GET VEGAN DANISHES IN NYC! and the NYC Vegan Bake Sale for Haiti...

PB & J Danish.

Cherry Cheese Danish.

Blueberry Danish.

hi everybody,

i'd like to announce that i am going to re-start selling flaky,puffy,buttery,delicious vegan danishes,like i was in vancouver,here in NYC.

if you or anybody you know are interested,please don't hesitateto contact me through email at insideoutelephant@hotmailcom or via the blog.

i've had a few orders to far,and am very flexible,and c'mon,where else are you gonna get a vegan danish here?especially ones this good?

look at that flaky pastry...how could you resist?!

here's an assortment of varieties of danishes i've made in the past couple weeks:

apricot almond.

banana pecan.

chocolate cream cheese.

crunchy peanut butter.

pb&j.

chunky cherry.

mmmm.

and also,exciting,there is CROISSANTS! too!

croissants.

mini chocolate croissants!

so don't be shy!

and in other (danish related,too) news, last weekend i baked for and volunteered at the super-awesome...

NYC Vegan Bake Sale for Haiti.

it was madness!i had never been to a bake sale so huge,vegan or not.there was a million different amazing desserts,and it was very busy.it ended up raising over $5,000!

great job to and big thanks to everybody who organized it and help out,i can't believe those people made it so big,and got so many donations and everything else.

plates o' berry cream cheese danishes at the bake sale.

i decided to bake danishes for the sale!i made blueberry,cherry,raspberry,strawberry,all with a cream cheese filling,pb&j,and some variations of the fruit flavours but with nuts.

name tag.

there was so many great volunteers-so i was relegated to 'photographer' and took pictures for hours,ate sweets,and kept nagging people trying to offer help with something because i felt bad.

check out the 100+ photo set here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/evanmcgraw/sets/72157623204779529/

here's some highlights-if there's bite marks in it,it's probably one of the things i got to eat.it was all for a good cause-okay?!

amazing sugar cookies.just like i used to get at albertsons.

gumdrop.

sarah sarchan made an amazing chick o stick cake!!!

fauxstesses.

peanut butter chocolate cheesecake.

pizzelles.

only a few of the goods...

buckeye.

peanut butter fudge.

red bean buns.

hey.

a few people who made the whole thing possible...

still warm.

epic,no?

FINALLY-I Got To Eat Raw Tiramisu From Pure Food and Wine and a Million Other Desserts,Oh and Some Banana Bread,Coffees,Cookies,and New Marshmallows..

tiramisu from one lucky duck.

last weekend my good friend/roommate theresa had her parents visit,and they took us out to lunch.and we went to one lucky duck. the pure food and wine takeaway/cafe.

since moving to nyc,i've been salivating over picture's from erica on flickr and her blog of amazing looking raw desserts,especially tiramisu,and have been DYING to try it,but haven't financially been able to,given that a slice of tiramisu is $15,a milkshake $27(whaaaat?!),etc.but i guess everything came together and they had no problem taking us out(geeze now i really feel like the baked gods weren't enough of a thank you...)

so. i finally got to try it.and the desserts were amazing.especially the mallomar.the "marshamallow" was soooo creamy,and light,and fluffy and amazing.better than the moonpie,because there was less chocolate and more vanilla-ness.and the tiramisu was excellent,though super dense.again,i loved the creme the most.the cookie/sponge cake/what-have you layer was really really dense and hard to eat a lot of at once,but again,it was soo good.and the caramel in the caramel bar was fantastic.i wasn't crazy about the bar/cookie base,it was a pretty dry and crumbly,but nonetheless.oh,and the 'almond butter cup' ice cream milkshake was out of this world.super vanilla-y,and smooth,and just perfect,really.

oh,and lunch was great too,best caesar salad i've had in a long time,better than candle 79 or peacefood,both of which i said was the best.theresa and her parents all loved it,too,and none of them are vegan.

moon pie.

mallomar.

