The only way I can describe their texture is by saying that it is between that of a plum and a tomato, but without seeds in the center. They have a similar "slippery" feel to them. They are light and delicate and have a deliciously sweet flavor. They aren't acidic hardly at all, which is why I like to pair them with citrus. This tart that I've created does just that! I got the idea to create a frangipane filling for these wonderful persimmon slices to nestle into. I wanted to try to make the tart nut-free, though. I've always wanted to try to substitute almond meal for chickpea flour. I love the flavor of chickpeas in desserts. They provide an earthy savory flavor that I love when it's slightly sweet. This tart can easily be made into a pie if you wish. I included a recipe for the tart shell that I made. It's a cornmeal-based crust. If you'd rather a more traditional tart shell, head over to the Post Punk Kitchen's blog. I adapted the frangipane filling recipe from Isa's in Vegan Pie in the Sky. I wanted to keep my tart nut-free, so I opted for the cornmeal crust. All this baking is getting me pumped for Thanksgiving! I wanted to provide a recipe for everyone to enjoy that was simple yet elegant. It's also a little lighter than a pie, so feel free to compensate by smothering it in vegan ice cream! ;D Orange Persimmon Frangipane TartYield: 1 - 1o inch tart/ 9" pie Free from: Gluten, Nuts, Soy Ingredients Cornmeal Crust (OR prepared crust of your choice)
Frangipane Batter
Toppings
Instructions
Crust Preheat oven 345 F.
Tart Filling & Assembly Preheat oven to 350 F.
My next holiday baking post is one that could be enjoyed all year round, either as a breakfast accompaniment, a snack or a simple dessert. I absolutely love coffee cake. When I grew up, I only knew what coffee cake was because of Entenmann's crumb cake. This isn't vegan, of course. It's also highly processed and loaded with stuff I would never eat now. It did taste good, though! When I began to bake for myself, I made crumb cakes a few times. They were always delicious, but they got a little ho-hum. So, I tried to spice up my recipes with berries, chocolate and other types of ingredients. I realize now that I haven't made a "special" crumb cake in a long time. I'm well overdue. When I began to think of a cool combination of flavors, I stumbled upon the idea of a carrot coffee cake. Not that unique, right? Then, I thought, what if I put peanut butter with it?! I know, it seems like a strange combination. But, if you think about it, eating carrots and peanut butter for a snack is kinda delicious. I actually love peanut butter and carrots together! Why not bake with them and make it interesting? Exactly. This coffee cake is moist, slightly sweet, warm and spicy with cinnamon, bright and earthy with carrots and super nutty! It's great as a snack or a quick breakfast. It's also great with...you guessed it. Coffee. You can also feel good about snacking on this cake because it is made with mostly whole grain flours. Feel free to substitute your own flour blends, but be aware that the texture may change. You may also need to alter the amount of non-dairy milk you add. I'm definitely suggesting you make this either as a full cake or as individual cupcakes for any holiday breakfasts you might be having. This recipe is quick enough to whip up on the weekend and save for the rest of the week too. Grab 'em and go. Sit and stay. Whatever you want to do, these guys will be there for you. Enjoy! <3 Carrot Coffee Cake with Peanut Butter StreuselYield: 10 individual cupcakes or 1 - 9x9 cake Free from: Soy, Gluten, Nuts* Ingredients Cake
Streusel
Instructions
Preheat oven to 345 F.
