Baseball Birthday Cake

It's my husband's birthday today! Happy 27th, my love!

Even though Chris turned 27, he is still a little kid at heart. For example, every time he sees a bounce house (and I really mean every time) he always says he wants to go jump around in it. He also loves baseball, and we just went to the Baseball Hall Of Fame last weekend which is where I got the inspiration for this cake!

The cake recipe comes from Isa's book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. I used the "Golden Vanilla Cupcake" and then doubled the recipe. For the frosting, I used "Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting".

I used whatever I had lying around my baking drawer for decorating. The grass around the baseball was Wilton Tip #233, and for the writing and stitching on the baseball I used Wilton Tip #4. Nothing fancy really...

I hope everyone at the public radio station loves cake, because the two of us will not be able to eat all of it!

Vegan Panna Cotta

I have never had real Panna Cotta, I became vegan before I was able to try the real form of the dessert. However, I have been seeing a lot of Panna Cotta lately at restaurants and on the tv show Hell's Kitchen, so I felt the need to try out my own version. I was very pleased with my first attempt, but there might be some revisions to come. You can eat this dish on it's own or pair it with a sweet syrup. We recently went strawberry picking so I made my own strawberry syrup to go along with the Panna Cotta. Enjoy this simple and elegant dessert!

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups vanilla soy creamer
2 (6 oz.) containers of coconut yogurt - you could also use soy yogurt
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
4 Tbs. boiling hot water
1 tsp. agar agar power

METHOD
1. Mix the water and the agar agar powder together using a small whisk. Let the mixture sit while you continue on with the other ingredients.

2. In a saucepan, combine the creamer, yogurt, vanilla beans, vanilla extract, and sugar.

3. Whisk in the agar agar mixture and heat over a medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture reaches a boiling point and remove from the heat.

4. Pour into ramekins and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. For me, this took about an hour.

5. Place into the refrigerator and allow the Panna Cotta to chill for a few more hours.

6. To serve, loosen the edges with a small knife and carefully slide out on to a dessert plate. Accompany with your favorite sauce or fruit. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

Just in time for Easter! Rich chocolate-peanut butter eggs that are even better than the store bought kind. Plus, they are gluten free!

Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

Yields about a dozen eggs (depending on how big you want to make them)

INGREDIENTS

16 oz. confectioner's sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup Earth Balance Butter

1-3 Tbsp. soy milk (or whatever non-dairy milk you prefer)

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 Tbsp. shortening (I use Earth Balance Sticks)

METHOD

1. Melt the peanut butter and Earth Balance Butter together in a saucepan. Then add in your vanilla extract and only one tablespoon of soy milk.

2. Take your saucepan off the heat and add in your confectioner's sugar 1/4 cup at a time. Using a hand mixer, start to blend everything together slowly. After the confectioner's sugar is added, add in more soy milk one tablespoon at a time if the mixture is too stiff. This is where it gets a little tricky. Use your judgement because you want the peanut butter mixture to be a little firm yet workable because you will be forming it into eggs.

3. Shape the mixture into eggs. You can do small or big, whatever you prefer. I shaped mine by using a deviled egg holder that I still have laying around from my pre-vegan days. I found that shape works really well for these eggs. After you form your eggs, lay them on waxed paper and freeze them for an hour.

4. About half way into the freezing process, start preparing the chocolate dip. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips and shortening. The shortening will add a glossy effect to the eggs. Be careful not have have any water in the bowl with the chocolate and shortening, it will make your mixture seize up, and no one like that. Melt over a medium heat and stir frequently until smooth.

5. At this point your eggs should be good to go. Using a fork, dip the eggs in the chocolate to cover the entire egg, then let it rest on wax paper. Before the chocolate starts to cool, decorate with your favorite sprinkles. I use Sprinkelz which are vegan, organic, and gluten free.

6. After all of the eggs are dipped and decorated, let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes, or they can stay in there until ready to be served. The longer they sit, the better the chocolate dip sets up.

7. Enjoy and have a happy Easter!