I have in my oven right now a vegan brownie experiment. I’ve been a vegetarian for over a year, and after researching about how chickens are treated and thinking about eggs being the stolen babies of hens, I’ve decided to weed them out as well. Actually, I’ve never liked eggs on their own, but I still eat baked goods that have eggs in them. Anyhoo, I bought a yummy brownie mix and decided to find a substitute for the 2 eggs it called for. Hmmm…..I read that some people replace eggs with applesauce or banana, but I didn’t have either one of those. I decided to use an apple mixed with a little bit of orange juice instead. If you haven’t already figured it out, I’m a creative cook. Recipe, schmecipe. I come up with my own food artwork (aka “meals”) by following my instincts of what to use and how to put it all together (except for baked goods, which really do need a recipe… then I just add my own seasonings and additions to be creative). I feel like I have a chef as a spirit guide, because no matter how crazy things may look at the beginning, every dish comes out nice ‘n tasty. Also, he (my chef guide) lets me know when food is ready, so I don’t have to keep checking, and I hardly ever set a timer. I just get a feeling or a message in my head, and I know it’s done.
Back to my experiment . . .
The apples came out of the blender a little lumpy. I have a food processor, which would probably have been better, but it takes a lot longer to clean than the blender does. I mashed the apple up a bit more with a fork and started adding the other ingredients. When I went to pour in the brownie mix, I realized I would never be able to buy a boxed mix again because there is so much packaging! I thought I was doing so well because most of our trash goes in the recycle bin, but now I’ve learned that it’s important to minimize ALL waste, whether or not it’s recyclable. There are many reasons for this, but that’s another article. I’m trying to stay on topic (you probably couldn’t tell).
So then I dumped the butter into the bowl. That’s when I realized it was supposed to be melted first. I dug the butter out and put it in the microwave, bits of apple and cocoa powder still attached. As I was closing the butter container, I realized there was mold in it! Ewwwww! But not “eww” enough to make me stop making the brownies. After all, there wasn’t any visible mold on the butter itself, and everything would be heated hot enough to kill mold anyway. HA! At this point, I realize that I really shouldn’t let people know about my experiences cooking or else they won’t eat anything I cook. However, I don’t usually bake with moldy ingredients, and if I were baking anything other than chocolate yummy brownies, I would not have used the butter. I figured that there are only so many experimental ingredients one can use in baking and still have an edible outcome.
So now the brownies are in the oven and smelling yummy.
(a few hours later)
So. Hmm. I realize now that there is a reason why there are special recipes for vegan brownies. My brownies are like fudgy chewy rubber chocolate. Because the chocolate is so rich, I still find them to be edible. :) However, I would not make this recipe again. Next time, I’ll use a real recipe! Ha!
Bon appetite!
- Melanie
