Going vegan has made me learn how to cook all over again, which is a good thing. I was getting bored with years of cooking chicken and pork. Learning to make vegetables and legumes taste good is a whole different animal. (Haha, I made a pun.)
Since I'm basically a beginner cook again, I'm making beginner mistakes and learning from them. I've had two fails in the last few days. Today I decided I would try to make vanilla pudding with almond milk. Jell-o brand pudding mix is vegan; Aldi brand is not. So I bought the Jell-o brand and added 2 cups of cold almond milk. Noah and I whisked for at least two minutes, then let it set for another 5 minutes, but it never did set. We just ate it like a yummy cold soup. Next time I will try adding some arrowroot powder or cornstarch.
A few days ago, I tried tweaking my blueberry muffin recipe. I used a cup of coconut flour in place of a cup of white flour. I also used 1/2 C. white flour and 2/3 C. whole wheat flour. Well, it turns out all flours are not created equal, and you can't use them interchangeably. The coconut flour absorbed all the liquid and left a dry, stiff batter. I added almond milk, a partial can of peach nectar, and a partial can of crushed pineapple with juice. Of course the muffins didn't rise like they should have and ended up with a texture that Noah said was like congealed oatmeal. The flavor was good though. It made double the usual number of muffins, and I'm the only one brave enough to eat them, so I will be eating dense muffins for the forseeable future. Next time I will use much less coconut flour and maybe add some more leavening.
2 comments:
Aha, you used instant pudding. I think if you try "Cook" version next time it should work. Cooked puddings are so much better than instant ones. Also, try to replace 1/2 of almond milk with cashew milk. It will give it extra thickness and creaminess. Aldi carries cashew milk now.
Ok, good tips. I will try those next time! Thank you, my vegan mentor. :)
Post a Comment