Pumpkin Cheesecake

I’m not going to lie to you – I don’t like pumpkin pie. I don’t mind it, per se, but I don’t really truly like it. If I am offered a slice, I accept, but I’m mostly “meh” about it. So you can imagine that this wasn’t exactly the first thing on my mind to make and post here.

But when I posed the question to you all on Facebook asking what you wanted to see on Novel Eats for the month of November, I got requests for pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake. Not only that, I got a request to make a gluten-free pumpkin dessert – something I admit I have never intentionally set out to do before (although I can assure you I’ve made many gluten-free recipes in my lifetime by accident). Because I already have a pretty good cheesecake recipe I work with I decided to try turning it into a pumpkin cheesecake, and I also decided to veganize Gluten-Free Girl’s recommended pie crust.

What turned out was something that I think many of you pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake fans will appreciate. The pumpkin flavor is mild, but with the addition of spices like cinnamon and nutmeg the cheesecake comes together smoothly into a dessert that will satisfy. As far as the crust is concerned, I do feel that it could be a milder flavor, however it does hold up well and has a nice texture. If you’re not concerned about gluten, I recommend using the shortbread crust from the peanut butter chocolate cheesecake post I shared last year. You can also use a vegan graham cracker crust.

Vegan and Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cheesecake

Gluten-Free Pie Crust
Note that Shauna of Gluten-Free Girl recommends using a scale gluten-free cooking and baking, so I have kept in her weighted proportions in the recipe below. A scale is actually kind of fun to use. This is the one I have in my kitchen.

• 1 1/4 cup (5 ounces) almond flour (this is not the same as almond meal)
• 2/3 cup (2 ounces) gluten-free oat flour
• 2/3 cup (2 ounces) tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) teff flour
• 1/2 cup (3 ounces) potato starch
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) sweet rice flour
• 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 1/4 teaspoon guar gum
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 9 tablespoons vegan butter, cold
• Ener-G egg replacer for 1 egg
• 6 to 8 tablespoons ice-cold water

Filling

• 1 12.3-ounce package extra firm light silken tofu
• 1 8-ounce package Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese (There is some debate over whether or not this product is gluten-free, so please use your own discretion on whether or not to use it – if you are uncomfortable using this product, you may use all tofu, although I have not done this myself yet with a vegan cheesecake.)
• 3/4 cup vegan sugar
• 1/2 cup vegan and gluten-free milk
• 1 cup pumpkin flesh (freshly baked or from a can – although be sure to not buy pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Dash of allspice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Instructions if you are using a fresh pumpkin:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut away the stem of a small pumpkin, then cut the pumpkin in half. You will likely need to insert your knife partway, then cut around the pumpkin instead of cutting straight through it. This will be easier.

Cutting open a small pumpkin

Once it’s open you can scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh, then discard or reserve the seeds for toasting.

Scooping out pumpkin seeds

Lightly oil a baking sheet with vegetable or canola oil, then place the pumpkin halves flesh side down.

About to bake the pumpkin

Add about 1/4 – 1/2 cup of water to the pan, then bake in your oven for about 45 minutes to an hour. Using a fork, you can poke the pumpkin to determine if it needs to bake for longer. If the fork goes in easily, then you’ll know that it is done.

Using a spoon, scoop out a cup of pumpkin and reserve for later in the recipe.

Baked pumpkin

With a whisk mix together all your dry ingredients for the gluten-free pie crust: almond flour, gluten-free oat flour, tapioca flour, teff flour, potato starch, sweet rice flour, xanthan gum, guar gum and salt.

Mixing together the dry ingredients

Add small pieces of the vegan butter to the bowl, then incorporate with your hands until it is well mixed. Also add in the Ener-G egg replacer, and add in a little bit of cold water at a time until it feels like it is holding well together. At that point place the dough in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

Mixing in the wet ingredients

If you are using a springform, cut a circle of parchment paper in the size of the bottom of the pan, then spread vegan butter on the bottom of the pan to allow the parchment paper to stick more easily. Also grease the sides of the pan.

