Blueberry Puffs

I saw this recipe in a old Kraft magazine, the small amount of ingredients appealed to me. Plus I bought some ramekins 4 months ago that needed to be broken in.
Now I'm all about homemade, but it was nice to take a break and buy croissants. This recipe is the easiest thing ever, so if your a beginner this is perfect! I was pretty happy with the taste of these "puffs", the blueberries just burst in your mouth. My boyfriend ate 2 before they even cooled down. I could even eat these for breakfast, but then again I could eat cake for breakfast.

Now this recipe called for 10 ramekins 1/2 cup in size. My ramekins were about a 1 cup, so i only used 5.

Blueberry Puffs

• 1 pack of large croissants
• 1 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 package (8oz) cream cheese
• 2/3 cup of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups milk

Place croissants evenly in ramekins, sprinkle blueberries on top. Beat cream cheese til smooth, then add sugar, eggs, vanilla. Slowly add in milk. pour over croissants and blueberries, i filled it almost to the top. Let stand for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 20 to 25 minutes.

Vegan Vanilla Cupcake

I've been wanting to try a vegan recipe for a long time. Instead of experimenting, i wanted to try a well known one first. This recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. The cupcake had a nice flavor, but seemed heavier than a regular (egg and butter) cupcake. These recipe would be great if you don't have eggs but need something sweet. I just put a simple Vegan Vanilla Frosting on it.

Vegan Vanilla Cupcake

• 1 cup soy milk (i used vanilla flavored)
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt (increase salt to 1/2 tsp. if using oil instead or margarine)
• 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine, room temperature, or 1/3 cup canola oil (I used Earth Balance, I found it at some Walmarts and Trader Joe's.
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract or more vanilla extract

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Whisk the soy milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside for a few minutes to get curdled. ( mine just looked extra foamy)

If using margarine- Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl and mix. In a separate bowl use a mixer to cream margarine and sugar together for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla extract and other extract, if using, then alternate beating in the soy milk mixture and dry ingredients, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times.

If using oil- Beat together the soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla, and other extracts if using, in a large bowl. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix until no large clumps remain.

Fill cupcakes liners 2/3 of the way and bake for 20-22 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack, let cool before frosting. Yields about 12 cupcakes.

Vegan Vanilla Frosting

• 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shorting
• 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine (I used Earth Balance)
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup soy milk (I used vanilla flavored again)

 Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and soy milk and beat for another 5-7 minutes or until fluffy.