Vegan French Toast Apple Cobbler

Just before flying off later, I want to share with you what I made for lunch yesterday!

This is a French Toast Apple Cobbler~ This recipe can make 2 small bowls (pictured above) of it, or 1 big bowl of it. ^^

Ingredients:

French Toast

- 160g of raw cashew nuts, soaked for 2~8 hours, drained and soft

- 1 teaspoon cornflour

- 1 tablespoon brown sugar

- 1 teaspoon caramel sauce (or maple syrup)

- sprinkle of cinnamon powder

- sprinkle of nutmeg powder

- sprinkle of salt

- 100ml soymilk

- 1 slice of bread

Apple Filling

- 1 apple

- juice from 1/2 a lemon

- 1 tablespoon brown sugar

1) Preheat your oven for 200℃.

2) Put the cashew nuts, cornflour, brown sugar, caramel sauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and soymilk into the blender and blend it until really smooth!

Haha my cute little blender. ^^

2) Slice the apples and mix with lemon juice and sugar. Cook them in a saucepan until apples soften.

3) Cut your bread into square chunks like these:

4) Soak the chunks of bread into the French Toast mixture.

By the way, if you taste the mixture now, you will love it so much! Well, I loved it anyway. Hahaha! I kind of just wanted to eat the bread soaked into the mixture like this and forget all about the apples. Haha!

5) Put the apples into 2 small bowls. Put the french toast and the rest of the mixture on top of the apples. Sprinkle some more cinnamon powder on top if you are a cinnamon fan like me. ^^

6) Send them into preheated oven for 20~25 minutes!

7) Enjoy your delicious vegan treat! ^^

I hope you like this recipe! It's simple enough! 

To be honest, I love making vegan desserts because the washing up is usually so much easier and it doesn't smell! Haha! You know how if you use milk or eggs or cheese in a bowl, you should wash the bowls immediately or the smell will linger? Milk and eggs and cheese smell really good when they are in the oven, but they don't smell so nice when they are in your basin awaiting to be washed...haha!

I'm going to Japan in a few hours' time, and I just wanted to share one last recipe for this month before I go~! ^^

Don't worry, this blog will still be active! I'm going to share with you the wonderful cute and delicious food found in Japan! I may be sharing other related cute girly stuff as well! So stay tuned!!! ^^ 

Strawberry Yogurt Cheesecake (easy to make!)

Today is my mother's birthday! So I made her a cake~!

It's a Strawberry Yogurt Cheesecake <3 ^^

This is a very simple recipe. Here is what you need:

Ingredients (for a 6-inch round cake)

Cake

- 100g sugar

- 3 eggs

- 260g cream cheese at room temperature

- juice from 1 lemon

- 10 strawberries

Crust

(I actually used the vegan brownies we made as the crust, but guess what? The taste didn't match very well! So I'll recommend getting digestive biscuits or graham crackers, crushing them, mixing them with melted butter and then just press this mixture at the bottom of the baking pan with your fingertips or a spoon. ^^)

Like this:

Just don't use the brownies, k? They are too rich and dark in the chocolatey taste for this tarty cheesecake. >"<

Frosting:

- Strawberry Yogurt

1) First, cut the cream cheese into chunks.

It's easier to beat it this way. :)

2) Beat eggs until it's creamy.

3) Add the sugar in and beat till evenly distributed in the mixture.

I have a food processor, so it is really quick and easy for me. If you do not have one, just beat this mixture using a whisk! ^^ You may have to beat for a long time.... Haha! But it can train your arms! ^^

4) Add cream cheese into the mixture and beat till thick and creamy.

5) Slice your strawberries and puree them in a separate blender with the lemon juice~ ^^

6) Filter the puree through a metal sieve to the egg mixture. Mix evenly.

Your batter is ready! 

(I took a picture of the batter with my phone...but I think I forgot to save it. -___-" Sorry!!!) 

7) Bake at 150℃ for 60minutes.

Here's the baked cake!