The original recipe calls for you to roll out the dough, but my dough wasn’t holding extremely well together, so I opted instead to press the dough into the bottom of the pan. If you do it this way, you will still have about half the dough left over. Place the pan back into the refrigerator as you are making the filling.

Pressing gluten-free pie crust into the bottom of a springform pan

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Blend together the vegan cream cheese and tofu in a food processor until smooth.

Mixing together tofu and Tofutti cream cheese

Add in the vegan sugar and vegan milk, then blend again until the sugar has dissolved.

Adding in the vegan sugar and vegan milk

Add the pumpkin, then blend well for at least one to two minutes.

Adding the freshly baked pumpkin

Add the remaining spices and vanilla extract and blend, then add the cornstarch and blend for a final minute or two.

Adding in the last of the ingredients

Pour the filling into the springform or pie pan.

Pouring cheesecake filling into a springform pan

If you are using a springform, then wrap the pan in at least 3 layers of foil, then place into another deep pan (the foil creates a barrier between the springform pan and the water so that the water doesn’t seep in and ruin the cheesecake). Add hot water to the other pan. This creates a water bath and prevents the surface from cracking. Here’s a helpful video which shows how easy it is to create a water bath.

The cheesecake is now ready to go into the oven

Bake for approximately 55 minutes, but do not allow the cheesecake to brown. Once it is done, allow it to cool, then using a blunt knife cut around the cheesecake edges until the sides are separated from the pan. Chill for several hours or overnight to allow the cheesecake to finish setting.

Allowing to cool, then using a blunt knife cut around the sides of the cheesecake

Serve with some vegan whipped topping or a vegan caramel sauce.

Vegan pumpkin cheesecake

Do you like pumpkin pie or pumpkin cheesecake?

P.S. I’d recommend also taking a look at Susan’s Double-Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake for comparison.

Learn more about Vegan MoFo.

Cinnamon & Chocolate Rolls

A few days ago when I was going through all of my old recipe posts and tagging each with the appropriate ingredients, I soon realized that there was a little bit of a trend going on that I had not really noticed before. I have thought for most of my life that I am not a big one for sweets, but after tagging many of my recipes with the ingredient “sugar”, I realized that I do indeed have a sweet tooth. If anyone has this concept in their minds that a vegan diet is healthy, all they need to do is visit my blog and have a look at the “Browse by Ingredients” list. Sugar, vegan butter, salt… Now that we have that out of the way, let’s jump in and take a look at my latest sweet success (which, dear reader, was made as a thank you to my husband for all of his hard work on helping to make this redesign even possible).

A couple of years ago I was really craving cinnamon rolls – the warm, gooey and total comfort-food kind – and so when I came across a vegan recipe that had rave reviews, I thought that I had a winner on my hands. Unfortunately, the cinnamon rolls were a complete disaster and I wound up defeated and deflated. Of course, I gave up, that is, until a few weeks ago when I was craving them again. I did another search for a good recipe online and came across a recipe that claimed to be better than the rolls you can get at Cinnabon. Again, people raved. Again, I decided to follow the masses. Yet this time, I was so utterly blown away that I purposely held off on taking pictures and writing a blog post because I wanted to be sure to “have to” make them again for you. I finally succumbed and here we are, but believe me I’m trying to come up with another excuse to make them again very soon.

Cinnamon Rolls and Chocolate Rolls

Based upon this Better-than-Cinnabon’s recipe

Rolls

Note: One thing I want to point out is that I have only made this with flax seed as a binder and I have not used Ener-G egg replacer. I have no idea if this recipe turns out exactly the same or comparably if Ener-G were to be used instead. Because the flax has worked so well for me and because I have not been able to taste it (I hate the taste of flax) I just haven’t allowed myself to try the alternate method. If you do try it with Ener-G please report back to let us know how the rolls turned out for you.