'almond butter cup' "millionaire's milkshake."

caramel bar.

oreo cookie.

fig bar.

fun.

it was all kind of amazing.so was seeing kev and linds.

and,just like last time they visited,i baked for them....

classic banana bread.

okay,so this one wasn't so much for them,but i had made the cookies and bars and then thought i hadn't done enough,so at 1:30am i baked this and fell asleep after checking on it and thinking it needed just 10 more minutes.i woke up at 4:30am,freaked out and thought the apartment was burning,and then will told me that it smelled done and he took it out.it was awesome.

home made no-frills banana bread and latte @ stumptown,ace hotel

and...

peanut butter and jelly bars.

super gooey.

and into the batter i added some

for extra crunch and sweet n saltiness.

and more of those oatmeal-coconut-chocolate chip-pecan-raisin/dried cherry cookies.

because t wasn't here when i made them and i wouldn't shut up about how good they were and how everyone loved them.

and yeah,ariela got some more.

so some cookies,bars,and banana bread ain't bad,amirtie?s'mon,i did have to start school that week,too...

oh,and i went to lula's last week,too and tried one of these:

new black and white marshmallows from sweet and sara.

a serious taste sensation.

the thin chocolate on the chewy fluffy marshmallow with the little crunch when you bite into it is crazy.kinna like a moon pie!har.

black and white sundae.

aesthetically pleasing and correct sundae.cookies n cream,chocolate and cake batter twist softserve,black and white marshmallows,whipped cream,chocolate sauce,chocolate and vanilla creme cookies.

crackly.

classic.

and speaking of marshmallows...

vegan rocky road gelato at tribeca whole foods.

the biggest and best nyc whole foods(tribeca) had a gelato thing upstairs and makes their own vegan gelato in house,and always has one flavour.recently i had rocky road,which was really good,with big chunks of marshmallows and almonds in it.

though once they did have :

oatmeal raisin cookie dough gelato.

which i liked a lot more.

i think there was shredded coconut in it,but maybe it was just the oats?yummy.

Winter B(re)aking!

so this was my first winter in nyc,as i mentioned,and it was really great.

i went to a few gallery,the natural history museum three times,the frick,moma,i met patti smith(!)walked like 80 blocks to central park a lot,walked the brooklyn bridge unexpectedly,drank a lot of amazing coffee at kaffe 1668,specifically,drew more than anything,decorated,made erotic fruit collages,froze to death,etc.

oh,and did a lot of baking.

and melisser visited!so i ended up going out with her,and we,and alyssa,ended up going to lula's a lot.

so,lot's of baking and cold things in the winter:

the last thing of 2009 that i baked,on NYE...

peanut butter caramel apple bars.

i actually made these twice within 3 days.mostly because of getting/having huge apples from the green market like this:

i doubled the peanut butter caramel recipe,since it is the best part,but the whole thing is amazing.i remember making these asap in 2006 before v'con came out when isa had just posted them on the ppk.

with cake batter softserve@lula's sweet apothecary.

i actually celebrated midnight with blythe,too,unexpectedly:

then,my uncle mike visited from toronto,so i baked the same 'vegan cookies' i made for him when i was staying at his house in TO for forever last october/november.

ginormous classic best ever chocolate chip cookies,some with vegan m&ms.

still hot.

@ stumptown in the ace hotel when my uncle was visiting for a day

oatmeal coconut raisin pecan chocolate chip cookies.

these were probably the best thing i baked.okay,maybe not.i got excited about a lot of things,but these were probably 2nd after the pb&j bars.

the dough for these was aaaamazing.

ariela ate a million and sent me a message the next day saying she was ;dreaming' of them.

and again,topped with cakebatter softserve at lula's.

and more oaty-ness...

almond butter chocolate chip almond oatmeal cookies.

almond butter oatmeal cookies.

almond butter oatmeal jam dot cookies.

with blueberry and strawberry jam.

peanut butter caramel bars.

thick peanut butter cookie like bars with the same v'con peanut butter caramel from the apple bars and s'mlove pie.

and the last thing that i baked...

white chocolate peanut butter and blueberry jam bars.

dense,fudgy,ridiculously sweet and peanutty,everybody went crazy over these,blythe said they were better than anything i've ever made,and i lked them more than the oatmeal cookies.go figure.

of course.

and melisser stayed with me the last night she was in nyc and was supposed to leave super early(but missed her flight...whoops) and needed to get food,so i made her a sammich reminiscent of the bars that had all been devoured:

happened on too many occasions.

hot chocolate with marshmallows @ lula's sweet apothecary.

and okay,especially when melisser was here,we ended up going to lula's like everyday.but here's some of the most memorable ice creams:

banana split with toffee crunch,toffee chocolate peanut,cake batter softserve,peanut butter swirl brownie,caramel sauce,chocolate sauce,sprinkles,whipped cream and a cherry.

double cookie caramel sundae with cakebater,cookies n cream,those oatmeal coconut everything cookies i baked,and caramel sauce.

a plethora of toffee & caramel ice creams.

caramel cakebatter shake.

can you tell that lula's makes caramel sauce now and we all really love it?!

marshmallow topping and gummy bears.

the beloved 'green juice'.

oh,and i went to peaceood cafe on the UWS for the first time,and went back more than once,and besides ice cream and coffee,i never really eat out!

cinnamon roll @ peacefood cafe.

awesome.gooey.huge,too.

more on here another time.

freezing.

well,i have school a lot now,so bye for maybe a while.

