Vegan Red Velvet Cupcake

So many people love red velvet cake and cupcakes. I haven’t ever really been one of them, probably because I was never given too many opportunities to try them. When I finally had a red velvet cupcake several years ago in New York, I was underwhelmed. The flavor wasn’t very memorable – mainly it was just pretty. But then I made them myself a few weeks ago, and I got why they were special: chocolate.

Don’t mistake me – red velvet cupcakes don’t have a very strong chocolate flavor, but you do have a hint of it, which is sometimes all you need. This particular recipe is a winner because the flavor, color and texture is all exactly what you’d want in a red velvet cupcake. It’s sweet, mild on the chocolate, the color is a lovely shade of dark red, and moist, plus the cupcake holds together pretty well. The frosting is not very thick, but it complements the cupcake with a creamy, sugary finish. I shared these cupcakes with some friends, none vegan, and they all agreed that they were delicious!

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
This recipe is taken from Food.com
Yields approximately 12 cupcakes

For the Cupcakes:

• 1 cup vegan milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup vegan granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vegan red food coloring* or two small bottles of red food coloring
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon chocolate extract, optional (this can be hard to find, so omit it if you cannot locate it in your local store)

For the Frosting:

• 1/4 cup vegan butter, softened
• 1/4 cup vegan cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups vegan powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line muffin pans with liners.

Whisk together the vegan milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle. Note that I have only used soy milk in this recipe, so I do not know if other vegan milks will thicken in this step.

Curdling soy milk with apple cider vinegar

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix.

Sifting the dry ingredients

Add the oil, food coloring, chocolate extract (if using), vanilla extract and almond extract to the curdled soy milk. Whisk well to combine.

You'll use about two small bottles of red food coloring

Make well in center of dry ingredients and gently fold wet ingredients into dry, mixing until large lumps disappear. Do not over mix, or your cupcakes will turn out gummy – small lumps are okay.

Finishing up the batter

Fill cupcake liners about three-quarters full as these cupcakes will rise fairly high. And make sure you use the right size of cupcake liners – mine were too small for my pan, but I used them anyway!

Filling the liners with the batter

Place in hot oven and bake 18-20 minutes until done, or until toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Cool cupcakes in the pan for five mintues, and then transfer to a cooling rack or surface to cool completely.

Cooling on the rack

Using a hand mixer (or by hand), cream together the vegan butter and vegan cream cheese until just combined.

Mixing it all by hand

Whip in the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup batches. Scrape down the sides and mix until smooth and creamy. Mix in the vanilla.

Now it just needs to chill to firm up a bit

Keep tightly covered and refrigerated until ready to use.

When ready, spread some frosting on each of the cupcakes.

Spreading frosting on red velvet cupcakes

Then serve and enjoy!

Worth it.

What is your favorite cupcake?

I love foods that carry a kick. In my book, though, a little spice goes a long way; a touch of chili paste or a dash of cayenne is sufficient. I’m one of those people that asks for mild or a heat level of 1 or 2 out of 5. Just enough and I’m in culinary heaven.

But even mildly spicy foods can build up heat over time, and you need some kind of gentle salve to bring the delicious pain back down. One of my favorite desserts to do just this is rice pudding. It’s creamy and sugary, and has a touch of cardamom to give it a different kind of spice. (If you’ve ever been to an Indian restaurant, rice pudding is a pretty standard find on the menu to wrap a spice-filled meal.)

Here is a vegan version of an Indian rice pudding recipe I found online. If you use the same milk replacements I used, you can omit the sugar. It’s sweet enough without it. It’s also a very forgiving recipe, so if you don’t want to use cardamom, try cinnamon instead. Don’t like or have raisins or pistachios? Leave them out or replace them with something else.