• 2½ teaspoons active dry yeast
• ½ cup unbleached sugar
• 1 cup vegan milk, warmed
• 2 eggs worth of egg replacer OR 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds whisked together with 6 tablespoons hot water
• ⅓ cup vegan butter, melted
• 4½ cups unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup vegan butter, softened
• Optional: chocolate chips, raisins, nuts

Frosting

Note: If, like me, you don’t care that much for icing or prefer to let your cinnamon or chocolate rolls shine on their own, then these are perfectly fine without. I will say, however, that this is a good icing recipe and I sometimes will have some. The reason why I probably like it is because it isn’t just about the sugar. The Tofutti cream cheese and the vegan butter give it a smooth and creamy flavor that you wouldn’t get if it were just a plain sugar icing.

• About 3/8 (3 ounces) of a container of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
• ¼ cup vegan butter, softened
• 1½ cup vegan powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon salt

Mix yeast, sugar, and heated vegan milk in a large mixing bowl and let stand until foamy. Add egg replacer, melted vegan butter, flour, and salt.

Letting the yeast activate, then adding the other dry ingredients

Mix well and knead for 5-10 minutes. The dough should be firm and smooth, not sticky.

Mixing the dough in the Kitchenaid Mixer

Set the dough aside in a covered bowl and let double in size.

I allowed my dough to sit for about an hour to an hour and a half

After the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a floured work surface, cover, and let rest for 10 more minutes.

Letting the dough rest

Meanwhile, divide your brown sugar into two small bowls.

Getting ready to mix my cinnamon/chocolate roll fillings

Mix the cinnamon into one bowl of brown sugar, and mix the cocoa powder and vanilla into the other bowl of brown sugar.

Fillings are now ready!

Note: If you just want to do cinnamon rolls, increase your cinnamon to 2 tablespoons and mix it into the full amount of brown sugar, omitting the cocoa powder and vanilla extract. If you just want to do chocolate rolls, increase the cocoa to 2 tablespoons, the vanilla to 2 teaspoons, then mix it into the full amount of brown sugar, and omit the cinnamon.

After the dough has rested, get it into a shape that you can easily divide into two equal halves with a knife or by pulling it apart with your hands.

Dividing the dough in half

Note: If you are doing only one type of roll (i.e. cinnamon rolls) you will not need to divide your dough in half.

Take one half of the dough and roll it out into a rectangle. Here I am using the Vic Firth French Rolling Pin which I am totally and completely in love with.

Rolling out my cinnamon and chocolate roll dough

June 19: Be sure to enter my first ever giveaway for the chance to own your own french rolling pin. The giveaway ended on June 21st. See who won!

Spread dough with vegan butter, then sprinkle each dough evenly with one of the sugar mixtures.

Adding the filling to the cinnamon and chocolate rolls

You can add other items to your filling, like chocolate chips or raisins. I didn’t have any chocolate chips on hand, but I did have Trader Joe’s dark chocolate, which I just chopped up into chip-sized chunks.

I've added raisins to the cinnamon roll filling, and chocolate pieces to the chocolate roll filling

Roll the dough on the longer side.

Rolling the cinnamon and chocolate rolls

Cut the rolls so that you have even slices. I like to cut straight down the middle first (1), then cut straight down the middle of the two sections (2), and finally cut down the middle of the four sections (3). In the end you should have eight evenly sized rolls (or thereabouts) if you follow this method.

Cutting the rolls

Place rolls in a lightly greased baking pan (or two). (A cookie sheet also works fine.) Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tip: Use a pie pan or a larger pan where your rolls are allowed to expand. I found that the chocolate rolls made in the pie pan were fatter than the cinnamon rolls made in the straight-sided glass dish.

