dessert

Food – Veganized Desserts

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Like any other diet, a vegan diet can be complete and balanced or incomplete and unbalanced. Unfortunately, vegan eating is not a guarantee of good health. We still need to pay attention to our choices, watch our portion sizes, limit junk and processed foods, and ensure adequate intake of a few nutrients not easily available from vegan foods. How might desserts fit in a complete and balanced vegan diet?

It wasn’t so long ago that vegan desserts were viewed at best as an amusing oxymoron and at worst as some sort of gastronomic punishment. Perhaps you have not felt well after eating sweet, sugary desserts and even suffered from stomachaches or became moody and exhausted. It makes so much sense that food and your health would be related. Without dairy, eggs, and processed sugar in your diet, you can feel really good. By giving all the desserts you have loved a plant-based makeover, you can veganize desserts!

Perhaps you remember the dark days, when vegan sweets were dry and brown and tasteless. A few years ago, I would have recoiled at the thought of a vegan dessert—no butter, milk, or eggs? But sometime in the last few years, that began to change. The reasons include everything from a growing awareness of organic, healthy eating to the rising number of people diagnosed with food allergies every year (the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network estimates that some 12 million Americans have food allergies) to advances in vegan baking techniques and aesthetics.

Now everyone with a real sweet tooth, including those who are lactose or gluten intolerant, reducing cholesterol, or simply prefer healthy, natural ingredients without sacrificing taste, truly can have their cake and eat it, too. One thing remains constant—if you want to sell someone on vegan dessert, it has to be delicious.

Not only do vegan desserts taste good and, yes, sometimes even better than their dairy-filled counterparts, but you probably won’t even know that what you’re eating is vegan unless someone tells you. You simply need to create the vegan desserts by translating conventional, non-vegan recipes and shun popular dairy-free substitutes like egg replacers in favor of ingredients like bananas and sweet potatoes (both of which replicate the thick moisture of eggs).

Baking Without Eggs

Applesauce: Add 1/4 cup in place of one egg. Holds things together and adds moisture. But to help things rise, might need to add more baking powder (about 1/2 teaspoon).

Banana: Use 1/2 banana, mashed, for one egg in sweet baked goods. Also add about 1/2 teaspoon extra baking soda.

Tofu: Use about 1/4 cup mashed silken tofu for one egg. Also add 1/4–1/2 teaspoon extra baking powder.

Prune Puree: Puree your own, purchase pureed prunes, or even use baby food prunes. Use 1/4 cup prunes plus 1/2 teaspoon extra baking powder for one egg.

Baking Powder: Add an extra 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 2 Tablespoons extra liquid to replace one egg.

Flaxseed: Grind 3 Tablespoons flaxseed to a very fine powder. Add 1/2 cup water and blend until mixture becomes thick. Use to replace two or three eggs.

Powdered Egg Replacer: A boxed powder mix available in natural foods stores. Just blend with water to replace eggs in a recipe.

Recipe – Cherry-Raspberry Buckle

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Buckles are a traditional fruit-studded dessert that’s like a soft, moist cake. This recipe uses a combination of cherries and raspberries, but try any fruit combination that sounds good to you. Just don’t exceed the total of 3 cups fruit—too much fruit will make the cake too wet.

1 ½ cups white whole-wheat flour

½ cup granulated sugar

2 tsp. baking powder (aluminum free)

1 egg replacer

½ tsp. ground cardamom

1 tsp. vanilla extract

¼ tsp. salt

1 ½ cups halved pitted sweet cherries

½ cup soy milk

1 ½ cups raspberries

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

½ cups light olive oil

2 tsp. raw cane sugar

2 Tbsp. sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat a 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Whisk flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt in a large bowl. Whisk milk, applesauce, oil, granulated sugar, egg replacer and vanilla in a medium bowl until blended. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold until blended. Sprinkle berries and cherries on top and fold just until blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with almonds and raw sugar (if using).

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs, 45 to 55 minutes. Let cool for about 30 minutes before serving.

*Be mindful that this is a dessert and should be eaten in moderation.

Recipe – Raspberry-Vanilla “Ice Cream” Sandwiches

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Recipe
Raspberry–Vanilla “Ice Cream” Sandwiches
2 cups cashews 2 pinches salt
2 cups water 2 ½ Tbsp. melted coconut oil
½ cup maple syrup 1 ½ tsp. ground cardamom
1 ½ Tbsp. vanilla extract 2 cups raspberries, lightly mashed
Seeds of one vanilla bean
Brownie Crust
2 cups almonds 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Medjool dates 2/3 cup walnuts
1 ½ cups raisins 2 pinches salt
½ cup carob powder 1 ½ tsp. water
Prepare the “ice cream”: In a high speed blender, blend the cashews, water, maple syrup, vanilla extract and scraped insides of the vanilla bean until completely smooth. Add the salt and coconut oil and blend to incorporate. Chill the liquid in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours. Process the chilled, thick cream in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Prepare the brownies: Grind the almonds into flour in a food processor. Add the dates and raisins. Process until they are completely broken down. Add the remaining ingredients and process to combine. Press half of the dough into an 8–inch–square pan. Set aside remaining dough and refrigerate until ready to use.

