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Posts Tagged ‘dessert’

Friday Favorites and Mocha Fudgesicles.

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on February 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

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I am SO happy it is Friday! It’s week two of the new school year and waking up early again is hitting me hard. I’ve been in grumpy zombie mode all week. I’ve wanted nothing but a serious nap. I went to bed one night at 9:30 and I still can’t shake it! This weekend I will be lounging in bed late every morning and soaking up the laziness! I think I may also work on some Valentine’s Recipes and check out Wolf of Wall Street. Has anyone seen it? Thoughts?

ok, Friday Favorites:

New Music: New Taking Back Sunday (duh!):

Favorite new exfoliant: Lush‘s Let the Good Times Roll. This was one of my Sydney Lush purchases and I can’t get enough of it. It smells amazing, like caramel popcorn, and leaves my skin so soft. The lady at Lush told me to use it every other day or every three days. It nearly kills me not to use it every night. Ob-sessed!  I think it’s seasonal, though :/

Picture from Lush.com

Picture from Lush.com

Favorite New Make-up: Garnier’s BB cream. I’m not going to get into a big make-up rant because I sound like a commercial. I will say getting up early, working with kids and living in a sunny, hot climate has resulted in me almost never wearing makeup during the day. When I do, I wanted something much lighter and gentler on my skin. This meets all those requirements. Plus, my skin actually looks better after I wear it. True story. Downside- it’s not all natural. Leave a comment below if you have a good all natural foundation you use.

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Favorite Beverage: Boost’s King William Smoothy. It’s just cold, liquid chocolate. Perfect thing to kick my chocolate cravings. To make vegan, I switched the milk for soy milk and the yogurt for sorbet. In this case, I’m pretending all chocolate is vegan. I’m the worst vegan ever.

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Favorite Treat: Popsicles. When I can’t afford the above smoothie, I reach for these. It’s been hot here and I’ve been on a cold treat kick. I made these fudgesicles a few weeks ago and had to force myself to keep them to a snack. A hot meal for lunch and dinner? Nah, bring on the frozen chocolate!

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Mocha Fudgesicles
slightly altered from Take A Mega Bite

Ingredients:

  • 1 (14 oz) can full fat coconut milk
  • 3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips or vegan chocolate
  • 1 T instant espresso or 2 T instant coffee
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 t vanilla
  • 1/2 T- 1 T sugar, depending on the chocolate used (my chocolate chips were sweet enough so I used 1/2T)

Place the coconut milk, chocolate, and espresso in a saucepan and heat until chocolate is mostly melted. Set aside for 5 minutes for the coffee to steep. Stir in salt, vanilla, and sugar. Taste and add more sugar to taste. Pour into popsicle mold and freeze for a few hours or over night.

If you do not have popsicle molds (like myself), pour into small paper or plastic cups, cover with tin foil and poke your popsicle stick through the tin foil. Freeze for a few hours or over night.

When ready to eat, run the mold under warm water. If you pull a stick out sans pop just run it under water and place back in the popsicle to freeze.

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These were so creamy and delicious. I definitely hoarded them from the children because I didn’t want to share. I mean… because they don’t need the caffeine. yeah…we’ll go with that.

Now, what are your weekend plans?

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Vegan Brownie Cups aka How to Entertain a 5 Year Old For 30 Minutes

Posted in Recipes, tagged , on October 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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Hello all!

I am officially reporting to you from Australia, the land of kangaroos, koalas and no halloween. This first week or so has been interesting!

I will be staying for 6 months in Toowoomba, Queensland and nannying for a family with three kids- 12, 11 and 5. Toowoomba is about 1 and a half from Brisbane and north of Sydney. So far, all is going well.

toowoomba map 2

I have managed to drive on the opposite side of the road on the opposite side of the car without killing anyone. I’ve been to trivia with a few Aussies where I woefully let the team down by answering every question about American presidents wrong and learned a little about AFL (Australian Football League). See a picture of their field below. All I can say is it sure ain’t like the NFL! I also learned that some slang for the male genitalia is Doodle, which I find hilarious, and Plum. This came up in casual conversation, I swear.

