Recipe: Vegan Fruit Cake

Pretty fruity!

Ingredients
1 cup (125 gms) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (100 gms) + 1/2 cup(50gms) sugar
7 tbl spn (100 gms) vegan butter
Spice powder - 2″ cinnamon + 4 green cardamoms + 5 cloves powdered
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tea spn vanilla extract
1/2 tea spn baking powder
1 tea spn baking soda
2 tbl spns orange marmalade (any mixed fruit jam can be used)
1/4 tea spn salt
(optional)- 3oz rum
Dry fruits -
1/3 cup(50gms) cranberries
1/4 cup(50gms) chopped prunes
1/2 cup(50gms) chopped pecans
1/2 cup(50gms) chopped hazelnuts
1/2 cup(100gm) dried figs

Method:
Preheat the oven at 350F for about 10mins.
Take all the dry fruits in a bowl. Melt the vegan butter and add it to the fruits. Mix.
Heat 1/2 cup sugar with 1tbl spn water (optional add 1 ½ oz rum) in a thick bottomed pan till it becomes dark brown in color (caramel. If you burn this, the cake become bitter, so be careful).
Add this to the fruits and mix. When it is cooled a bit, add orange marmalade, orange juice, 1/4 cup sugar and salt, spice mixture, vanilla.

Sieve together flour, baking powder and soda.
Add these dry ingredients to the fruit mixture a little at a time, mixing with a spoon.

Grease a baking dish and pour the batter into it. Bake it at 350F for about 25-30mins or till a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
While cake is cooling mix 1 ½ oz rum with ½ cup water and ¼ to ½ cup sugar and boil to make a simple syrup and burn off some of the alcohol. Poke some holes in the cake with a skewer and pour the syrup over it. Leave out until cool.

(I read another recipe that said to soak the fruit in brandy and red wine for a couple of hours before combining it with the other ingredients. I thought that sounded pretty tasty. I’m pretty sure that traditional fruit cake is pretty saturated in alcohol.)

Thanks Ella for sending these amazing recipes!

The menu for December 13th, 2008

It was amazing! We put some photos below.

And here's the menu:

(click on it to view)

Menu design: Shauna Steinbach

Queer cook enjoying her last moment of leisure.
On the board: the day's work.

Many diners

Happy diners

DJ Etc. = divine

Cute!

We're here to serve you in style

Server/graphic designer taking a break

Blues with Kali:
"It's coming out slow, but it's coming out good!"

We work hard, but we enjoy it!

Undercover food critics
for the Lavender Times food and entertainment section.
We got 5 stars.

Winter Feast 2008 ~ San Francisco

We have a date for our next dinner!

Saturday, December 13th 2008


465b South Van Ness Ave
(@16th)

We will be seating diners anytime between 7 and 10.
First come, first served (no RSVP necessary this time).

There will be music and art too.

Price: $15 to $20 (sliding scale)

Come share the love!

flyer design: Shauna Steinbach

Winter recipe : Celery root soup

We made this soup on our first San Francisco dinner, and it was a hit. You SHOULD try it at home.

This are not celery roots,
but they looked so pretty...

Ingredients:
Whole celery root

Olive oil
Whole bay leaf
Lemon
Freshly ground nutmeg
Whole peppercorns
Hot, filtered water (for thinning)
Salt to taste


1- Using a knife or vegetable peeler, remove all the brown skin from the celery root
2- Cut white celery root into pieces of the same size (for even cooking). Toss with olive oil and salt.
3- Place pieces of celery root in a flat baking dish, add a couple whole bay leaves, and a few whole peppercorns. Cover halfway with water.
4- Cover baking dish with foil, bake at 350-425o until fork-tender, about an hour, sometimes longer.
5- Remove bay leaves.
6- Purée cooked celery root on a blender, adding just enough hot water to blend smooth. When you have puréed all the celery root, thin with water to desired consistency (soup should be thick but not too thick).
7- Finish the soup with fresh lemon juice, a little grated nutmeg (you can grate the whole nutmeg on a fine grater) and salt to taste.
8- Garnish with carrots roasted in thyme and oil –or anything you like.

FAQ

What is Queer Food For Love?
QUEER FOOD FOR LOVE is a collaboration of queer artists, activists and cooks who create food for community, not profit.

Who are you ?
We are a bunch of queers foodies who love cooking and eating and want to bring the community together around the pleasure of food.


Is this a potluck?
No! It's usually a sit-down, three course dinner at community tables. Occasionally we do smaller things to support art and non-profits in San Francisco. But mostly we are about the experience of cooking together during the day and sitting down for a restaurant-style meal at night, complete with servers and chefs, just like a restaurant.

What do you serve?
We serve organic, local, seasonal, artisanal cooking made from plant-based ingredients. The menu and the theme changes from event to event. We make everything by hand and from whole ingredients. We decorate tables and dinners with found and repurposed materials, to eliminate waste and turn trash into beauty.

Why are your dinners vegetarian/vegan?
Our dinners contain the bounty of the earth! We use whole vegetables, fruits, roots, grains, leaves, weeds, and spices, transformed into labor-intensive, handmade works of love. We share common values around serving cruelty-free food for larger numbers of people. We want people to encounter plant-based food that is artful, regional, artisanal, and made with love. We believe vegan food can be shared by a larger number of people of different beliefs and enjoyed equally by everyone (nothing is "missing"). And because yes, trust us, it is possible to make a beautiful and delicious vegan feast!

Vegan is not my thing...
Well, maybe it's time you trust us to help you expand your horizons!

How much does it cost?
We are all volunteers and share our labor and the sweat of our brow for community, not personal profit. By asking a modest $15 to $20 donation, we cover the cost of the food. Proceeds are invested in community farms and local businesses. Anything left over goes to our next event. We cook because we love you and think queers deserve more than eating burritos and beer.

That said, you can also come and work for your meal!

Is it BYOB?
Nope! Like a restaurant, we provide fine beverages, for a modest donation. This helps us keep the price of the dinners reasonable and recover our costs. Remember we are all volunteers and make no profit out of this. Whatever extra we have goes directly into the next event. This is a community event! We're not a greedy business!

How can I participate?
You can come as a diner or as a worker.
If you want to help cook, serve, decorate, entertain... email us!
If you are a musician, a DJ, a filmmaker, a visual artist: we'd love to hear from you!

Are you only food artists?
We are also musicians, visual artists, and our dinners are accompanied by entertainment like live and recorded music, slide shows, silent films by queer artists.

I work at a farm/food store/winery/flower store: how can I help?
We love donations! Contact us!

I'm an artist, I'm queer and I'd love to participate...
We love queer artists! Contact us!

Flyer design: Shauna Steinbach

Dinner at a.Muse gallery

Menu

***
Green Tomato Soup
with Southern Corn Bread

***

Black Eyed Pea & Okra Stew
in Lettuce Cups
with Corn Confetti & Rice

***

Watermelon Nectar
& Coconut Cake

***

Drinks:
Cucumber Water
Wine
Mint Julep


cornbread

creamy!

yum!

diners

Thank you a.Muse gallery !
Thank you Queer Cultural Center !