The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

I love it when I see a new Daring Bakers challenge that allows for easy veganizing and gives me a chance to try something truly new. This month’s challenge was all about the phyllo dough – you know, that paper-thin (or thinner than paper-thin) stuff you buy in boxes in the frozen foods aisle at your local grocery store. As with pretty much most challenges, we had to make the dough. The other stuff, the filling, was a piece of cake.

Before I launched into making the strudel, which is a good afternoon’s project by the way, I decided to see if there were any good videos on how to make it. Sometimes you need real time footage instead of photographic play by plays, but I was amazed and discouraged! When I did a search for “apple strudel video” all I came up with was a focus on the filling and then they used the stuff you buy at above said aisle in above said food store (shame Paula Deen, shame!). I finally came across a video that showed me exactly what I wanted to see and I was ready to rock.

Aside from substituting vegan butter for regular butter and brandy for rum, I followed this recipe exactly.

Apple Strudel

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum (or brandy)
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) vegan butter, melted, divided
• 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
• strudel dough (recipe below)
• 1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
• 2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking) Note that I used three Granny Smith apples

Mix the rum or brandy and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

Heat three tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands).

Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself.

Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel Dough

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

• 1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
• 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed.

You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.

Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.

Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric.

Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.

Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands.

Stretch and pull the dough until it’s about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time.

Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Making this recipe was a good challenge for me, although I’m not entirely sure if I’ll be trying it again any time soon. I’m not big on nuts in desserts, and I’m not a huge fan of this type of pastry, however it was delicious and if you like flaky pastries filled with fruit, this dessert may be a good project for you. It’s rich, though, and high in calories (I don’t know how many calories, but believe me, one taste and you’ll know that it’s packed with them), so keep that in mind when you’re having a slice or two or three (I believe I had three yesterday).

One warning: if you store this, it will likely loose its flakiness, which is one of the things that makes it so appealing in my opinion. It’s best eaten on the day it’s made, so be sure you have family or friends around to share in the goodness.

As you may know, I’ve made vegan cheesecake a few times. Every time I’ve made cheesecake, however, I have never made my own crust. This month’s Daring Baker’s challenge has given me the motivation and opportunity to make my own crust, which I think turned out great.

Without further ado, let’s jump into it.

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake

Shortbread Crust

• 1 cup vegan butter
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, cream vegan butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy.

Stir together flour and baking powder, then add and blend into your vegan butter mixture.

If you are using a springform/cheesecake pan, trace and then cut a circle of parchment paper based upon the base of the pan, then brush canola oil or vegan butter on the pan, press the parchment on top and then brush oil or vegan butter on the parchment. You may also use a regular pie pan and forgo the parchment.

Press the shortbread dough into the bottom of the springform or pie pan. You may have extra dough which you can keep for another recipe. Once it’s in the pan, take a fork and poke a few holes into the dough.

Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.

Once it’s cool enough to handle, grease the sides of the springform pan with butter so that the cheesecake won’t stick.

Filling

• 1 12.3-ounce package extra firm light silken tofu
• 1 8-ounce package Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegan milk
• 6 squares dark chocolate (I used the Trader Joe’s brand)
• 5 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Drain the tofu and put it and the Tofutti cream cheese into your food processor. Blend until smooth.

Add the sugar and milk, and process again until sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients (except chocolate and peanut butter) and process until completely smooth, about 3 more minutes.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler on the stove, or in the microwave in a microwave-safe dish.

You currently have about three cups of cheesecake batter. Pour one cup into a separate bowl, and pour another cup into another separate bowl. Add the melted chocolate to the one cup of cream that remains in your blender or food processor and mix until the chocolate is well incorporated.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the pie crust. Then spread it out so it is an even layer. Place in the fridge as you prepare your peanut butter layer.

Add the peanut butter, one tablespoon at a time, and one cup of plain cheesecake batter back into your blender or food processor (clean) and blend again until completely smooth. You may want to taste test at this point to make sure that the peanut butter flavor is strong enough. If not, add one tablespoon of peanut butter, blend, then taste test again. Continue in this way until you are satisfied with the flavor.

Pour the peanut butter mixture into the pie crust on top of the chocolate mixture layer, and spread it around carefully so as to not mix the two layers together. Chill in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

Finally pour the last layer on top, which is the plain batter. Again, spread as carefully as you can to make sure it’s even and doesn’t mix with the next layer.

