The Vegan Dessert Challenge

ice-cream sandwiches

Here are two ideas for delicious vegan desserts: ice-cream sandwiches and chocolate-walnuts zucchini cake. The first one is quick and cute, perfect when you are in a rush but still want to make an impression, and the second one is rich and decadent, when you really want to make a statement.

One of the things non-vegans usually say about vegan pastry is how inferior it is to the "real thing", that what it has in good intentions, it lacks in taste. I find such statements not only unfair, but also very butter-&-lard-centric!

Chocolate Walnut Zucchini Cake

(made by Nikki and Greg)

There was an episode a couple of nights ago when my good friend Jenn -a talented cook and the sister of a celebrated pastry chef- decided to make impromptu cupcakes at a friend's house, and to make them vegan for my sake. Isn't that sweet? However, an inner voice kept prompting me to tell her to forget about it and stick to something she would normally make, because, if the attempt failed, the vegan would be blamed for spoiling everyone's pleasure!

Brittney's Strawberry-Banana-Coconut Milk Muffins

Of course, something went wrong, the kitchen did not have the right kind of chocolate, and the cupcakes turned out super blah, which, sadly, seemed to settle once and for all the case of the inferiority of vegan pastry. I did argue that another friend had made those very same cupcakes with the right kind of chocolate and they had turned out lip-smacking good, but my statement was probably attributed to my unreliable taste buds and filed under "pathetic attempt at vegan propaganda".

Vegan desserts are not inferior, just out of the Western norm where butter, dairy cream, eggs and sometimes lard prevail. Western tastebuds are just dairy-centric, that's all! When I became vegan, rather than lowering my standards, I believe I expanded my horizons. I do know for sure that butter tastes good, and so does dairy cream, and cheese: I'm French, I was raised on the best stuff! But I also know for sure that there's much more to life than this, even from a purely pleasure-based point of view. Dairy-centered folks are missing out on tastes and textures that truly deserve praise. How sad!

These were from a Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World recipe...
(the Book, the Blog) -picture by Yasmin

The only thing we can do is to convince the agnostics by blowing their minds with incredible goodness! It doesn't sound so awful, does it? (Except maybe for your waistline...)

Cooked apple and raisin deliciousness from last winter

Ice-cream sandwiches
These were my contribution to a cocktail party. I knew the homemade beverages were going to be fancy and elaborate, and served in pretty thrifted glasses. I wanted to contribute with something bite-size that would look very cute.

Ingredients
Sorbet or non-dairy ice-cream
Small-sized vegan cookies

These delicate little thing complemented the fancy beverages.
In the pitcher: Greg's Limoncello Punch.

I simply went to the store and purchased fruit-sweetened raspberry sorbet and lemon cookies. I then made the sandwiches in 10 minutes, at the party. Easy peasy!

Of course, you can also be truly amazing and make your own cookies and ice-cream...

raspberry + lemon= yum!

kinda cute...

Decadent Chocolate-Walnut Zucchini Cake

This recipe comes directly from the Post Punk Kitchen Website.

Dang! I gained three pounds just uploading the photo...

Equipment:
bundt pan, mixing bowls

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups grated, peeled, fresh zuchini
2 ripe bananas, mashed well
1 cup canola oil
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar*
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup ground walnuts
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
*I could cut a little bit of sugar...

Directions
In medium sized mixing bowl, combine zucchini, bananas, oil, and vanilla. Stir well or beat with electric mixer if you want to be fancy. In large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients except chocolate. Add wet mixture to dry, mix well and add chocolate chips. Pour into lightly greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes, until toothpick or knife inserted comes out clean. Let cool upright 15 minutes, then invert onto cooling rack. Allow to cool 30 minutes before tasting. Enjoy!

Heart-Shaped Power Bars

Look, I'm not really a Valentine's Day fanatic. I usually make sushi and have people over, coupled or non-coupled. I know it's a commercial institution more than a celebration of true love (normative love at that).
However, I chose to put Valentine's day in my food almanac (even though I believe every day should celebrate love!) I am also a bit of a cheeseball. So it's a good day to post a recipe for heart-shaped power bars.*

Just a little reminder: all those V. Day chocolates and flowers that you are supposed to buy are often grown and prepared in totally unethical conditions, and that's the very opposite of love. (Read here for chocolate, and here for flowers)

My treats were made with love, by me, and not by a child slave. The ingredients, healthy, human- and planet-friendly, were purchased at a store that guarantees the ethics of its origins. What does this mean? I get hella karma points!

