Monday, October 18, 2010

vegan success!!

Finally have access to this blog again after having forgotten the password. Grrrr..

Our business cards are in the mail-can't wait to get and see them!
Unfortunately, it feels like there are a LOT of road blocks when it comes to starting a baking business.
Just read this article and found out that even if we use a certified kitchen, if we want to sell our goods from somewhere, we need to have liability insurance. This can cost about $1000/year. It looks like we're going to be fundraising just to start our own business!!

These days we're trying to get our name out there. Have given out some gift certificates as prizes at the vegan bake off in toronto, and for the CHRY (http://www.chry.fm/) funding drive that's going on. This Wednesday from 1-4 pm listen to Natty B's Zion Train where our donations will be featured as prizes!!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Getting serious

It's time for Omega Creations to really push forward. October will be our final outdoor Vegan Bake Sale, so we have to start thinking about where else we can be selling our goods.
It isn't easy to find good fresh baked vegan goods in Toronto. Sure there are places to buy muffins, Sweets from the Earth, but not one vegan-catered bakery/cafe. I think we would both like to at least start selling from a cafe (in Kensington Market-great location) and then see what happens from there. This means having weekly access to a certified kitchen. Also, for at least one place to say 'hey, we'd love for you to sell your goods from our business.' :)

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Adventures in vegan dulce de leche making..

In the past two months I have experiment with three different vegan dulce de leche recipes. Two of them use brown rice syrup, so I have been working very hard to adjust the very strong flavour of the ingredient. I mostly been able to hide it-but it's still somewhat there.
Dulce de Leche  directly translated means sweet of milk. It is a thick caramel like spread-but better than caramel. It is typically made from condensed milk-a very rare vegan ingredient. There is one that can be found in Australia-but not here. So, the experiments continue.
Looking to bake some alfajores today with the most recent experiment. Pictures will be posted after they are made.. Alfajores are a sandwich-type cookie with dulce de leche in the middle. They can be covered in chocolate, rolled in coconut etc.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

continued adventures in baking

cookies n cream cupcakes
dulce sin leche cupcakes
mint chocolate cupcakes


chocolate chip walnut cookies


Friday, September 10, 2010

What does vegan baking look like?

The same as non-vegan baking - minus the animal ingredients of course!

Here are some of our most recent creations that we've been selling at our bake sales in Toronto (Kensington Market)..


                                               coconut lime cupcakes

gluten free vanilla cupcakes
s'mores cupcakes with fast chocolate ganache

vanilla (spelt) cake with chocolate buttercream frosting and strawberries

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Ital is Vital

We are Omega Creations. Vegan/Ital bakers and caterers in Toronto, ON, Canada.
What is Ital? Why is it Vital?

The word Ital comes from RastafarI terminology.
Ital or I-tal is food eaten by Rastafari. The word comes from the word vital, with the initial syllable replaced by i. This is done to many words in the Rastafari vocabulary to signify the unity of the speaker with all of nature.

Ital = Pure
Ital food is non-processed food that comes from the earth. Vegetarian (meaning vegan). No chicken, cow, cheese, or milks that is animal-derived etc. Salt is not considered Ital, thus we only find herbs and spices being used in Ital cooking. Also, no refined sugars.

"Early adherents adopted their dietary laws based on their interpretation of several books of the Bible such as Genesis ("Then God said, "I give you every Seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.", the Leviticus and Deuteronomy). Though there are different interpretations of ital regarding specific foods, the general principle is that food should be natural, or pure, and from the earth. Rastas therefore avoid food which is chemically modified or contains artificial additives (e.g., color, flavourings, and preservatives)... In strict interpretations, foods that have been produced using chemicals such as pesticides and fertiliser are not considered Ital.

Stricter interpretations also avoid food that has been preserved by canning or drying and even prohibit the use of metal cooking utensils, something that Ayurvedic diet followers also avoid. In this case, only clay and wood cooking pots, crockery, and cutlery are used."