Happy Birthday, Mom!: Vegan Mango Cake

My Mom’s birthday is today and I promised her a cake.  We started testing this recipe the week after Mother’s Day, so I’ve had plenty of time to get it right.

I ran a Google search and picked a recipe.  The first trial had a nice rise in the oven, but it started to deflate as soon as it hit the cool air.  (Not again!)  When my family of taste testers and I cut into it, the texture was more like a lemon bar than a cake.  Great, I had a recipe for a mango bar.  So I scrapped the failed recipe and altered the vanilla recipe already in my arsenal.  By substituting some of the soy milk with canned mango puree, it resulted in a flavorful, moist and delicious (and brightly orange colored) crumb.

For the filling, I went with a mango curd and found an easy and delicious recipe from Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen.  A few weeks ago, I had a fiasco with lemon curd oozing out of the cake, so I adapted the recipe to avoid a repeat performance.  I also wanted to try a different frosting for this cake.  Isa Moskovitch, the Vegan goddess, recently posted a recipe for Rad Whip, her version of Vegan whipped cream.  I made a batch, and although it’s absolute perfection, I was afraid it was too delicate to use as a frosting.  Still on the hunt for Vegan whipped frosting.  In the meantime, I thought a cream cheese frosting would be a nice accompaniment.  Rather than using a store bought vegan cream cheese (I don’t like the taste and the most widely available brand has transfats), I used a recipe from The Uncheese Cookbook.  Not exactly like cream cheese, but in a frosting it definitely works.

What I like most about this cake recipe is how easy it is to make, and most of the ingredients can be found in any supermarket.  The only ingredient that needs to be hunted down is the canned mango puree, but any Indian market will have it in stock to make mango lassi any time of year.  Mangoes are currently in season, so if you can’t find the canned puree, feel free to puree your own (I recommend Manila mangoes since they’re less stringy) and add sugar to sweeten.  This cake is very moist and spongy, and would be lovely with a simple buttercream frosting.

Vegan Mango Cake with Mango Curd Filling 

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

4 tbs Corn Starch

4 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda 

1 tsp Sea Salt

Wet Ingredients:

3/4 cup Soy Milk + 2 tsp Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

2/3 cup Canola Oil

1 cup Sugar

2 1/4 cups canned Mango Pulp

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 320ºF.  Add vinegar to soy milk and reserve.  Sift together dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl.

Pour oil and sugar into a large bowl and beat with a wire whisk until well incorporated.  Whisk in mango puree and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Lastly, fold in soy milk and vinegar mixture.  Pour into two 9-inch cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow cakes to cool. 

Mango Curd Filling

(based on Eggless Mango Curd from Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen)

1/2 bar Agar Agar

1/2 cup Water

1 1/2 cup canned Mango Pulp
4 tbs Sugar
2 tbs Lime Juice (about 1 lime)
2 tbs Corn Starch
1/8 tsp Sea Salt
2 tbs Earth Balance Vegan Margarine

In a small saucepan, soak Agar Agar in water.  In a heavy bottom saucepan, whisk remaining ingredients except margarine over low heat until thickened and raw flavor of corn starch is cooked out (7-10 minutes).  Remove from heat and stir in margarine to melt.

Pour mango mixture into a food processor and pulse a few times.  Over low heat, warm Agar Agar and water until completely dissolved.  Turn on the food processor and slowly drizzle the Agar Agar into the mango mixture until well combined.

Place in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap to avoid skin being formed.  Chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight. 

Mango Cream Cheese Frosting 

Vegan Cream Cheese
(based on recipes from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak)

1/3 cup Cashew Butter
2 tbs fresh Lemon Juice
2 tsp Agave Syrup
1 pgs Firm Silken Tofu
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Nutritional Yeast Flakes
Pinch of grated Nutmeg

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until very smooth.  Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Frosting:
2 tbs Earth Balance Vegan Margarine
6 tbs Earth Balance Natural Shortening
1/2 cup Vegan Cream Cheese
3 cups Powdered Sugar
3 tbs Canned Mango Pulp
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Manila Mango, mashed and drained (optional)

Using a hand mixer, cream margarine and shortening until light and fluffy.  Mix in cream cheese.  Add powdered sugar in stages.  Blend in mango puree and vanilla until well combined.  Fold in mashed mango if using.

Or: 

Mango Buttercream Frosting 

6 tbs Earth Balance Vegan Margarine
6 tbs Earth Balance Natural Shortening
2 1/4 cups Powdered Sugar
3 tbs canned Mango Pulp
2 tsp Soy Milk
1/2 Manila Mango, mashed and drained (optional)

Using a hand mixer, cream margarine and shortening until light and fluffy.  Add powdered sugar in stages.  Blend in mango puree and soy milk until well combined.  Fold in mashed mango if using.