If you are using a springform pan, wrap the pan in several layers of foil, then place in a pan that is a little larger. Pour boiling water in the outer pan. This is a water bath, which helps the cheesecake to bake more evenly and the foil makes it so the water does not seep into the cheesecake. Finally, place the cheesecake in the middle of the oven for about 55 minutes (do not allow to brown). Filling will be slightly jiggly, not completely set until chilled.

Remove from oven and allow to cool. Refrigerate until completely chilled (the longer, the better).

So finally, what you should end up with is a three layered cake:

If you want the layers to be more even, I’m thinking that chilling in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes after adding each individual layer would help. I didn’t do this, but chilling the first layer for a few minutes did seem to help a tiny bit.

I think that this cheesecake turned out nicely. It had a delicate flavor and it was a more balanced cheesecake than some of the ones I’ve made in the past. Overall I’m pretty pleased with the results and would probably make this exact version again.

Have you made vegan cheesecake? How do you think it compares to the original dairy version?

A few years ago I worked as a receptionist at a fine stringed instruments dealer. It was a very interesting cultural experience, because we sold extremely expensive violins, violas and cellos to people with a good deal of money. It was, and has been so far, my only true exposure to this slice of the music industry. It was also a very interesting and enjoyable foray into fine chocolates, desserts and other culinary delights. This was prior to my swearing off of cheese, milk and other dairy items, so I’ll confess that I had quite a few non-vegan experiences (and one non-vegetarian one, which I didn’t realize until later – um yeah, imitation crab is still real fish, FYI).

Whenever it was someone’s birthday, or a staff person was leaving for greener pastures, or because we all needed a good morale booster someone would pop over to Soutine, a lovely little bakery on the Upper West Side, and grab, more often than not, a flourless chocolate cake. It was spectacular. (If you are not a vegan or a part-time one at least, and if you are ever in NYC, you must have a dessert from Soutine. Otherwise, you definitely must have a dessert from Babycakes, which has many wonderful vegan and gluten-free desserts. It’s located in the Chinatown/Little Italy region of Manhattan.)

So when I saw what this month’s Daring Bakers challenge was, I thought back to the days of endless classical music and to those moments filled with dessert, wine and workplace camaraderie. Then after wondering how on earth I was supposed to veganize something that relies mostly on eggs, I encountered a technically vegan flourless chocolate cake from a fellow Daring Baker and vegan, Hannah of BitterSweet. I had to try her recipe, Daring Bakers challenge or no solely because of the fact that the base of the recipe is black-eyed peas. Using legumes in place of flour seemed most unusual, but intriguing to me, and I ventured ahead.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Vegan Flourless Chocolate Cake
This recipe comes from Hannah of BitterSweet

• 2 cups black-eyed peas, cooked
• 1 12-ounce package extra-firm silken tofu
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup natural cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder (note that I left this out)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt

If you are cooking the black-eyed peas yourself, you can soak the peas overnight, then give them a good rinse before cooking them for a couple of hours (only cook in plain water – do not add salt!). At that point, check them to make sure that they are fully cooked.

Once they are done, give them a good rinse.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and lightly grease a 9×5 loaf pan or a 9-inch springform pan.

Toss both the black-eyed peas and the tofu into your food processor or blender, and let it run until the mixture is completely smooth.

Give it a good long time to work, since it would be rather unpleasant to find any whole beans in your cake.

Add in the sugar and coffee powder, and pulse to combine.

Separately, melt the chocolate and stir well until smooth before adding into the blender or food processor.

Once you’ve added the chocolate to the blender or food processor, let it run for a minute until fully incorporated. Unfortunately I was finding it difficult to get it well blended in a blender, so I had to switch to our food processor.

Scrape down the sides to make sure you aren’t missing anything, and give it another minute to process. Finally, add the cocoa, coffee powder, baking powder, soda, and salt, and pulse to combine.

Pour and then spread the mixture into your prepared pan, leveling off the top with your spatula as best you can.

Bake for 60 – 70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Let it cool completely in the pan before serving.

I was surprised, but you can’t taste the peas. You’d think you would be able to, but if you think about it, you can’t really taste flour in regular cakes or desserts. You’re tasting a whole host of ingredients that harmonize together to offer up a sweet sensation. I will say, though, that this tasted best on the first day, and after that it did become a little dry. It also needed some sort of vegan vanilla ice cream or coconut sorbet, but I didn’t have any on hand (it’s so expensive these days!). Still, we can’t help but help ourselves when we have chocolate dessert sitting around, waiting to be eaten. This is why this cake is now just a memory. ;)

I’m now very inspired to find other dessert recipes that utilize beans as a base. We’ve noticed lately that flour has gone up in price significantly, yet dry beans still remain pretty cheap. Therefore it seems that it is probably less expensive, and potentially more healthy to use beans in place of flour. (I can’t imagine it being a 1:1 ratio, however.) Anyone know of any good recipes?

