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Pumpkin Pie

It is impressive how much pumpkin I have in my house right now. I have eight pumpkins on my table, and several cans of pumpkin puree. Although I am incapable of cutting pumpkin pie, I do promise this pie is worth trying. 

The flavors of pumpkin and coconut marry nicely. So this cake has a very traditional flavor, the coconut is not over powering.

1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin

1 (12 oz) can of coconut milk

2 eggs 

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I prefer to use 1/2 teaspoon, because I don't like cinnamon)

1 (9 inch) pie shell

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F

Combine the eggs, pumpkin, sugar, salt, ginger, cloves,  and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the coconut milk (don't add more then 12 oz, otherwise the pie will not set properly)

Pour the mixture into the pie shell.

Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350, and continue to bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. 

Strawberry Cake

You would not believe the number of strawberry cakes I have tried. I have been searching for the perfect strawberry cake for years; something that tasted bright, and juicy. This cake is by far the best strawberry cake I have ever had.

1 1/2 cups strained pureed strawberries
6 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp lemon juice - if the strawberries are frozen
2 1/4 cups sifted flour
1 3/4 cups white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dairy-free butter (Smart Balance with Flax works well)
Preheat oven to 350
Puree the strawberries and strain through a sieve (thaw the strawberries first if using frozen). Mix the strawberry puree with the eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Mix together wet and dry ingredients while beating in the butter.
Scoop into cupcake liners, bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.
For cake: Split batter between two 9-inch cake pans, and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
Makes 24 cupcakes, or 1 two-layer cake

Sushi Rice

Good sushi rice is all about the finesse. If you follow these steps, your sushi rice will rival any restaurants.

Ingredients
2 cups short grain rice (should yield approximately 5 cups cooked)
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon Mirin
1/2 tablespoon salt

Wash the rice:
Pour the rice in a bowl. Fill the bowl most of the way full with cold water, agitate the rice with your fingers. Drain the water, and refill bowl. Continue to wash the rice until the water stays clear.
Transfer the rice into the rice maker (or pot), and fill with water.

Rice maker instructions: Fill with water until the water comes 3/4 inch above the surface of the rice. Set the rice maker to white rice, and wait for it to finish cooking.

Instructions for a pot: Fill the pot with water until the water is 1 inch above the surface of the rice. Bring the water to a boil. Once it starts to boil, cover the pot (do not lift the lid again until after the rice has set), and turn the heat to the lowest setting for ten minutes. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat and let the rice sit for 15 minutes. 

When the rice is nearly done, mix the vinegar, sugar, Mirin, and salt in a small saucepan. Heat the mixture over low heat, to dissolve the sugar and let some of the vinegar dissipate.

The next part requires some coordination, and is easier if you can get a second person to fan the rice continuously.
Transfer the cooked rice to a clean baking pan, and spread out the warm rice. Drizzle the vinegar mixture over the rice, while fanning the mixture with a flexible cutting board, or hand fan. Once you have poured half the vinegar onto the rice, gently mix the rice using slicing motions with a spatula, while continuously fanning. Drizzle on the second half of the vinegar mixture, while fanning. Again, mix the rice while fanning. You will know you have mixed and fanned enough when the rice takes on a very shiny texture.

You're sushi rice is now ready for any application you can think of.

German Chocolate Cake

My husband's favorite cake is German Chocolate, which is great for me, as it is incredibly easy to make dairy free. I embrace the coconut flavor, and am able to make the cake without any dairy substitutes.

