Three things I have not been doing for awhile–the listening probably longer than the rest since I seem to have a problem doing that; but hey I’m working on it. Anyway, its been two years since I last posted. I’ve had no time to muse and that does not make for a complete vegan bakeress.  Honestly, I haven’t felt whole in a while; just overworked and tired.  And let me just tell you that opening a cafe on my own with little money and a small child to raise alone wasn’t one of my better ideas.  I’ve got battle scars both on my arms and in my heart from Sugar Plum.  I seem to have this love/hate relationship with my cafe like a boy you just can’t get rid of because you love him so much, but he just continuously knocks you down and makes you cry.”He’s the one,” I say.  “This is my path…”   Am I a glutton for punishment?  Can I not even have a stable and healthy relationship with the cafe I created?  My abused little girl self would think so. As strong as I am that wavering hurt child inside can really take over if you let it–and she’s been for the past two years. I’ve made poor decisions, trusted the wrong people and brought myself to the point where I teeter-totter every month on whether to keep the place open. It has to stop!

I was born the year of the Dragon–the Lunar year we are about to enter and I can already feel its effects. My energy feels different, more calm and open. I see that as much passion as I have it hasn’t been used wisely. My fire inside has been burning me, but purifying me at the same time. Getting me ready for this moment.

Breathe….
Closing my eyes and focusing on my inhale and exhale.  Releasing the fear, pain, frustration inside.  Taking in love, patience and more love.

Slow Down…..
I am not a machine.  I need a break.  I deserve a break.  Don’t want to miss the beauty of my son as he grows and learns.  Ready to savor and truly enjoy the  amazing love I found.

Listen…..
Strength is building and I am nurturing my creative side rather than just pushing it to its limits.  I’ve recognized my weaknesses and have asked for help. I need help.  I will listen. Not just to those around me that I know I can trust but to the universe as it whispers sweet nothings in my ear about abundance.

I can not continue to let the past rule me.  It’s time to embrace the goddess that lives inside itching to escape and release her shakti energy. My dragon is rising like the Kundalini serpent we all hold inside. I am the only person that can heal myself.  I feel it.  It makes me smile.

I’ve vowed to do no harm to all earthlings, including myself.

Join me.

The amazing vegan community has organized bakesales across the nation and we are doing our part this Saturday!!  Please join us at the soon-to-be Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe at 2315 K street in Midtown Sacramento.  We will have lots of SPV treats as well as homemade goodies from lovely vegans in the area.  Organic and Fair Trade Coffee will be served as well.

You can also catch a glimpse of our cafe makeover.  We are working hard to paint and patch and get it open but aren’t there yet.  Excuse the dust and come see your local vegan cafe in the making.  Suggestions are welcome as well.

I want Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe to me a mecca for vegans.  A home away from home.  I open my arms and heart to you all as my family.  Think of this cafe as yours and join me in this beautiful adventure.

See you Saturday!!

I am in the midst of a beak up with my partner and it has taken up a lot of my time along with maintaining the wholesale accounts I have.  It has not been an easy month but I am finding the power and strength within myself to continue on in this venture.  And know that it is not alone.  I have found some amazing helpers these past few weeks and have had so much support from family, friends and those invested in the cafe.  Thank you all as well as my current accounts that have endure some changes due to all of this.  And I also apologize to those who may have missed out on getting some SPV goodies due to my scatter brain these past few weeks.  I have taken on many roles: mother and father, baker, marketer, accountant, business owner and more and some things may have fallen through the cracks.

I have dedicated 2010 to be the year of the vegan.  So many good things are going to happen to our community both locally and nationally.  This is not a trend folks, this is a lifestyle that stands for all things good in this world.  Our heart, minds and hands are pure and free from the blood of another being.  And as we enter this new decade, others will come to see that our way of living is the only way we are going to be able to endure without killing our Mother Earth.  Let 2010 and beyond be an awakening to all of us that life is sacred and beautiful.  Cherish it and those around you.

I am not much of a resolution person but I will try my hardest to post to this blog on a regular basis.  Whether it be a journal entry, update, recipe, review, I will get something up here at least once a week. I encourage you all to follow my blog, comment and let me know what you think.

Bright Blessings to all of you for 2010.

Melissa Sugar

And in case you don’t know where the cafe will be:

Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe

2315 K Street, Sacramento, Ca 95816

Call me for orders or to chat at: 916-706-8100

(24th & K Sacramento Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe, Restaurant, Catering, Venue, Co-op & more!)