Many of the challenges that we have had so far with The Daring Bakers have seemed to be more complicated both by number of ingredients and the feat pulling it all together. This month’s challenge seemed to focus less on ingredients and more on the method. It’s been a nice change of pace this time around, because I do feel like I have learned something new – although it’s clear I need a bit more practice before I perfect these cookies.

It has been ages since I have eaten a tuile cookie, which is essentially a very light cookie that can come in a variety of molded shapes. One of the more common is the cigarette shape, where the cookie is rolled. The key to shaping these is to bake them flat first, then shaping soon after taking them out of the oven.

We were given a variety of recipes, but I decided to go with one that was created by a fellow vegan, Lolo of VeganYumYum.com. There were a couple of reasons why I was drawn to her recipe – one, I had all of the ingredients on hand and two, she used flax seed as a binder, which, believe it or not, I have never tried. I was slightly hesitant to use flax seed because I do not like the taste, but I was highly curious how it would work. It worked really well, and I am interested in trying it again as a substitute for the other egg substitutes found in other recipes (i.e. Ener-G or the baking powder, oil and water concoction – which is totally fun to make, by the way).

Vegan Tuile Cookies
This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux. Original recipe I have used can be found on www.veganyumyum.com

• 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
• 1/2 Cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons Flax Egg*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

*Flax Egg

• 1 tablespoon flax seed, ground
• 1/4 cup water

Grind the flax seed to a powder in a spice grinder.

Whisk with water and set aside. Use 2 tablespoons of this mixture for the tuile cookies, you’ll have a little left over.

Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit.

Whip the vegan and sugar until light and fluffy. I used our brand spanking new KitchenAid mixer.

Add flax egg, extract, and salt.

Whip until well mixed or you see medium to stiff peaks. Notice how the batter binds together well with the flax.

Gently fold in flour and mix until well combined.

What you are typically supposed to do at this point is create templates to spread the tuile batter in. For example, using a clean piece of cardboard or heavy plastic, you can cut shapes like circles or hearts and then you can fill in that space with the tuile batter. Unfortunately I didn’t have any of that on hand, so I used the next best thing – a biscuit cutter.

Place a sheet of parchment paper or silpat on a baking sheet, then put your template or biscuit cutter on top of that.

Spread some batter as thinly and evenly as possible in the template or cutter.

Repeat this only once or twice more because these cookies will firm up fast when they come out of the oven and you’ll need to be able to shape them.

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. You may need to experiment with baking time to reach the ideal balance between strength and pliability.

Once they are out of the oven, let them sit for 15-30 seconds before removing and then shaping. Carefully remove a cookie from the sheet, and shape depending on what you are envisioning for the final look. I used the end of a round handled spoon to roll mine into large cigarette shapes. You can also do bowls or cones or anything else your imagination comes up with.

After a few minutes the cookies will fully harden and they will be done.

A couple of things.

First, while it can be done, I now see why it is not the best idea to use a biscuit/cookie cutter for forming the cookies. You really do need something that is flat and closer to the work surface. Spreading the cookie dough should be far easier this way.

Second, I would recommend making smaller cookies (smaller circumference) if they are to be rolled into a cigarette shape. If forming bowls or cones, a larger shape would make more sense, but the shape I went with gave me cookies that I felt were too large.

Finally, going back to the flaxseed binder – my cookies did not taste like flax at all, which was really nice. I’m definitely going to revisit using that again in the future.

I used to love pizza. When I was a kid I loved going to Pizza Hut, getting vegetable and cheese laden pizzas, and then later in high school ordering, with frequency, banana pepper pizza from Papa Johns. The last few years, though, not including my vegan lifestyle, I have grown to not really favor pizza that much. I’m not sure why, but I have a feeling it might have to do with my days in college where I’d get more gourmet versions of it: baby mozzarella, fresh garlic, tomatoes, and basil leaves.

Since being vegan, I have liked it even less because pizza usually equates a nice helping of melted cheese, and I’ll confess that cheeseless pizza can often (but not always) be disappointing.