Cake Recipe

4 ounces baker's chocolate
8 ounces solid coconut oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2  cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, separated
1 cup canned coconut milk (save the rest of the can for the frosting)
1 tbsp white vinegar


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
Melt the chocolate.
Mix together the coconut milk and white vinegar in a cup, let sit for at least 5 minutes.
Cream together the coconut oil, vanilla, sugar and brown sugar. Add one egg yolk at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a separate bowl sift together the cake flour, baking soda, and salt.
Alternate adding the flour mixture and coconut milk mixture to the coconut oil/egg mixture. Only mix until combined.
In a separate clean dry bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the whites into the batter until well incorporated.
Pour into 2 9-inch cake pans and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
For cupcakes: scoop into 24 cupcake liners, and bake for 17 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

Frosting recipe

1 cup sugar
1 can coconut milk plus remainder of previous can
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 ounces of unsweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 cup crumbled pecans

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, coconut milk, egg yolks, coconut oil, and vanilla. Stir over medium heat constantly until thickened (about 10 minutes).
Stir in flaked coconut and pecans.
Allow the frosting to cool to room temperature, stir occasionally.

Frost your cake, or cupcakes and enjoy!

German Chocolate Oatmeal

It's my husband's birthday, and his favorite cake is German Chocolate Cake. He really deserved cake for breakfast, but instead I made this more nutritious alternative.

Ingredients:
Oatmeal
German Chocolate
Sweetened Flaked Coconut

Cook the oatmeal, and top with German Chocolate and Coconut

Buckwheat Pancake

Pancake, Singular!
Buckwheat tones down the sweetness of any topping you put on it. My favorite toppings are sliced Asian pear and maple syrup, macerated blueberries, or strawberries and bananas. I prefer to eat this as a dessert, but it makes an easy and impressive breakfast.

3 tablespoons buckwheat
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup milk alternative (hemp milk goes really well with the buckwheat)
2 tablespoons dairy free butter (I prefer Soy Free Earth Balance for this)

Preheat your oven to 400.
Melt the butter in an oven safe pan over medium heat.
Mix the buckwheat, flour, eggs, sugar, and milk. Pour the batter into the melted butter, and transfer to the oven.
Bake for 15 Minutes.
When the pancake is done, slice, and serve with your favorite topping.

Balsamic Scrambled Eggs

Vinegar prevents the eggs from turning rubbery, so even if you have not mastered the art of scrambled eggs, theses will turn out well every time. I am able to make them even before my morning coffee, which means they must be impossible to mess up.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1/2 tablespoon Italian herbs
1/2 diced onion
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
4 eggs
Sliced tomatoes
Fresh herbs for toppings

Heat the oil in a your pan. Saute the diced onion. Add your dried herbs. Pour in the vinegar, and let some of the vinegar vapor dissipate.  Add your eggs, and mix together. Once the eggs reach the consistency you like, plate and top with sliced tomatoes and fresh herbs.

Balsamic Herb Roasted Chickpeas

This is a great snack, great for hikes. It's crunchy, satisfying, and easy on the go.

1 can of chickpeas
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon dried Italian herbs
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 450
Wash the chickpeas. Mix all the ingredients in a pan so that the chickpeas are coated evenly with all the ingredients. Bake them for 30 minutes, shake the pan halfway through.

Veggie Borsht - Weeknight version

Borscht wins my heart with its vibrant color alone. I feel regal as I eat a soup the color of velvet.
This is an easy hot version, a delicious main dish for a busier night.

1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 med. onion
4 stalks of celery  3 large carrot
4 small pealed beat roots
4 large potatoes
3-5 cloves garlic
1/2 head of cabbage
14 ounces beef stock (replace with vegetable broth for a vegan version)
1/2 cup of herbs, parsley, lovage, thyme, and a bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste

Dice your onion, celery, and carrot. Saute the mirepoix in a large pot with the oil, add a pinch of salt to draw out the aromatic properties. With the remainder of the vegetables, chop and add them one at a time in the following order: beats (diced), potatoes (bite sized cubes), garlic (minced), cabbage (chopped). Once all the vegetables have been added, add the stock. Bring the soup to a low boil, and let the flavors stew together for about 15 minutes. Add the herbs a couple minutes before serving.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

5 ingredients, that's all it takes to make this fantastic whole wheat bread. Perfect as sandwich bread,  the nutty whole wheat pairs perfectly with spicy mustard, or peanut butter.