We have listed our Holiday Menu below.

Please call to order.  Wholesale inquires contact us for pricing 916-706-8101.

Blessings!!

Winter Holiday Menu

All items are wheat, dairy, casein, egg and animal free (gluten free where noted)

Traditional Pumpkin Pie $14

Custardy and Delicious with a Spelt Crust or Crustless for Gluten Free

Chai Spiced Sweet Potato Pie $14
Exotic Spices make this Delectable with a Spelt Crust or Crustless for Gluten Free

Double Crust Apple Pie $18
Local Apples piled high in a Spelt Crust

Pumpkin Cheezecake 9-inch $24 4-inch $7.50
Vegan Cream Cheese/Tofu/Agave Filling With a Gluten Free Cinnamon Pecan Crust

Orange Scented Chocolate Mousse Pie $16

Chocolate Agave Mousse with Gran Marnier and Local Oranges in a Spelt Crust or Gluten Free Curst

Jelly Donut Cupcakes $2.50 each

A Hanukkah Favorite in a Cupcake

Gluten Free Vanilla or Chocolate Cupcakes $2.75 each

With choice of Cream Cheez, Vanilla or Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Raspberry Walnut Rugelach $1.90 each

A Traditional Jewish Recipe Veganized

Gluten Free Chocolate Dipped Agave Macaroons $1.50 each

Delicate Haystacks kissed with the Food of the Gods

Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Sandwich Cookies $2.75 each

with Cinnamon Spice Cream Filling

Gluten Free Pumpkin Walnut Chocolate Chip Muffins $2.50

Moist, Delicious and Perfect Anytime

Sweet Potato Layer Cake 9 inch–$32 6 inch –$22

With Candied Walnuts and Cream Cheese Frosting-A Kwanzaa Delight

Assorted Cookie & Bar Platters Available

Contact our Sales Manager for More Information

Sugar Plum Vegan Sweetly Humane™

Call Khy’em To Order: 706-8101

A first in Daring Bakers history: every post from this group will be vegan!  Victory for us Alternative Daring Bakers thanks to this month’s hosts Natalie from Gluten A Go Go and Shelly from Musing From the Fish Bowl.  We were give a vegan lavash recipe that could also be made gluten free.  Lavash is a crisp flatbread that goes excellent with dip and part of our challenge was to make a vegan dip to accompany this delightful cracker.

I made gluten free lavash as well using a blend of sorghum and brown rice flours along with tapioca and potato starches and a touch of xanthan gum to bind it all together.  I sprinkled poppy and sesame seeds, Hungarian paprika and dried oregano, thyme and basil from our garden on top of the crackers.  Our house smelled heavenly while the lavash cooked and we could not wait to try them.

For the dip I used white beans and house made sundried tomatoes that were reconstitued in warm water.  I added a little lemon juice, roasted garlic cloves, olive oil and cumin.  I sprinkled the dip with coarse sea salt, lemon zest and dill.  It was a great accompaniment to the lavash and me and Sugar Plum Vegan Man gobbled it up in a matter of minutes.

I really hoped all of the Daring Bakers out there enjoyed baking vegan and will do it again some day soon.

Home Grown Purple Basil Cupcake with Chocolate Orange Mousse

My second Iron Cupcake Challenge has arrived and the secret ingredient is basil.  What a perfect challenge for me because we have tons of basil growing in our garden.  We have eaten the wonderful herb in so many different ways but not yet in a sweet treat–Sugar Plum Vegan Man will love this one!

I chose to use our Purple Basil variety.  It’s a beautiful plant with a gloriously fragrant basil smell.  I put the basil in a food processor with organic sugar and created a basil sugar that I added to my vanilla sponge recipe.  The cake tuned out incredibly moist and delicious.  For the frosting I made a chocolate orange mousse out of silken tofu, dark chocolate, maple syrup and orange oil.  It complemented the basil cake quite well and was a winning flavor combination in my house.

Purple Basil Growing Strong

As much fun as I had this is a competition so vote for my organic, vegan and local purple basil cupcake beginning on Sunday, September 28th until Wednesday, September 30th (our two year anniversary!) at No One Puts Cupcake in the Corner.  We are competing to win the
following prizes: a cupcake ring by be sure to include reference and a link to our prize providers:
ETSY artist METAL SUGAR, Head Chefs Cooking Tools by Fiesta Products,  Hello Cupcake Book by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, a Jessie Steele Apron, a Cupcake Courier and gifts from Taste of Home magazine.