This last month’s Daring Bakers challenge, however, reminded me that I need to try making it more often, experimenting with toppings, ingredients and flavors. The truth is – and I’ll contradict what I just said in the last paragraph (I’m so good at contradicting myself) – that the cheese that comes on a lot of average pizzas is low in flavor and mainly adds an interesting texture and unnecessary oil. I’m not knocking cheese entirely, but what really makes a good pizza is the other ingredients – the sauce, the toppings and last, but not least, the foundation of pizza – the crust.

Note that I’m pasting the recipe below as it was given to us on The Daring Bakers website – the pictures are mine, though.

Basic Pizza Dough
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled – FOR GF: 4 ½ cups GF Flour Blend with xanthan gum or 1 cup brown rice flour, 1 cup corn flour, 1 cup oat flour, 1 ½ cup arrowroot, potato or tapioca starch + 2 tsp xanthan or guar gum
• 1 3/4 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Instant yeast – FOR GF use 2 tsp
• 1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
• 1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
• 1 Tb sugar – FOR GF use agave syrup
• Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

DAY ONE

Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.

The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

Or

2. FOR GF: Add the oil, sugar or agave syrup and cold water, then mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.

NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour.

Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

Or

8. FOR GF: On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the number of desired dough balls from the refrigerator. Place on a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle with a gluten free flour. Delicately press the dough into disks about ½ inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil. Lightly cover the dough round with a sheet of parchment paper and allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

Quick note from Samantha – good grief, this did not go as planned. What I wound up doing was rolling the dough out with a rolling pin which worked fine in the end.

Or

10. FOR GF: Press the dough into the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter – for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough).

NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.
During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter – for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

Or

11. FOR GF: Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

Note from Samantha – I sauteed some mushrooms and onions, and topped as well with fresh basil and sliced black olives. The sauce was spaghetti sauce from a can.

Or

12. FOR GF: Place the garnished pizza on the parchment paper onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for about 5-8 minutes.

NOTE: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

Or

13. FOR GF: Follow the notes for this step.

NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

I think that this turned out well. The pizzas were fairly small (think individual size), but they still had a lot of taste. The crust was good, but I wouldn’t say it is the best I’ve had – but it’s a good basic standby. If I get into making pizzas more frequently, I’ll be sure to try other recipes.

I made a couple more pizzas yesterday from the leftover dough that I had in the freezer, and the dough still seemed fine even after three or four weeks. As an additional topping this time around I added fresh garlic, and it was really nice. I also made “cheese” which I promise I’ll share at some point soon.

This morning I thought I’d check in on the Daring Bakers website to see how much time I still had to make this month’s challenge. I discovered that today was my deadline! I had actually hoped to get this one created earlier in the month, but we had family over, then I was sick last week – and sadly I’m still sick. I am on the verge of wellness, so I figured that I could still make and post these lavash crackers and dip today. And hooray! Here we are!

I was very pleased to see that this month’s challenge was vegan. Usually every month I wind up doing some sort of science experiment by changing this ingredient to that and trying to get the ratio of the new ingredients to make sense. I’ve had a lot of interesting results, mostly good, but I was still so glad to see that us vegans and gluten free bakers can take a break and just make a recipe without having to think too hard.

I’ve made crackers before, but not of the lavash variety. This recipe, which I am posting mostly word for word, also has a gluten-free option which is great for people who have celiac disease. Note that I did not make gluten-free crackers – next time! :)

Lavash Crackers
Thank you to this month’s hosts – Shellyfish of Musings From The Fishbowl and Natalie of Gluten A Go Go

• 1 1/2 cups (6.75 ounces) unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend (If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 teaspoon xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
• 1/2 teaspoon (.13 ounces) salt
• 1/2 teaspoon (.055 ounces) instant yeast (Note from Samantha – I used 1 full teaspoon because I’ve had this yeast for a while. It worked perfectly.)
• 1 tablespoon (.75 ounces) agave syrup (a.k.a. agave nectar) or sugar
• 1 tablespoon (.5 ounces) vegetable oil
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (3 to 4 ounces) water, at room temperature (Note from Samantha – I used about 1/3 cup water, and that was plenty.)
• Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter.

Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test (see WikiHow for a description of this) and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

or

For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), and slightly tacky. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour.

Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down.

Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes.

Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

or

For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Lay out two sheets of parchment paper. Divide the cracker dough in half and then sandwich the dough between the two sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough until it is a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. Slowly peel away the top layer of parchment paper. Then set the bottom layer of parchment paper with the cracker dough on it onto a baking sheet.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt – a little goes a long way.

Quick note from Samantha – I used a variety of spices to vary the flavor. On some crackers I used garlic and salt, and on others I used dill. I also used this McCormick seasoning, Smoky Sweet Pepper.

If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

Note from Samantha – I found that 10 minutes worked pretty well. My suggestion would be to check this every five minutes and rotate the cookie sheet to try for evenly distributed baking. It all depends on your oven.

When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

Final note from Samantha – I wound up dividing the dough into three sections, so I had three batches of crackers. Making the dough “paper thin” made it kind of impossible to fit on one cookie sheet, and two batches still didn’t seem quite right. It all depends on how much space you have in your oven, too. Our stove is one of those narrower ones, so we can only put our cookie sheets in the oven one way, and there’s most certainly not room for two cookie sheets on one rack.

I had hoped to create a soy-free dip for those of you who are anti-soy as well as for those of you who don’t have Tofutti where you shop, but it just didn’t happen. The nice thing about this recipe is that it is extremely flexible – so if you eat dairy, you can use regular cream cheese or if you’re vegan, you can probably create a creamy base with nuts like cashews or use tofu instead.

Artichoke and Sundried Tomato Dip

• 1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
• 4 sundried tomatoes
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 package Tofutti cream cheese, Plain

Check to see if there are any tough pieces of your artichoke hearts that need to be cut away. The tough areas will be on the outer leaves, and unless you blend the dip well then you’ll still run across tough pieces when eating it.

Put the artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, garlic cloves and salt into a food processor and pulse the ingredients until they are chopped.

Add the Tofutti cream cheese, and blend together for about 10 – 15 seconds.

Taste test at this point to see if you need to add any other ingredients or balance out the ones you have in there.

The end result will be a creamy and flavorful dip that goes well with these crackers.

These crackers turned out really well. I don’t make crackers very frequently, but it is definitely good to have another reliable recipe on hand for future use.

The dip was also a great accompaniment. Both my husband and I scarfed down a few crackers and quite a bit of dip before restraining ourselves so we’d still have some for later. That’s always a good sign. ;)

It’s that time again – when hundreds of Daring Bakers bloggers are challenged to create a recipe and hope that the results are somewhat different yet unique at the same time. For vegan and other dietary lifestyles that don’t include the standard ingredients that most of the bakers have no problem using, it’s that much more of a challenge. If only you could read some of the conversations going on behind the scenes during each month. People feverishly trying to figure out good replacements for eggs or flour, or lamenting about their second or third try in the month because the first miserably failed.

But I come to you here on my first try, and I lament that these chocolate eclairs are not really eclairs, but rather miniature cookies (I say this not because I tried to make them cookies, but more or less to comfort myself and live in denial.). In the words of my husband, who after his first bite made a face and exclaimed with irritation, “These aren’t eclairs!” (Yet he managed to eat at least half or two-thirds of them.)

So with this admission, keep in mind that this recipe may not yield what you know to be an eclair. However, with that said, other vegan bakers had success, so it could be that I did something wrong or used an ingredient I shouldn’t have or inadvertently omitted a key part of it (although I’m pretty sure I didn’t).

Vegan Pâte à Choux
Thank you to Catherine for the vegan Cream Puffs recipe she found on Yahoo.

• 2 tablespoons Ener-G Egg Replacer whipped until stiff with 1/3 cup water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (or baking powder)
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter or margarine
• 1 cup soy milk or almond milk

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare baking sheet – either parchment paper or a non-stick pan. Prepare egg-replacer. Stir together flour, vegan sugar, salt, cream of tartar. In a sauce pan (non-stick works well), bring the vegan milk and margarine to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the flour all at once, and reduce heat to low. Stir constantly until the dough forms a ball that pulls away from the pan and the spoon and is glossy and smooth (this happens VERY fast). Working quickly, remove from heat and add the Ener-G Egg Replacer, about a third at a time, beating well after each addition until the dough is glossy, smooth, and pulls away from the pan.

Shape the puffs as desired – I shaped mine into little eclair shapes that was about a tablespoon of dough more or less.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then lower heat to 350 for another 20 minutes, then turn off oven and allow to cool, with door slightly cracked for another 20 minutes, then cool completely on wire racks before serving or filling.

