Fondue and fudge

This recipe works well both as fondue (while hot) and a soft fudge (while cold).

• ¼ cup margarine
• 225 grams dark chocolate
• ½ tbsp flour
• ½ cup corn syrup
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp soy milk

1. Melt the chocolate and liquids in a double boiler.
2. Sift in the flour to thicken the mixture up.

Chocolate oatmeal cups

Sometimes a recipe doesn’t turn out the way you’d expect. I have this one for oatmeal cookies that’s always turned out much flatter than I’d like. Instead of putting them on a cookie sheet, I tried using a muffin sheet such that they might hold their shape a little better. Little did I know that they’d puff up and collapse, creating chocolate oatmeal cups. Fantastic.

Ingredients

• ½ cup margarine
• 1 cup dry sweetener
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 “egg” (I’m using Ener-G)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup rolled oats
• ¼ cup cocoa
• ½ cup flour

Method

1. Like with all cookie recipes, mix the wet, sift together the dry, combine.
2. Bake in a muffin tray at 350°F for 10 minutes.
3. Let them cool down before putting them in the freezer for at least an hour.
4. Fill with anything: jam, ice cream, peanut butter, etc.

Sesame ginger cookies

The following recipe comes from The Veganomicon, my newest of cookbooks.

Dry ingredients

• 2¼ cups flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Wet ingredients

• ½ cup vegetable shortening
• ½ cup chunky peanut butter
• ¼ cup brown rice syrup
• 1¼ cups sugar
• ½ cup soy milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp almond extract

Additional ingredients

• 5 oz. candied ginger, diced finely
• ⅓ cup sesame seeds

Method

1. Sift together the dry ingredients in one bowl.
2. Beat the wet ingredients in another until smooth.
3. Add the dry to the wet.
4. Mix in the candied ginger.
5. Roll small balls of batter first in the sesame seeds, then in some extra sugar before placing on a cookie sheet.
6. Bake at 350°F for 13 minutes.

Pumpkin cheesecake cupcake

Cheesecupcake? Cupcheesecake? Whatever. Delicious. The recipe is loosely based off of the pumpkin tofu cheesecake from La Dolce Vegan, but with necessary substitutions based on ingredient scarcity.

Ingredients

• 425g firm tofu and 300g silken tofu (I was short and used 350g firm tofu and an 8oz tub of Tofutti creamcheese)
• 1¼ cups sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin purée
• ¼ cup flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp maple extract (I used about 2 tbsp maple syrup)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground ginger (I doubled this as I love ginger)
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• 1 tbsp maple syrup (Omitted as per above)

The crust was just graham cracker crumbs with a bit of melted margarine and sugar.

Method

1. In a set of about 8 ramekins, crumble the crust into the corners, forming a thin bottom and a reasonable ring around the outside.
2. Blend the above ingredients (wet first, then dry) and pour the smooth mixture into the ramekins, on top of the crumble crust
3. If desired, sprinkle some crumbled pecans, sugar and cinnamon on top. Drizzle some maple syrup if you’d like too. It’s not necessary, but they spice up an otherwise bland surface.
4. Bake for 75 minutes at 150°C then let cool overnight in the fridge.

Pumpkin pie

I got this recipe from La Dolce Vegan and tried it out on family a few days ago. It worked so well I thought I’d pass it along to others.

Pie crust

• 2 cups pastry flour
• 1 tsp salt
• ¾ cup margarine
• ¼ cup soy milk

1. Sift the flour and salt together.
2. Add the margarine and mix together until it becomes a coarse meal.
3. Add the milk in and mix until a dough forms.
4. Roll into a ball and refrigerate for at least an hour.
5. Roll it out into pie shell.

Filling

• 400 ml pumpkin purée
• ½ cup soy milk
• ½ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp allspice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Mix the milk and syrup together and slowly add the cornstarch, whisking if necessary.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
3. Pour the mixture into the pie crust.

Topping

• ¼ cup walnuts
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup flour
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp margarine

1. Crumble the walnuts as fine as you can. The dustier the better.
2. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix well.
3. Add the margarine in and combine.
4. Sprinkle on top of the pie evenly.
5. Bake at 375°F for 40-45 minutes. Done!