Vegan Rice Pudding
Based on the Indian Rice Pudding found on Food Network
Makes approximately 4 small servings

• 1 cup cooked long grain or basmati rice
• 1 cup vegan milk
• 1/2 cup vegan milk, vegan creamer or vegan heavy cream alternative
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/3 cup golden raisins (optional)
• 1/3 cup unsalted pistachios, chopped (optional)

Cook your rice according to the package directions.

I used long grain white rice

Once the rice is ready, in a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat, combine the cooked rice and first cup of vegan milk. Heat until the mixture begins to boil.

Mixing in the first cup of vegan milk

Decrease the heat to low and cook at a simmer until the mixture begins to thicken, stirring frequently, approximately 5 minutes.

Starting to thicken

Increase the heat to medium, add the vegan heavy cream alternative and the coconut milk, sugar (if needed) and cardamom and continue to cook until the mixture just begins to thicken again, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Use a whisk to help prevent the cardamom from clumping.

Adding in the remaining milks: MimicCreme and coconut cream

I wound up using this sweetened MimicCreme as a substitute for the heavy cream. It’s very sweet, so it’s best to omit the sugar in this recipe if you use this stuff. I also used a sweetened coconut cream, however my first preference would have been for unsweetened coconut milk.

I used this MimicCreme in place of heavy cream

Once the mixture just begins to thicken, remove from the heat and stir in the raisins and pistachios (if using).

Adding golden raisins to the creamy rice mixture

Transfer the mixture to individual serving dishes or a glass bowl and place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding.

Getting ready to chill the rice pudding

Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Chilled and ready to eat!

This is really a pretty good recipe, but next time I would use a vegan creamer as a substitute for the heavy cream, and unsweetened coconut milk. I also didn’t use pistachios because I didn’t have them on hand, but I am sure they would have been delicious.

There is just one teensy thing, and I don’t know if it is because of the rice I used or what, but when I had let this chill overnight, the rice seemed to have dried out – which is odd to me, because the rice is sitting in a thick liquid.  When I had a bite right after it was finished cooking, the texture was perfect. So I think that what I’d do next time is plan to make this pudding the same day it would be eaten, then chill it for only a couple of hours at most.

Otherwise this is a delicious pudding and a perfect end to a spicy meal or a hot summer’s day!

Done and yum.

Do you have a favorite rice pudding?

Homemade vegan ice cream sandwiches

Officially summer = officially time to make ice cream, even here in the Pacific Northwest. Last week, I finally got my ice cream maker out of its box, cleaned it up and stuck it in the freezer. It was time.

But then I realized I could take my ice cream one step further – ice cream sandwiches. I had never made my own ice cream sandwiches, but it’s really not that hard. It just takes a bit of time and effort, and once you’re done you’re rewarded with some pretty good tasting stuff.

How easy is it? Well, if you’re not up for baking cookies or making your own ice cream, just grab a box of your favorite vegan cookies (any should do) and your favorite vegan ice cream (vanilla is probably best) and start making sandwiches. But if you want to go the homemade route, then read on.

You can make ice cream sandwiches with any cookie. At first I thought I’d go with chocolate chip, and a part of me wanted to go with oatmeal raisin, but then I remembered a recipe for chocolate cookies I had come across a few years ago on FatFree Vegan Kitchen. I only modified the recipe a tad, and they are absolutely perfect for this summer vegan recipe.

Vegan Chocolate Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

• 1 cup unbleached white flour (or to make it gluten-free, use gluten-free baking flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons vegan butter
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup soy yogurt or vegan milk (if you use vegan milk, you may need to increase the flour by a tablespoon or two)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• Sugar or Celtic sea salt, both optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Mix the flour, soda, and salt together and set aside.

Mixing flour, baking soda and salt

In another bowl, mix the cocoa with the granulated and brown sugars and set aside.

Mixing cocoa powder with granulated and brown sugars

Melt the vegan butter in a medium-sized saucepan. When it is completely melted, take it off the heat and add the sugar and cocoa mixture, then stir to combine.

Melting the butter, then adding cocoa mixture to it

Then add the soy yogurt or vegan milk, vanilla extract and balsamic vinegar and stir until mixed.