1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 cups whole wheat flour (this is approximate)

Mix the yeast, warm water, honey, and salt in a bowl. Let the bowl sit for about 5 minutes to let the yeast bloom.

Add the whole wheat flour, and knead the bread. Add flour until the dough barely comes off the sides of the bowl. You will need to really knead this bread (5 minutes of continues kneading in a mixer, more if done by hand). This will develop the gluten, and make sure the bread keeps it's structure.

Let the bread double in volume in the bowl, and then beat the bread down.

Put the bread in a greased or lined bread pan, and let the bread double in size a second time. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Let the bread cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, remove the bread from the pan, and let the bread cool completely.

Dark Chocolate Macaron Shells

Meringue is an exquisite dairy-free dessert. Although they take a little extra love to make, the results are well worth it.

Ingredients
115 g Almond Flour
15 g of cocoa powder
230 g of powdered sugar
145 g of egg whites
70 g of caster sugar

If this is your first time making macarons, I recommend going on YouTube and watching some video tutorials. This one was very helpful to me.

Sift the almond flour, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar together (repeat twice to mix thoroughly).

In a stand mixer, beat the eggs and and caster sugar on low for 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and beat for another two minutes. Increase the speed to high for 2 minutes. Add food coloring if you want and turn your mixer to ultra high (as high as it will go) for 1 minute.

Dump all the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, and fold the ingredients together. Once the mixture takes on the consistency of lava, transfer it into a piping bag (I use a gallon Ziploc, and cut off the tip).

Pipe the macarons onto pans lined with parchment paper. Each circle should be approximately 3 cm in diameter.

Slap the pans on the counter 3 times. You'll see tiny air bubbles come to the surface.

Let the cookies rest on the counter for 15 minutes. Set your oven to 300°F.

Bake for 15-17 minutes.  Remove from the oven, and let the cookies sit on the tray for 2-3 minutes. Remove the parchment from the tray and let the parchment and cookies cool for at least 20 minutes. 

You can either enjoy as is, or pair up and fill with your favorite filling. 

Try Pumpkin Caramel Dark Chocolate Macarons for an amazing Halloween treat.

Use the caramel from the Pumpkin Caramel Recipe.
Put 1/3 cup of very cold caramel in a small sandwich bag, cut off the tip.
Squeeze the bag to pipe a small amount of caramel onto a cold cookie.
Match an equal size cookie and enjoy.
Make sure to keep these cookies cold, otherwise the caramel will melt.

Vegan cheeses, not so dairy free.

My local grocery store has a section called "Vegan Cheese". Unfortunately that sign is misleading, although there are a few vegan/dairy-free, some contain dairy protein (whey/casein).

Be Careful!

Not so vegan!

Well meaning hosts may not know this fact, so please make sure to read the labels before eating.

Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette

This well rounded salad dressing can make even the simplest salad taste extravagant.

1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 cup Olive oil
4  large figs
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of mustard
1 pinch of salt
Put all the ingredients in a blender, and blend until homogenous.

Pumpkin Caramel

Autumn means pumpkins, and I am ecstatic for the opportunity to incorporate them into my recipes.

The pumpkin in this caramel gives it a warm, earthy flavor, and makes a perfect topping over brownies, toasted pecans, or baked peaches.

Though the recipe uses coconut milk, very little of the coconut flavor comes through, allowing a broader range of uses.

2 1/2 cups white sugar

2/3 cup coconut milk*

7 oz marshmallow cream

3/4 cup pureed kabocha pumpkin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional: cinnamon, pumpkin spice

*The coconut milk in this recipe must be the full fat canned type. Scoop the fatty contents off the top, avoiding the liquid contents that should have settled to the bottom.

In a saucepan, heat the coconut milk, salt, and sugar over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.

Mix in the pureed pumpkin, and bring the mixture back to a boil

Stir in the marshmallow creme, and bring back to a rolling boil. Continue boiling the mixture for 20 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, and carefully mix in the vanilla. Poor into a heat proof container, and allow the contents to cool.