Here’s where I ran into trouble. As much as I was baking these, and as small as they were, they were still doughy inside when I taste tested one of them.

So I poked holes in them and baked them for another 20 minutes. They were still doughy, so I cut each in half length-wise and baked them AGAIN for about 10-20 minutes.

I could tell that they were already at the crunchy stage and I decided to stop baking.

I decided to fill these little suckers with chocolate pudding, and top with a chocolate glaze.

The chocolate pudding recipe comes from Susan at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. The last couple of times I’ve made this I have found that it tastes too bitter. It could be the chocolate I’m using, but to be on the safe side I’d recommend reducing the cocoa powder by one or two tablespoons and increasing the milk by 1/2 cup. Note I also made this on the stove and not in the microwave as she suggests doing.

The chocolate glaze recipe I found at Allrecipes.com, and it turned out really nicely. I used Soy Garden for the butter and instead of corn syrup I used agave nectar.

For the glaze I create my own double boiler by filling the bottom pan with water, and placing a slightly larger pan on top. I have found this works very well for me, although you must pay close attention to what you are doing.

As you can see the chocolate melted nicely (you can see lumps, but it was all very smooth when done).

After everything was made, I laid out the cookies (might as well call them what they turned out being) in preparation for filling and topping with glaze.

I spooned the pudding onto the bottom half, and dipped the top half in the glaze. I then put the pan in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes or so to get the chocolate to set.

I then assembled them, and of course, then we ate them for the rest of the day.

Despite these not really turning out like typical eclairs, they did taste good – and truly, they tasted and felt like cookies. Is there a foolproof vegan recipe for eclairs? Who knows? If you do a search on the Internet it is hard to find many vegan eclair recipes out there. Like I said, though, some of my vegan compatriots in the land of the Daring Bakers had success even if I did not. If, of course, you call having soft eclairs turning into cookies a failure, which I don’t entirely. :)

Ever since I saw what this month’s challenge would be with the Daring Bakers, I kept trying to decide if I would do it or not. It wasn’t so much because it was challenging and time consuming. It was more about the fact that I’ve already gained a couple of pounds recently and it was clear this was going to be a calorie-filled pastry. Sure, I can share my creations with other people, but usually my husband and I willingly devour what we make.

As you can guess, I caved and spent much of yesterday working on this recipe.

I didn’t alter the recipe too much, but I did cut it in half because of the ridiculous amount of butter, which translates into a ridiculous amount of calories.

Unfortunately, I don’t have blow-by-blow pictures, but I’ll supply you with a video at the end that was shared with the Daring Bakers when we first learned what our fate for June would be.

Vegan Danish Braid

Danish Dough

• 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. marmalade
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Butter Block (Beurrage)

• 1/2 pound (1 stick) cold vegan butter
• 1/8 cup all-purpose flour

Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a whisk. Add sugar, marmalade, and vanilla extract, and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a well. Make sure that the “walls” of your well are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the well. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the well, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature or refrigerate if too runny.

After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and 1/4 inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns (honestly, I didn’t, but I am thinking I did maybe up to six turns). Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Apple Filling
Makes enough for two braids

• 1 Fuji or other apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 – 8 minutes. Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.

Assembly

Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, 1/4 inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.

Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Proofing and Baking

Spray cooking oil onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.

Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

The dough actually didn’t rise, but I think that is because I didn’t put all the liquid into the dough when I was mixing it, so some of the yeast didn’t make it into the final dough. As a result, it wasn’t as flaky as it might have been if it had risen.

For the filling I actually used two different jams – black currant on half and peach on the other. I probably used 2 – 4 tablespoons of each, and both sides turned out well.

Overall this was good, and I got a good verdict from my husband. I may attempt this again at a time when I’m super skinny and the extra calories won’t matter. :)

Since I didn’t supply step-by-step pictures, here is a video that shows another method on how to make the pastry (disregarding the eggs and dairy, of course).

You can also watch this retro video of Julia Child and another baker making a Danish braid.

As an average baker, it was a little overwhelming to see The Daring Bakers‘ latest challenge. As a vegan, it was absolutely frightening. Two words: Opera Cake. Don’t know what an Opera Cake is? Well, essentially it is a lot of layers of cake and cream and sugar topped off with a glaze. If you’re lucky it will take approximately four hours to construct, and if you’re good it will look perfect when cut.

And why was this frightening for me as a vegan? Well, aside from the necessary endurance factor, it had around 14 eggs in the original recipe (six of those are egg whites, so if you want to get really technical…). It was pretty clear that this cake depends heavily upon our fine feathered friends. But what is a challenge if it is not challenging?!