If you're wondering what are the brown specks all over the top, they are actually brownie crumbs. -_-" When the cake was baked, I took it out from the pan....I was too excited to see if it would look nice out of the pan. And then I wanted to put it back, but I stupidly inverted the cake back into the pan. -____-"

Well, anyway!!!

When your cake is baked, you would be really happy!! Do you know why??

It's because the sweet fragrance of strawberries will fill your kitchen!! Haha! It's almost magical. I guess if you want it to really perfume your whole kitchen, you may puree the whole box of strawberries and add it in your batter?? :D

8) When cake is out of the oven, leave it to cool in the baking pan.

9) After cake has cooled, frost it with the strawberry yogurt!!

Just dollop one big spoonful of the delicious yogurt over your baked cake!

And then spread it all over! ^^

This is really fun! 

10) Top your cake with strawberries any way you like it!!! ^^

Look, the cheesecake becomes so white that it almost blends into my walls. Haha!

This is an easy no-fail cake! So do try it! 

I do know how to make a vegan cheesecake...and you don't even have to buy artificial highly-processed vegan cheese to make that! 

However, you will need lots of cashew nuts......and nuts are so expensive! T^T

When I feel a little bit richer, I will show you how to make a vegan cheesecake ok?? ^^

In the meantime, enjoy your cheesecake!! ^^

If you like Happy Girls Cute Food, join the growing family on Facebook for more updates and fun!! ^^ I'm planning many things for Happy Girls Cute Food, and I really hope to see you on Facebook~ I would love to know everyone who like what I like too!! <3 

Breakfast of oatmeal and caramelised pecans! ^^

I absolutely love oatmeal, and I usually pour unsweetened soymilk over it for breakfast.

Today, I drizzled caramelised pralines over my oatmeal instead and it was really addictive! It's funny but actually I don't like sweet things, but this was nice for a change. Haha!

What are you having for breakfast today?

I really really feel like making a pie today, so maybe I'll make it after I finish my errands. :)

French Pralines

Pralines are sweets made from nuts and sugar syrup. Sometimes the nuts are in whole pieces or grounded finely. It also refers to any chocolate candy that contains a whole nut or the grounded-nut-and-sugar-mixture. :)

Today, I'm going to teach you to make a really simple but really delicious praline! It's the most traditional kind, originating from France.

Although simple to make, it looks really classy when they are done and you put them in a glass container or wrap them up as gifts. Not only are they delightful to look at, they are also really addictive to pop into your mouth! So, I'd really recommend you to make these...and give them away!! Your friends will love you for it, and you won't become fat by eating too many! ^^

The ingredients are really simple!

Ingredients

- 2 1/2 cups (250g) pecans

- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar

- 1 cup (200g) brown sugar

- 1/2 cup (120ml) soymilk

- 3 tablespoons vegan butter

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

1) First, let's toast the pecans! You can toast them using your toaster oven~

Spread them out like this.

Toast them at 100℃~120℃ for 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn them! I heard that nuts are really easy to burn, but I've toasted cashew nuts and pecans for a number of times, and have never burnt them! I'd like to think that I'm just lucky. Well, anyway, just watch your nuts ok? ^^"

2) In the meantime, prepare a big bowl of water and chill it in your fridge! ^^

3) Here are the rest of the ingredients. Measure them~~ ^^

Here's my 120ml of soymilk. You can use any kind of milk really. I'm making a vegan version, so I use soymilk. ^^

I always hate this part...measuring sugar and realising how much sugar is used in most desserts. :( But well, anyway, I've already lowered the amount of sugar needed by half from the original recipe...and the sweetness is quite perfect. If you want to further reduce it, reduce the amount of milk used too, or it will take forever for it to turn into syrup.

Here's my vegan butter. Feel free to use dairy butter if you can't find vegan butter. ^^ This is more for adding a fragrant buttery taste to your pralines~ ^^

4) Throw all of the ingredients into a medium-size saucepan (your pecans should be ready by now, right? ^^) and boil it over medium heat. If you have a thermometer, you can check...the ideal temperature to keep the mixture in is about 112℃ to 116℃.

It's a party in here!