Baby You’re a Firework: Vegan Mixed Berry Cake with Rum Buttercream Frosting

Tracy was throwing a Fourth of July party, giving me another excuse to bake a cake.  Since the strawberry cake was a huge hit, I decided to stick with a berry theme.  There are so many beautiful berries in the market right now, and I thought it’d be fun to mix them all up.  They do so in berry smoothies, why not a cake?

A much simpler version would be to take the strawberry cake recipe and substitute the strawberries with a bag of frozen mixed berries, or mix fresh berries yourself.  But in honor of the holiday, I wanted to create something more interesting: a red layer of cake, a white layer of buttercream, and a blue layer of cake.  Good ol’ Red White and Blue.  And to add a little more pizzazz, I used rum buttercream frosting to help bring it all together.  Berries and rum, yum.

Mixed Berry Cake with Rum Buttercream Frosting 

Strawberry-Raspberry Cake Layer

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Unbleached Pastry Flour

1 tbs Corn Starch
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1/2 pkg Strawberry Jel Dessert

Wet Ingredients:

2 tbs Soy Milk + 1 tsp Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer + 2 tbs Water

1/3 cup Canola Oil

3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Strawberries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 cup Raspberries (fresh or frozen)
2 tbs Water
1/4 cup Raspberry Preserves

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 tsp Red Food Coloring (optional)

Blueberry Cake Layer 

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Unbleached Pastry Flour
1 tbs Corn Starch
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1/2 pkg Strawberry Jel Dessert

Wet Ingredients: 
2 tbs Soy Milk + 1 tsp Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer + 2 tbs Water
1/3 cup Canola Oil
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Blueberries + 1/4 cup Water (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup Blueberry Preserves
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Blue Food Coloring (optional)

Preheat oven to 320ºF.  In a food processor, blend strawberries, raspberries, 2 tbs water and raspberry preserves.  Push mixture through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of most of the seeds, reserve.  Next, blend blueberries, 1/4 cup water and blueberry preserves and strain into a separate bowl.  Pour soy milk in separate bowls and add 1 tsp vinegar to each, reserve.  Stir egg replacer and water in separate bowls, reserve.  Sift together dry ingredients into two large bowls.

With a hand mixer, add and incorporate wet ingredients to dry ingredients.  Pour into two 9-inch cake pans and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow cakes to cool.

Rum Buttercream Frosting 
(Feel free to substitute rum with more soy milk if you don’t want the alcohol, or are serving to children.) 

1/2 cup Earth Balance Vegan Margarine
1/2 cup Earth Balance Natural Shortening
3 cups Powdered Sugar
4 tbs Rum

Using an electric hand mixer, cream margarine and shortening until light and fluffy.  Add powdered sugar in stages.  Lastly, mix in rum.

Berry Yummy: Vegan Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake

My Peruvian princess, Kirsten, has decided to relocate to warmer climates.  Sadly, she will be moving this week, making last weekend our final hurrah. We had a blast celebrating Tracy’s birthday and I wanted to commemorate this occasion with a cake as well.  I knew she’d appreciate it.  Originally, I was simply going to bake another chocolate cake since the last one was so ridiculously delicious.  But when do I ever keep things simple?  Plus, it’s important that I try out new recipes to build my repertoire.

Since I had chocolate frosting left over from the last cake in the freezer, I needed to utilize it.  Lately, I’ve been experimenting with fruit flavored cake recipes so, I thought, why not make a Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake?  It should be as easy as adding pureed strawberries, right?  Wrong.  My first trial produced a very moist cake, but barely any strawberry flavor.  And, after baking, the beautiful pink batter turned into a ho-hum beige crumb.  I needed to figure out how to bulk up the strawberry flavor and keep the cake pink.

The easiest fix for the flavor would be to add strawberry extract.  I visited four supermarkets in search of the extract, but could only find raspberry, lemon, and cherry.  My next idea was to add strawberry syrup, like the melon flavor I used for the Green Tea Cake.  Nada.  Again, all I could find were raspberry and citrus flavors.  I should’ve made a raspberry cake instead.  I could’ve added strawberry liqueur, but it doesn’t have that necessary kick of strawberry flavor.  I was at a loss, so I pulled out my iPhone and found Paula Deen’s recipe for strawberry cake.  What was interesting about her recipe was the use of strawberry flavored gelatin.  I remembered seeing a natural, Vegan version of Jell-O at Whole Foods, so I grabbed a couple boxes and returned to my kitchen.  For extra added measure, I added strawberry preserves to replace some of the liquid.