Allowing the cinnamon and chocolate rolls to rise

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Cinnamon (bottom) and chocolate (top) rolls straight out of the oven

While rolls are baking, beat together Tofutti, vegan butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Making the vegan cream cheese frosting

Unless I’m told a better recipe exists or I somehow lose this recipe, I will never try another. The rolls are amazingly fluffy and gooey and are just perfect straight out of the oven. If you were to take these to your non-vegan friends no one would be the wiser. These taste and have the consistency of what you or they would expect in a cinnamon roll, and there’s no reason for them to suspect that they are vegan. They are seriously that good and perfect.

This is a great foundational recipe, too, because once you have dough that works this well, you can get very creative. I recently saw on The Pioneer Woman Cooks a marmalade/butter filling and an orange flavored icing. I think you could do other jams (strawberry jam sounds great!) or you could try fresh fruit. You could probably do vegan caramel or toffee. If you like coffee, you could probably even go there, too. But for me, my absolute favorite is just the basic, gooey cinnamon roll. Perfection.

Vegan cinnamon rolls

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?

Valentine’s Day is probably one of my favorite holidays. Maybe it’s because of all the girlie colors and hearts and flowers, or because of the shallow romance courtesy of department stores, but I just can’t help but like it. Of course, I’m sure that I resented the holiday when I was single or forlorn over someone that wouldn’t “Be Mine”. That’s probably a given. Now Valentine’s Day offers me an excuse to get into the kitchen and try to make something that has equal parts romance and flour and KitchenAid mixer.

This year I was (sort of) inspired to make sugar cookies because of the one thing that I do dislike about Valentine’s Day – conversation hearts. While they are cute, they taste pretty, well, nasty. I apologize if you enjoy the taste of conversation hearts, but I’d be happy without them or with a version that tasted more like chocolate than chalk. Even though my cookies have nothing conversational about them, I somehow thought that something sugary in the shape of a heart would be a nice substitute to those candies.

This isn’t my recipe, but I went with a recipe that appears to work and be popular among us vegans which is always a good sign when I set out to make a recipe I’ve not made before.

Vegan Sugar Cookies
This recipe was taken from www.johnandkristie.com. This makes about 36 cookies.

• 1 cup vegan butter, like Earth Balance or Soy Garden
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup vegan white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 whole egg replacements (Ener-G)
• 1/4 cup Tofutti cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar.

Add or stir in the egg replacements and vanilla. Gradually add the flour, baking powder and tofu cream cheese.

You may have to use your hands at this point to finish the mixing. Form the dough into a long loaf, or divide in half and press into two flat rounds, and wrap in cellophane. Refrigerate for a couple hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the cookie sheets, use a non-stick foil or parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness.

Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.

Place about 1 inch apart cookie on sheets.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until bottoms and edges just start to get light brown. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.

Icing
This is also taken from www.johnandkristie.com. Each batch is enough to easily coat 24 cookies.

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract (I used vanilla extract instead)
• 6-8 teaspoons of soy milk or another non-dairy milk
• Assorted food coloring
• 4 teaspoons of light corn syrup (I used agave nectar)

In medium bowl, stir together confectioners’ sugar and soy milk until smooth.

Beat in corn syrup (or agave) and almond extract (or vanilla extract) until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup/agave.

Add food coloring to desired intensity. To make pink I used probably 2 or 3 drops of red, and to make purple I used about 5 drops of red and one drop of blue.

Dip cookies and allow to dry. You can dry them overnight or for a couple of hours before storing.

This recipe made A LOT of cookies. Maybe I rolled the dough out more thinly than I should have, but I still have quite a few cookies leftover. This last weekend seemed to be Samantha’s Sugar Festival of 2009, so I opted to take in the rest of the presentable cookies to work. My co-workers ate and enjoyed them, and I confess I had four…or five. They were within arms reach, okay?! Anyway, it’s always rewarding to see non-vegan people eat the vegan stuff (of course, I didn’t spread the word they were vegan) and say that it’s good.

