Tag Archives: sweets

Dessert for Two’s Chocolate Ganache Coconut Pie from Martha

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This recipe is made in a small 6” pie pan to serve two.

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2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

7 ounces sweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  In a small food processor, pulse 1/3 of the coconut flakes with the butter. Pulse until the mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl. Sprinkle the remaining coconut on top, and combine with your fingers.

3.  Pack the coconut into a 6-inch pie pan, leaving the sides somewhat loose for crispy browning. Pack the bottom crust firmly, though.

4.  Use two long strips of foil to form ropes to shield the edges of the crust.

5.  Bake the crust on a sheet pan for 10 to 12 minutes. The center should begin to turn golden brown. Then remove the foil shield and continue to bake 4 to 6 minutes more. Watch carefully for burning.

6.  Let the crust cool completely before proceeding.

7.  Now it’s time to make the filling! Bring the cream just to a boil in a smallsaucepan — you’ll see bubbles around the edge of the pan. Then, remove the pan from the heat and combine the chocolate and the cream in a heatproofbowl. Give it a quick, gentle stir to ensure all of the chocolate is submerged in the cream, and then leave it alone. Walk away. Resist the urge to keep stirring. Ten minutes later, whisk it together and you’ll find the chocolate is smooth and silky. That’s it! You did it!

8.  Pour the mixture into the coconut crust.

9.  Refrigerate until chocolate sets, at least 3 hours.

10.  Slice and serve!

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Spiced Crazy Wacky Cake (No Eggs, Milk or Butter)

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  • Spiced Crazy Wacky Cake No eggs Dairy 11 1/2 Cups flour + 2 Tablespoons (all-purpose)
  • 1 Tbsp. pumpkin spice
  • 1 Cup white sugar
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp.  salt
  • 1 tsp. white vinegar
  • 1 tsp.  pure vanilla extract
  • 5 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1 Cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix first 5 dry ingredients in a greased 8″ square baking pan.  Make 3 depressions in dry ingredients – two small, one larger (see #3 in photo below). Pour vinegar in one depression, vanilla in the other and the vegetable oil in third larger depression.  Pour water over all.  Mix well until smooth.

Bake on middle rack of oven for 35 minutes.  Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean.  Cool.  Top with your favorite frosting ( I used vanilla). Enjoy!

Frosting Recipes
Vegan Fluffy Buttercream frosting
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (contains dairy)

Other flavors:  http://www.sweetlittlebluebird.com/p/recipes.html

Christmas Carol Cake  from Patty Foust  

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2 cups sugar
1 cup veg. oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup golden raisins
1 ½ cup peeled and chopped red delicious apples(about 1 ½ apples)

Mix in each ingredient at a time in order given above.

Makes a very stiff batter.
Pour mix into a greased and floured Bundt pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 ½ hours.
Cool before removing from pan.

Pumpkin Pie-four ingredient vegan

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1 1/4 cups raw soaked cashews
1 cup maple syrup
1 can organic pumpkin puree (16 ounces) (or use fresh puree)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
a bit of grated nutmeg

optional: 1/2 tsp salt to taste (depends how much salt you soaked your cashews in)

ingredients notes: using high quality spice is helpful. Also, I prefer grade B maple syrup for its rich amber tones and caramelized flavor – but grade A works too.

One standard vegan pie crust.

1. Soak about one cup of raw cashews in about 2 1/2 cups of water in a large bowl. Add about 1/2 – 1 tsp of salt to the bowl – mix to dissolve. The salt allows the water to absorb more efficiently into the cashews and also adds some salt for your recipe

2. Soak this cashew bowl overnight in the fridge. You want well-soaked cashews so that your pie mix blends up perfectly creamy. I soaked my cashews for about 18 hours. At least 8 is optimal. Don’t soak for more than two days or the cashews can get grimy in my opinion.

3. The day of your actual pie making allow at least 3 hours from the time you start to the time you wish to serve the pie. I like a cool time of at least 2 hours.

4. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

5. Drain the water from your cashews. They should be very soft to bite and a slight purplish dark hue. This is normal. Add 1 1/4 cups of cashews to your food processor – or even better, a Vitamix or high speed blender.

6. Add pumpkin to blender. Next, add in the maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice. Blend on low -> high for about 3-5 minutes until the mixture is completely creamy. If your mixture is a bit thick for some reason – you can add in a few teaspoons of either water, maple syrup or even non-dairy milk. After blending, do a taste test and add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt if needed. I added in about 1/3 tsp extra salt. But taste before adding.

7. Pour your mix into a par-baked vegan pie shell, doc crust, add al foil and pie weights bake for 15 min, remove foil and weights and bake for additional 10-15 min).

8. Add filling and bake pie at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes – or until the edges look fluffy and a darker caramel orange tone. Use a toothpick in center if unsure. The tooth-picked filling should come out slightly wet – but very thick and dark. It is important to remember that your pie will firm up significantly upon cooling and chilling in the fridge.

9. Remove pie from oven. Cool on counter for at least 30 minutes. Then place in fridge until ready to serve. At least 2 hours cooling and/or chilling time is my preference. A warm pie will be tasty, but still a bit “wet” to slice.