Assemble the sandwiches: Once the “ice cream” is done churning (the consistency will be like soft-serve ice cream), mix in the cardamom. Then, gently mix in the raspberries, taking care not to overmix or the berries’ color will bleed. Spread the “ice cream” evenly over the brownie, working quickly to prevent melting. Immediately transfer to the freezer until frozen, at least 6 hours. Once frozen, firmly press the other half of the brownie dough on top. Cut into 1 ½ x 2 ½-inch bars. Store in freezer until ready to enjoy. Makes 15 servings.

 

Food – Rah Rah – Raw Desserts!

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Your foray into the tasty genre of raw desserts may begin as a fluke, as one lady learned as she was preparing to host a dinner. The morning of this event, her oven and stove malfunctioned.

While she was able to prepare dinner on the grill, dessert posed a problem. Instead of making a peach-blueberry crumble, she decided to marinate peaches in fresh orange juice and serve them with a sprinkle of sweetened nuts and a dollop of cashew crème, made by blending cashews with maple syrup, vanilla and sea salt in her Vita-mix blending machine.

From this experience she learned that raw desserts, often defined as food prepared with whole-food ingredients in their natural state (nothing is heated above 118°F, to preserve nutritional value), can be just as delicious and elegant as traditional desserts—and they can be a lot better health-wise.

“When it comes to ingredients in the raw desserts repertoire, nuts take center stage. Typically ground in a food processor to create crusts for cookies, cakes and bars, they are also blended to form a base for ice creams, puddings and creams, giving them that smooth, buttery consistency often found in dairy-based desserts.

“Other mainstay ingredients are coconut oil, coconut butter (a creamy paste made from dried, ground coconut meat) and nut butters. For sweetness, unrefined favorites include fresh fruit purées, raisins, Medjool dates, coconut nectar, coconut sugar, stevia and maple syrup. The boiled sap of maple trees, while technically not “raw,” is often used because it is minimally processed; contains manganese, zinc and other minerals; and has a distinct, irreplaceable flavor.

“Any style of dessert, whether raw or cooked, wouldn’t be complete without chocolate. Whole-food forms of chocolate include cacao nibs, cacao butter and cacao powder.” Carob chips or carob powder may be used in raw recipes as a chocolate substitute.

“The technique of making raw desserts is fairly easy. Ingredients quickly come together in a food processor or high–speed blender, and are then set aside in the fridge or freezer.” Since nothing is baked, it is the great flavor of the natural ingredients that makes these healthful treats taste delicious. The Costco Connection, August 2015, E-Commerce & Publishing, Costco Wholesale Corporation, Seattle, Washington.

Recipe
Raspberry–Vanilla “Ice Cream” Sandwiches
2 cups cashews 2 pinches salt
2 cups water 2 ½ Tbsp. melted coconut oil
½ cup maple syrup 1 ½ tsp. ground cardamom
1 ½ Tbsp. vanilla extract 2 cups raspberries, lightly mashed
Seeds of one vanilla bean
Brownie Crust
2 cups almonds 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Medjool dates 2/3 cup walnuts
1 ½ cups raisins 2 pinches salt
½ cup carob powder 1 ½ tsp. water
Prepare the “ice cream”: In a high speed blender, blend the cashews, water, maple syrup, vanilla extract and scraped insides of the vanilla bean until completely smooth. Add the salt and coconut oil and blend to incorporate. Chill the liquid in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours. Process the chilled, thick cream in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Prepare the brownies: Grind the almonds into flour in a food processor. Add the dates and raisins. Process until they are completely broken down. Add the remaining ingredients and process to combine. Press half of the dough into an 8–inch–square pan. Set aside remaining dough and refrigerate until ready to use.

Assemble the sandwiches: Once the “ice cream” is done churning (the consistency will be like soft-serve ice cream), mix in the cardamom. Then, gently mix in the raspberries, taking care not to overmix or the berries’ color will bleed. Spread the “ice cream” evenly over the brownie, working quickly to prevent melting. Immediately transfer to the freezer until frozen, at least 6 hours. Once frozen, firmly press the other half of the brownie dough on top. Cut into 1 ½ x 2 ½-inch bars. Store in freezer until ready to enjoy. Makes 15 servings.