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I also managed to find the only organic food market and place that serves vegan food. I found this on Day 1 and have already eaten there twice. It also has a juice bar. It also makes Whole Foods prepared food section look cheap. So I don’t think this will be a regular habit but it is nice to have at least one go-to vegan eatery.

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As for vegan eats, it has not been easy! I asked for no cheese on my pizza at trivia and they told me no changes were allowed. I do my best.

Anyway, I thought my first week would be a transition week but on the second or third day in, the 5 year old girl ended up having to stay home due to several nose bleeds. Which meant I had the fun of entertaining her all day while not knowing a lot about her. Also, without any sort of crafty, artsy materials. No crayons, no coloring books, no nothing! We also had the unfortunate situation of her being out of school because her nose kept bleed but she felt fine! So by noon, she was bouncing around the house full of energy when she was supposed to be taking it easy. I was about to throw in the towel and take her to a park when her nose started to bleed again.

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After we cleaned her up, I became desperate. If I heard the words “I’m booooooored”  one more time I would cry (which is crazy cause I had successfully kept her relatively busy to this point). So I turned to the kitchen! Cause nothing is more fun then making a mess with flour and eating raw (vegan) batter!

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Hence, the vegan brownie cups. It earned me 30 whole minutes of quality entertainment. hallelujah!

Vegan Brownie Cups
from All Recipes
makes 16

  • 2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 2 c.  white sugar
  • 3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 c. water
  • 1 c. vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used 1 tsp vanilla paste which is my new favorite thing)
  • chocolate chips for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325  degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Pour in water, vegetable oil and vanilla; mix until well blended.

Divide evenly into 16 cupcake liners. Top with chocolate chips, if you are using them. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

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These definitely came out more cake-like then fudge-y brownie-like. This has been my constant issue with vegan brownies. The texture is never that of a fudge-y brownie. They are either too fudge-y or too cake-y. These were so tasty and easy to make though that I don’t care. I was able to make them with a 5 year old with the ingredients that were already on hand, no weird flour or ingredients. My pantry is no longer stocked with 8 kinds of flours nor do I want to buy said flour when I know I’m leaving in 6 months, so this simple recipe was perfect.

Also, it was really, really yummy! No one in the family knew it was vegan and that is perfectly ok with me.

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Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go pin some ideas for rainy day/stuck in the house activities on pinterest because I don’t think the mom I’m working for would appreciate baked goods every time the kids are bored! Though, I’m pretty sure the kids  wouldn’t mind.

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Peach Cornmeal Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , on September 12, 2013| 1 Comment »

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I was planning to post a recipe for, you know, real food, no dessert/breakfast food, but this recipe actually came about out of necessity. My parents rolled into Boston Sunday with 1. boots which I mistakenly packed when I was moving locations. I can’t be in fall-like weather without boots, obviously! 2. a brown bag full of peaches fresh from my Dad’s trees. I’ve been waiting FOR-EVER for fresh fruit from my Dad’s trees and 3. pudding shots. Yeap, my mom made pudding shots for a concert and I got the extras. But not just any pudding shots- cupcake pudding shots. Let’s just say I’ve been having “shots” of cake vodka at really weird times of the day and it’s been glorious!

But back to the peaches! So, back in the day when I was in 1st-grade-ish and we were living in MA, my Dad planted some apple trees and I was stoked! Even at 1st-grade-ish, I loved me some fresh picked apples. But then we moved. To a house on the golf course. Down south. There wasn’t any space for gardening and I was bummed. BUT, then we moved back up north and my Dad plopped a few more fruit trees in the ground and I was stoked all over again! “4 years”, he told me. “You’ll have fresh apples by the time you graduate high school”. Then, “well…ok. Definitely by the time you graduate college”.

