MAKES 12 CUPS With this in the pantry, you’ll have no reason to deny yourself a chocolate fix when the mood strikes. If you’re looking for that perfect chocolate cake—rich, complex, but light— look no further. How about deep, fudgy brownies (pictured opposite)? It’s right here. Or almost guilt-free and oil-free chocolate muffins? Got those covered, too. Best of all, if you have kids like mine who tell you at ten o’clock at night that they need a treat to take to school the next day, you’ll be the supermom who can whip out amazing desserts “from scratch” in moments.
The The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples
by Miyoko Schinner is the book you need to start cooking vegan staples at home. All of building blocks as home made soy milk, your own tofu and tempeh, baking mixes, pan cake mixes, mac and cheese mix, glorious butterless butter (palm oil free). Dressings and sauces such as eggless mayo, brown sugar mustard, ketchup, teriyaki sauce, vegan oyster sauce, vegan fish sauce, ranch, no-oil caesar and many more. Basic pizza, rolls, biscuits, pastas, gluten-free polenta crackers, cake mix.
The book also uses some of these in recipes for soups, pasta, cakes, brownies, cookies. There are vegan subs for unribs, unchicken, and obviously amazing cheeses like oil-free cheddar and mozzarella, almond feta and many many more.
Chapters include
Condiments (sauces, dressings, jam),
dairy and egg-free goodness (cheese, yogurt, milks),
all you need is soup (broth, stock, soups),
the meat of the argument (tofu, yuba, yuba bacon, unfish, unchicken, unribs, neatballs),
magic and pasta (marinara, vodka sauce, mac n cheese mix),
the grains of truth (pancake mix, pizza dough, dinner rolls, pastry dough, granola)
sweet endings (cake mixes, buttercream, ice cream)
The publisher is giving away a copy of the book to one of the blog readers (US only). Please see the end of the post to enter.
I had to make the glorious butterless butter and it does not disappoint. Its not a good idea to have this one lying around in my house this summer :). I added some cayenne, garlic and cumin which makes the butter even more awesome. Get the butter recipe here.
I made the soymilk was surprised by the pleasant flavor. Miyoko’s recipe will give you less beany soymilk. I have made Miyoko’s cheese recipes from Artisan Vegan Cheese book and cannot wait to try the versions from this book!
So often the easily available staples are not a great choice for everyday meals because of the processing and innumerable ingredients. Miyoko makes it easy for anyone to make some of those with amazing results with some patience and practice.
Other recipes from the book, these popular Unribs, the creamy non beany tasting soymilk.
I made the chocolate cake mix and decided to use it to make chocolate doughnuts. The cake mix uses baking soda and coconut sugar. The mix is mixed with boiling water to make such a silky batter which flows beautifully into the doughnut pan. Bake, cool, glaze, serve!
The book is hardcover and absolutely beautiful with elegant photos, great paper, pleasing, and gorgeous on the coffee table. Like most well designed and gorgeous books, I found that the design was given more preference over usability. The fonts could have been bigger and the instructions in paragraphs are hard to keep track of. Some breaks in the longer instructions would have helped for sure. The pages which are pastel colored with black writing on them are hard to read while cooking. This is just my preference though and my eyesight isn’t the best. I understand that it is hard to balance out everything with trying to fit things in pages and such. And eventually I get used to it after cooking for a while from the book. Plus, there is always the kindle version in which everything can be adjusted!
Vegan Chocolate Cake Mix from The Homemade Vegan Pantry. Book Review + Giveaway
Ingredients
- 3 cups (360 g) whole wheat pastry flour
- 3 cups (375 g) unbleached flour
- 4 1/2 cups (720 g) coconut sugar or 4 cups organic sugar
- 1 1/2 cups (129 g) cocoa powder not Dutch-processed
- 6 tablespoons very finely ground coffee espresso grind
- 2 tablespoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
Instructions
- Sift together all of the ingredients into a large bowl, then using a wire whisk, mix well until the mixture looks perfectly combined. Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer or food processor. Store in an airtight container or ziplock bags at room temperature for 3 to 4 months.
- For the doughnuts: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180ºc. In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup boiling water with 2 tbsp oil, 1 tsp vinegar and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Add 1 cup + 2 tbsp of the cake mix and whisk for at least 30 seconds. Pour the batter into greased doughnut pan and bake for 14 to 16 minutes. Cool slightly, then remove from pan. Cool completely and glaze.
- The glaze I used is vegan chocolate melted in a little coconut milk. Double dip and let set.
Notes
Nutrition
Becca F says
August 1, 2015 at 11:21 pmI have yet to make a quality vegan cheese at home.
Linda says
August 2, 2015 at 9:03 amI find it difficult to make anything since I have no idea what I am doing. Love the thought of having your specific recipes to follow.
Paula says
August 2, 2015 at 3:29 pmThe most difficult thing for me is finding a meal plan. A 30 day with really simple recipes since I really don’t like spending too much time in the kitchen.
txgwen says
August 2, 2015 at 4:07 pmI would love to be able to make a really good vegan mayonnaise that is close to sugar-and-fat-free.