Mixing together cocoa mixture with vegan milk, balsamic vinegar and vanilla extract

Finally, add the flour mixture and stir just until it’s combined, but don’t over-mix.

The cookie batter finally comes together!

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Chocolate cookies ready to go into the oven

If you want your cookies to be uniformly round, instead grab a spoonful and roll it in your hands for a few seconds then place the cookie ball on the sheet. It will be more perfectly round that way.

Sprinkle lightly with your choice of vanilla sugar or Celtic sea salt (I opted for the latter on about half of the cookies), and place them in the oven.

Adding a sprinkling of Celtic sea salt to my chocolate cookies

After about five minutes, switch the pans around so that the one on top is on the bottom and the front sides are in the back. Check again in another five minutes. Be careful – depending on the type of pan you use, they can go from underdone to burned in seconds. They shouldn’t need more than 11 minutes and will look soft on top, but they’ll harden as they cool. Note that I baked these for a maximum of 10 minutes because I wanted to keep them a little on the chewy side.

Remove from the oven and transfer onto cooling racks.

A mix of small and large cookies, some with salt on top and some without

Next thing I did was make a basic recipe of coconut ice cream. I also doubled this recipe, but it’s really probably not necessary. I still have some ice cream in the freezer that I didn’t use.

The ice cream was still too soft once it was done, so I stuck it in the freezer overnight. I used a metal bowl and just covered it with plastic wrap.

Perfectly frozen coconut ice cream

I then used a melon baller scoop and scooped out a generous amount of ice cream and placed it on the bottom side of a cookie. Take another similarly shaped and sized cookie and place it bottom down on top of the ice cream and press down.

Finally - introducing the ice cream and the cookies so they can party together!

You can either do one of two things:

1. Eat it right away, but it will definitely be more messy because it will melt fast.
2. Stick in your freezer for a few hours, then individually wrap each in plastic wrap and store in your freezer for up to five days.

Yum - vegan ice cream sandwich

These are fantastic, but I would definitely allow a couple of days to prepare if you are making these totally from scratch for a party, picnic or event. I thought I’d be able to make them in one day, but the ice cream really needs to be pretty well frozen to make it easy to put these babies together.

One variation I wish I had tried: blending a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter with the ice cream mixture. That would have been pretty awesome. A good excuse to make them again!

Do you ever make ice cream sandwiches? What is your favorite combo?

Irish Boxty, vegan-style

When I was a kid, one of the things I most remember about my North Carolina grandmother was her breakfasts. They weren’t exactly healthy and they were most certainly not vegan, but they were rich and delicious. One thing I recall her and my mom making when we’d visit was potato pancakes, usually made with leftover mashed potatoes and eggs (to bind), and for the last several years I have wished I could find a similar no-egg recipe. When I was looking for Irish recipes for St. Patrick’s Day, I kept seeing recipes for Boxty, which is such a common food in Ireland that it even has rhymes and sayings created in honor of it:

Boxty on the griddle, Boxty in the pan, If you don’t eat Boxty, you’ll never get a man.

When I finally took a look, I was pretty excited. Despite the minor differences from what I experienced growing up, this was pretty much the recipe I had been longing for for years, and when learning more about Boxty, I discovered that it doesn’t always have eggs. It’s a bit of work and takes a little time, but it’s so worth it to make every few weeks or months for breakfast – savory, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

My biggest recommendation is that you make mashed potatoes the night before to save time, and a minor suggestion from a personal flavor perspective would be to grate in an onion along with the grated potatoes.

Irish Boxty
Recipe based upon a Boxty recipe on the BBC

• 7-8 small to medium-sized potatoes, cooked, mashed and cold
• 7-8 small to medium-sized potatoes, peeled, grated
• 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
• 1-2 tablespoons melted vegan butter
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 3/4 cup vegan milk
• Olive oil
• Maple syrup, to serve

First, if you do not already have mashed potatoes available, peel, cube and boil about 7-8 small to medium-sized potatoes until they are tender.