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My college graduation was over 5 years ago (Oh My God! I’m so old!!) and the fresh fruit is just rolling in now. It’s not apples but I’m not complaining because these peaches are amazing! I’ve had about 3 today and the only reason I’m sharing with my roommates is because there were A LOT of peaches in the bag Dad brought me. I mean, clearly he must have felt guilty after the 9 years of promising me fresh-from-the-tree fruit. Clearly! 😉

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Peach Cornmeal Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze
from The Frosted Vegan

For the Cake:

  • 1 1/4 c. cornmeal
  • 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking power
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/3 c. agave nectar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 3/4 c. non-dairy milk
  • 1/2 c. fresh peach jam (or 1 peach, pureed)*
  • 1-2 peaches, sliced

For the glaze:

  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1/4 c. coconut milk

* I used 1/2 cup of peach jam that my mom’s friend, Lu, made with my Dad’s peaches. I have not tried the 1 peach pureed.

To prepare the cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a cake pan and set aside.
  2. Combine the cornmeal, whole wheat flour,  salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir until combined. Add in vanilla, apple cider vinegar, agave nectar, non dairy milk, and peach jam (or pureed peach). Stir until dry ingredients are combined with wet ingredients. Pour batter into greased cake pan.
  3. Arrange sliced peaches on the top.
  4. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until knife inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Poke 10 holes in the top of the cake, scattered throughout.

To make the glaze:

  1. Combine brown sugar and coconut milk in small saucepan over medium heat. Continuously stir sugar mixture until brown sugar has dissolved. Pour glaze over cake.

Store covered in refrigerator for up to 3 days. Yields 8 slices.

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I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe. Cornbread and peaches are not two of my favorite foods and wouldn’t be something that I would normally choose to eat. This cake though is delicious. It’s not super sweet so you could definitely serve it along side your coffee or save it for dessert and serve it warm with some vanilla ice cream. It’s very moist and the glaze on top is oh-my-gosh-I-could-eat-this-with-a-spoon good. I would recommend making extras and putting in on ice cream, or pancakes, or oatmeal, or french toast, or basically anything that allows you to consume it regularly. You won’t be sorry!

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I know I’m making peach cakes this week but don’t be surprised if I start whipping out the fall recipes next week. You’ve been warned!

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Strawberry Macaroons

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , on June 28, 2013| 3 Comments »

Happy summer, everyone!

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Know how I know it’s summer?

It’s not the sweltering humidity that keeps me up at night. It’s not the fact that Boston is blessedly free of a ginormous number of students. And it’s not that the sun is blinding me at 5am because I’m faced with that weird dilemma of keeping the curtains open so I can actually feel the fresh air my fan is blowing in.

Nope. It’s that I’m crazy, insanely, busy! What is it about summer that makes our calendars fill up and has us going non-stop?

Anyway, that would be the reason that I haven’t posted anything in, like, 2 weeks!! And by 2 weeks, I just checked and actually mean 3! Wowza!

What sucks is that I’ve been making some pretty healthy and yummy summer meals that I’ve been wanting to share with you. With that said, you may find this blog relaxing a little more in the coming weeks. In an attempt to get some recipes up and keep on top of things, I may trade the staged, somewhat-edited pictures for cellphone, even-less-edited pictures, making this more of a food journal/blog thing. It’s just a thought. We’ll see where the summer takes us. But if the last few weeks are any indication, it’s going to be taking me to the pool/beach/bars/cookouts/social events and those places aren’t always update-your-blog friendly. So bear with me if things start to become a little more casual around here.

With that said, I did manage to get my crap together for Friday favorites, which ironically, is one of the harder posts to do since I have to pay attention to what I have been enjoying the past week (or three in this case!)

Favorite activity: lounging on the deck with friends and watching the storms come in

porch loungin storm watchin

Favorite beverage: a nice cold beer. My favorite lately has been Shock Tops Raspberry Wheat

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Favorite music (you knew it was coming!): Taking Back Sunday’s new acoustic cd. I know- it’s kind of a cop out since over the years, they’ve released some of these songs live SO many times AND they didn’t put the Ballad of Sal Villanueva. But it’s TBS. I can’t help myself

Favorite read, (definitely wouldn’t qualify as “beach read” I don’t think): Game of Thrones. So…I’m caught up. Watched all the seasons. Ranted to my one friend who watches it. Was left frustrated because seriously, how is one supposed to wait a whole year for new season?! So I picked up the third book, where the series left off, and just started reading the bloody thing! Image and book can be purchased from herestorm of thrones

and last but not least, Favorite summer produce: Fresh strawberries. OMG. SO good. I can’t stop putting them in everything!

