No Machine Cappuccino

I haven't had a day off in ages and it feels nice to finally be able to just sit back, relax and do nothing. I usually have my baking theory course Tuesday nights but the teacher is away on vacation. I really have not had a moment to enjoy the fall weather. The leaves are changing colours and falling, I love the crunchy noises on the ground they make when you walk on them. I am in denial land in terms of the summer being gone but I am trying to appreciate the beauty of the fall.

I recently came back from Las Vegas, over the last few years I have been bit by the travel bug. I normally stay within North America, people are always shocked to find out that I have never been to Europe. Flights from Canada overseas are at least $800 so if I want to go on a trip there, I am going to have to start saving. This has inspired me to put a bit of money away each week and within a year I'll have enough to go on a backpacking trip around Europe. I am also playing with the idea of using the money to move to Australia for a year. I am not 100% sure how the money will be used but I have a year to save and decide. The thought of moving abroad excites and scares me beyond all means. It's been a dream of mine for a very long time. I feel like I need to experience life outside of Ontario.

Now saving money means spending less money, so I need to be a bit thrifty with my spending. I am officially saying good bye to my daily (sometimes twice a day) Starbucks run. SIGH.
I recently just started liking soy lattes and cappuccinos, usually I drink my coffee black. These fancy drinks (even with my Starbucks gold card) costs me about $5 per drink. That's pretty expensive for someone trying to save, so I started brewing my own coffee at home. I don't have a cappuccino maker and was starting to grow tired of black coffee with almond milk.
These days if you can think something, you can probably make it at home yourself. This is true for no machine cappuccino ! A simple google search led me to many links on how to make your own cappuccino without the expensive machine. I pulled ideas from a few recipes and came up with my own No Machine Vanilla Almond Milk Cappuccino. This can be made with any kind of milk, I just happened to have unsweetened almond milk in my fridge, you can't get that at Starbucks!

Recipe
Coffee (instant, drip, espresso ... whatever you have in your cupboard should work)
Milk (I used unsweetened almond milk but again use whatever you like)
Flavour (optional, I had vanilla syrup)
Spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, chocolate etc)

1. Brew the coffee. I had drip coffee on hand so I made that and added 1 more tablespoon of coffee to make it stronger tasting, like espresso.

2. Take the milk and heat it on the stove until bubbling on the sides of the pan or heat it on high in the microwave for 50-60 seconds.

3. Put heated milk into a leak free container (I used Tupperware).

4. Add optional syrups and seal the container tightly.

5. Shake the container for about 1 minutes or until frothy.

6. Fill your favourite coffee mug half full or three quarters (depending on if you like lattes or cappuccinos) with the milk. Save a bit of the foam.

7. Pour in coffee.

8. Spoon the saved foam onto the top of the coffee and sprinkle with your spice of choice.

Simple, yummy, homemade and cheap ;)

xo

Artisan Bread

After having my little melt down a few weeks ago I went online and signed up for a baking theory course at a local college.  When I apply for baking school next year I'll be able to use these credits toward my certificate. The official title of the course is Baking and Pastry Arts Theory I and it teaches the science behind baking. I absolutely love it.  We're only about three weeks in and I have already learned so much.  The first unit is centred around fermentation and baking bread. I never even thought that bread making would be a part of the baking course but it makes perfect sense.  The course inspired me to make my own straight bread dough recipe. It wasn't hard to make and turned out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, so basically perfect. I may have over kneaded the dough because the shape was a bit off so I'll still need to perfect it a bit before I post the official recipe. Here's a photo of my creation :) happy baking
xo
Edited *** I scored way too deep so it looks a little ghetto ... but the flavour is there !! ;)

I Will Not Stop

Hello all !
I am still here baking and blogging :)
Well maybe less blogging ... For my loyal vegan readers I have gone back to vegetarian but I still eat as vegan as possible. Lately, my baking has been non- vegan because of birthday requests... but honestly I don't care much at this point as long as I'm baking, I'm happy.
Which leads me to the next self discovery. I HATE my current career choice. It literally sucks the life out of me. So I have decided to follow my passion and apply for pastry chef school.
Coming to this conclusion has made me very happy and I'm excited to follow this new path. I am 100% fed up with my field. I just want to be creative and get paid for it, I'm artsy .. what have been thinking all this time ?
I will be changing my career for the third time but well that's me.. I'm not going to stop until I go to work happy.

xoxo

Happy Birthday to Meee

It was my birthday a few weeks ago and I made cupcakes!
I turned 26 this year and birthdays for me are really not the same as when I was a kid.  It's kind of upsetting to have the magic of a birthday fade away because I have very fond memories of balloons, presents and even booze in the later years.
I just don't seem to care anymore though. I do enjoy aging because I find with each year that passes I discover a whole new set of frustrations and realizations. I think I'm coming closer to figuring it all out...

I do have a confession to make, I am going to shunned by the vegans, but I did break vegan over my birthday. BUT WAIT hear me out a bit. I've been feeling like absolute crap for the past few weeks. I feel sluggish and my digestion is off. I have learned a valuable lesson and I have no regrets. It's a life long learning process and I wish the vegans would just loosen up a bit. We all do what we can and I do believe every little bit counts. So I am dusting off my pants, picking myself back up again and starting over!
Luckily for my loyal vegan readers these yummy Chloe cupcakes ARE vegan and as decadent and delicious as a non-vegan cupcake.

Mint Cookies 'n' Cream Cupcakes

Chocolate cake topped with a creamy mint vanilla icing with chocolate cookie crunches.