Wow! That’s a lot of prizes that I would love to win.  So be sure to vote for your lovable Sugar Plum Vegan.  Blessings and Basil for all!

My harmonious balance Kyanite and Moonstone

I have had a moonstone pendant for as long as I can remember.  I bought it while in college in Boston but at that time I did not know the healing properties it would bring me.  I just thought it was pretty and I would put it on every once in a while when it matched an outfit I was wearing.

Years have passed and my man found it in my jewelry box and insisted that I start wearing it again. He says it would help balance me and my emotions.  I had just had Jasper, our son, and was feeling a bit “crazy” I guess you could say.  My emotions were overwhelming me and I didn’t know which way was up.  This period was very trying on our relationship and the outcome did not look good.

I had already started taking “happy pills” as we call them.  They are a natural blend of St. John’s Wart, Kava Kava, Passionflower, Schizandra Berry, Siberian Ginseng and Wild Oats.  The pill did help but I felt like there was something missing so I happily agreed to wear the moonstone on a regular basis.

Minutes after I put the pendant on I did feel a slight shift of calmness overtaking me.  It was like a light went on inside me that softened all my feelings of stress and anxiety.  I felt less overwhelmed and depressed.  I felt like the fire had lit inside me again and I was shining.

But if I skipped a happy pill, I was pulled back into the darkness.  It saddened me to think I could only function with my ultra does of mood balancing herbs.  The moonstone just seemed to be one ingredient to my well being and without the rest it did not make me a happy cupcake.

So I stuck with this combination until one day my man gave me a Kyanite pendant and that is when everything changed…

Kyanite is a gemstone that does not accumulate negative energies, and it therefore never need to be cleansed or cleared.  As the energy of kyanite is all but unlimited, it is said to be one of the best gemstones for use as an atonement stone.  And that is exactly what I need right now to find my inner peace!

Ever since I put the kyanite on along with the moonstone I have felt an amazing transformation.  I feel more at peace and I find myself to be able to express my self in a positive way.  I have also found that it has helped with my meditation.  I have been able to clear my mind and meditate on my mantra much easier than before.  And the dreams I have been having are intese, vibrant and releasing a lot of my hidden feelings and emotions.

And guess what?  No more happy pills!!  As wonderful and natural as they are, I had a problem with taking them.  Now I am feeling the energy of the world so intensely but not holding on to any negative vibes.  Some call kyanite a shield.  I would tend to agree.

I encourage everyone to get kyanite and moonstone.  Where them as jewerly or just hold the stones in your hand for a bit to feel their energies.  It will change you.

Light and love to you!

A vegan puff--gooey and delicious

This is my second Daring Bakers challenge and boy what a challenge it was this month for a vegan! The recipe was from a cookbook written by Dorie Greenspan: Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme.

Pierre Herme is a world-renowned French pastry chef who Vogue called, “The Picasso of Pastry”. His website demonstrates his beautiful creations that can be found in at his jewel box pastry shop in France.

We were given his eclair recipe to replicate. I’ve made eclairs before in my past non-vegan life and they are quite delightful to make and eat. Pate a choux is the dough that is used to make this puffy babies. One of the key ingredients is the eggs to help them rise. I thought about this for some time and tried to figure out how this was going to work for a vegan. I surfed the web to find any inspiration for this recipe and found a lot of chefs saying it’s just not possible. Well, I did not want to give up so I daring took this challenge on not sure of my success.

Eclair and a Cream Puff--Twice as nice!

So I used Ener-G Egg Replace and whipped the heck out of it with my mixer. My pate a choux did not turn out as puffy as it should be but I kind of expected that. I filled them with a coconut pastry cream and dipped them in a delicious dark vegan chocolate ganache and drizzle some homemade white chocolate on the tops.

Homemade White Chocolate is so yummy!

If I had more time in my life I would spend hours and hours perfecting the recipe but I have to run a business and be a mom.   Maybe when I retire and Sugar Plum Vegan is so successful that I have other people doing my job for me I will tackle the vegan eclair again.  Until them I am satisfied with my outcome, they are good enough for me to eat and sometimes that’s just all you need.