Preparing mashed potatoes for Boxty

Drain and rinse the potatoes under cold water, then cool them down quickly by putting the bowl or container of boiled potatoes on top of some ice and water in another container. This will help to bring the temperature of the cooked potatoes down. Mash the potatoes well, but don’t worry if you still have lumps. To save time, mash the potatoes and refrigerate the night before using in this recipe.

Mashing potatoes for Boxty

Peel and grate your other 7-8 small to medium-sized potatoes, then rinse well.

Grating potatoes

Wrap the grated potato in a clean kitchen towel and/or paper towel and wring well to get rid of any excess liquid.

Removing excess liquid from grated potatoes

Transfer the mashed potato and grated potato to a mixing bowl, then mix until well combined. Add the flour and baking powder to the potato mixture and mix again until well combined. Stir in the melted vegan butter and season, to taste, with about one to two teaspoons salt and a few dashes of black pepper.

Mixing together the potatoes and dry ingredients

Add the vegan milk, a little at a time, to the potato mixture, beating after each addition until the milk has been fully incorporated into the mixture. When all of the vegan milk has been incorporated into the potato mixture, it should resemble a thick, heavy batter. If the mixture is too sticky, add more vegan milk as necessary.

Adding the vegan milk

Meanwhile, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium to high heat. Add spoonfuls of Boxty batter into the oil, leaving enough space around each spoonful for the mixture to spread. Fry them on medium to high heat for about five minutes on each side, or until the patties are golden-brown and the grated potato is cooked through.

Frying it up!

Remove the Boxty patties from the pan and set aside to drain on paper towels and keep warm. Repeat the process with the remaining Boxty mixture. You may need to continue adding oil each time you add a fresh new batch of batter.

Draining on paper towels

Serve with maple syrup, if desired, and some vegan breakfast meat (I had some yummy Yves breakfast patties). If you refrigerate these for later, you can get them crispy again by sticking them in your toaster oven for about five to 10 minutes or you can warm them up on the stove over medium to medium-high heat for about the same amount of time.

Fried Boxty goodness!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Do you have a favorite Irish recipe?

Vegan Irish Soda Bread

There are two things I associate with St. Patrick’s Day: wearing green and being pinched if you forget to wear green (meanwhile claiming that you are wearing green underwear, so please stop pinching me!). But now that I feel like I am a verifiable amateur home cook, I am now adding a third item to the list – learning how to cook some new Irish recipes every year in March.

I don’t recall ever having Irish soda bread, but I was definitely ready to try it. There are so many variations of this bread, many of which call for eggs, that I wanted to find something that could be veganized without the use of an egg substitute. I was really pleased for two reasons when I came across Nana Dot’s Irish Soda Bread Recipe – first, it had no eggs (yay!) and second, it is a family recipe that comes from Ireland. I love it when I find something that has history and authenticity.

I was also really curious by the list of ingredients. A lot of the recipes I had run across did include things like raisins, but this was the first I had seen using caraway seeds. The recipe had so many rave reviews, though, that I trusted I’d probably like it with the added unusual flavor. The end result was most certainly interesting – very scone-like, not too sweet, and a lot of balanced flavors milling about together. Truthfully it reminded me very much of other European breads I had years ago when studying in Spain, which was a nice thing because it just added to the authenticity of this bread.

Vegan Irish Soda Bread
Adapted from Nana Dot’s Irish Soda Bread Recipe on Allrecipes.com

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegan butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup currants (You can substitute raisins if needed.)
• 2 teaspoons caraway seed, optional
• 3/4 cup vegan milk
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and grease two baking sheets (or you may use silicone baking sheets in place of greasing).

Stir or whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl until evenly blended.

Whisking together the dry ingredients

Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

Cutting in the vegan butter

Stir in the raisins, currants (if using), and caraway seeds (also if using).