I’m leaving the food coloring optional since some people may prefer a more natural cake.  The small amount of food coloring won’t change the flavor.  Some recipes call for as much as 3 tablespoons for a two layer cake, which I feel is too much.  Just a slight tinge of pink is fine by me.  No need for it to look like a red velvet cake.  I baked the cake, frosted it with the silky chocolate frosting, et voilà, a new recipe was born.  To keep the theme going, I dipped some fresh strawberries in melted dark chocolate and used them as garnish.  What resulted was a “chocolate covered strawberry cake with chocolate covered strawberries.”  Try saying that ten times fast. 

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake 

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups Unbleached Pastry Flour

2 tbs Corn Starch
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt

1 pkg (3 oz) Strawberry Jel Dessert

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup Soy Milk + 2 tsp Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

3 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer + 4 tbs Water
2/3 cup Canola Oil
1 1/2 cup Sugar
2 cups Strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup Strawberry Preserves
2 tsp Vanilla Extract 
1 tsp Red Food Coloring (optional) 

Preheat oven to 320ºF.  In a food processor, blend strawberries and preserves.  Push strawberry mixture through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of most of the seeds, reserve.  Add vinegar to 1/2 cup soy milk, reserve.  Stir egg replacer and 4 tbs water, reserve.  Sift together dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl.

Pour oil and sugar into a large bowl and beat with a wire whisk until well incorporated.  Whisk in egg replacer, strawberry mixture, vanilla and food coloring if using.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Lastly, fold in soy milk and vinegar mixture.  Pour into two 9-inch cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow cakes to cool. 

Dark Chocolate Frosting 
(I ran out of extra firm silken tofu, so I adjusted the recipe for the firm kind I already had stocked in my pantry.  This luscious version is much easier to spread than the previous recipe.  It’s a winner.  The cake was rather large.  I recommend doubling the recipe.) 

1 box Firm Silken Tofu
8 oz. Vegan Chocolate Chips, melted in double boiler
1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract 

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Chill in the refrigerator until thickened to desired spreading consistency (around 45-60 minutes). 

Strawberry Gelée

3/4 cup Water
2 tbs Sugar
1/2 bar Agar-Agar
1/4 cup Strawberry Preserves, push through fine-mesh strainer
1 tbs Soy Milk Creamer
3-5 drops Red Food Coloring (optional) 

Pass preserves through a fine mesh strainer into a small bowl.  Stir in coloring, if using, and reserve.  In a small saucepan, soak Agar-Agar in water to soften.  Stir over low heat to completely dissolve Agar-Agar.  Add sugar and stir to dissolve.  Remove from heat and add to preserves.  Add soy milk creamer.  Stir to combine and let sit at room temperature until thickened to desired consistency for spreading on top of cake (3-5 minutes).

Tough Tinting: Vegan Chocolate Cake

I seem to be having trouble with colors this week.  First the green tea cake turns brown.  Now I can’t seem to get frosting colored properly.  Who knew that tinting frosting would be so problematic?  I certainly didn’t.  Sure, pastel colors are easy.  But rich, vibrant primary colors, not so much.  I had some grand plans for this cake.  In the end, I decided to leave well enough alone.

View from cabin at dusk

My friend Tracy is celebrating her birthday this weekend in wine country, with a few close friends in a remote cabin on a street with no name.  I can’t wait to get away and have some fun.  I told her two weeks ago that I planned to bake a cake and asked if she had any requests.  Her first answer: chocolate.  We discussed a couple ideas for themes and decided on “Burning Man.”  This week long spiritual and artistic journey in the Black Rock desert of Nevada is probably her favorite time of year.  I, myself, have never been, but have heard many stories and met friends she’s made whilst prancing around the playa in a purple wig and ultra pink platform boots.  Hot.

Originally, the plan was to create the Burning Man logo surrounded by flames.  This changed when I couldn’t make red frosting.  While mixing coloring into the buttercream, it first turned a pale pink.  The more coloring I added, the deeper the pink became.  After adding a drop of black food coloring to darken, it resulted in a metallic looking magenta.  Sensational color, but not red.  I scrapped the idea of piping flames, worried that the frosting would become inedible.  Instead, I plan to add a slew of birthday candles and use real flames to represent the burning man.

