Baked Buffalo Wings

I love spicy food. I love American food.  One of my best friends lives in Indiana, I’ve visited her in the States twice in the eight years or so that we’ve been friends. I tend to recreate memories of my trips through food… nostalgia is delicious.

So buffalo wings! Buffalo wings always remind me of our stay in Las Vegas at the Hooters Casini Hotel, it was just a really typically fun time doing stupid things and chilling out. I used the recipe from http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/166638/baked-buffalo-wings, with the only change being that I added half a teaspoon of baking soda to the flour.

I used Sriracha hot sauce, which is a staple in most Vietnamese people’s kitchens – it’s so versatile and great in stuff like pho and as a dipping sauce.

But I’m digressing! Basically these wings are wicked delicious, and best served with ranch dressing or sour cream (see pic). They’re also super quick and easy, really great share plate or entrée for parties. Definitely recommend!

Vegan Cinnamon Buns

For a non-vegan person, I tend to bake a lot of vegan stuff. This is generally because I do a lot of baking for work staff meetings, where one of the girls is allergic to dairy. I also never seem to have eggs.

Anyway, this is another one of those times. I love

cinnamon buns but have never made them before. I’ve also never used yeast before, so this was a new exciting and vaguely terrifying experience.

I used the recipe from http://www.veganricha.com/2013/03/cinnamon-rolls-buns-vegan-recipe.html?m=1, using just plain flour instead of their suggested blend of flour. I’m pretty happy with how they turned out! I think next time I will use the different flours and just a plain sugar icing.

Delicious!

Vegan Margarita Cupcakes with Whipped Coconut Cream

Today my friend had a vaguely Mexican themed birthday party (read: excuse to eat burritos), so I wanted to make cupcakes that fit the theme. I knew a mutual vegan friend was attending so wanted to make sure there were sweets available that he could eat too. 

Rather than wing the recipe entirely, I decided to butcher a Women’s Weekly recipe for lime coconut cupcakes, and substituted a few things to veganise it: dairy milk for soy, butter for non-dairy margarine, and eggs for… tequila.

Heh.

I also thought it’d be a good excuse to try making whipped cream out of coconut cream. I had a can of it sitting around in my cupboard for months (I mistook it one time for coconut milk), and knew people had done it before using corn flour and stuff to firm it up. Unfortunately,  I also had a lingerie party to attend beforehand (that was not the unfortunate part) which ran way overtime. I’d made the cupcakes the night before and was left with no time to make whipped cream properly without being heinously late to the birthday party. 

The cream stayed super runny; not sure if this was because I panicked over lack of time, or didn’t decant enough of the excess liquid (see recipe below). Either way it was disappointing, but I still spooned it on top and tasted fine. I guess next time I’ll actually follow a recipe to a tee rather than try to wing it.

Margarita Cupcakes (Vegan)

Makes approx. 24 regular sized cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 250g non dairy margarine (I used Nuttelex)
• 2 tsp coconut essence
• 1 tbsp lime rind (I added extra lime juice at my discretion too)
• 1 1/3 cups caster sugar
• 1/2 cup tequila (I used Sierra; as far as I know it doesn’t contain casein, the animal product used in the processing of some alcohol)
• 2/3 cup soy milk
• 1 1/2 cups dessicated coconut.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fanforced). Line two standard muffin pans with paper cases.
2. Combine margarine, essence, rind, sugar and tequila in a large bowl using electric mixer.
3. Stir in milk and coconut, then flour. Divide into pans evenly.
4. Bake for about 30 mins. I kept an eye on them and checked every 10 mins, as I had my oven on a bit higher than 160. 
5. Once done, turn out of the pans and allow to cool on a wire rack. 

Whipped Coconut Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 can coconut cream
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 tbsp corn flour

Method:

1. Store can of cream in fridge night before use. Avoid bumping it or moving it. When ready to use, carefully take out of fridge, then quickly flip upside down.
2. When you open the can, there should be some clear juice on the top of the cream. Decant that off (you can discard or make yourself a delicious beverage with it), and pour the cream in a mixing bowl. Try to get as much liquid off as I think that affects the whippiness of your cream.
3. Use electric beaters to try and get as much air in as possible, adding sugar and corn flour in futile attempts to make a solid whipping cream.
4. Cry and give up. Spoon your failure onto cupcakes, ready to try next time.

I topped the cupcakes with lime wedges rolled in sugar and lime zest. I should also probably warn you that your house will reek of booze for awhile, so bake in a well ventilated kitchen if you have children running around. Ha ha.