When your mixture boils, just keep stirring it until it becomes syrupy (about 15 minutes). By this time, your kitchen will smell like Garrett's Popcorn!!! Haha! It's so awesome. Sugar smells soooo good! 

When it becomes syrupy, and you are a cinnamon fan like me, feel free to sprinkle some cinnamon all over it~! ^^

5) Transfer this mixture to a bowl. Take out your chilled bowl of water, and place your bowl of pralines in the water like this:

Keep stirring the mixture. The texture will become stickier and gooier like caramel!!! 

6) Once it's gooey like caramel, spread them out on a baking tray to completely cool it down.

These are sooo fun to make! The smell of caramel will make you giddy with happiness. ^^ 

Store them in an airtight container. Offer them to your family after dinner. They'll be so impressed with you!!! 

Or, you might want to give them to your girlfriends. 

For Gift Wrapping:

I searched around my house, and I found these...

Some sandwich bags, some nicely decorated plastic sheet bags, and some colourful threads.

So I just put the pralines on colourful little bento food trays and slid a tray into each plastic sheet bag. I also made some individual candies using the sandwich bags. Just cut them into squares, put a praline on it, roll it up, and twist the 2 ends.

I tried so much to take a nice picture with my camera, but I guess without photoshop, it's just urgh. Haha! Well, anyway, here's a clearer (but not cute) picture of what I mean.

I actually collect tags from my clothes purchase. So you can see this Hello Kitty tag on one of the bags. Haha! It actually looks cute on gift bags. Haha! 

I hope you enjoyed this post. Thank you for reading~~ ^^

Native American Astrology

Hi Girls!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and some boys. Haha! ^^)

Today is White Day!

What is White Day?

In Japan, White Day is when the guys will return the favour of giving gifts to the girls who has given them gifts on Valentine's Day! 

I think this should happen every month. Haha!

Well, but anyway, I think most of you already know what is White Day, so I'm not going to talk so much about it.

Today, I just want to share with you some interesting astrology!

I suppose most girls like astrology. It's just for fun of course! But it's always so fun to have 'somebody else' tell you your personality and stuff like that. Haha! So, I found a pretty accurate and sweet one, and I want to share it with you!

Native American Astrology

Otter: Jan 20 ~ Feb 18

Wolf: Feb 19 ~ Mar 20

Falcon: Mar 21 ~ April 19

Beaver: April 20 ~ May 20

Deer: May 21 ~ Jun 20

Woodpecker: Jun 21 ~ Jul 21

Salmon: Jul 22 ~ Aug 21

Bear: Aug 22 ~ Sep 21

Raven: Sep 22 ~ Oct 22

Snake: Oct 23 ~ Nov 22

Owl: Nov 23 ~ Dec 21

Goose: Dec 22 ~ Jan 19

This original post came from Astrology Explained. So if you like astrology and all that stuff, be sure to follow them on Tumblr! ^^

Leave a comment to let me know how the reading goes for you! I would love to know!

Also, help me spread about Happy Girls Cute Food if you like what you've seen so far! Tell it to your friends! Help me 'like' my page! I'm aiming for 400 'likes' by the end of this month. I'm more motivated to update and do better things for this page when there are more people reading! Haha! It's fun to read your comments and see all the new 'likes' as well. I really want to thank everyone for all your encouragement and help. ^^

Making something with pecans later, and will share the recipe soon! ^^

Basic Vegan Chocolate Brownies

I'm late, ain't I?

I'm so sorry!!

I promised this recipe to be up tonight, so although it's technically the next day now, I told myself I will stay awake to do this!!! ^^

Firstly, I want to thank everyone who have shown their support for Happy Girls Cute Food by liking the Facebook page!!!!!!!!

I was really touched, so I told myself that I have to keep my promise!!!!!!!

I hope you will like this recipe! I tried to make the pictures cute, but... -__-" Ok I will do them better next time somehow!!!

Vegan Fudgy Chocolate Walnut Brownies!