It's a perfect autumn day. I've got a pumpkin candle burning, hot coffee and a turtleneck. What could be more perfect? Oh, pie? Yeah, that would be cool. I'm going to begin my long string of posts leading up to Thanksgiving with a pie recipe. This pie isn't your typical holiday fruit or squash custard pie. Nope. It's actually a recipe that seems more like something you could bring to a Fourth of July barbecue. This is a cold refrigerated pie that only requires baking if you are making your crust from scratch. What a weird thing to feature for the holidays, you may think. My reasoning behind this recipe was to feature something that could be as quick and easy as you need it to be. The recipe is great because it can be made totally from scratch the day before you need it or only as "scratch" as you have time for. Many elements of this pie can be store-bought and thrown together with all the other components when you assemble everything. Another great thing about this pie is that it's light and simple as it features classic flavors such as raspberry and vanilla. There is definitely room for tinkering if you'd like to make the pie more custom. I wanted to keep mine simple, though. The base recipe I've written for you is something that most will enjoy. The coconut filling is basically a vegan stove top pudding that tastes like vanilla bean ice cream. Wonderful. I've also included a sugar-free option. The flavor of jam and/or pie crusts you use are totally up to you. I used a basic gluten-free pie crust and I've included the recipe if you are ever in need of it. It's a great thing to have a basic single pie crust recipe on hand for anything you may need to make. This recipe is simple and can be made quickly. If you'd like to up the flavor, try substituting some of the flour (maybe 1/4 cup) for cocoa powder. Chocolate raspberry pie? Sign me up. The raspberry jam recipe I've included is also homemade. If you find that you would rather save time (I don't blame you!), definitely substitute your favorite store bought jam or fruit preserves. So, if you're looking for a dessert that will surely please a crowd, need something quick and simple, and are aiming to please herbivores and gluten-freers alike, give this recipe a try. It is almost Thanksgiving, after all. Who doesn't want a pie? ;D Raspberry Coconut Cream PieYield: 1 - 9 inch pie Free from: Gluten, Soy Ingredients Crust
Raspberry Jam
Garnish:
Instructions Crust Preheat oven 345 F.
Coconut Cream Filling
Raspberry Jam
This is my first entry into the Earth Balance Holiday Bake-Off contest! I encourage everyone else who loves to bake to enter. The prizes seem pretty awesome and it's a great way to spark some creative juices for others who are wondering what to make this holiday season! Click on the image below and it will bring you to a page with more information about how to enter! Happy Baking! <3 HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I've enjoyed all the previous pumpkin posts (PPP's, if you will), but I wanted to do something different for my Halloween recipe this year. What's a better way to celebrate the holiday that revolves around sugar with the healthiest and most naturally delicious muffins you can make that also happen to resemble a very popular monster? I can't think of anything either. =) These muffins are easy to whip up and are a great canvas for your favorite jam or preserves. I decided to use blueberry jam that I whipped up quickly on the stove for the filling, but you are welcome to sub it for your favorite fruit. The blueberries give the muffins their "Frankenstein-esque" coloring, though. Blackberries would also be wonderful! The muffins are a wonderfully vibrant green color, but they are 100% natural! I used spirulina powder to color the batter green. When they came out of the oven, the green had intensified. What an awesome thing! Spirulina is a type of algae that is an awesome superfood supplement. I use it in my green smoothies for the most part. This is my first time ever using it as an ingredient in baking. I'm never going to buy green food coloring again! The spirulina did not impart any flavor into the muffins which was great. I added some maple syrup and orange juice into the batter so that it would balance out any flavor that the spirulina might have. The result was a slightly sweet yet mild-tasting muffin with a hint of tartness from the blueberry jam. It's a perfect breakfast or snack on the go. Make a batch for your family if you're hanging at home tonight to hand out candy. Or, you can always bring some to a Halloween party. Or, you can always just make a batch for yourself. Bam. Breakfast for the week. ;) Be safe tonight, everyone! Have a Happy Halloween and enjoy the extra sleep tonight. ^_^ Frankenstein Muffins
Quick Stove Top Jam
Instructions Preheat oven 400 F.
Jam Instructions
I wasn't going to do another pumpkin post, but I feel kind of obligated to. I should get it out of my system while it's still autumn, right?! Truth be told, I hate the amount of things that are pumpkin spice "flavored" these days. It's a bit over-kill. The problem is, I have always loved pumpkin! When I was younger, the only things I could get pumpkin flavored were cookies and pie during the holidays. It was such a treat. Now, you can get pumpkin spice coffee literally everywhere from about August to January. It's pumpkin everything. I still have a love for pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies. I think spiced baked goods with the earthy sweetness of pumpkin are irresistible. I don't like to get these things out, though. I love baking them so much more. The smell of the spices wafting throughout the house is almost as enjoyable as eating whatever is cooking. If you're like me and love pumpkin but want it quicker than 15-20 minutes, make this recipe! I knew I wanted to make griddle cakes for my next post, but I wasn't sure what flavors to go with. I just knew I wanted something delicious and spicy quickly.
