Orange glazed plum cake

I feel guilty. If there is a word that can describe me, it is perfectionist. Not because I want to be the best in front of the others, but because I think I always must do my best for me, to feel well with myself. And these last days I have not been exactly working and doing by best. Actually, I have not done anything related to school in the whole week (and believe me, I have a lot to do).

Instead, I have been playing with my camera. As my parents must have suspected, I didn’t have enough with the camera alone, and I demanded too all kind of accessories. Of course, they didn’t buy me an objective for macro shots (which is understandable, because it costs more than 200€), but they agreed to buy a tripod, large cards of all colors (for backgrounds), including a couple of silver cards that I use as reflectors, and my father managed to repair a spotlight (with 500-watt lights!). So for the last three days I have been mainly shooting. Yeah, I am a spoilt child =P

But don’t worry; I have a recipe for you this time. After all, I need to cook if I want to shoot something interesting! I have discovered that reflectors really make all the difference. A softened light makes the food look much better (I did all the shots of the today’s orange glazed plum cake with reflectors and tripod). And you don’t need to waste money! You can use a silver card as I did (which by the way, cost only 0,50€), or paste some aluminum foil on the card and….volià!

I have lots of photos of Barcelona (again), but this time of Barcelona at night. We went to the theater (by the way, we loved the play. The actor did an awesome job playing six characters at the same time), and it finished at 10 PM it was already dark. I think next time I will take the tripod with me : )

Orange glazed plum cake From: own creation I baked this cake for my mother’s birthday (although we celebrated it a week later). If regarded as a birthday cake, is not a heavy one. There is no cream (even vegan) or chocolate involved, very common in party cakes. Nevertheless, it is not a very light cake either. The amount of margarine is considerable, as well as the amount of sugar of the icing. If you want a lighter cake, you can omit the icing, but it will lose that sweet touch that combine so well with the sharpness of the plums. You can also play with the amount of fat, trying to substitute it with apple sauce or why not, with homemade plum sauce. I have never seen it and I don’t know if it is available in stores, but I suppose it is possible to make. Just imagine they are apples….but be sure to pit them before ;)   ¼ cup soymilk + 1 Tbspoon sugar 25 g fresh yeast 200 g margarine, softened 150 g sugar 2 Tbspoon corn flour + 4 Tbspoon water Zest 1 lemon 175 g flour ¼ cup soymilk + about 4 teaspoons coffee ¼ cup pumpkin seeds (any other nuts can be used. Walnuts or almonds would work very well too) 5 dates, pitted and chopped 4-5 medium plums, pitted and thinly sliced 2 Tbspoon margarine, melted Orange icing -1 Tbspoon orange juice - 5 Tbspoon confectioner’s sugar + 2 extra Tbspoons -1 tspoon soymilk Heat the ¼ cup of soymilk. It must be warm, but not boiling. Dissolve the sugar and add the fresh yeast. Put it in a bowl, not in a cup, because it will rise a lot. Leave the yeast to stand for about 20 minutes. In another bowl, beat with a mixer the margarine and the sugar, until it becomes fluffy. Add the two tablespoons of corn flour plus the water, the zest and mix. Brew a strong coffee with the ¼ cup of soymilk, and add it (filtered,  of course) to the mixture. Add as well the flour and the yeast mixture. Mix it better with a spoon or a fork, not with a mixer (you could over mix it) Preheat the oven at 170º C (325º F).Leave the mixture to stand for about one hour, in a warm place (I always place the bowl with the dough on the stove, over the heated oven) Once it has risen, flatten the dough and add the nuts (pumpkin seeds in my case) and the dates (if you don’t have dates, try with dried apricots or cranberries). Mix again, and pour it in pan. I used a 22 cm (8 inch) round pie pan made of silicon. Although silicon pans don’t distribute the heat as traditional pans do (you can finish with a charred bottom and an unbaked top), they allow you to remove the cake from the mould without breaking it in two. Line the slices of plums over the cake, overlapping them. I did two rows: near the borders and in the center. Push them slightly into batter. Bake for about 35-40 minutes (depending of the pan you used). Before letting it cool, brush it with the melted margarine. Orange icing Mix all the ingredients except the extra confectioner’s sugar. It will make a quite light icing. Cover all the cake with it. If you want to go creative, leave a little bit of the light icing and mix with the extra two tablespoons of sugar to make a thicker one. I decorated the borders and the center with it.

The theatre was placed in the Raval, the most multicultural are of Barcelona. You can find people of all the nationalities there.