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And this is where todays recipe comes in. Strawberry macaroons! It doesn’t have fresh strawberries but it does hit the spot without rotting nearly as quickly as the fresh ones.

Strawberry Macaroons
by Tessa the Domestic Diva

makes between 20-24

Ingredients
  • 2 cups unsweetened grate coconut
  • ½ cup coconut oil
  • 1 bag freeze dried strawberries or raspberries (1.2 ounces), (I found mine at Whole Foods. Also available at Trader Joes and online
  • 3-4 tablespoons of maple syrup, honey, or coconut nectar, to taste
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, plus an added vanilla bean scraped (optional)
  • ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor.
  2. Process the ingredients for 2-3 minutes until the shredded coconut beings to break down. Depending on how textured you like it, as long as the ingredients are well incorporated, the will hold together well.
  3. Drop the batter, about 2-3 teaspoons worth onto a lined cookie sheet. If you find that the ingredients aren’t sticking together easily (mine didn’t), place them in the fridge to harden a bit. They will be more moldable once chilled a bit
  4. Place in the fridge or freezer to harden for 10-20 minutes.
  5. Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

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I find that once these have been chilled, you can keep them at room temperature for a bit without them melting all over the place, which is nice. I wouldn’t leave them in the sun or anything though.

These little things are light and not too sweet, two things I love when making dessert for the summer. Plus, they are no bake, which is huge! My house is a sauna as it is. No need to crank the oven to 350 also!

What are some things you’re looking forward to this summer? I have some summer concerts I’m pumped for! Also, lots and lots of relaxation (hopefully!)

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Coconut Cupcakes with Melted Chocolate Frosting

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , on June 6, 2013| 1 Comment »

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Guys…

I have a problem. (And it’s not that I ate about 800 of these cupcakes in one day.)

It’s hard to admit but, you know, I just have to come clean.

*deep breath* ok. here we go…

I’m addicted to the song Cruise by Florida Georgia Line. Like, addicted.

UGH! It’s just so damn catchy. I’m currently watching the CMT awards live on my laptop, which is literally slowing everything down to a crawl, in anticipation of seeing the song live. If I’m lucky and the Gods are smiling down on me tonight, Nelly will make a guest appearance. I mean, Ed Sheeran and Lenny Kravitz made appearances so why not Nelly??

I mean…I’m also watching it for Kirsten Bell, cause she’s awesome!

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psst…but it’s really for Cruise.

Know who does NOT like Florida Georgia Line? My temp, Emily, at work who is going on week 3 of me randomly singing this at the drop of a hat. She must just love me getting this stuck in her head every other day. That’s a lie- she must have dreams at night about ending my life in an attempt to shut me up.

melindas picnic collage

Know who else isn’t amused by my recent obsession? My friend, Melinda. We had a little picnic shindig for her birthday this past weekend and amongst bubble blowing and hoola hooping, I tried to whip out this song. I pulled this up on Spotify and tried to start a little dance party but I was met with hostile looks and head shaking. Come on guys!

Thankfully, these cupcakes were greeted with a whole lot more warmth then my country singing. As they should have been. Melinda requested them specifically for her birthday!

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Vegan Coconut Cake

cakes recipes first used in my almond joy cake balls; adapted from Vegan Thymes

Makes approximately 2.5 dozen cupcakes

  • 3 sticks unsalted vegetable margerine, room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 5 Ener-G “Eggs” (or the egg replacer of your choice equivalent to 5 eggs)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract (*this is mandatory–it really makes the cake that much better!)
  • 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (I have used the Coconut milk that comes in a carton in the refrigerated milk section and Light Coconut Milk from a can. Both work great. I think I’m partial to the light coconut milk from the can. I have not tried the full-fat version of canned coconut milk)
  • 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350.Line cupcake tins with liners.