Since there will only be four of us at the cabin, I halved the chocolate cake recipe from an earlier post to make one layer.  I was also running low on margarine, so I substituted the bulk of it with oil.  This cake is very moist and would be delicious with a simple dusting of powdered sugar in lieu of the frosting.  I also made alterations to the original frosting recipe since I didn’t want rum flavor.  It’s incredibly silky with just a hint of sweetness.

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1/4 cup + 2 tbs Cocoa Powder

1 tbs Corn Starch

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

Wet Ingredients:

2 tbs Soy Milk + 1 1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer + 2 tbs Water

2 tbs Earth Balance

3/4 cup + 2 tbs Sugar

1/3 cup Canola Oil

1 cup Water

2 tbs Apple Sauce

1 tsp Vanilla Extract 

Preheat oven to 320ºF.  Add vinegar to soy milk and reserve.  Stir egg replacer and 2 tbs water, reserve.  Sift together dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl.

Using an electric hand mixer, cream margarine in a large bowl.  Mix in sugar and oil to margarine.  Add egg replacer mixture, water, apple sauce, and vanilla to combine until smooth.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Lastly, fold in soy milk and vinegar mixture.  Pour into a 9-inch cake pan and bake for 27-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow cakes to cool.  

Chocolate Frosting (optional)

1/2 box Extra Firm Silken Tofu

3 oz. Vegan Chocolate Chips, melted in double boiler

2 tbs Powdered Sugar

1 tbs Soy Milk

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Chill in the refrigerator until thickened to desired spreading consistency (around 20-30 minutes).

Asian Persuasion: Vegan Green Tea Melon Cake

Yesterday was my dear friend Rachel’s birthday.  She is a teacher who works closely with disabled children, and is a lifelong Vegetarian.  A true angel.  I was more than happy to bake a cake for her, and kept this one a surprise (which is a very difficult thing for me to do).  After some brainstorming, I chose to make a theme inspired by the amazing tattoo on her back: a scene of tall bamboo trees and beautiful flowers surrounding two Asian characters.

Sticking with an Asian theme, I wanted to try my hand at a Green Tea Cake recipe with a twist.  Starbuck’s used to make a delicious Green Tea Latte.  I say used to because if anyone has ordered one in recent years, they may have noticed that it doesn’t taste the same.  The makers of Torani decided to discontinue the melon flavored syrup which Starbuck’s added to their Green Tea Lattes.  While shopping at a local Asian market, I spotted a bottle of melon flavored syrup made by an Indonesian company.  Eureka!  Wish someone would tell Starbucks that melon flavored syrup still exists so they can fix their rather bland current recipe.

I’ve been having problems with the color of this cake and haven’t quite yet solved it.  On the first trial, I added green tea soy milk instead of regular soy to give it a wallop of green tea flavor.  It turned out to be a tad strong.  Also, the cake had baked to a dark brown color resembling a chocolate cake.  So, I replaced the flavored soy milk with regular, and the flavor was perfect.  Sadly, the cake was still brown, although a lighter shade.  On my third attempt, I used unbleached white pastry flour instead of the whole wheat variety I usually like to bake with.  I checked the crumb of the cake freshly out of the oven and it was a dark green, but as it cooled the color turned brown again.  Last night I did some research and discovered there is a special green tea powder made for baking.  Browsed through the local Asian market today and they didn’t have any in stock.  If anyone knows of a store in the San Francisco Bay Area that carries this product, please let us know by leaving a comment.  In the meantime, I’ll make sure to update when I find a green tea powder that doesn’t oxidize from baking.

Nonetheless, I am satisfied with the more sophisticated flavor of this cake.  But best of all was seeing the surprise on Rachel’s face when she opened the box and recognized the inspiration for her birthday cake.

Vegan Green Tea Cake

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
6 tsp Green Tea Powder
2 tbs Corn Starch
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt

Wet Ingredients: 
1/4 cup Soy Milk + 1 tbs Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
3 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer + 4 tbs Water
1/2 cup Earth Balance Vegan Margarine

1 1/4 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Canola Oil

1 3/4 cup Soy Milk
1/2 cup Water
1/4 cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 320ºF.  Add vinegar to 1/4 cup soy milk and reserve.  Stir egg replacer and 4 tbs water, reserve.  Sift together dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl.

Using an electric hand mixer, cream margarine and sugar in a large bowl.  Add egg replacer mixture, oil, soy milk, water, apple sauce, and vanilla to combine until smooth.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Lastly, fold in soy milk and vinegar mixture.  Pour into two 9-inch cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow cakes to cool.