But Raval is one of the poorest areas too. It’s the Barcelona that is not shown in the touristic guides. If you are not used to it, it can be a little bit disturbing walking alone on its streets at night.  Actually, some people that was walking and appeared in my shots (although I was not shooting them, but the street) were upset, and one of them even showed me a very specific finger of the hand =O

The Rambla of Barcelona at almost 11 PM. It’s difficult to believe seeing all this people on the street, isn’t it?

On the top left corner, a view of Catalunya Square and the Corte Inglés which is placed there (El Corte Inglés is one of the biggest departament stores in all the country. Sometimes I go there for a walk, because it is enormous, but I hardly ever buy anything) . On the right corner, Paseo de Gracia and on the bottom the crossing at the beginning of the Rambla, next to Catalunya Square.

On the top, Catalunya Square again. Its fountain is more impressive at night, with all the light, than during the day. I did a shot of it when it was still sunny, but the photo was quite dull. On the bottom, Paseo de Gracia.

A green smoothie for chocoholics

Who said that green smoothies taste as greens? If you still think it, you should try this one. It’s a green smoothie…for the people who don’t like green smoothies ;)

 Before trying my first green smoothie, I was quite skeptical too. Lettuce? Cucumber?? Cabbage???? I must confess that at the beginning my smoothies really tasted like greens. In fact, they were inedible. I remember that I throw half of the second I did (a especially awful one), although I hate throwing food.

My mistake was adding too much greens, water instead of juice and no avocado or nuts for the moistness. I also discovered that reserving some of the fruit and nuts (and not blending it) adds much more texture. I like to find something I can bite in my smoothie. Another thing that can spoil you creation are too bitter greens. To avoid it, I don’t use the outer leafs and remove the stems. 

Using juice instead of water also makes a difference. If you don’t aim for a 100% raw smoothie, you can use any non dairy milk too (by the way, as you have already seen this not a 100% raw smoothie either. Does anybody know if raw chocolate exist?). Try with freshly squeezed orange, lemon or even grapefruit juice. Sometimes I throw some cereals on top, or pieces of crackers (have you tried a sweet smoothie with savory crackers? Delicious!) Although I have never tried it, I suspect that coconut milk will add a nice texture too. Frozen bananas are a staple for me when it’s about smoothies, but you can also try other frozen fruits.  In short, be creative!

Choco-green smoothie Although this can be a green smoothie for chocoholics, in my case I didn’t add too much chocolate. So if you are a real chocoholic, consider adding a little bit more. Or add too some cocoa powder, although I think that extra chocolate will give a better flavor. Mine was 85% cocoa, because I love dark chocolate (99% is something out of this world). I would like to try it too with vegan milk chocolate, but I can’t find it here =( **If you want a 100% raw smoothie, omit the chocolate 1 medium nectarine (reserve ¼) ½ Apple juice (any juice can be used instead) ¼ avocado 4 dates (reserve two of them) 4 leafs lettuce 4 leafs cabbage 1 cucumber 4 Tbspoon black currants (reserve 1 Tbspoon) A couple of squares of a chocolate bar (reserve one of them) 1 Tbspoon honey, agave nectar or any other sweetener of your choise (yeah, although I am vegan, I eat sometimes honey, because agave is impossible to find here : ( Also, it’s veeeery expensive) Water (as much as needed) For decoration (optional) A handful of nuts (I used pumpkin seeds) A few peanuts covered in chocolate Put in a high speed blender all the ingredients except the reserved ones. Do it slowly: I add first the juice and then some of the vegetables (if you don’t put any liquid, it will be almost impossible to blend) , like the cucumbers and lettuce, pulse, add more greens and fruits, pulse again, until you finish blending it all. Add as much water as needed. I don’t like my smoothies very liquid, because it would not hold the nuts and pieces of fruit on the top. Chop the reserved nectarine, dates, black currants, the chocolate and nuts and mix together. Pour the smoothie in a cup or bowl, and decorate with the mix. Finish with some peanuts covered in chocolate (you can use too any kind of chocolate covered nuts instead. Almonds are delicious, as well as covered raisins)

Yesterday I went to Barcelona, to Asian House (it has got the most comfortable library I have ever seen). I tried to do some photos of the city, but then I realized that I had 5 minutes to arrive to the train station. I did them in a hurry, and as you can imagine the results were not the best. Also, it was very sunny and I couldn’t see anything on the LCD screen, and therefore couldn’t adjust the exposition time =( Nevertheless, I decided to post them anyway. Enjoy the photos! (I was going to add the photos I did on the beach, but I thought that there were already too much. In the next post ;)

On the top left corner, La pedrera, by Antoni Gaudí. I visited a cuples of times the roof, but I don't have any photo =O On the right, Paseo de Gracia. Although it's impossible to see on the photo, on the corner of the street there is a shop of Burberry. Actually, Paseo de Gracia has become a showcase for the most expensive brands: Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Escada, Dolce Gabbana....

