I Was A Teenage Vegan CookBlog

I’ve been rather busy packing up all my worldly belongings in preparation for this coming weekend’s move to Somerville, so I haven’t had a great deal of time to devote to cooking (although I did throw together some barbecued tofu for my farewell luncheon this afternoon (which, surprisingly, went over quite well) or blogging, so I’ll sort of be phoning it in this week. In honor of my once and future home, here is a classic and often-requested recipe of mine: vegan boston cream doughnuts. The one pictured below is from a batch I made with Dan, and is slightly browner than usual because he only believes in using whole wheat pastry flour, which, in general, I would not recommend. These take a bit of time and effort, so you may have to be all “time to make the doughnuts” in the ungodly hours of the night if you want to actually eat them for breakfast. This recipe should make about 12 large-ish filled doughnuts (you can make jelly doughnuts too - just fill them with the jam of your choice and dip them in granulated sugar) or 24 non-filled. If you don’t want to make them all at once, extra dough can be stored in the freezer for a couple of weeks.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/2 tbsp. active dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 14 tbsp. margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 measures egg replacer
• 4 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/8 tsp. salt
• 2 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 2 cups soymilk
• 6 oz. chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp. corn syrup

Equipment: Mixing bowls, saucepan, refrigerator, frying pan, whisk, plastic wrap, rolling pin, pastry bag.

Music: Speaking of phone-related things, I just recently figured out how to make my own ringtones, so I decided, for no particular reason, that they should be entirely vampire themed, which as far as this update is concerned, is appropriately nocturnal. Yes, I realize that customized ringtones are lame. You should check these bands/songs out anyway:

• Xiu Xiu - Brian the Vampire
• The Mae Shi - Vampire Beats
• Lightning Bolt - Dracula Mountain
• The Advantage - Castlevania II - Woods

Instructions:

1. Stir yeast and water together in a large bowl and let stand 5 minutes. Add 1 cup flour and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise for about 50-60 minutes until bubbly.
2. While the dough is rising, prepare the cream filling by combining 1/3 cup sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and whisking in soy milk slowly so that no lumps form. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it begins to thicken. Lower the heat and cook for another minute until thick, then mix in 2 tsp. vanilla and 2 tbsp. margarine.
3. Pour the filling into a bowl, press plastic wrap tightly against the filling’s surface to seal it, and refrigerate it for several hours.
4. In a large bowl, combine 10 tbsp. margarine, 2/3 cup sugar, and the egg replacer and beat until fluffy. Add 2 tsp. vanilla and 1 tsp. salt and blend.
5. Add the yeast mixture and the remaining flour to the margarine mixture and mix. Form the dough into a ball.
6. Coat the sides of a large bowl with margarine and place the dough in it. Cover the bowl and all the dough to rise for 1 1/2 hours, punch it down (compress the dough), place it in sealed plastic bag, and refrigerate it for 3 or more hours.
7. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out onto a floured surface to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut it into doughnut-sized circles.
8. Brush the edges of the dough circles with egg replacer or a cornstarch/water mixture. Place atop each other in pairs and pinch the edges closed and set aside to rise for 1/2-1 hour.
9. In a deep-sided frying pan, heat 1/2 inch of vegetable oil over medium/high heat. Reduce the heat slightly and fry the doughnuts until golden brown on each side and cooked throughout.
10. Drain the oil from the doughnuts and poke a hole in the side of each. Using a pastry bag with a wide nozzle or whatever you have on hand (in the past I’ve just used a narrow spoon), fill each doughnut with the cream filling.
11. Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or the microwave. Add 2 tbsp. margarine and corn/rice syrup and stir smooth. Dip the doughnuts into the chocolate topping, or use a broad knife to spread it liberally atop their tops.

I’ve been looking forward to moving back to Boston for a long time, and Russell, Eric, and I have a great place picked out in the Davis Square area, complete with a newly-remodeled kitchen. Drop me a line if you live in or around these parts - we should totally hang out and do some cooking together some dark and stormy night.