Holiday Baking/First Winter in NYC;COOKIES,Peanut Butter,Pretzels,Pomegranates,Peppermint JoJos,PBandJ Bars,(sweet)Potato Pecan Blondies,non-P Foods

peanut butter oatmeal cookies with peanut butter filled pretzels and chocolate chips.

name speakers for itself.

doh.

which i made for thanksgiving dinner at dillion's/dan's which liz invited me to at stumptown that morning.

liz's amazing cherry-balsamic brussels.

PB&J Bars.

ridiculously rich and dense.made these when theresa's parents came to help her move in,as a thankyou present.but i saved quite a few.i used raspberry jam.so peanut buttery and just plain buttery.

and then it was theresa's birthday...

being the great friend i am i baked her 6 types of humongous cookies.

and then at 11pm that night i made her 2 more types.hey!

HUGE classic chocolate chip cookies with vegan m&ms/smarties.

chocolate coated almond chip cookies.

classic peanut butter oatmeal cookies.

peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

all together now...

and...

chewy chocolate mint cookies with chunks o' peppermint jo jos!

chewy chocolate mint cookies with chocolate chips and walnuts.

i ate one of the jo-jo chunk ones hot off the sheet(so did theresa) and i think i've personally overdone it with mint&chocolate,because i can't look at anything mint chocolate without getting nauseous now.

though 2 days before i made the delicious cookies i had this at lula's sweet apothecary:

a scoop o' mint chip ice cream with hot fudge.yeah,for once i got what blythe reccommended.i dunno if she was more surprised or me.

and after theresa left out apartment to providence for winter break,i baked some more for christmas...

sweet potato spice blondies with sweet and sara cinnamon pecan marshmallows.

zomg.these were sooo good.especially warm/hot when the marshmallow was all gooey and melty and hot.

the blondies are the amazing recipe from vegan cookies invade yr cookie jar by isa and terry but with the added awesomeness of sweet and sara cinnamon pecan marshmallows,which are like cinnamon toast crunch but better.and in marshmallow form.

yr wishing we were friends,right?

CHEWY sweet potato cookies,with walnuts.

hooray for non-cake-y sweet potato/squash/punkin baked goods.i've done these with punkin before,but can't wait to try them out with kabocha sqaush.(japanese punkin)

so that was my holiday baking.all the way from thanksgiving to christmas.and don't forget,i made that insane four-layer birthday cake during the period,too.oh,and had school,and finals.

holidays baically alone in the city,since everyone left have been fun and productive,though.albeit a tad lonely.

on christmas i ate my first mango since october 6th,which was my first since august 6th,when previously i had been obsessively eating at least 1,upwards of 3,huge red mexican mangoes a day,until they ruined my digestive tract and i had to go to the ER.it was kind of perfect.also,because it was christmas,i bought myself a christmas present.nice mug,eh?cuz it was christmas.mango and mug.

i've been decorating,too.

and if you recall the peanut butter-ed pomegranate from vegan mofo,i finished this ball point drawing on christmas day,too:

my birthday cake!4 layer peanut butter blondie/brownie cake with espresso buttercream made with stumptown hairbender espresso & fudgy ganache.........

my birthday cake : four layer peanut butter blondie/brownie cake with espresso buttercream utilizing stumptown's hairbender espresso, and fudgy ganache, decorated with liz lovely peanut butter and coffee macadamia cookies.

yes,that's the title, and yes that's why it won't all fir in the subject/heading bar.and yes,it was the best cake ever,and no,not a single person(well,besides a very drunk chris bennett with the additional of 2 glasses of soymilk...)could finish an entire piece.best birthday ever.