Melon Syrup

1/3 cup Melon Flavored Syrup

2 tbs Water

Stir syrup and water to combine.  Brush syrup over cooled cake layers with a pastry brush until absorbed. 

Green Tea Melon Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup Earth Balance Vegan Margarine

1/2 cup Earth Balance Natural Shortening

3 cups Powdered Sugar

3 tbs Melon Syrup

1 tsp Green Tea Powder

3 tsp Soy Milk

Using an electric hand mixer, cream margarine and shortening until light and fluffy.  Add powdered sugar in stages.  Lastly, mix in melon syrup, green tea powder, and soy milk. 

Melon Gelée

1/4 bar Agar-Agar

1/2 cup Water

1 tbs Sugar

2 tbs Melon Flavored Syrup

Few drops green food coloring

In a small saucepan, soak Agar-Agar in water to soften.  Stir over low heat to completely dissolve Agar-Agar.  Add sugar and stir to dissolve.  Pour into a small bowl and add melon syrup and food coloring.  Stir to combine and let sit at room temperature until thickened to desired consistency for spreading on top of cake (3-5 minutes). 

Adventures in Piping: Vegan Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd Filling

A couple weeks ago was the one year mark since my first venture into Vegan baking.  It was my step-father’s birthday, and instead of making him cupcakes like last year, I was now able to bake him a cake.  The next leg of this journey was to begin learning how to decorate.  I find cake decorating fascinating, and enjoy watching TV shows like Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss.  On the other hand, I also find cake decorating to be quite intimidating.  But how was I to know how difficult it is unless I gave it a try?  I purchased the necessary tools and watched videos on YouTube for tips and technique.  Next, I whipped up a small batch of frosting to practice with, and found that it wasn’t as terrifying as I originally perceived it would be.

I wasn’t satisfied with the lemon cake recipe the first time, so I took advantage of this opportunity to give it another shot.  Since this was a birthday cake, I needed to make two layers.  Along with the frosting, I also filled the cake with a Lemon Curd recipe.  Again, there were a few miscues.  The day before the birthday celebration, I was becoming antsy so instead of waiting for the curd to chill thoroughly overnight, I cooked it in the morning and filled the cake later that day.  As soon as I stacked the second layer, the curd started to ooze out the sides of the cake.  I quickly wiped it up and placed the cake in the freezer.  In a half hour, the curd had set and I was ready to proceed.  Misstep thwarted, phew.  I frosted the cake, busted out the cake decorating tools and went to town.  I have to admit, it was fun piping lines, dots and squiggles, and I found it to be quite therapeutic.  With the cake completed, all I needed to do was transport it to my Mom’s house the next day.

The cake arrived safely and we had a couple of hours until my step-father returned home from work.  It was placed safely on the counter while we waited for his arrival.  Huge, glaring error!  As the cake was revealed, I noticed that the curd was starting to seep from the bottom of the cake.  It should’ve stayed cool in the fridge.  Mistakes aside, the lemon cake had a nice balance of sweet and tart, creating a refreshing sensation with each bite.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

(Lemon Cake and Whipped Frosting recipes from a previous post.) 

Lemon Curd Filling
(Recipe halved from Vegansaurus!)

1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Water
3/4 cup Sugar
2 tbs Corn Starch
Zest of 1 Lemon

Pinch of Sea Salt

5 tbs + 1 tsp Soy Milk Creamer

1 tbs Earth Balance Vegan Margarine

Whisk all ingredients except soy milk and margarine in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  When it comes to a boil, stop whisking and allow to boil for 30 seconds.  Remove from heat and stir in soy milk and margarine.  Place in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap to avoid skin being formed.  Let cool to room temperature, then place in the refrigerator and chill for 8 hours or overnight.

More Muffins, Please: Vegan Raspberry Muffins

Having a muffin extravaganza this weekend.  These muffins have double the raspberry goodness.

Vegan Raspberry Muffins

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, reserve 2 tbs
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Sea Salt

Wet Ingredients:
1 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer + 2 tbs Water
3 tbs Canola Oil
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Soy Milk
1/2 cup Frozen Raspberries
1 tbs Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 tsp Raspberry Preserves

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Dredge frozen raspberries in 2 tbs flour.  Sift together dry ingredients into a small bowl.  Stir egg replacer and water, reserve.  Pour oil and sugar into a medium bowl and beat with a wire whisk until well incorporated.  Whisk in soy milk, egg replacer, apple sauce and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Gently fold in frozen raspberries.  Evenly distribute batter into a greased muffin pan, filling each well about 3/4 full.  Top each muffin with 1/2 tsp raspberry preserves and press into batter.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.