Ingredients:

- 2 teaspoon Ground Flaxseed

- 120ml Water

- 300g Brown Sugar

- Unsweetened Applesauce (from 2 apples and 180ml water)

- 2 tablespoons Water

- 165g Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

- 95g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

- 3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

- 1/4 teaspoon Salt

- 1 cup Vegan Semisweet Chocolate Chips

- 1 cup coarsely chopped Pecans/Walnuts

Makes 20 Brownies

1) Preheat oven at 150°C. Grease your baking pan (preferably a square one).

2) Combine ground flaxseed with 120ml water. Whisk the mixture. Let it soak for awhile. It will become sticky and gooey like an egg in a moment!

3) In a medium-size bowl, stir together sugar, applesauce, and 2 tablespoons of water. Combine flaxseed mixture with applesauce mixture.

This is how it looks when everything is poured together in a bowl.

 

This is how it looks after you stir everything to combine.

4) In a separate small bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. 

  If you have never baked before, you may find it frustrating that the powdery ingredients stick to the bowl and never quite come clean.

In this case, a rubber spatula is a good investment. It can 'clean' off the bowls very well, be it dry or wet ingredients! See, if I use a spatula to get all the cocoa powder, the bowl which I transfer the cocoa powder from will look like this...

Your bowl will be pikapika clean!

Never waste ingredients by not making your bowls clean with a spatula! ^^

Combine all the dry, powdery ingredients well!!! This is very important! (Also, as you can see from the above picture, the bowl I use is too small. It makes it hard to stir...haha! Don't make my mistake!)

5) Add the powdery mixture in (4) to the applesauce mixture in (3) and combine!

Hehe! Now, this is the fun part when you produce an actual batter! ^^

For 1st-time bakers: Why is combining the powdery ingredients carefully important in the previous step?

Because when you add the wet mixture in, it will be harder to mix evenly all your powdery ingredients.

So, do the previous step well! You don't want some parts without cocoa, and some parts with too much baking powder or salt!

6) Fold in chocolate chips and nuts!

Just gently fold these dry, heavy ingredients into your batter, making sure they are evenly spread out.

7) Pour into pans 1/2 or 3/4 of the pans and bake for 25 minutes. This is the timing for a moist brownie. If you like your brownie to be cakier, bake longer. 

As you can see, I'm using the wrong pans. Hahahah! If you have one, use a square brownie pan.

 8) Test readiness with a fork or toothpick. Whichever tester you use should come out clean when inserted into the center of the baked brownie. (Some crumbs and melted chocolate is fine...Anyway, you will know if it's ready. You decide whether it's ready or not! ^^)

I don't know if you're a total beginner at baking as I am, but as I'm working out recipes for you all, I'm learning too. If you've had baking experience, you may be laughing at certain things I'm doing. Haha! For example, looking at the above picture, do you now understand why most cookbooks ask you to test readiness with a toothpick??? 

It certainly is very unsightly if you use a fork!

Let cool before cutting.

I baked these at the shop I was working in because they had a nice big space for me to prepare the ingredients and take nice pictures. But I made a mistake! My colleagues passed me bread flour instead of all-purpose flour, and so the result was a really dense one! I don't know why the colour is slightly different too. I've baked these brownies 5 times now, and the usual colour is what you see in the picture at the very top of this recipe post.

But anyway, mistake or not, it was still delicious, and my cute, creative colleagues decorated them with homemade granola!!! :D

Doesn't it look delicious!!!!

You can do many variations with a basic chocolate brownie recipe like this! Smother it with your favourite peanut butter, cream cheese frosting...whatever! It's up to you!

I found 300g of sugar used in this recipe rather sweet...I don't know how you'd like it... You may lessen the sugar used by 50g if your tooth aren't as sweet like mine! ^^

I hope you enjoy this post! If you have any questions, feel free to ask me! I'll help you as much as I can.

These are the brownies which I've been feeding to so many people that when people see me now, they ask for my brownies. Hahaha!....They're easy to make, almost no-fail! For beginners, this will be a good beginning recipe to try out! And this is the main reason why this is one of the first recipes I want to share with you over here!

Remember too that these are brownies that people actually want to buy from me after tasting them, so really, please give this recipe a try!!!! ^^