The first one is part of the Spring Holidays menu that I posted about earlier in the week, the second is part of our St. Patrick's Day Celebration and third is a sweet little Lemon Cupcake recipe - just because I felt like a sweet little lemon cupcake. I hope you enjoy.
Roasted Asparagus with a Spring Herb Gremolata
A gremolata is a chopped herb condiment added to foods to give a fresh flavor punch. In this recipe I have included dried breadcrumbs, which are not traditional in a gremolata, for a more homey and rustic feel.
1 pound asparagus, trim woody ends
3 T extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley
4 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Mix parsley, lemon peel, garlic, and bread crumbs in small bowl, this is the gremolata. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 450 F.
Cut off woody ends of asparagus and toss with oil. Place on large cookie sheet and season with fresh ground black pepper and salt. Roast until slightly softened and edges are starting to brown slightly, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with gremolata and roast 5 to 10 minutes more. Serve hot.
Irish Whiskey Cake
Pan
1/4 to1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Cake
1 1/3 cups almond milk
2/3 cup oil
1/3 cup Irish whiskey (Jameson works well)
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons coffee
2-2/3 cups flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
Glaze (optional)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Irish whiskey
2 tablespoons vegan margarine
1 teaspoon water
Hard Sauce (optional)
1 1/2 cups powered sugar
1/2 cup vegan margarine
2 tablespoons Irish whiskey
Directions:
You can serve this cake plain, with the glaze, with the hard sauce, or both.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle nuts, if using, onto bottom of pan.
In a medium bowl combine wet cake ingredients: almond milk, oil, Irish whiskey, and coffee. In a larger bowl combine dry cake ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and add wet, mix very well. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 60 minutes.
When done place pan on rack for 10 minutes then remove cake from pan and place on rack. Either proceed to glaze or hard sauce preparation or let cake cool and eat as is.
Glaze: Place all glaze ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 2 to 3 minutes. Poke still warm cake all over with a skewer or fork. Then slowly pour glaze over cake. Let cool and enjoy or add a dollop or hard sauce and enjoy.
Hard Sauce: Cream together sugar and margarine until light and fluffy. Add whiskey and beat until blended. Serve a dollop on each slice of plain cake or glazed cake.
Sweet Little Lemon Cupcakes
1 1/4 cups flour
3 T arrowroot
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 t lemon zest
1 t vanilla
1/3 cup oil
1 T lemon juice added to a measuring cup and then almond milk to equal 1 cup (set aside to curdle)
Preheat oven to 350f. Either grease cupcake pan or add liners.
Place sugar in a big bowl and add lemon zest. Mix it very well so that all the sugar turns sort of yellowish and smells lemony delicious. Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the sugar and mix well with a fork. Add all liquid ingredients to dry and stir well to incorporate. It mixes together very quickly. Do not over stir. Fill cupcake pan two thirds full and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack. When completely cool dip tops in Lemon glaze and let dry. Garnish with a piece of candied lemon. Yum!
Lemon Glaze
1 cup powered sugar
2 T lemon juice
1/4 - 1/2 t lemon zest
1/2 t vanilla
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix until no lumps remain.
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