In a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature margarine and sugar and beat on medium speed for about five minutes until the mixture is very light and very fluffy.

Next prepare the dry ingredients in a separate bowl–the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk well to combine. Set aside.

Next, mix together the egg replacer powder with the water. Now, add this to the sugar mixture and beat on medium speed for another two minutes. Add the extracts to this and mix well.

Now you add the milk and flour mixture in the following manner: first add a third of the flour and then a third of the milk to the sugar/egg mixture. Mix well after each addition–about fifteen seconds of mixing–then add another third of the flour mixture, another third of the milk and repeat this step until the flour and milk are all used.

Remove the beaters from the bowl and fold in the shredded coconut to the batter with a spoon. Don’t overmix it! (Note: if you use the canned coconut milk, your batter will be very fluffy).

Next, fill the cup cake tins 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a knife/toothpick stuck in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the cakes to cool in the pans for about 5 minutes. Move to cooling racks. Cool completely before frosting.

Melted Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
from Chow.com

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 pound vegan chocolate, finely chopped (about 1.5 cups) (I used a little more then 1.5 c. of 365 brand vegan chocolate chips)
  • 2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted nonhydrogenated margarine, at room temperature (I used Earth Balance)
  • 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 tablespoons coconut milk (I had a bit of Light Coconut milk from the can left over so I used that)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • optional: toasted coconut and toasted almonds

INSTRUCTIONS

Using a microwave or double boiler, melt the chocolate in a medium bowl; set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the margarine on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn the mixer to low, add the sugar and salt, and mix until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

With the mixer on low, gradually add the cooled melted chocolate and beat until incorporated. Stop the mixer and add the cocoa powder, coconut milk, and vanilla. Beat on low until incorporated, then beat on medium high until the frosting is airy and thoroughly mixed, about 1 minute, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

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My roommate’s friends liked the left over cupcakes, too. I found this little message waiting for me on the fridge.

cupcake love

I’d say these cupcakes are winners. Unfortunately, can’t say the same for my singing. Sooo, I’ll just leave you with a little video…

Why do I love Nelly so much in this video?! I’m so wierd…

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Crispy Treats

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on February 13, 2013| 4 Comments »

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All I want to do all day is make Valentine’s Day treats!!

I don’t know what has come over me. Half of me is like Grr! Valentine’s Day *insert bitter single person ranting about it being a commercial holiday*

BUT, the other half of me is like, But I just want to stay home all day and bake cute red and pink heart-shaped treats. And put Valentine’s Day Sprinkles on everything. And watch the Notebook while making cute Valentine’s Day cards and crying because Ryan Gosling is probably planning something cute for his real life girlfriend, Eva Mendez, aka, not me. Actually, I’ve move on (sort of)- I’m all about Ed Sheeran right now. I desperately need to get tickets to see him with Taylor Swift this summer or I may die. Not to be dramatic or anything…

Unfortunately, for my Valentine’s day- loving, Martha Stewart-wannabe side, I have that little thing called work that fills up most of my life. So instead of staying home all day and laboring over cute cupcakes with pink hearts inside, or red velvet heart-shaped pancakes, I have to find fast easy dessert that I can do in between work and my life.

Enter heart-shaped Rice Krispie hearts. Cute, easy and able to decorate with valentine’s day sprinkles. yes, please!

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Vegan Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
from A Kind Diet but Alice Silverstone; found on-line here; heart-shapes inspired by My Blessed Life

1 3/4 cups brown rice syrup
1 pinch sea salt
3/4 cup peanut butter or almond butter (Alicia Silverstone suggests all-natural, unsweetened, unsalted. I used Teddy’s which is all-natural and unsweetened. Its like Meatloaf said, “Two out of three aint bad”)
1 box brown rice crisps cereal
1 bag of vegan chocolate chips

Heat rice syrup with a pinch of salt in a saucepan over low heat. When rice syrup liquefies, add peanut butter and stir until well combined and heated through.