Asian House, inside view. There was too much people in the library, so I didn't dare to take a photo : ( On the right corner, at the bottom, a shot of a open air café in Paseo de Gracia (Passeig de Gracia in Catalan), the center of the city. A nice place to sit under its umbrellas and drink a cup of coffee, but not suitable for tight budgets: last Saturday I met there with the teacher who is helping me with my research project and she paid almost 8€ for two tiny cups of coffee and a croissant. I am sure that in other countries coffee (and other things) are more expensive, but this is really expensive for a country where about a 60% of the population earn 1.000 € a month (they are the so called "mileuristas", from "mil" (thousand) and euros). A cup of coffee doesn't cost less in Starbucks, but at least there you get a good, filling amount it =S

My foot and the skirt I bought on the sales =3

No, I won't never get tired of Starbuck's :) It's one of the best places to study for me. I am not joking! I work more and better in Starbucks than at home =S

Next stop: Moscow

Yes, I am going on holidays to Russia. I have already bought the plane tickets, and I will leave on 5th August. Direct flights cost a fortune, so I had to choose a flight with a stopover in Rome, Italy. But I don't mind, because I love the moment of the take-off and landing, and a stopover means more take-offs and landings. I don't know if I am going to be able to write during the holidays, so maybe there are not going to be posts until 26th August. Nevertheless, I am going to take the CD of the camera software and the cable with me. The software of my new camera. I am sooooo happy! We bought it yesterday, and I spend all the day jumping for joy. And the best of all, it's not another crappy point-and-shot, it's a DSLR: a Sony DSLR-A200. It was the cheapest DSLR we could find (370€), but I am happy anyway. After all, is better than any point-and-shot. I couldn't wait and did my first photos in the Starbucks where we drank a cup of coffee. Now, I have to learn how to use it!

I asked my father to take a shot of my hand, because I like how my blye nails look on the white paper cup. On the top, our two cups of coffee of the week (this week was from Tanzania), mine with soymilk....and lots of chocolate!

Me, near the center of Barcelona. Ahem...without make up ¬¬.

Midsummer Eve, too much party and Chana dal Masala [Spiced Split Pea Lentils]

Do you like bangers? If not, I don’t recommend you to visit Spain on the 23th June night because it’s “San Juan” —Sant Joan in Catalan, Saint Gorge in English — holiday. This holiday it’s not exclusive of Spain, though: if I am not wrong, the Midsummer Eve is celebrated in many European countries. Bonfires are lit, kids throw bangers and family and friends meet. In Catalonia and Valencia they also eat a cake called “Coca de Sant Juan” (If your wonder it… no, I don’t have a recipe, but I am already looking for one that I could veganise). But for a lot of people the best of all the holiday are the parties, especially beach parties. Bonfires are lit on the beach itself, DJs are contracted and the open-air cafés next to the beach make a fortune.

Nevertheless, the most common is something that in Spain is called “botellón”, and that my Oxford Dictionary translates as “young people’s street party”. It’s just the name for the meeting where groups of friends buy the drinks in supermarkets instead of in cafés, and drink them in the street (usually in parks). Well, Sant Joan is one of the biggest “botellón” you can find. It’s a pity that I didn’t bring the camera with me….the amount of people was incredible! The only I don’t like about it? All the garbage — and some slept people lying on it— that remains in the beach after the party =(

 I arrived at half past seven of the morning after the beach party, but strangely enough I was not sleepy at all (a coffee before leaving to the beach contributed in it), but I was starving. Nevertheless, I was not in mood for cooking, so I devoured half of a watermelon and a big bowl of breakfast cereal. My other meals were as quick and little healthy as my breakfast (trust me…at least the breakfast cereals we buy are not the healthiest way to begin your day), so yesterday I decided that it was enough and I cooked some real food.

After surviving basically on carbs, I thought that my body needed a more balanced meal. I gave a quick look to my recipes-to-try list, and immediately knew the answer: the Tried&Tasted June edition! This month the featured blog is Hooked on Heat and its author intention, Meena, is to introduce us to the real, everyday, modern Indian cuisine. Who said that Indian cuisine is difficult? Nevertheless, a quick advice from Meena: stay away from that yellow powder that most of the people call “curry”! If you want to know more, read her “How NOT to cook Indian food” post. Highly recommended!

