VeganMofo Vegan Iron Chef Challenge #2

I was slightly over excited by the second VeganMofo Vegan Iron Chef challenge of Banana and Coffee. So I decided to make two entries. The first being Wake Yo Ass Up Banana Pecan Caramel Pinwheels. Which are baking as I type this.















Dough:
2 over ripe bananas mashed
1/4 cup earth balance
1/3 c plus 1/4th cup very strong coffee
2 1/4 tsp yeast (equiv to one pkg)
4 1/4 c flour
1/3 c demerara sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Caramel sauce
2 c sugar
1/2 cup earth balance
3/4 c almond milk
2 tsp corn starch

1/4 c pecan pieces


The dough recipe was modified from the dough recipe for maple and brown sugar pinwheels from Veganomicon.

For the coffee, I boiled 1 cup of water with 1/8th cup of freshly crushed bold roasted coffee beans in a borosilicate glass container that I typically use to make foamed milk for lattes. Mixed the crap out of it, strained it and put it into a measuring cup to cool. I proofed the yeast (once the coffee was slightly warm to the touch) in the 1/3 cup of coffee with a pinch of sugar. This was quite the interesting experiment. I'd never proofed yeast in coffee before, and the yeast and coffee got along well, very well. The yeasty rising bubble grew about 4 inches in the 10 minutes that I had it sitting out, and the smell, unlike the typical yeasty water smell, was reminiscent of a stong ale, with a color like a chocolate yerba mate latte.














While you're waiting for the coffee to cool, combine the milk, earth balance over medium heat in a pot or sauce pan until the margarine is melted, once melted, I threw in the sugar, so that it wasn't all giant crunch crystally, and let that cool. Once cooled, mix the dry ingredients, and add the wet (including the remaining 1/4th cup of coffee) and the mashed bananas. If the dough is still sticky, add a little more flour. Once mixed, let rise in a warm, draft free place covered for 1 hour. While the dough is rising, make the caramel sauce. Mix 1/4th cup of the milk with the corn starch.In a pot (or sauce pan) melt the earth balance, then add the almond milk, and 2 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil for 4 minutes, remove from heat, and throw in the almond milk and corn starch mixture, stirring constantly. At this point, I threw it in a pre-frozen bread pan to speed up the cooling process, and get it to that ooey gooey spreadable consistency quicker, and popped it into the freezer for 10 minutes to cool and then transferred it to the fridge. When your rising hour is up, knead and punch the dough down and roll out into a huge rectangle.














Once rolled, and the caramel is cool enough to spread or drizzle, spread it all over the dough, going end to end on the longest part (you'll roll it up by the shortest side to shortest side, so that you get more rolls) then sprinkle with 1/8th cup of the chopped pecans.




























Then roll her up, I use 2 pieces of parchment paper "seamed" down the center of the roll to make rolling it up easier. Once you have that 1/2 inch dry edge rolled up, roll slowly until completely rolled.














Then gently slice into one inch thick pieces and place in greased cake pan. Let rise again for 20-30 min. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool while making the frosting.



Caramel frosting

3/4 c powdered sugar
2tbsp earth balance
2tbsp almond milk
4 tbsp caramel sauce

This is easy, dump them all in the food processor and turn it on until they're smooth. Spread over cooled rolls, sprinkle with remaining 1/8th cup of pecans, and drizzle with 2 tbsp of the caramel sauce creating a cross hatch effect. And eat :) These were well reviewed by my self and my test panel (cuz 5 year olds are picky!)

















Look for part 2 of the challenge (after the sugar coma, I needed something savory.)