These griddle cakes are minimally sweet so the whipped cream gives a nice sweetness to the entire dish. If you don't want or don't have coconut cream on hand, try maple syrup, agave, vegan honee, coconut sugar or any other sweet thing to drizzle/shake on top. If you prefer nothing on top, that's fine too! You may want to up the amount of coconut sugar you add to the batter, though. Like i said, these are minimally sweet (but still delicious!). * The batter itself is also oil-free. I did, however, cook mine in extra virgin coconut oil. If you are avoiding oil, I would suggest baking these in the oven on some parchment paper. They may turn out like whoopie pies. I don't know...I didn't try it. But maybe they do? That would be cool. ;) Pumpkin Espresso Griddle CakesRecipe Adapted from: Vegan Dorayaki Yield: about 5 griddle cakes (double recipe for more than 1-2 people Free from: gluten, soy, nuts *Oil-free option (see above) Ingredients
Instructions
Toppings: Whipped coconut cream recipe is here. I simply added some vegan powdered sugar and cinnamon to taste. It was so divine! <3 Save a little extra for topping dessert later. ;) I also sprinkled some more espresso powder and cinnamon on top. =P
This vegan royal icing is easy to pipe, sets quickly and isn't too sweet. It's everything I've ever wanted out of an icing. It's also egg-free, soy-free and fat-free. What else could you want? The cookies themselves are very simple to make. They are an adaption of a simple rolled sugar cookie recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks (non-veg). The fact that they are gluten-free is great because they never change in consistency no matter how many times you roll them out. It's pretty wonderful. =) I love that the cookies are aromatic without being too sweet. You can easily add up to 1/4 cup more coconut sugar (or regular sugar) if you want them sweeter. I prefer them more buttery because I don't like cookies to be too sweet after they are iced. That is entirely up to you, though! Feel free to play around with the design/cookie cutter you choose. I made mine look like skeletons and used a gingerbread man cutter. These would also be great as pumpkin shapes (of course) and even circles (ghosts? skulls?). Since the cookies are pumpkin flavored, you could easily make these for Thanksgiving and change up your cutter/design for that too! The possibilities are (almost) endless! Happy cutting, everyone! ;D Pumpkin Cutout CookiesYield: Approx. 24-36 cookies (depending on the shape) Free of: Gluten, Soy, Nuts Ingredients Cookies
Royal Icing Adapted from The Blenderist's Recipe
Instructions Cookies
Royal Icing Instructions
This dessert has bold flavor but is very light and easy on the stomach. Since it's grain free, it doesn't take a lot for your body to digest. The mousse is light yet creamy and the filling is crisp and fruity. I really love that these parfaits are as healthy as you want to make them. If you're feeling more indulgent, throwing some cookie crumbs or pie crust crumbs in there would be absolutely amazing! Bring these for your next fall get together or make them for date night (by yourself definitely counts!). Cheers to fall and pumpkin everything! Sugar Free Apple & Pumpkin Parfaits1-5 servings, depending on the size of serving vessel
Free of: Gluten, Refined Sugar, Soy *Raw Options Ingredients Pumpkin Mousse
Apple Filling
Instructions
It's the last day of VeganMoFo 2015!!!! ='( I'm very sad to see this month come to an end. Even though I faced a bit of a challenge making sure I posted every day while working full time, I managed to pull it off! Phew! Although it was tiring, it was the most fun I've had in the kitchen in a very long time. I loved being able to come up with creative ideas (sometimes on the fly...eheh) and see them come to life. Tasting them wasn't bad, either. ;) Best of all, I got to share my dishes with all the vegan blogging community! I've never felt so supported and humbled at the same time. I think everyone did an amazing job and I want to commend all those who participated! My final dish for you this month is my answer to the Fusion Challenge: Chipotle Risotto & Beans! It took everything I had to not make a Japanese fusion dish, but I'm glad I didn't. I have to credit by boyfriend for this idea. He helped me when I was second guessing what to make and he suggested this dish. What an amazing thing. What I love about risotto is that it's very easy to customize once you know how to cook it correctly. The first time I made risotto, I did it right but it took forever! I didn't prep adequately so I spent forever gathering all my ingredients. Now, I feel that simple is better. This risotto may look complicated, but it really isn't. I basically took a "rice and beans" approach to this with regards to flavor. I coated back beans in chorizo-type spices and roasted them to give them a little bit of texture. The beans pair nicely with the creamy risotto. The risotto is a tad spicy and buttery, while the beans are warm and smokey. I garnished everything with some bright cilantro and my goodness it was perfection! The smell of this dish is great just by itself. Serve this risotto in small portions for an appetizer or larger ones for an entree. You can also make them into arancini. I won't stop you. ^_^ Thanks for reading, everyone! I'm stoked for next year's MoFo already. Keep reading for my rocky adventure into the holiday season! ;) Chipotle Risotto & BeansInstructions