Stirring in the raisins and caraway seeds

Make a well in the center of your mixture and pour in the milk and vinegar. Stir with a spoon until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Combining the wet ingredients with the dry

Turn the dough out onto a well floured work surface, and knead gently 8 to 10 times.

Kneading helps to combine the remaining dry and wet ingredients

Divide the dough into two balls, and place onto the prepared baking sheets.

Ready to go into the oven!

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven’s heat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake until the top of the bread is golden brown, about 15 minutes more. You will bake your soda bread for a total of about 30 minutes, however you may need an extra 5-10 minutes (I should have baked mine for another five minutes at least as it was still a little doughy in the center). Allow the bread to cool before cutting or storing.

Cooling on racks

Cut into wedges, then serve! They are perfect as they are, or you can add vegan butter.

Lots of goodness going on here!

Have you ever made Irish soda bread? What is your favorite variation?

And P.S. Don’t forget to wear green this Thursday!

Curried Parsnip Soup

When we lived in New York we were members of a local community supported agriculture group (CSA), Hellgate CSA. The setup was that we would pay for a season of vegetables and fruits, then each week our farm(s) would deliver freshly picked produce to a central location where we would then gather our bounty. It was because of that CSA and those farmers that I have such a passionate interest in food. Yet, I admit that it wasn’t always perfect. Because of the way it was structured (and many CSAs follow this model), we didn’t have a huge choice in the food that we would get from week to week, so it was either an opportunity to discover something new to love or, yes, something to never want to eat again (I still have yet to figure out if I ever want to try bitter melon of my own accord again).

Not too long ago we joined another CSA run by Full Circle Farm in Washington. It’s modeled in such a way that we have more choice, however they still will send you a predetermined box of produce if you do not make any changes. A couple of weeks ago I saw that we would be receiving parsnips and I can’t say I was thrilled about them. I had parsnips for the first time in New York, likely thanks to our first CSA, and I recall that I roasted them along with some other vegetables, but I didn’t quite like the combination of flavors and never was inspired to eat them again. (Parsnips, if you have never had them, are similar to carrots in sweetness, but otherwise the flavor is somewhat unusual and savory.) But I realized that I couldn’t let parsnips go by the wayside this time, and so I left them on the list.

I’m so glad I did, because I wound up making this very creamy and delicately-flavored parsnip soup. It’s perfect as a starter to a meal or on its own with some salad or bread. While the curry in this dish does add additional spiciness, it is not hot. To add some heat, sprinkle some red pepper flakes to each individual bowl for a little kick.

Curried Parsnip Soup
Recipe based upon Spiced Parsnip Soup from Allrecipes.com

• 2 tablespoons vegan butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 pound parsnips, peeled and cubed
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 3 1/4 cups boiling vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup vegan milk, plain and unsweetened
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes or paprika for garnish

Chop your onions. Melt the vegan butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, and fry the onion in butter until soft, about five minutes.

Sautéing some onions in vegan butter

Peel and chop your parsnips, and chop your garlic.

Chopping parsnips

Add the parsnips, garlic and curry powder to the pan, and fry for a couple of minutes to release the flavors.

Frying parsnips, onion, garlic and curry

Boil the vegetable broth, and pour into the saucepan with the parsnips, onions, garlic and curry powder. Stir to remove any bits of vegetable from the bottom of the pot. Simmer for 15 minutes or until parsnips are soft and easy to break with a spoon.

Simmering parsnips and vegetable broth

Remove from the heat, and blend with a hand mixer, immersion blender or regular blender for a good 30 seconds to a minute.

About to blend parsnips into a creamy soup

Pour back into the large pan (if using a regular blender), then stir in the vegan milk, and heat through, but do not boil.

Stirring in the vegan milk

Taste test, then season with salt and pepper to taste if needed. Serve in individual bowls, then garnish with red pepper flakes or paprika.

So smooth and creamy!

This is definitely a soup I’ll be making again, and I may try some variations with things like cauliflower or potatoes. Do you have any favorite parsnip recipes?