Pour entire box of cereal into a large bowl. Pour rice syrup mixture on top. Use your hands to incorporate everything together.

If you are cutting out shapes, line a 9 x 13 baking dish with wax paper. Press mixture into baking dish (mine fit into a 9×13 with enough left over to fill a 9×9). Wet your fingers as your press down to keep them from sticking. If you are using a cookie cutter to cut out hearts, make sure you do not make your rice krispie treats thicker then your cookie cutter. It makes it more difficult to cut. Let cool for 1 hour. Once cool, remove the wax paper from the pan and place on a clean surface (if you are just cutting into squares, just cut them in the pan). Cut out your hearts. (If you do hearts, you can roll the scraps into balls and dunk them in chocolate. I kept those for me cause they’re kind of ugly)

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave or on the stove using a double boiler (I prefer the stove-top method). Once melted, pull off heat and let cool for a minute or so. Dunk the top half of your rice krispies in the chocolate. Top with sprinkles. Let cool for 30 minutes to an hour.

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I apologize that I’m getting this recipe to you so late. I started it last night and then got distracted by the President’s speech (aka, fell asleep about 10 minutes in). BUT on the plus side, there’s only 5 ingredients and it’s super easy to make. You have PLENTY of time to pull this off before Valentine’s Day tomorrow. It would be such a cute surprise in that special someone’s lunch. Or your own!

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Tomorrow morning I will be posting one more Vday recipe (if it comes out), which is so ridiculous since you won’t have time to make it but I don’t care. I’m excited for it and who knows. Maybe you’ll have time to make it after dinner or you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day this weekend.

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Dark Chocolate Truffles

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , on February 8, 2013| 3 Comments »

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It’s Snowing!!

So, I’m not sure where you are but we here in New England are hunkered down under a snow storm. We had a snow day today and it was EXCELLENT! Know what I did? I did laundry. And I watched A LOT of Food Network. A LOT. I only get like 4 channels on my TV in my apartment so I have to take advantage when I have cable.

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So, clearly, I have to watch a million episodes of Chef’s Wanted (Ugh! I hate Anne Burrell almost as much as Sandra Lee but the show is so addicting! ) and cheesy Rom Com’s on TV (why is it that I would never pay money to see a Matthew Mcconaughey movie but when Failure to Launch or How to Lose a Guy is on, I will watch it…again…for the millionth time?).

And you know what goes really well with a lazy day inside watching Rom Com’s? Chocolate truffles! How cliche right?? But they work really well for Valentine’s Day too! They are super rich so it’s easy to limit yourself to one and it’s a much better quality then anything you would purchase on a whim at CVS or the grocery store. So, treat yourself to something special! Or treat your loved one to something special.

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Dark Chocolate Truffles
from Whole Living

  • 8 oz dark chocolate (70 percent cocoa), chopped (I used Chocolove, which I found at Whole Foods and knew I loved)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • Pinch sea salt
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder, for rolling
  • Assorted toppings: cocoa powder (for an ombre effect, use a few different brands), finely chopped nuts (pistachios, Marcona almonds, hazelnuts), toasted unsweetened shredded coconut, or confectioner’s sugar

Directions:

  1. Heat chocolate, oil, and 3 Tbsp water in a double boiler, stirring, until just melted. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and sea salt.
  2. Transfer to an 8-inch baking dish and refrigerate until mixture is set but still pliable, about 2 hours.
  3. Using a 1-inch scoop or melon baller, scoop out chocolate mixture and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Coat hands in cocoa and roll chocolate into balls. Refrigerate on parchment-lined baking sheet 10 minutes. You don’t want to eat these right out of the fridge, though. It will be pretty solid. I keep mine at room temp.

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You are really going to want to use a high-quality chocolate for this recipe. This recipe is all about the chocolate so you don’t want to use hershey’s chocolate chips for this. Splurge for the good stuff. As I mentioned above, I used Chocolove. I thought this was appropriate for a Valentine’s Day truffle. Each bar comes with a love poem. Awwww!  Their almond and sea salt dark chocolate bar is A-MAZ-ING. I could eat those things every day. And their dark chocolate bar was no disappointment. Feel free to use your favorite chocolate, though!
 