What about you? Do you love or hate Valentine’s Day? If it’s the latter, I still recommend making these cookies, but instead of a heart I’d use a random cookie cutter shape like a dinosaur or maybe a train or flag. I bought a whole set of cookie cutters just to get a heart cookie cutter (really, I have wanted a full set, so it wasn’t just so I could have a heart shaped cutter), and believe me when I say that some of this batch turned into cats and hands. I just couldn’t help myself with the randomness.

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. ;)

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!

One year ago we embarked on the vegan cheesecake quest. It was my husband’s birthday and I made him a cheesecake from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. We didn’t love that first cheesecake, but the texture was there, as well as the creaminess. It seemed that we had a mission. My husband had that gleam in his eyes that he sometimes gets when he sees a worthy challenge set before him. This year it’s a different gleam, because now peanut butter has entered the picture and we’ve both realized that the possible flavors are endless.

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake
Many thanks to Susan at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen for giving a wonderful base for vegan cheesecake.

• 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
• 1/4 or 1/3 lb. dark chocolate Note that after two or three chocolate cheesecakes, we would recommend reducing the amount of chocolate – our original recommendation was 1 lb. but that really makes it too rich and overwhelming.
• 5 Tbsp. peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 prepared graham cracker crust, vegan

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 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 crust) and process until completely smooth, about 3 more minutes.

Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe container to a point that it is soft enough to blend with the other ingredients. You can also melt it on the stove in a double boiler.

Pour half of your blended cream into a seperate bowl and then fold in the chocolate until it is fully incorporated. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pie crust.

Add the peanut butter to your remaining cream mixture 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 bake 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).

Look at this cheesecake. It doesn’t look vegan, and it certainly doesn’t taste it either. I can’t say it tastes like regular cheesecake, but let me tell you – it is so good you’ll forget you’re eating products that never came out of a cow. I’ve tried other vegan variations and they don’t even come close to the flavor and texture of this.

So happy birthday, my dear. What shall we try next time? Hmmm?

Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake
Based heavily on Fatfree Vegan Kitchen’s Vegan Eggnog Cheesecake — When I originally made her recipe, I didn’t eliminate the “eggnog” associated ingredients (aside from the vegan eggnog), which is probably why we didn’t like it as neither one of us are fans of eggnog.

• 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 milk (he used hazelnut milk this time around)
• 1 lb. dark chocolate (he used Trader Joe’s)
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 prepared graham cracker crust (he used chocolate this time)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 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 crust) and process until completely smooth, about 3 more minutes.

Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe container to a point that it is soft enough to blend with the other ingredients. You can also melt it on the stove in a double boiler.

At this point you need to decide if you want a cheesecake that is completely chocolate or half chocolate and half plain cheesecake. If you choose to do the first add the chocolate to your blended ingredients and blend again until the chocolate has been fully incorporated into the mixture. If you choose to do the latter, then pour half of the blended mixture into a separate container (or straight into your pie crust if you want plain on the bottom and chocolate on top), and then blend the chocolate with the remaining half that is still in the blender.

Pour the blended mixture(s) into the pie crust and bake 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).

We only allowed this to chill for probably 2-4 hours before we had a piece. The texture was still soft, and it was smooth. The flavor was rich – I imagine it was enhanced by the hazelnut milk that we used, and if you have ever tried Nutella you’ll recall that it is a chocolate-like spread made with hazelnuts.

After letting the remainder chill overnight we had a much denser cake:

I think that there are two key things to making a vegan cheesecake. First, it has to have the right consistency. Cheesecake has a very thick and smooth texture, and part of the whole experience of eating cheesecake is how it feels when you take a bite. It has to feel creamy, thick, and fattening. It has to feel like an indulgence.

Secondly, the taste has to be there. True, I doubt that there will ever be a vegan cheesecake that tastes exactly like dairy-filled cheesecake, but at the same time ingredients like chocolate can certainly make you forget that it is vegan. That is the nice thing about this recipe – you honestly cannot taste the tofu and Tofutti. It doesn’t have to seem fake – and well, honestly, it isn’t. Who said that vegan cheesecake is fake cheesecake? It still tastes and feels like an indulgence.