Almond-Medjool Dates Power Bars
I used this recipe before, to make a raw pie crust. I simply changed the presentation and made a bunch of little hearts using a heart-shaped cookie cutter.



Ingredients
1 cup organic medjool dates (pitted)
1 cup raw almonds
1/2 tsp salt

Blend all ingredients together in food processor to form a paste (warning: it takes a while, and can be hard on your FP). Flatten paste on a flat cookie tray. Store in the fridge for 1/2 hour.
Cut with a cookie-cutter. Voilà!

Offer around and empower your loved ones!

*I am perfectly aware that power bars cannot, by definition, be heart-shaped. If you have a problem with this, just cut the paste into bars, what can I say?

Apple pie on a date-almond crust

More apple dessert? Why not? Apples are still in season, they are versatile enough to not be boring (*if* you vary their usage), and, most importantly, I got a big load for super cheap out of a box labelled "esthetically challenged", at the Hidden Star Orchard's stand of the Noe Valley's Farmers' Market.
I made an apple dessert for a friend who, like many Californians these days, is not eating wheat nor gluten.
Don't curse folks with diet restriction. They're a blessing: they force you to be creative and try out new things. Nothing like a good challenge to open new horizons! This is why I made an apple pie with a flourless crust made of dates and almonds, inspired by a raw food recipe.

prepping...
(If you want to know what the hammer is doing here, keep reading)

I couldn't bring myself to eat uncooked apples though. I prefer uncooked apples in salads, for snacks, but not desserts… When I was contemplating going all raw for the pie, I kept hearing this voice in my head saying "Raw apples for dessert: BOOOring!", and, juxtaposed, was the mental image of cooked apples, which was making my mouth water. My body had spoken...
The original raw date-almond crust idea remained, but I topped it with cooked apple chunks and raisins.

The pie, very simple and quite fast to make, containing no added sugars, ended up being super rich and delicious.

Apple pie with a date-almond crust

(for a 4x8 pan)

crust:
1 cup pitted medjool dates
1 cup raw almonds
1/2 tsp salt

topping
1 tbsp coconut oil
6 apples, in chunks
1 cup raisins
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Grind your almonds (if you fear for your food processor, start by crushing those hard nuts by hand, -I used a hammer!- and then finish them off in your machine)

Hammered almonds

Add dates (don't forget to take the pit out!).


Blend until you have a compact paste.

Remove (it's sticky!) and lay flat in your pan.

Looks like a "real" crust

Store in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Peel and core the apples, and cut them into little dice-size cubes.
In a pot, cook apple cubes in coconut oil with raisins and cinnamon, stirring regularly, until they are a little soft, but still properly shaped (about 20 minutes, depending on the apples).


Top crust with your cooked apple chunks and raisins, and put back in fridge.

This topping is delicious. My advice: make extra for later.
With all those apples, I made a big batch that I ate little by little during the week:
by golly, it got even better as days went by!

A word on almonds:
-Raw almonds: here in California, a new law says that almonds have to be sold pasteurized, which means they are no longer raw! You can only find raw almonds on a tree or imported (and probably, from small local producers -I wouldn't be surprised if there were an underground raw almonds market in California...).
I really wanted raw almonds because they carry more good nutrients, which weren't going to be destroyed by roasting or cooking since my crust was raw. I did find some at my favorite grocery store, imported from Spain. I chose to go the non-local route. In my book, sometimes, it's okay...
-Grinding the almonds: unless you have a strong machine, grinding the almonds can be hard on your food processor. My FP is small and a little sensitive, so I fed it preground almonds, which I had crushed by hand. I simply placed them in a napkin and banged on them with a hammer!

Harmless fun: crushing almonds with a hammer

I'm glad I did this because I made 2 batches and by the end, my poor little FP was really struggling (and got really hot, which probably did pasteurize my almonds after all!). You can also buy your almonds sliced or crushed, but I could not find them pre-crushed and raw, and the sliced or ground ones were also more expensive. It ended up being fun: it's very satisfying to smash something.

Apples: don’t omit to peel. I don't peel my organic fruits and veggies because the best nutrients are near the skin, or so I hear, but you really don't want the skin here.