Peanut butter chocolate pie

• 2 blocks of silken tofu
• 12 oz of chocolate, double-boiled
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 pie crust

Blend the tofu, chocolate, maple syrup and vanilla. Spread the peanut butter in the pie crust. Pour the mixture on top and let it sit in your freezer for about an hour or two. Oh yeah.

Chocolate peanut butter cake

I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen via Reddit some time ago. I’m a big fan of any combination of peanut butter and chocolate, so this recipe goes over quite well in my books.

The recipe originally called for a chocolate glaze on top of the icing, but that takes so much time and it’s just way more sugar than I’m willing to indulge in. Shaved dark chocolate on top does fairly well in stead.

Cake

• 2 cups flour (cake or all-purpose will do fine)
• 2½ cups sugar
• ¾ cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup “sour cream” (Tofutti’s probably the best option)
• 1½ cups water
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 “eggs” (dry egg replacer works well)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. Mix the dry items together
3. Add in the wet items in the above order (although I doubt that really matters)
4. Pour into whatever forms you’d like (e.g. cupcake) and bake for until toothpicked (~35 minutes or so)
5. Chill in the fridge for an hour or so before icing

Icing

• 5 oz. “cream cheese” (again, Tofutti does the best job I’ve found)
• 2 oz. margarine
• ⅓ cup peanut butter
• 2 cups icing sugar

1. Mix the wets together until creamy.
2. Slowly add in the icing sugar, being careful to avoid lumps if at all possible.

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

I find that most cookie recipes follow the exact same set of instructions and this one is no different. I suppose that’s why cookies are so common; They’re incredibly easy to make. Well, that and they’re delicious.

Recipe

• ½ cup margarine
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 “egg” (maybe half a banana, but I haven’t tried yet)
• 3 tbsp water
• 2 cups flour
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt

1. Mix the wet ingredients together.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in.
3. Scoop out little discs onto a cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 350°F for about 9 minutes.
5. Let cool (and perhaps sprinkle with cinnamon).

Vínarterta

This Icelandic recipe is a prune-based layer cake of awesome. I learned how to make it with icing, but found that it’s simpler and tastier without. Go ahead and double the almond extract and the cardamom if you enjoy these flavours. It’s twice as tasty that way.

Batter

• ¾ cup “butter”
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 “eggs” (banana or powdered replacer works fine here)
• 1 tsp. ground cardamom
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 tbsp. water
• 5 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder

Filling

• 1½ lbs prunes
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. vanilla
• ½ tsp. cinnamon

Method

1. Turn the batter into dough. Cream the “butter” and sugar, add in the “eggs”, then the cardamom, vanilla, almond and water. Once it’s all beaten together, add in the flour and baking powder (pre-sifted). Add the “eggs” a bit at a time, beating after each addition.
2. Make the cake layers Roll out the dough on a floured surface and make 10 circles wide and thin. Bake each at 375°F for 10-15 minutes or until golden.
3. Cook the filling Cover prunes with water in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil until they’re soft. Drain the prunes, remove the pits and puree them in a blender (mashing’ll work too). Put the prunes back in the saucepan and the remaining filling ingredients. Boil and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Let it cool until you can touch it.
4. Combine into 2 cakes. Spread an equal amount of filling on each of 4 layers, then stack 5 layers to make a cake, using one of the unfilled layers as the top layer. Repeat with the other cake. Cover them with waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 2 days before cutting.

Mint chocolate fudge

I have accomplished what I once thought was only a myth: I have successfully created vegan fudge. ‘Course, I had a little help from my newest cookbook, La Dolce Vegan.

• 1¼ cups sugar
• ⅓ cup “milk”
• 2 tbsp margarine
• ½ tsp salt
• ¾ cup chocolate chips
• 1 tsp mint extract

Lightly oil a 9-inch loaf pan and set aside. In a medium pot on high heat, stir together the sugar and “milk” until it reaches a boil. Stop stirring and allow to reach 235°F (115°C) then remove from heat. Add the margarine, salt, chocolate chips and mint extract. Stir together vigourously until smooth. Pour into loaf pan and refrigerate for at least an hour before removing from loaf pan and cutting into chunks.