Vegan Hot Chocolate

With winter nearly upon us and the holidays in full swing, I have been craving all sorts of hot drinks. In years past I’ve gone the easy route and just created pre-packaged drinks with the most effort being that I boil water. But this year I want to allow myself a little decadence. Those little bags of powdered flavorings and sugar just don’t equate being pampered if you ask me.

Aside from the usual tea and coffee, my first seasonal hot drink was real hot chocolate. Since deciding to learn to make it, I’ve discovered that hot chocolate is not the same as hot cocoa. Hot chocolate is made from chocolate bars, and hot cocoa is made from cocoa powder. The former winds up being thicker, richer and higher in calories – which is of course the one I wanted to make. Plus I’ve had so many chocolate bars burning a hole in my cupboards lately, that I knew I needed to get creative and turn them into delicious drinks.

The following is a very easy recipe, but as soon as you have the chocolate on the stove melting, you’ll need to act fast to avoid having your chocolate burn. It’s so thick and rich, too, that I recommend you serve these in espresso cups.

Vegan Hot Chocolate
Makes about 4 espresso-sized servings
Adapted from the Belgian Hot Chocolate Recipe found on www.davidlebovitz.com

• 1 cup vegan milk
• 3 ounces vegan chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon vegan sugar, optional if you want your drink to be less sweet
• Tiny pinch of salt
• Ground cinnamon, optional
• Vegan whipped topping or vegan marshmallows, optional

Select your chocolate. I used a 3-ounce bar of Sharffen Berger dark chocolate.

I used a 3-ounce Scharffen Berger chocolate bar

Chop or grate your chocolate. Reserve some for garnish if you like.

Chopping a chocolate bar

Warm about one-third of your vegan milk with the chopped chocolate, vegan sugar, and salt, stirring until the chocolate is melted.

The chocolate melts very fast

Whisk in the remaining vegan milk, heating until the mixture is warmed through. Continue to whisk until it is completely melted and the remaining vegan milk is well incorporated.

Whisking the hot chocolate

Remove from heat and pour into cups.

Yum.

Add whatever garnish you like – a dash of cinnamon, a few pieces of the remaining chopped chocolate, vegan whipped topping and/or vegan marshmallows. I added a dash of this lovely Roasted Saigon Cinnamon and some chocolate pieces.

Roasted cinnamon on my hot chocolate

Serve warm. Or turn this into a dessert by letting this sit in the refrigerator for a few hours where it becomes very thick like a pudding and can be eaten with a spoon.

Vegan Hot Chocolate

This so hit the spot. It was decadent, it was smooth, it was warm. Now that I know how to make this, next time I might experiment a bit. I’m thinking cinnamon (not just adding a dash, but mixing it in from the get-go), coffee, vanilla, peppermint…so many ways to continue the deliciousness.

What is your favorite way to have or make hot chocolate?

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.

Carrot cake muffin with vanilla soy yogurt

A couple of weeks ago when we went strawberry picking at Boxx Berry Farm, we also had the fortunate opportunity to pick some vegetables from a small farm called Half Acre Farm located on the same property. They had a variety of vegetables ready, but we decided to pick only a couple of items – some Walla Walla onions and two of bunches of carrots. As we dug the vegetables up, we had a really nice visit with the couple who are running this one-acre farm (yep – it’s one acre). They both work full time, but are passionate about gardening, so decided to start up a little vegetable farm. Seems ambitious, but I admit that we were standing there feeling a bit jealous. In our minds, being able to garden and have a positive impact on the community is a worthy combo.

When we got home, Matt opted to juice the carrots which resulted in a rich and sweet liquid. The other thing that resulted was about a cup of carrot pulp that I couldn’t face throwing away. After doing a little bit of research I realized that juicing takes away a lot of the flavor of the carrots, so if you try to make dishes where grated carrots are a large part of the ingredient list, you’ll find that you won’t taste them quite as much. I finally decided to try making some muffins. In the end the carrot flavor was definitely mild, but if you are not a big fan of carrot cake, this may be a viable alternative for you.

