Marzipan

From the Spruce: https://www.thespruce.com/marzipan-521098 What You'll Need 1 lb. almond paste 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten How to Make It Coarsely chop up the almond paste with a knife until it is in small quarter-size chunks, and place the almond paste in the bowl of a large stand mixer. Add the powdered sugar to the mixing bowl and mix them together on low speed with the paddle attachment until the almond paste has broken down and everything has a fine, sandy texture. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the egg whites until everything comes together in a ball in the mixer. You may find that you do not need to add all of the egg whites. Once the marzipan has formed a ball, take it out of the mixer, dust a workstation with powdered sugar, and knead the marzipan until it is completely smooth and has a nice, pliable texture. You can use the marzipan immediately, or wrap it up for later use. To store it, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and then place it in a zip-top plastic bag. Marzipan will keep for 3 months in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer. Make sure to bring marzipan to room temperature before using it.

Almond Paste

What You'll Need 1.5 cups whole blanched almonds 1.5 cups powdered sugar, sifted 1 large egg white, lightly beaten, at room temperature Almonds Almonds are sold in various states of preparation: whole, sliced, or slivered, blanched or natural. It is easy to find whole almonds that have been skinned, but these are typically more expensive than “natural” almonds, so if cost is a consideration, you might want to skin them yourself. To skin whole almonds, drop them in boiling water and let them cook for 1 minutes, then drain the nuts and let them cool. Once they are cool enough to touch, pinch the nuts between your fingers and the nuts will slide out of the skin. To toast almonds, spread them in a single layer on a baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees until they are light brown and fragrant, about 5-10 minutes, depending on the amount of nuts. Check the nuts frequently and stir them to ensure even toasting. How to Make It Place the whole blanched almonds and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar in a large food processor (at least 7 cups in volume) fitted with a steel blade. Process the nuts and sugar until the nuts are very finely ground, stopping periodically to scrape the sides of the processor bowl. The sugar will help prevent the nuts from turning into almond butter, but still be careful about overprocessing. Once the almonds are very finely ground, add the rest of the powdered sugar and pulse until it is completely mixed into the ground almonds. Stop the processor and add the egg white and the almond extract, if using. Turn the processor back on and process the almond paste until it comes together in a clump in the food processor. If it seems very sticky, add a little more powdered sugar, a spoonful at a time, until it is smooth. You can use the almond paste at once or wrap it to use at a later date. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then store it in a zip-top bag. Wrapped this way, the almond paste can be kept for up to 3 months in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer. Make sure to bring the almond paste to room temperature before using it in recipes.

Eggplant Bacon

INGREDIENTS 1 medium eggplant 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 2 tbsp. soy sauce 1 tsp. maple syrup 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika 1/2 tsp. Liquid Smoke Freshly ground black pepper DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 300°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut eggplant in quarters, lengthwise. Slice each quarter into long, thin strips. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, soy sauce, maple syrup, paprika, and liquid smoke. Place eggplant slices onto baking sheets and brush both sides with sauce. Season with pepper. Bake until eggplant is cooked through and beginning to get crisp, 45-50 minutes.

Baumkuchen

http://mybestgermanrecipes.com/german-baumkuchen-recipe/

Ingredients German Baumkuchen Recipe

250 g butter, very soft or molten
250 g sugar
1 package vanilla sugar 0.3oz  - How to make Vanilla sugar - or 2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp orange juice
6 eggs, separated
120 g flour
100 g starch
3 tbsp baking powder - 0.5oz
1 tbsp almond or rum flavor
alternatively 3 tbsp amaretto liquor or dark Rum
200 g semi-sweet chocolate for the glaze

Baking Instructions German Baumkuchen Recipe

(see the attached video)
- Mix butter with sugar, vanilla sugar, rum flavor and egg yolks. Mix for about 4-5 min with hand mixer until creamy.
- Add whole eggs, again one after the other and mixing in between.
- Mix flour, starch, baking powder.
- Sieve the flour mix to the dough. Mix well with a spatula.
- Beat egg whites with 75 g sugar until firm, you should see pointy edges on your mixer.
- Fold into dough with spatula.

- Start broiler of your oven (lowest level). Preheat oven.
- Layer bottom of a spring from with parchment paper. Just place parchment over the bottom and close with form.
- Spread about 2 tbsp of the dough on top of the bottom, spread even with a cake lifter (server).
- Roast the dough on the lowest grid for about 2 min (sugar needs to caramelize) on 220 C or 420 F. Distance should be 10 inches from form to heating spiral.
- Repeat this until all dough is in the form in layers. You can see in the video that the layers are thin.
- Always watch the cake so it won't get brown.
- When cake is done let cool off before removing the form.
- Carefully place it upside down on a baking grid, remove parchment paper.
- Melt chocolate (double boiler) and spread on top and on the sides of the cake.
- Smooth out the chocolate with a spatula.

The most special cake of this world is ready!

Mrs. McCafferty's Soda Bread

Seitan Wings

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/seitanwings.htm Spicy Seitan Buffalo "Wings" are a vegetarian and vegan substitute for traditional pub buffalo wings but with all the same seasonings and flavor and fried goodness smothered in melty margarine (make sure it's vegan!) and hot sauce, just like the original buffalo wings made from chicken. Seitan doesn't come with wings any more than buffaloes do, but these meatless buffalo wings are cooked up with hot sauce and margarine for the same spicy flavor. If you're a vegetarian or vegan who misses buffalo wings (or knows someone who does), you won't be disappointed with this recipe! INGREDIENTS 1 pound seitan, sliced into strips 2 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder olive oil for frying 1/3 cup margarine, melted 1/2 cup hot sauce

Basic Seitan

Make 1 lb. Seitan is essentially a dough made with vital wheat gluten, a high-protein wheat flour, and liquid. The dough can be rinsed or poached to become a chewy meat substitute that can be added to many different dishes. We've added light seasonings to this recipe so that it will work in any dish, but feel free to play around with flavors and shapes. This tried-and-true favorite can be used in any recipe calling for seitan. 2 cups vital wheat gluten ½ cup nutritional yeast 2 tsp. garlic powder 5 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, divided 2 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce ½ small onion, diced 1 clove garlic, crushed 1. Combine wheat gluten, yeast, and garlic powder in large bowl. Stir in 1 cup broth and soy sauce until dough forms, adding more broth if necessary. Knead dough in bowl with spoon 3 minutes, or until elastic. Shape into 2 loaves. 2. Place loaves in large saucepan, and add remaining 4 cups broth, onion, garlic, and enough water to cover seitan. Cover, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 30 to 45