First, a disclaimer. My vegan version was quite tasty, but not very cake-like. If you follow my recipe, then keep in mind that I did what I thought would work. So, you may want to experiment with my recipe and not follow it exactly.

The final cake is comprised of four recipes. So follow along. :)

Vegan Opera Cake

Joconde
Note that you can make the joconde with other nuts/seeds if you don’t want to use almonds.

What you’ll need:

• 2 12 1/2 x 15 1/2-inch jelly-roll pans
• A few tablespoons melted vegan butter
• Parchment paper
• Mixing bowl

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup water or almond milk (I used more than this, but soon regretted it because the batter wound up too runny. You may want to add 1/4 cup at a time until the batter is at a good thickness.)
• 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 2 cups ground blanched almonds (I blanched these myself. Here’s a good post on how to blanch almonds)
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• Vegan substitute for two eggs (I used Ener-G egg replacer)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. vegan butter, melted and cooled

Divide the oven into thirds by positioning a rack in the upper third of the oven and the lower third of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line two jelly-roll pans with parchment paper and brush with melted vegan butter.

Mix all the ingredients together except for the butter and egg replacer, then add the egg replacer last.

Divide the batter between the pans and spread it evenly to cover the entire surface of each pan.

Place one pan in the middle of the oven and the other in the bottom third of the oven. Bake the cake layers until they are lightly browned and just springy to the touch. This could take anywhere from five to 15 or 20 minutes (I think it took mine longer because it was more liquidy).

Take the pans out of the oven and run a sharp knife along the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Cover each with a sheet of parchment or wax paper, then turn the pans over and unmold.

Carefully peel away the parchment, then turn the parchment over and use it to cover the cakes. Let the cakes cool to room temperature.

Syrup
Note that the syrup can be made up to one week in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 to 2 Tbsp. of the flavoring of your choice (I used vanilla)

Stir all the syrup ingredients together in the saucepan and bring to a boil.

Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Buttercream
Note that the buttercream can be made up to one month in advance and packed in an airtight container. If made way in advance, you can freeze the buttercream. Alternatively you can refrigerate it for up to four days after making it. To use the buttercream, simply bring it to room temperature and then beat it briefly to restore its consistency.

What you’ll need:

• A small saucepan
• A candy or instant-read thermometer
• A stand mixer or handheld mixer (I used our food processor)
• A bowl and whisk attachment
• A rubber spatula

Ingredients:

• 14 Tbsp. or 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. vegan butter
• 1 pkg. Tofutti cream cheese
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract or powder

Beat the vegan butter and Tofutti cream cheese together in your mixer or food processor until well combined.

Combine the sugar, water, and vanilla in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves. Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 225 degrees Fahrenheit.

When the syrup reaches the correct temperature and you remove it from the heat, turn on the mixer or food processor to a low speed. Begin pouring the syrup down the side of the bowl very slowly and being careful not to splatter the syrup into the path of the whisk attachment or blade. Make sure it mixes well with the vegan butter and Tofutti cream cheese.

If you want to do a flavored buttercream, add it now. Some people have done fruit flavorings or rum or just plain vanilla.

Put your buttercream in the refrigerator, and it should thicken over the span of about 20 minutes to an hour (I found longer was better). Stir it a few times while it is setting.

Glaze
Note that it is best to make this right when you’re ready to finish the cake.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp. almond milk or another vegan milk
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract or powder
• 1 tsp. vegan butter

Melt the vegan butter and add to the rest of the ingredients. Mix until creamy.

Let it cool for 10 minutes and then pour over the chilled cake or cakes if you are doing several smaller cakes.

Now, the original directions said to create one large cake, but I decided to go with individual round servings of cake. It was likely more involved, but at the same time I think that they turned out pretty well.

I would suggest letting the buttercream sit in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to an hour before you begin to assemble, otherwise it will be too runny. You’ll see I was too impatient in just a moment.

First, I used a cookie/biscuit cutter to cut round pieces out of the joconde.

Then I decided to experiment. I used the same cookie cutter and placed it on my pan (now covered in foil as you can see).

I placed the first round piece of joconde into the cookie cutter.

Then I added a little syrup to the top of that first layer. I will say that my cake wasn’t very absorbent, so it may have been just as well to leave the syrup out of the recipe.

Now I added a layer of buttercream.