Tried&Tasted was created by Zlamushka, of Zlamushka’s Spicy Kitchen. This month the event is hosted by “Kits Chow”. After looking among her recipes, I decided to chose a quite simple one: Chana dal Masala, or Spiced Split Pea lentils.

Chana dal Masala — I won't copy all the recipe again, because I changed very few things, so you can find the recipe here — Although I tried to follow the recipe, I had to do some small modifications. For example, I didn’t have turmeric, so I added a little bit of curry powder, which has got turmeric (I know…Meena recommended not to use it. But believe it or not, but I have not found just turmeric yet =S) Also, I didn’t have fennel seeds. Yes, you are right….I didn’t find fennel seeds either. Despite the lack of fennel seeds and plain turmeric, I loved the result. Nevertheless, I suspect it would have been even better if I had used the omitted ingredients. The dominant but mild at the same time flavor was cumin, which as well as delicious is good for your digestion (very important when you eat beans and lentils). I am sure that I will try another of the Meena’s recipes soon =) If you can, use whole spices and grind them when needed. They will keep all they flavor and aroma. It makes the difference!

About me

I think that every blog deserve a proper about section, don’t you? And I thought too that it was time to write the mine.  After all, people who read blogs like to know at least something about the author. At least, I like to; if I wanted just recipes, I would look for them in Allrecipes.com,  or similar. When we read blogs, we look for something more than information. Of course, there are bloggers and Bloggers, with a capital letter. Those whose blogs (and life) are sometimes more entertaining and beautiful written than most of the books. I would like to be someday one of that talented bloggers. For the moment, I will be satisfied if at least someone finds my little story interesting.

About my (for the moment short) life
My name is Ksenia, and I am a vegan 18 years old girl. I was born in Moscow, Russia, and I have lived there until I was seven. Then, my parents decided to move to Spain —first, they thought about moving to Canada—and I began Primary School here. This is the reason why I consider Spanish and Catalan my first languages: I use them in my everyday life, while I speak Russian only with my parents. Nevertheless, I try to read (when I have time) in Russian to don’t lose it. I have moved many times since we came to Spain, and now I am living in Cunit, a small town about an hour from Barcelona.

Living in Spain is great, but I miss a lot Moscow, with its impressive underground and grumpy passengers, its grey and cold days, the — although usually dirty — snow. People say I am crazy because I come back on holidays almost every year (Why do you need snow, cold and dirt, they ask). I just answer that they have never been far away from the place where they were born.

Why this blog and why vegan?
I love food. I love photography. I love writing. But first and foremost, I love being vegan and I wanted to share it with the world. I became vegan in December 2007, and I have never looked back. In fact, I have never been happier with a decision. Why vegan? I just discovered the truth: all the cruelty, all the horror that is hidden behind the meat and all the related industries (like egg and diary industries).
When I became vegan, I had to look for information. What to eat, in what amounts (the protein myth is just that…a myth), needed supplements (trust me, seaweed are not a source of B12)….And of course, recipes. With veganism, I discovered the joy of cooking, but also the blogosphere and all the fantastic people you can find out there. I understood that I was not alone! And believe me or not, this is very important when you are a 16 years old vegan who lives in a country where being vegan is something comparable with being an alien.

About writing in English
English is not my native language, as I suppose you already know. I speak Russian, Catalan and Spanish, but I am still learning English. This blog, as well as a way to share my edible creations and meet people with similar interests, is a way to improve my English. I understand that speaking English is important nowadays, and that you need it for everything. Writing a blog is a good way to oblige yourself to practice at least a little bit each week. And the best…it’s much funnier than thick grammar books —important to give you a base, but a drag if you have to study them everyday—which I would have abandoned a long time ago.

If you have not fallen asleep yet....more about me and my interests
A part from cooking and travelling, I love reading, graphic design and web design. I began with web site design many years ago, when my parents bought our first computer (I don’t know how we managed to survive with just one computer for years….Now we have four computers, one for each member of the family). At this moment, only one of my creations survived the corporate web site of my father’s company. All the other web sites (mainly about manga and Japanese culture) were closed before I began this blog. Nevertheless, I am working on an online portfolio of a friend of my parents who is a painter. I hope I will finish it soon!
I also love sports, especially volleyball — I have been in the school team for five years, which joined a league a year ago— and running. I have been running for seven years, and it’s my best antidepressant. Don’t you feel great after exercising?

