Simple White Cake.

Ever since I went on this "allergy discovery diet" I've been intensely missing the things I need to exclude from my diet— vanilla, chocolate, spices, tomatoes, curry, wine, gin, hot sauce. I'll be able to eat them soon but for now I had to find something to fill in the void of sweets that I can't have.

I found this white cake recipe on Allrecipes.com, and I just substituted coconut extract for the vanilla. It came out perfect— soft and tender, with just a hint of coconut flavor. I got the chance to break out my pure cane sugar from Whole Foods and that really made the difference; cane sugar tastes so much better than regular refined white sugar.


The best part was that it was so easy. I got the ingredients together and got it in the oven in 5 or 10 minutes, and was able to keep doing homework while it was baking!

Simple White Cake
Recipe courtesy of Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract (or coconut)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

Cilantro Pesto Pasta

I want to mention the awesome cilantro-flavored pasta I had for dinner. It's very easy and used up lots of things that were sitting around in my refrigerator. I basically followed Heidi Swanson's recipe with a few adjustments: I had a bunch of kale so I chopped that up for the greens in the dish, adding it to the boiling pasta water; also I practiced trying to make my tofu more flavorful by dry-toasting it in a nonstick skillet and pressing down to let the water cook off before putting sauce on it.


The result was delicious- though I wouldn't put so much garlic in next time (I used around twice what was called for). I also topped it with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese which was a great addition.
Boiling the noodles and kale together. I used rotini instead of soba noodles because it's what I had on hand. Quick and easy.
Cilantro "pesto"- it's pretty awesome.

First post & my favorite hummus recipe

I've decided to dork out and create a food blog. I spend enough time on Tastespotting nowadays that I catch myself writing posts in my head as I'm cooking or deciding what the best way to photograph my cooking would be.

Besides doing this, I am a design student at Carnegie Mellon University and I've discovered that if I'm frustrated and tired of working on visual projects, the only thing I can do to clear my mind is cook.

I cook a lot.

So here is my first post— a recipe for a variation on Hummus. Hummus has always been one of my favorite foods, since I was a little kid. Everyone has their version. Since I have a citrus allergy, I use white wine vinegar in place of lemon juice, and I think it works out pretty well.
I enjoyed some here with the crusty bread I baked yesterday.


Makes a good amount. (I'm not one for exact measurements)
Ingredients:
2 cans chickpeas, drained (organic, if you can find them)
2-3 tbs. tahini
extra virgin olive oil
white wine or champagne vinegar, a few splashes
a small handful cilantro
5 or 6 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
smoked paprika, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor— either grate or press garlic cloves so you don't get lumps. This recipe is super flexible, so I usually just start out with a small amount of olive oil and vinegar and keep adding things until it is the consistency I like. Process until smooth and fluffy.

I've found that I love the flavor of fresh cilantro in this, and you'll end up with a green-flecked hummus that's so much nicer than the beige stuff you get from the store.