make them again very soon and often.

Biscuit Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup soymilk

1. Preheat oven to 425C.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
3. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Gradually, stir in soymilk until mixture pulls away from the bowl. (*I actually had to add about two and a half scoops of flour to get the dough to form to my liking)
5. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead the dough 15-20 times. (I didn’t actually count because I’m not that good at figuring out what exactly counts as “knead”, so I kneaded it until it looked right to me)
6. Pat dough to an one inch thickness, and cut dough using a biscuit cutter or a floured glass.
7. Place on baking sheet (the recipe stated ungreased but I’m really paranoid about stuff sticking so I lightly greased the sheet) and bake for about 15 minutes or until a nice light, golden brown.

Bonus pic of my lunch today.  A tomato sandwich made with Celine’s Pumpkin Whole Wheat Bread.  I was totally right, this bread does make an awesome sandwich.

Celine’s Pumpkin Whole Wheat Bread

Yesterday was a very productive day.  I completely organized my closet which includes lots of shelves (I have no idea why I waited so long to install shelves, they’re so much better than relying on hangers).  I love the results, I can look into my closet and actually see my clothes (you should’ve seen it before, it was not pretty).  After finishing my closet, I tackled the rest of my room, and I put together a chair for my desk.  My bedroom renovation project is almost complete, I just need to lay down the carpet (which will have to wait until I, or most likely my father, fix that leak in my ceiling) and get some bookshelves.  Sigh, I love the feeling of accomplishment. 

And after all of that, I baked bread.  My house smelled so good last night! Seriously, you cannot beat the smell of freshly baked bread.

Celine’s Pumpkin Whole Wheat Bread made sans bread machine with her very helpful bread-making tips.  This bread is amazing!  It’s soft, delicious and such a pretty colour. I  just love it’s texture, I know it’s going to make a wonderful sandwich for my lunch today.