Vegan Bakery, Anyone?

Over the past two weeks I have been experimenting with vegan baking. I have made raspberry tiramisu cupcakes, spice cake cupcakes, and carrot cake. The raspberry tiramisu needs some tweaking, but the other two were home runs, even for the non-vegans that tested them for me.

A co-worker and I have been chatting about the possibility of creating a coffee shop/bakery for the area surrounding the college since there is a market and not a lot of competition. I know it is a pie in the sky idea (vegan of course), but it is nice to dream.

My friend Deanna came over tonight and she was brave enough to try some of my vegan cuisine. In her quest to find foods that are not overly processed and contain ingredients that she can pronounce, she was interested in what went into the dinner I prepared. I made her my old stand-by.... Veggie pot pie (From Skinny Bitch in the Kitch), mashed potatoes, and "buttery green beans with almonds" (from the same book). I think she was pleasantly surprised.

Since I love baking, it is easier for me to get used to baking with vegan ingredients. Because the baking is so good, I think I am not losing weight as I would like to. Regular cupcake or vegan cupcake, it is still a cupcake and has a lot of calories.

True change is a process and I am constantly looking for ways to improve and to get closer to my ultimate goal.