Ease of recipe: 4/5 

Taste: 5/5

Friends/Family thoughts: 4/5

Likely hood to remake recipe: 5/5
I think I may enter these cupcakes in a baking competition, first place for sure.

Overall Cooking Experience: 4/5
The icing calls for vegetable shortening. I have never worked with it before and it is GREASY. It took forever to wash out of the bowls and sink after but it gave the icing a dense and creamier texture. 

Bonus Casey Points: 1/1
Casey licked the icing off my fingers... she didn't mind the grease ;)


Final: 23/25

I made half the icing with the mint extract and the other half without because I have some picky people in my life (you know who you are) but overall this was a very successful cupcake recipe. They're not too sweet and full of flavour. Another Chloe must make :)

xo tash

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

It's turning into a common theme for me to write "I've been a bad little blogger...." but it's oh so true AGAIN.  I have been busy over the past few weeks with various things. I haven't really been baking because I have been caught up in my rollar coaster emotions.  I have been taking some much needed time for myself by setting some personal goals.  I've been trying to work out consistently by jogging a few times a week, lifting weights and going to hot yoga. I've come to enjoy working out, I really like how I feel after a nice long run.
The other day I was wasting time on Facebook and I came across a post from the Toronto Vegetarian Association asking people to join their team for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. I thought this was a great opportunity to support a local organization and also set a fitness goal. The marathon has a 5k, half marathon and full marathon category. In order to challenge myself I have chosen to run the half marathon. I have started training and so far I can run around 6k. A half marathon is around 21k so I still have a bit more training but I am well on my way. I am raising money for The Toronto Vegetarian Association and I would be honoured if my Podkat fans would support me.

Here is a link to my page where you can sponsor me.
http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=1958408

xox tash

The Smaller The Cupcake, The More You Can Eat

I have been one bad little blogger lately. My cat Casey has been sick so all of my time and energy have been put into her. I have been cooking a lot but I haven't had the motivation to take pictures and write about my food.
I find every time I make the switch to vegan I develop an intense sweet tooth. I'm pretty certain I eat dark chocolate everyday and you can definitely find me in Bulk Barn at least once a week.
Today is my frist day off in awhile and I should really be running errands but my craving for chocolate took over... I dusted off the powdered sugar from my Chloe's Vegan Desserts book and found the perfect recipe.
I had most of the ingredients on hand and the recipe said it's low in calories, so Chloe's Yoga Cupcakes seemed a perfect fit for my chocolate fix.
I did not have enough white sugar so I used brown instead. I also did not have any canola oil so I melted Earth Balance.  The recipe made way more than expected so I decided to get creative with some add ins. Some additional ingredients I used in some individual cupcakes are crunchy peanut butter, chopped pecans, chopped strawberries and shredded coconut. The shredded coconut I used in a mini cake because I had some extra batter left over but no extra cupcake tins. I also did not have any raspberries for the garnish.
The successful add in ingredients were the strawberries because they added moisture to the finished cupcake.  The pecans added a nice crunch to the cupcake. I was really excited to try the peanut butter cupcakes because it's my favourite flavour combination but unfortunately it did not enhance the flavour at all. It just made the texture weird.  The real success was the mini cake. It tasted better than the cupcakes and had more flavour. I think this has to do with the length of time in the oven. Do not over bake these cupcakes because they lose their moisture quickly. After the mini cake cooled I cut it in half and put a thin layer of chocolate ganache in the middle. Then I put it back together and iced the top of the cake.
I cut a mini piece of cake and devoured in 10 seconds.  The moisture level is outstanding, I have a funny feeling my mini cake will disappear by the end of the day.  In addition to the slice, I probably ate about 5 mini cupcakes... you know, for testing purposes.
So much for low calories.

The Yoga Cupcake 

Chocolate cake with a dark chocolate ganache 

Ease of recipe: 5/5 

Taste: 5/5

Friends/Family thoughts: 5/5

Likely hood to remake recipe: 5/5
I would make it in mini cake form with coconut and a middle layer of the ganache icing.

Overall Cooking Experience: 5/5

Bonus Casey Points: 0/1
Although Casey and I had fun taking photos with the Yoga Cupcakes she was not interested in smelling/ tasting these cupcakes!


Final: 25/25

I am amazed with this recipe, it's a must make!! But make sure you add the Natasha twist and sprinkle some unsweetened coconut onto the top of the uncooked cake/cupcake before baking. Also add the extra layer of ganache in the middle, you can thank me later ;)

me me me

Today I had a ME a day. I slept in and watched Mad Men until 11am, forced myself to go for a run and then I went on a sorbet mission. It was a mission because I walked for 45 minutes to an ice cream place, only to find out they just sell ice cream.  All was not lost, I found a Starbucks and ordered an iced americano and then walked another 45 minutes (up hill) to get home.  By the time I got home I was starving so I made the most delicious feast.  While my sweet potatoes were cooking, I discovered dark chocolate and strawberries in my house. I decided chocolate covered strawberries would make up for the lack of sorbet... I've never actually made chocolate covered anything but how hard could it be? I melted down the chocolate in the microwave with some Earth Balance, dipped a few strawberries in it and then let them chill in the fridge. Since is was so beautiful outside, the cats and I had a lovely dinner on the patio.
What a fun day :)

This is half a cucumber chopped and seasoned with salt, pepper and vinegar. The sweet potatoes were steamed in tinfoil with garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and ginger. I grilled an Amy's California burger and served it with salsa and chopped avocado.

This is Buttons, she ran inside after this photo was taken.

This is Casey, of course.

Mmmm the chocolate covered strawberries 

I thought it was funny how my name turned out "Nafusha", haven't heard that one before....