 
 
Ok, Law and Order: SVU is having a marathon. Clearly, Stabler is calling me!
 
 

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , on October 26, 2012| 4 Comments »

First off, I want to give a shout out to anyone who is making there way here from How Sweet Eats. I’m so glad you came back to check out Wicked Vegan! Even though my recipes don’t contain Jessica’s signatures (bacon, cheese, browned butter…), I promise I still have super yummy recipes!

Anyway! T-minus 5 days until Halloween and I am so excited!

Now, if only I could get anything on my Halloween To-Do list done. Currently, I still have to:

  • Buy boots for my halloween costume
  • Buy supplies to turn said boots into rainbow-striped moonboots
  • Actually get my butt in gear and use said supplies to turn said boots into rainbow-striped moonboots
  • Decorate for party
  • Bake for party
  • make halloween cards

You know, all that super fun stuff I love to do but I just haven’t had the time or energy to actually complete. oi! Why isn’t October/Fall longer?! I need like two more week of fall awesomeness before I’m ready for Halloween.

If I could have no work for those two weeks too that would be perfect! In fact, if we could just freeze time tomorrow at noon until I get all my fun stuff done, that would be perfect!

No big deal, right??

Anyway, here is a recipe for you that would be great for your halloween get together or to help keep your sweet tooth vegan on halloween day.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
a mash up of Loveandoliveoil.com‘s truffles and How Sweet Eats‘ Pumpkin cookies

1 c. butter (2 sticks)

1/2 c. pumpkin butter (or canned pumpkin puree)

1/2 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/3 c. soy milk

2 1/2 c. flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice

1 bag of mini vegan chocolate chips (or regular chocolate chips)

little bit of vegan shortening

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice.

In a large bowl, beat butters and sugars with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 or 3 minutes. Mix in milk and vanilla.  Slowly add in flour mixture and beat on low speed until incorporated. Stir in 1 c. of chocolate chips. Cover and chill dough for 30 minutes or firm enough to handle. If you find that the dough isn’t firming in the fridge, you can put it in the freezer.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place dough in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the rest of your chocolate chips and the vegan shortening in a double boiler or the microwave ( I much prefer the double boiler). Dip dough balls in the melted chocolate. Refrigerate in an airtight container. Truffles will keep for about 2 week, if you don’t eat them before then.

These truffles are SUPER delicious but the texture is a little different from the original cookie dough truffles. The pumpkin butter makes the dough very creamy, almost like cheesecake. I liked them best frozen. It keeps them solid. Though, they absolutely do not need to be frozen. If you make them and leave them out at a party, they will be just as delicious.

Now, off to paint some hideously ugly Ugg-like boots into awesome rainbow brite boots!

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Deep Dish Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on October 4, 2012| 2 Comments »

To the tune of 50 cents- In Da Club

“Go, Go, Go

Go, Go Wicked vegan, it’s  your birthday.

We’re gonna party like it’s  your birthday.

We’re gonna make vegan cake like it’s your birthday

And you know we don’t give a F**k cause it’s your birthday!

You can find me in the kitchen

Baking cake thats bitchen

Look readers I got the pumpkin

if you wanna autumn snack

So good with no double chin,

you’re gonna think it’s wack

Recipe is below if you into cakes that

don’t blow.”

…sorry… that was unnecessary… but I mean, clearly I missed my calling as a rapper. Clearly!

ANYWAYS. It’s Wicked Vegan’s 1 year birthday! You know… incase you didn’t get that from my rap above. I want to thank everyone who checked out my little blog this year. Every person who visited was SO appreciated. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy knowing someone read my ramblings.

So to celebrate, I made this delicious autumn cake/cookie to share with you. Enjoy!

