The holidays are hard on vegans. We are surrounded by gigantic turkeys, tubs of whipped cream and desserts filled with butter, milk, eggs and tons of additives. This irresistible fudge recipe is the cure to holiday dessert envy.
Bring these sweets to your family Christmas or New Years party and it will blend in with all of the other desserts - no one will ever know the difference, except you!
Psssst…it also makes a great gift!
Ingredients:
¾ cup Canned
coconut milk
2 ¾ cups Sugar
¼ cup Earth
Balance (or vegan butter)
1 cup Chocolate
Chips
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Almonds,
pecans or nut of choice (optional)
3/8 cup *Dark
Cocoa
2 TBSP *Olive
oil
*(You can substitute the cocoa and olive oil and add another
cup of chocolate chips.)
1.Use nonstick spray to coat an 8X8 pan
2.Mix Coconut milk and sugar in saucepan – stir
slowly until mixture comes to a boil.
3.Stop stirring! Lower heat and continue boiling
for 5 minutes. Mixture will turn clear and begin to get candy like after 3-4
minutes.
4.After 5 minutes, remove from heat and stir in
chocolate chips, butter and cocoa. The top should have a nice sheen to it. Mix cocoa and olive oil so cocoa is dissolved and stir into pan.
Okay, these cupcakes will satisfy any chocolate or sweet
cravings you may have. They are rich, moist, fluffy, and melt in your mouth
delicious.Not to brag too much –
but these are the best cupcakes I have ever made. I have been sick and finally had my
taste buds back and after looking through dozens of recipes, I struck out on my own and came up with this.
Warning: If you don’t like your chocolate cake to taste too
sweet, or do not enjoy actually tasting the chocolate in your cake then these
are not for you. But…If you are a chocolate lover who needs to satisfy a
monthly craving or chocolate fix of any kind then these are for you!
Cake:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar (or sweetener of choice)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chocolate almond milk
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup vegan sour cream
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1tablespoon
apple cider vinegar
1 cup dark chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a cupcake pan with nonstick spray.
In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt thoroughly.
2. Combine the chocolate almond milk, apple sauce, sour cream and vanilla in
another bowl. Use a hand mixer to blend thoroughly. (The vegan sour cream is
sometimes a little thick and needs to be mixed in well)
Create a well in the bowl with your dry ingredients and
combine your wet ingredients. Use a hand mixer to blend.
3. Scoop immediately into cupcake pan – distributing evenly and bake for 25-30
minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (if you find a spot without
chocolate chips). Be careful not to bake too long or you will get a chewy
outside layer (which does not taste bad at all) If you can wait…allow to cool
before adding frosting. If not – have at it!
4. For frosting, use your favorite flavor…whatever it might be (chocolate perhaps?!)
5. Decorate your cupcakes and ENJOY!!
Frosting
There are TONS of great frosting recipes I use – and since
none of them are my own I will direct you to www.vegweb.com
where you can find just about any recipe that has been made vegan. So you can
top this with a chocolate butter cream frosting or whatever fits your mood.
Baking Tips
Here are a couple of baking tips I picked up from the
Cupcake Queen: Christine Alexander, former owner of Fairgrounds Coffeehouse, in
Iowa City (where they have the best vegan cupcakes on earth - outside of these
of course).
1.Always preheat your oven and have your bake
ware ready ahead of time.
2.Make sure you combine your wet and dry ingredients
quickly and are ready to immediately get your dish in the oven. Once the baking
soda or baking powder combines with the wet ingredients it is activated and the amount of rise and
fluffiness is improved with quick turnaround to the oven.
3.When combining wet ingredients, always have a
rubber spatula on hand to get all of the wet ingredients mixed into the dry.
Recipes calling for a certain amount of moisture are relying on the full amount
of wet ingredients. If you have a good layer of wet ingredients in your bowl
then you are shorting your recipe by a couple of tablespoons of wet goodness!
Also, we have a new Des Moines area veg-friendly Facebook group, Des Veg Life. Vegetarian meet up plans in the works and much more!! (as soon as I figure out how to put a facebook link button on here I will.)
Also, as an update to the Des Moines food list you need to try:
Tacopacolypse - http://www.tacopocalypse.com They feature a vegan chorizo taco - get one this weekend at the Farmer's Market!
This Easter my sister found a really yummy bread pudding recipe. The challenge was how to make it vegan? Vegan baking is an art. If you live in Iowa and you want to see this art in action, visit Fairgrounds Coffee House in Iowa City, www.fairgroundscoffeehouse.com. I worked at this coffee shop for a summer a few years back. They have a full line of vegan bakery items. While helping to bake bread, muffins and cupcakes each day, I learned to look at the baking process differently.
The question comes up a lot from people. “How in the world do you bake without eggs?” The answer is “I substitute the egg for something healthier!”
The first thing to know about baking without eggs, is how the egg is acting or reacting in a recipe. So when you go to substitute an egg you want to make sure you use an egg substitute that will react similarly in a recipe. For example, when baking light items like cookies and muffins, substitute ¼ cup of soft silken tofu. I like using ground flaxseed with water in brownies…because then I can pretend like the brownies are really healthy. The flaxseed acts as a binding agent and helps give rise to the batter.
A great resource for anyone baking without eggs or dairy is a book by Celine Steen & Joni Marie Newman: The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions – Veganize it! Foolproof Methods for Transforming Any Dish into a Delicious New Vegan Favorite. This book has non-vegan recipes where the authors have highlighted the eggs, dairy, yogurt, etc. and wrote in the vegan substitutions you can use to make it healthier! The book also goes into how to make recipes that are soy free, gluten free, etc. A must have to any cookbook collection!
For your reference here are some common egg substitutions:
Ener-G Egg Replacer
Tofu
Applesauce
Ripe Bananas
Ground Flaxseed
Vinegar
Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer
Coconut Milk
Okay – now onto the good stuff! The recipe below originally called for 4 cups heavy whipping cream and 4 eggs. I think my recipe is MUCH healthier…and it came out tasting divine! (We didn’t want to stop eating it!)
Spring Bread Pudding
1 Package Soft Silken Tofu
1 largeor 2 smallRipe Banana (brown bananas are best for baking!)
2 Cups Sugar
1 tspVanilla
2 tspBaking Powder
2 CupsFresh or frozen blueberries
1 CupChocolate chips (dairy free)
1 loafFrench Bread
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9X13 baking dish with oil or non-stick cooking spray.
2.In a large mixing bowl, use a mixer or blender to whip the first four ingredients until smooth and thoroughly blended. Add baking powder and mix well.
3.Stir in the blueberries and chocolate chips
4.Cut or tear French bread into small 1 inch pieces and add to wet ingredients (my 4 year old nephew loved tearing the bread apart with me!) Let French bread sit in wet ingredients for 5-10 minutes to become saturated.
5.Pour pudding mixture into oiled baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until toothpick comes out clean. (if you can find a spot that does not have a wet chocolate chip!)
After the dish cools you can add vegan whipped cream to the top and it tastes extra yummy. It is good with or without a topping!