Cynthia says
August 2, 2015 at 5:04 pmI’m still trying to find recipes for the perfect vegan cream cheese and ranch dressing. But I’m pretty sure Miyoko has the answer.
Sylvia says
August 2, 2015 at 7:34 pmButter! I
Piper says
August 3, 2015 at 12:04 amI have been vegan for 2 monthes now and loving it. Still getting the hang of palanning certain meals ahead of time and shopping not too far advance that my produce goes bad. Getting the hang of it though!
Marcia Lee says
August 3, 2015 at 3:42 amI live in a area where it is very hard to find vegan foods. I have to travel two hours to buy them. It would be great to have a book that would allow me to make ingredients ahead of time to eliminate all the travel. Thanks so much for the opportunity.
Kathy Sturr of the Violet Fern says
August 3, 2015 at 4:40 amWe live in a small town and it is basically difficult to find just about anything vegan. Even the “veggie” section has items that contain eggs and dairy. We travel 45 minutes to another town where we shop at just one store for vegan items. Cheese, butter, sour cream – I would love to make these. I would love to make homemade vegan sausage. I love vegan.
Deanne O says
August 3, 2015 at 6:57 amVegan butter and meltable Vegan cheeses, rich veggie stock, and burgers that hold together when cooking them, are the hardest things I have to try to make and would love the “magic” way to do them all deliciously and correctly.
I WANT THIS BOOK SO BADLY!!
Bethany says
August 3, 2015 at 7:02 amA good vegan yogurt 🙁
kimberley says
August 3, 2015 at 7:44 amI still haven’t been able to make a decent vegan butter! the struggle is real!
f says
August 3, 2015 at 8:10 amVegan cheeses without using nutritional yeast!
Andrea says
August 3, 2015 at 9:41 amI have a lot of trouble with vegan cheese, like many of the previous commenters.
Sue Share says
August 3, 2015 at 11:02 amI would love to be able to make everything myself! I struggle with almond-milk yogurt and ketchup. Thanks.
Mason says
August 3, 2015 at 1:00 pmVegan yoghurt has by far been the hardest to make at home. Achieving the right consistency along the the right amount of tang is so tricky!
Nicole {VeganShowOff.com} says
August 3, 2015 at 3:13 pmPlain, unsweetened vegan yogurt has been a challenge for me to get right at home and also hard to find in the supermarket! Every kind is sweetened or flavored, grrrrr!
Linda Pan says
August 3, 2015 at 3:32 pmIt’s basic but I have trouble getting the consistency of vegan pesto right!
Julie Wood says
August 3, 2015 at 5:41 pmSame as above, vegan cheese that tastes good and melts (vs sauce, got that down) and stocks (too impatient to gather ingredients)
moomoo says
August 4, 2015 at 7:38 amHomemade broth. Everyone says it’s easy, but somehow get caught by barriers to doing it. Recipes I’ve seen use whole vegetables, which seems like a waste. But then I don’t have enough scraps left over for broth. What am I missing?
Mary says
August 4, 2015 at 11:06 pmIt was a huge struggle 4 yrs. ago when I found out I’m highly allergic to milk (all dairy), soy, egg, beef, gluten (wheat), banana, mushroom, and peanut. I haven’t been out to eat since and have to fix all that I eat. My husband won’t do without any of them which makes it harder. At least 1 of the first 3 are in absolutely everything you can buy except fresh produce and nuts. I would love to find, or be able to easily make, ranch dressing, yogurt, soy-free miso, gouda, egg rolls, pizza, bread, and marshmallows that I can eat.
Jessica P. says
August 5, 2015 at 8:33 amProbably cheeses…although there are tons out there, they are all either too expensive or way too processed and making homemade vegan cheese is definitely an art
Chely says
August 5, 2015 at 11:57 pmGood tasting cheese. And good GF breads and analogues.
Jennifer says
August 6, 2015 at 6:36 amI would love to make my own tempeh, it gets to be so expensive in stores!
Ruchi says
August 6, 2015 at 7:39 amI find it difficult to make restaurant-style crispy tofu or tempeh. Never get the same results – have tried marinating, deep frying and everything else in between.
Btw, the chocolake cake mix sounds so easy and yumm!
Jill N says
August 6, 2015 at 1:05 pmAsian food sauces 🙁 Thai is my favorite food and when I make it it’s so bland!!!
Jen says
August 6, 2015 at 1:33 pmI am new to veganism so this would be a helpful springboard. I am particularly interested in no oil options. I love the oil but am trying to reduce my consumption!
Stacy Foster says
August 7, 2015 at 9:54 amTofu skin and how to use it.
I’m so excited about your book & it will make a great gift for my vegan curious friends!
Thank you!
Lukisha says
August 7, 2015 at 7:01 pmGood creamy oil free salad dressings are very difficult for me to make…
Kyle Ravenell says
September 3, 2015 at 2:16 amMiyoko has been a source of endless cooking inspiration to me. I ve learned so much from her about cooking the kind of thing that makes you slap your forehead and think, Of course!