What would I take on a vegan road trip? Easy. Macro Bars! Macro Bars are my absolute favorite of all vegan packaged energy bars. Believe me. I've tried almost all of them. I've also had my phase with some of the best quality ones out there for the price. A little more than a year ago, I finally decided to commit myself to Macro Bars. I had tried them in the past and loved them, but always found them to be a bit too pricey for me. However, after buying other brands that barely filled me up or left me with a sugar crash, I decided that paying the extra however many cents was totally worth investing in Macro Bars. These babies are not only delicious, but they're filling! For a vegan on the go, this is an important quality in a bar. If you can't fill up on one of these in between meals, you will be miserable and starving. I've managed to run 8+ hours on just one of these bars alone. They really are a meal replacement, especially if they contain protein. I decided to try to create my own Macro Bar at home. The ingredient list is pretty short and simple, which is another reason why I love them. They don't have any artificial fillers, soy isolate, or any preservatives. They're very easy to digest and they come in many different flavors to suit your mood and palate. They even have nut-free flavors for those with allergies! ^_^ Whether you're in the car for short or long periods of time, I think having these in your back seat will be a good comfort. Instead of having to stop at a fast food place and order questionable french fries, you can munch on one of these and be totally satisfied for hours! Plus, they're delicious and kind of taste like a peanut butter cup! I chose one of my favorite flavors to recreate (and their most popular): Protein Pleasure (peanut butter chocolate chip). It's abolutely delicious, rich and decadent without being too sweet. Sounds like a winner to me! If you have a peanut allergy, definitely sub the peanut butter/peanuts with sunflower butter/seeds. That sounds like it would be just as delicious. You can go ahead and save me one, too. ;) Homemade Macro BarsYield: about 8-10 bars (depending how you cut them) Free of: Soy*, Gluten, Nut* *Sub soy-free chocolate chips and seeds/seed butter Ingredients
Instructions
Today's Vegan MoFo prompt intersects with another promotion I'm contributing to: Nuts.com is featuring healthy tailgating snacks! This recipe is a big of flavor with a combination of my favorite spices and low sugar, gluten-free, healthy fats that will be your best friend when you need something healthy on the go. I know how frustrating it is being stuck anywhere without something healthy to eat that's readily available. I always try to travel with trail mix or other whole food snacks to satiate my hunger until the next meal. Why not add some amazing fall spices in while you're at it? ;) The spices I'm featuring today are: caradamom, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and ginger. These spices are always in my pantry at the ready for use in baking, cooking, sprinkling, you name it. I'd probably say that cinnamon is my absolute favorite spice of them all. But, since I've been making a lot of things with just cinnamon in them, I wanted to mix it up a little! I mixed all the spices that I like from masala chai with the addition of allspice, which I love! I like to use allspice in savory dishes sometimes as well, especially in chili, curry, and sometimes pho broth. When I mixed all the spices together and toasted them in the oven, they gave off an amazingly warm aroma that reminded me of the holidays. What a great thing to look forward to! ^_^ I guarantee if you whip these rice and nut clusters out at a game, bring them to a get-together, or give them to a friend as a gift, everyone will be blown away by how amazing they smell. Go ahead and share them with everybody. Spread the healthy love! <3 Spiced Rice & Nut ClustersYield: 3-4 cups Free of: Gluten, Refined Sugar, Soy (You can substitute mixed seeds for the nuts if you need to! It will be just as delicious!) Ingredients
Instructions
To see Nuts.com's awesome variety of healthy snacks (and some specifically vegan), click here! They're also a great source of bulk items from candy to nuts, seeds and fruit. Definitely worth checking out! ^_^
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I'm Jess!This is my very first food blog! I post revised conventional recipes of foods that I hold near and dear to my heart. My cooking here is all gluten-free and cruelty-free, but full of flavor and comfort. Archives
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