10. I serve chilled with a swirl of my vegan coconut whip on top!!

Vermont Spice Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting from food52.com

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Adapted from Land O’Lakes
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For the cake:

    • 3 cups flour
      1 teaspoon salt
      1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
      3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
      2 teaspoons cinnamon
      1 teaspoon ground ginger
      3 teaspoons baking powder
      1 teaspoon baking soda
      3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
      1 1/2 cups sugar
      3 eggs
      1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
      1/2 cup evaporated milk
      1/4 cup water
      2 teaspoons vanilla extract

      For the frosting:
      3 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
      1/3 cup butter, softened
      11 ounces cream cheese, softened
      2 teaspoons maple syrup

      Preheat the oven to 325° F. Butter and flour two round 9-inch cake pans (I used a sheet cake pan and punched out my layers using a ring mold, hence the many layers in the photo).
      Whisk together the flour, salt, spices, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside.

      In a separate bowl or in a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

      Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.

      Add the pumpkin, evaporated milk, water, and vanilla, mixing after each addition. Add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined.

      Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cake springs back to the touch and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack to cool fully. It’s best to chill the cakes in the refrigerators before frosting them.

      For the frosting: Beat together all the ingredients in a large bowl until smooth and fluffy.

      If you want a cake with more layers, slice your two layers in half horizontally. Frost between each layer and top with more frosting. Leave the sides unfrosted if you like, or cover them with a thin layer of frosting.

      Makes two 9-inch layers

 

Apple Sharlotka by Matt Dano

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  • 4 apples—peeled, cored, quartered and thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
  • Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease the bottom and side of an 8-inch springform pan.
  2. In a large bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of the sugar and let stand for 15 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the flour with the cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs with the almond extract and the remaining 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar at medium-high speed until thick and pale yellow and a ribbon forms when the beaters are lifted, 8 to 10 minutes. Gently fold in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.
  4. Spread the apples in the prepared pan in an even layer, then pour the batter evenly over them. Let stand for 5 minutes to allow the batter to sink in a little.
  5. Bake the sharlotka for about 1 hour, until it is golden and crisp on top and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and let rest for 15 minutes. Unmold and transfer to a serving platter. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve warm.

 

Mom’s Peach Crisp

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4 cups sliced fresh peaches
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cold butter
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Arrange peaches evenly in an 8×8-inch baking dish.
Mix flour, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl using a pastry cutter until evenly crumbled. Fold oats into flour mixture; sprinkle and press topping into peaches.
Bake in the preheated oven until topping is lightly browned, about 30 minutes.  8 servings

Our favorite key lime pie from epicurious

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56389684For the crust:

  • 11 (2 1/4×4 3/4″) graham crackers
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • Pinch kosher salt
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling: 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 7 tablespoons fresh key lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

For the topping:
1 cup chilled heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Make the crust:  Place rack in the center of oven and preheat to 350°F.

Pulse graham crackers, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor until fine crumbs form. With the motor running, drizzle in melted butter and process until well-combined. Transfer mixture to pie pan and press into bottom and up sides with a flat-bottomed measuring cup.

Bake crust until golden brown and set, 8–10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.

Make the filling and bake pie:  Whisk condensed milk and yolks together in a large bowl. Add key lime and lemon juice and whisk until well-combined (mixture will thicken slightly).

Pour filling into crust and bake until center is just set, about 15 minutes. Transfer pie to a wire rack and let cool completely (filling will set as it cools), about 1 hour. Transfer to refrigerator and chill until cold, at least 1 hour.

Make the topping:   When ready to serve, whip cream with a whisk or electric mixer to very soft peaks. Sprinkle sugar over cream and continue whipping until it holds stiff peaks. Dollop cream in center of pie (leaving at least a 1″ border of visible pie filling) and serve.

Do Ahead  Pie (without topping) can be made, loosely covered, and chilled for up to 2 days.

Frozen Nanaimo Pie from canadian living

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  • 3/4 cup (175 mL) graham cracker crumbs
    • 1/3 cup (75 mL) sweetened shredded coconut
    • 1/3 cup (75 mL) finely chopped walnuts
    • 1/4 cup (60 mL) cocoa powder
    • 1/4 cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
    • 1/3 cup (75 mL) butter, melted
    • 2 tbsp (30 mL) custard powder, (such as Bird’s Traditional)
    • 4 cups (1 L) French vanilla ice cream, softened
    • 55 g semisweet chocolate, (about 2 oz), chopped
    • 1/4 cup (60 mL) whipping cream 35%

    In bowl, stir together graham crumbs, coconut, walnuts, cocoa powder and sugar. Drizzle with butter and stir until combined. Press into bottom and up side of 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate.

    Fold custard powder into ice cream; spread over crust, smoothing top. Cover surface directly with plastic wrap; freeze until firm, 2 to 3 hours.

    In small saucepan, heat chocolate and cream over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes. Spread over top of pie; freeze until firm, about 20 minutes. (Make-ahead: Once firm, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 24 hours.) Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

     

5-Minute Strawberry Sorbet

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SORBET

  • 1 (16 oz.) bag frozen whole strawberries
  • 1/2 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt
  • 3-4 tablespoons honey or sugar
  • bananas or other frozen fruit, optional

 

1.  Place whole strawberries in food processor and pulse until (mostly) smooth. 30-45 seconds.

2.  Note: mixture will be gritty at first, just keep pulsing.

3.  Spoon in vanilla yogurt and pulse until smooth and incorporated.

4.  Add in 3 tablespoons honey. Taste and add more honey or sugar as needed.

Serve immediately, or transfer to an air-tight container and store in the freezer.
Note: if keeping in the freezer, let sorbet sit for 10 minutes to soften a little before serving.  Yield: approx. 3 cups

Recipe adapted from Just A Taste