Carrot Cake Muffins
Makes about 12 regular sized muffins

• 1 cup white flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons hot water (or egg replacer for one egg)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup vegan milk
• 1 cup grated carrots or carrot pulp
• Vegan vanilla yogurt, optional

Turn on your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners or grease them with vegan butter (or spray with a cooking spray).

In a large bowl, sift your flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger together. Mix in the brown sugar.

Mixing together the dry ingredients

In a separate bowl, mix together the flax seed mixture or egg replacer, oil, vanilla extract and vegan milk.

Mixing the wet ingredients together

Take the shredded carrot or carrot pulp and mix it in with the wet ingredients.

Mixing in the carrot pulp

Add the carrot mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until it is just combined.

Carrot cake muffin mixture

Add the mixture to your cupcake/muffin tin, and then bake in the oven for 25 or 30 minutes.

Carrot cake muffins about to go into the oven

Allow the muffins to cool before serving. You can serve with vegan butter or with a dollop of vegan vanilla yogurt.

Fresh out of the oven carrot cake muffins

The carrot flavor of the muffins was definitely mild, but I felt that what really made these was the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. They added a nice balance of spice with the other ingredients. The muffins were also dense, yet moist.

Also, while I don’t really like nuts or raisins in my muffins, I am sure the addition of a handful of walnuts, pecans, raisins or cranberries would be a nice complement to these.

Carrot cake muffin

Do you ever bake or cook with carrots? If so, what is your favorite recipe?

YUM.

It hasn’t been until the last few years that I have gotten into scones (I think that I used to confuse them with biscotti and assumed that they would be dry and hard), and even then I haven’t made them with much frequency. I was pleasantly surprised when I bit into my first scone – rich, moist and just a little bit sweet. Much like a sweet version of a savory biscuit. I decided it was high time to make scones again the other day, and I’m glad I did – although I wish I hadn’t eaten them all already. I could so go for another right now!

Orange Scones
This recipe makes approximately 8 large scones, and is based upon the cranberry orange scones recipe at epicurious.com.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
• 3/4 cup vegan butter, cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (the juice of a medium sized orange is about 1/4 cup)
• 3/4 cup vegan milk

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift your flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a large bowl.

Sifting the dry ingredients together

Grate your orange peel. I used a medium-sized orange and it yielded me approximately 1 tablespoon of orange zest. Also this grater is awesome.

Getting my grated orange peel

Mix the orange peel with your sifted ingredients.

Mixing orange zest with the sifted dry ingredients

Add your vegan butter and mix together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse meal. You can probably also use a pastry cutter if you do not want to mix with your hands.

Mixing the vegan butter with your dry ingredients

If you haven’t already, squeeze your fresh orange juice.

Fresh orange juice

Mix the orange juice and vegan milk together, then gradually pour it into your mixture, tossing with a fork until moist clumps form.

Mixing together the wet and dry ingredients

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead it briefly to mix the dough well (about four turns). Form the dough into a circle, about 1/2 inch thick.

Nearly there...

Take a knife and cut into 8 wedges. Alternatively, you can use a biscuit cutter to cut several round pieces. Place the scones about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.

Cutting the orange scones

Bake in your preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until the tops of the scones are golden brown.

Vegan scones fresh out of the oven

After taking the scones out of the oven, let them sit on their baking sheet for about 10 minutes. You can then serve them warm or at room temperature. I recommend using vegan clotted cream as a topping or they are delicious on their own.

Also, while I am not a huge fan of cranberries, I do think that these would taste really nice with some cranberries and/or some slivered almonds mixed in. Or instead of orange zest and juice, consider lemon zest and juice. Be creative – you’re sure to come up with some really fantastic variations.

Vegan orange scones

Do you ever make scones? What is your favorite kind?