Prague, Krakow, Paris, England...I have visited many beautiful European cities, and I hope I will visit many others. On the left, New Year's Firoworks by the river in Prague. On the right: on the top, a street in Paris; on the bottom, a town near a ski resort in Poland.

Let's go for tapas!

I must confess something: I have never gone to bars for tapas. Yes, I have been living for almost ten years in Spain; yes, some of my favorite ingredients are typically Spanish (like the olive oil, and I enjoy oilves and beans as well), but I have not had my "tapas" experience yet. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I live near Barcelona. Another thing I must confess: although "Chronicles of a Russian vegan girl living in Barcelona" is written in the header of the blog, I don't live in Barcelona city, but in a town 45 minutes from it. But nobody knows where is Cunit (do you?), so I wrote Barcelona and I didn't bat an eyelid. Did I cheat? Maybe, but just a little bit. Well, as I was telling, I live in Barcelona, where there is not as traditional as in other places of Spain to eat tapas. One of the main rules when you go to eat tapas, is that you don't go to just one bar, but to many. But nowadays people have so little time that a quick tapa is common too.

Why I am talking about tapas? First of all, because I have wrote about Russian food and even Polish food, but never Spanish food (and I am living in Spain!). And when it's about Spanish food, tapas are as ineludible as paella, bean stews or Iberian ham (unfortunately, many traditional Spanish dishes are not vegetarian friendly, but can be adapted easily. Nevertheless, the vast majority of Spanish wont't agree to substitute Iberian ham on their sandwich with seitan or tofu). A lot of recipes can be classified as "tapas", from gazpacho to "pinchos" (little snacks on cocktail sticks), not forgetting Spanish omelette, croquettes or just canapés. The important thing is that they are served in small portion, so you can taste many different tapas.

And the other reason why I am writing this post is because I decided to participate in another blog event (can one become addict to blog events?): The june edition of "Waiter, there is something in my....", which theme this time is tapas. This time the event is hosted by Spitton Extra. The event started in January 2007, and is hosted in rotation by Spitton Extra, Passionate cook and Cook sister.

I thought about going creative, and create some very imaginative and unusual tapa (maybe veganazing some non-vegetarian tapa. What about chickpeas "spanish" tortilla?), but finally I decided to do the easiest but one of the most autenthic tapas: bread with tomato. It's as easy as it sounds, but more delicious than you can imagine. If you go to Spain, you will have difficulties to find some Spanish who puts butter on its sandwich. In fact, "buttery" sandwiches where a bigger headache for my classmates when we went to England on a school exchange than the language (at that moment, I was not vegan yet, so I had no problem because butter is widely used in Russian cuisine). Instead of butter Spanish use olive oil, and now that I am vegan is one of the things I like the most about Spanish cuisine. But I don't want to entretain you more, so here you have the recipe. Enjoy! =)

I also chose that tapa because is typically Catalonian. They call it "pà amb tomaquet", and it's the base of all the sandwiches (not only in Catalonia). But you don't need to make a sandwich because it's so tasty that it is usually eaten alone. It's very important to choose high quality ingredients: the best bread is the called "pan de pagès", a rustic bread, which is slightly toasted. An extra virgin olive oil, dense and fragant is also crucial. But I wanted to go further and I topped my "pan con tomate" (in Spanish) or "pà amb tomaquet" (in Catalonian) with baked red bell pepper. The best would have been the "piquillo pepper", a smaller red bell peppers which come from Navarra, but any would work.

Bread with tomato and baked red bell pepper Serves: 2 - 2 slice of rustic bread - 1 tomato, halved - 1 clove of garlic, halved - a few slices of baked red bell pepper - extra virgin olive oil -salt 1. Toast each slice of bread and rub them with the garlic. 2. Rub them as well with a halve of the tomato: it must be "juicy". Splash with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. 3. Put a slice or two of baked red bell pepper on top and enjoy =)

Pan con tomate y pimientos asados Hace 2 porciones - 2 rebanadas de pan rústico -1 tomate, partido por la mitad -1 diente de ajo, partido por la mitad -unas cuantas tiras de pimiento rojo asado -aceite virgen extra -sal 1. Tuesta cada rebanada y frótalas con el ajo. 2. Frótalas también con el tomate: tiene que ser jugoso. Rocía con un buen chorro de aceite de olive y añade la sal. 3. Pon una tira o dos de pimiento rojo encima y disfruta.