Deep Dish Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie
from Chocolate Covered Katie

  • 2 cans white beans or garbanzos (drained and rinsed) (I used garbanzos)
  • 1 cup quick oats
  • 1/4 cup pureed pumpkin (or butternut squash or sweet potato)
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil or coconut oil
  • 1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar or coconut sugar
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Blend everything (except the chips) very well in a food processor (NOT a blender). Blend until it’s super-smooth. Mix in chips, and pour into a pan. (I used a 10-inch springform pan, but you can use a smaller pan if you want a really deep-dish pie.) Cook at 350F for 35 minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

This recipe is very similar to the regular deep dish cookie cake , which as I said about 8 million times was delicious! This version is just as delicious but with a a fall twist. And we all know that I LOVE a fall twist!

Plus there is chocolate. And as I said in the last post, chocolate is must when you’re in a funk. mmmm…look how ooey, gooey that is above.

Look at me Eek plate. Isn’t it adorable?

Keep an eye out for my  upcoming rap CD. It’s called “White Vegan Girls Shouldn’t Rap”.

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Single Serving Funfetti Cupcake

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on August 31, 2012| 1 Comment »


Guess what I discovered this week? Spotify’s radio station “The Best Emo Songs of All Time”. I’m absolutely dying right now! I was all about the emo music in high school. I used to listen to Dashboard Confession and Brand New ad nauseam. This was pre-Ipod days, though. I remember sitting on the bus (ugh, if I never have to ride another bus, I’ll die happy) with my CD player and I’d listen to whichever CD I had over and over again. I saw Get Up Kids, Ataris and MXPX live in concert and I’m pretty sure my life was complete when MXPX played GSF live. Ok…maybe I still have a rather large soft spot in my heart for emo music (and Chris Carrabba…) I clearly need to get an Iphone just so I can carry this radio station with me everywhere!

Know what else I discovered this week that has nothing to do with my questionable taste in music (I actually made a Spotify playlist with Drake, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift…who am I?)? That this is Wicked Vegan’s 100th post!! YEAH! I was going to post a quesadilla for this post but I realized, um…a quesadilla isn’t celebratory at all. I need some sprinkles up in this joint!

Enter, the single-serving funfetti cupcake.

Single-Serving Funfetti Cupcake
from Chocolate Covered Katie
yields one cupcake

  • 3 tbsp flour (I used regular all purpose but you could use almost anything: whole wheat, pastry, spelt, etc.)
  • heaping 1/16th tsp salt
  • 1tbsp applesauce, oil, pre-melted vegan butter, or a combo (I used coconut because it’s all I had. You could definitely taste the coconut, which was delicious, just warning you)*
  • 1tbsp plus 1 tsp liquid (milk of choice, or water)
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp sprinkles (or more or less, as desired)
  • Sweetener (Try 1 tbsp sugar or 1 packet stevia. If you use liquid sweetener, cut back on the other liquid.)

*Note: CCK says “subbing all the oil in a recipe for applesauce will give you a gummier result. Still yummy, but much denser than your traditional cupcake with oil.”

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the ingredients and pour into an oiled (or sprayed) muffin pan. Smooth top of batter. Cook for 12-15ish minutes.

For the “frosting”, I was out of Earth Balance so a traditional butter cream was out. Plus, I wanted something fast to go with the recipe. So I just melted about an 1/8th cup of chocolate chips with a tsp of peanut butter in the microwave then swirled my cupcake in it. YUM!

 This came together so fast! I had all the ingredients and it was in the oven in within 5-10 minutes. It totally hit the spot for a fast sweet treat and the best part? You aren’t stuck with a dozen cupcakes! It’s perfect for a cheat day if you’re dieting cause you don’t have to worry about the left overs

For me? I found it perfect for when I was blasting emo music and  eating my emotions regarding my relationship limbo and uncertain future. Cupcakes make everything better. =)

You should be warned that Wicked Vegan’s 1 year birthday is coming up. As is, my birthday and the first day of fall. Expect a few more celebratory cupcakes!

Best part of this post? As I was writing this, Spotify let me know I can post a playlist on a blog. It’s like they know me! So, here’s your playlist for your single cupcake adventures!

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