3

see how it's supposed to be like 'latte art' in the top?get it?because of the espresso frosting, chocolate/coffee brownies?har.

see,like this cappuccino i had at cafe grumpy(chelsea) made with the barismo 'soma' espresso,on my birthday,in the first snow of the year.it was good,i remember it tasted like cinnamon toast crunch.okay,it was really cinnamon-y,because i know somebody is actually gonna try it and say it did not taste like cereal at all.w/e.

see,so it's also funny that we served it in a ceramic melitta pour over.

oh, & the liz lovely cookies?i tried one from whole foods,a pb one,and it was stale and sucked,so dan,from liz lovely sent me some 'fresh' ones-peanut butter classics and mochadamia mountains,and,everyone agreed,but theresa put it best "best packaged cookie ever".and serendipitously i got them in the mail the day before my birthday AND they corresponded PERFECTLY with the flavours of the cake-peanut butter,coffee,and chocolate.everything truly cafe full circle.

everytime i tried one i'd say it was my fave.then i'd try the other and change my mind.loved the macadamia nuts though,such a good idea.

thanks so much dan.

ganache-d.

self-explanatory.

i'm really attractive,i know.pics like this only gain me lots of readers.

and that's the cake.

since i'm updating,i'll throw in a few more things that happened on my birthday,delicious-wise:

macchiato,made by elliott,at stumptown.i was out till 4am the night before by birthday,but theresa and i still left to get coffee at 8:30.then my actual birthday party went till 3 then night.har.okay also...

really good lavender coconut creme brulee at blossom.only dessert we had.really good,actually.

and even though i don't care about 'real' food,here some sammiches:

seitan philly cheese steak from blossom.

tofu BLT at blossom.

and we went to cocoa v on my birthday,too,at all-vegan fancy chocolate shoppe.it's kinna on my shit list,the 'creamy peanut butter' cup tasted like bakers chocolate.the 'vegan honey banana chip' tasted like artificial banana flavour,and the caramel was not rich and thick enough,tasted like thickened agave.laame.

okay,yay!happy birthday to me!

...okay,one more so you don't forget how amazing i am:

Vegan Cookies Invade Yr Cookie Jar Party Aftermath!and more Peanut Butter Blondies!and other Cookies!

cowgrrrl cookies or isa and terry?
(that's an oatmeal,coconut,chocolate chunk-er,btw)

so in my last post i mentioned that there was gonna be a party to celebrate the release of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar at Moo Shoes.and there was.last night.and it was really fun!

isa and terry were there,isa's jokes were unfunny but terry looked really great,so it made up for it.
thanks everyone who put it on,it was super great.there was a lot of cookies,but i decided to make peanut butter blondies(from the book)anyways:


peanut butter blondies from vciycj.with chocolate chips in half.




with ginger molasses cookies.

but as i said there was 900 million types of cookies,and isa's mom was right that it was just "silly.but thoughtful."
anyways,more of those 900 million cookies(just a few...):


sweet potato blondies.


classic peanut butter criss cross.crosshatch or something.


melissa.


molly.


eric.


randoms.


paula's head.

Oh,Hey,I Met the Real Rachael Ray.Oh,and VCTOYCJ Peanut Butter Blondies.

Oh hey!I met the real Rachael Ray.

we're also soul mates,and she actually complimented me and said "i love your shirt!it's very autumnal."

that's one of my favourite words,p.s.

just thought i had to let the world know that i met rayray.

elegance,beauty,AND grace.

such a good sense of humour,too.

and i guess in terms of vegan baking...

peanut butter blondies from vegan cookies invade your cookie jar!

yes,did you know that vegan cookies invade your cookie jar,isa chandra moskowitz and terry hope romero's newest cook(IE!) book is now out?i was a tester,and wrote about some recipes(like the soft whole wheat fig bars!)last month as part of vegan mofo,and just in general a lot over the past year,but it's out now,so go buy it!

with(incredible) espresso from abraco.

and these are definitely in my top 3 recipes from the book.probably number 1,actually.then the nutter butters and fig bars.

so peanut buttery,fudgy,dense,crispy sides,salty and sweet...incredible.

oh,they're also really good with ice cream.

here's a peanut butter blondie with cakebatter softserve ice cream from lula's sweet apothecary.

and if yr in NYC,there's a party happening at Moo Shoes tomorrow tuesday november 24th at 7pm to celebrate the book with isa and terry and cookies and snacks and drinks and book signing and more,so go!

and because i already mentioned ice cream,and peanut butter,to...

pb&j ice cream(grape jelly!) and cake batter softserve from lula's.