Finally I add the next round piece of joconde on top of this.

Repeat this process again, then add a final layer of buttercream to the top. You should have the following:

-Buttercream (Top)
-Syrup
-Joconde
-Buttercream
-Syrup
-Joconde (Bottom)

As you can see, I was a bit anxious to get started on assembling, so it kind of looks like a creamy puddle of sugary blobs.

I got my act together, though, and the rest were beginning to look like cake! Finally, when they were all assembled I added the final layer of glaze.

First off, let me say that while this was challenging, I do think that the end product was truly a lovely indulgence.

I will give a couple of observations, however.

1. This was way too sugary. I like sweet, but my palate enjoys a subtler sweet. Even my husband, who doesn’t mind really sweet things thought that this was way too sweet. I discovered that if I took off the glaze, it tasted much better.

2. The original recipe says to serve this cake slightly chilled, but I found that it tasted better after sitting in the refrigerator overnight.

Overall I’d say that this cake was pretty amazing. Definitely my joconde was not cake-like, but the taste was still quite good – especially so since I blanched the almonds myself.

A quick word on the vanilla. I was in Whole Foods a few weeks ago in their spice aisle and saw some jars of powdered vanilla. I had never seen vanilla in this form, so decided to grab it – and it was approximately the same price as the extract that they had on the shelf, so I thought, why not?

It seems to work comparably to vanilla extract, however it is better mixed with other dry ingredients. It tends to clump if you add it to wet ingredients.

I also just want to say congratulations to all my fellow Daring Bakers. I was peaking at your blogs today, and my – what beautiful cakes you all have made!

Lest you think that I have been unusually obsessed with making vegan cheesecake lately, let me reassure you. I have and I haven’t. :)

First off, my husband made that vegan chocolate cheesecake and I am the one who made the raspberry sauce. Secondly, I did make the vegan peanut butter chocolate cheesecake but it was for my husband’s birthday. Finally, I take no blame for making these cute little creamy pops.

I had been seeing banners for The Daring Bakers on other cooking blogs for a while, and finally decided to investigate further. I hadn’t realized it, but being a member of The Daring Bakers means you have to participate in monthly baking challenges. I’m always up for a challenge, so I decided to join.

So there you go. The Daring Bakers are at fault for making me make cheesecake again. I’m not upset about it at all though.

When I first saw the recipe for these pops, as well as the directions that I had to stay pretty close to the recipe, I was a little concerned. Standard cheesecake has a lot of eggs and egg replacer probably wouldn’t exactly be a sufficient replacement for eggs. I already had a foolproof vegan recipe, so I was also afraid that if I attempted to veganize this other recipe I’d have a disaster on my hands – wasted ingredients and a terrible taste.

So what I did was cut this recipe down to an amount that wouldn’t be a huge disappointment if it did fail, and altered it enough to where the taste and texture would be just right.

Vegan Cheesecake Pops
Original non-vegan recipe for Cheesecake Pops can be found here

• 1 package of Tofuffi Better Than Cream Cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup milk (I used unsweetened Silk soy milk)
• 1 Tbsp. corn starch
• Boiling water as needed
• 1/2 pound chocolate (I used Trader Joe’s 70% Dark Chocolate)
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable shortening (You can probably use coconut oil here instead, although I did use the shortening myself)
• 10 Lollipop sticks, more or less (I used short skewers because I couldn’t find lollipop sticks)
• Sprinkles or anything else to roll the cheesecake pops in

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

In your food processor (or you can use a mixer), mix together the Tofutti cream cheese, sugar, salt, vanilla, and vegan milk until smooth. Add the cornstarch and mix for another minute or two.

Lightly grease a small cake pan or Pyrex dish (not a springform pan). Pour the cheesecake batter into the cake pan and place in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes. You will likely want to watch the cheesecake for the last 10 or 15 minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchement paper-lined baking sheet.

Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

The recipe says to refrigerate these for up to 24 hours, but I found that refrigerating only made them not hold together as well. I would suggest sticking these in the freezer.

These turned out really well. It was a relief when I bit into my first one to discover that they were tasty, and that other vegan cheesecake recipes do turn out.

I think that if I were to make these again, however, I would add some other flavors. They were a little on the bland side so peanut butter might be great, or making the cheesecake part chocolately might be a good variation.

At any rate, it shows that you really can be creative with cheesecake and that even non-vegan cheesecake recipes can be veganized.

So I challenge you – try these little suckers!