Crust: make more, and cut into rectangles... You now have a bunch of power bars to take on your next bike ride!

Frangipane galette for a vegan Epiphany

Apple King Galette

I have a cooking almanac. That way, I can plan my cooking year and follow traditions. I started a cooking almanac not because I am a compulsive planner but because every year, I would forget a really cool holiday. I would suddenly realize "Oh! Yesterday was la Chandeleur (Candelmas)! And I forgot to make crepes!" I really wanted to share this part of my culture with my friends and family here, and there's no one in California to remind me of the French holiday food calendar, so I had to take matters into my own hands.

I am far from being a traditional person but I love following some traditions, provided they don't involve cruelty or narrow-mindedness. And if they do, I take what I like and leave the rest to make them more karma friendly.

There's not much bad karma involved in one of my favorite French tradition, the "Galette des rois", or Kings' galette, which celebrates the Christian holiday Epiphany, the day three wise men from Persia followed a star and brought exotic gifts to a baby in a barn. At least that's the fable I grew up hearing.

This is what Balthasar, Melchior and Caspar
could have brought baby J.
(And guess who just discovered a new tool on Photoshop...)

In France, the tradition is that you get together and eat a cake called a galette des rois, a kings' galette. There are two types of cakes. One is a crown-shaped brioche with dried fruits. It is typical in the South of France, and I have never had it. What I've had is what people in the Northern part of the country eat: a pie made of puff pastry and frangipane (crushed almond paste).

What those galettes have in common is a "fève", a type of bean, hidden inside the layer of frangipane. The tradition has evolved and the bean is now a tiny porcelaine figurine. But the game remains the same: whoever finds the fève in her or his slice becomes queen or king. For the serious galette des rois purists, and in order to avoid any cheating (the stakes are high...), there is another custom: the youngest of the party hides under the table and calls out, once a slice is cut and set on a plate, the name of the person who gets served next. The king or queen receives a paper crown (and gets to buy or make the galette the following year!).

Pâte sablée, frangipane, apples: my version of the traditional galette.

I am not a baker (I'm learning!) and I got intimidated by the puff pastry making. (Plus, it takes forever). I was really craving the frangipane, so I decided to make something with an almond filling. It turned out to be an apple pie on a pâte sablée (litterally: a sandy crust) with a thick filling of frangipane in between (in which I'd hide the bean!).

Crust: vegan pâte sablée
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ cup salted Earth Balance, *cold*
(or 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup+2 tablespoons cold unsalted vegan butter)
4 to 6 tablespoons ice water

Filling : vegan frangipane
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
3 tbsp Earth Balance (I like the salted version)
1/2 peeled apple, pureed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 tbsp all purpose flour

Topping
2 peeled apples, sliced

Pâte sablée: In a food processor blend or pulse together flour, sugar, salt, and Earth Balance until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 2 tablespoons ice water and toss with a fork or pulse until incorporated. Add enough remaining ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing or pulsing to incorporate, until mixture begins to form a dough. On a work surface smear dough in 3 or 4 forward motions with heel of hand to slightly develop gluten in flour and make dough easier to work with. Form dough into a ball and flatten to form a 1-inch-thick disk. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Frangipane: in the bowl of your electric mixer, cream the sugar and Earth Balance. Add the pureed apple and the vanilla extract. Mix. Add the ground almonds and mix until it forms a crumbly paste.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.

Wearing an old-fashion apron is key
in the making of a great pie.

Galette making: When the crust has chilled, place it on a lightly floured surface and roll it with a rolling pin. Fold it (so it won't break when you lift it) and transfer it into a round baking pan. Fit the dough along the bottom and sides of the pan. Spread the frangipane on the crust. Top with the apple slices.

Bake for one hour.

Once the galette is done, don't forget to hide a fève inside! Half of the pleasure comes from the game (and from the youngest guest getting under the table to call out the names, especially if he or she is an adult). If you don't have a porcelain figurine, just insert a bean in the frangipane, under a slice of apple, and make sure it doesn't show.


Apparently, people eat King Cake in New Orleans too -but for Mardi-Gras. It is crown-shaped and the fève is a plastic baby!
More info about King Cake around the world here.


Credits: I used several recipes for this pie. The crust was an adaptation from a recipe found on here, on Epicurious. The frangipane is the veganized version of a Joy of Baking recipe.