Eggnog cupcakes (vegan)

(Same cupcakes, but different post-production on Photoshop. I couldn’t decide which looked better, so I posted them both.)

I love a good vegan recipe, and even though I’m not vegan, I’m always interested in any dairy-free desserts. These were easy to make (mix wet and dry together), and tasted great. I’m a big fan of Silk Nog, and that’s what I used.

Eggnog Cupcakes (from Baking Bites)

1/4 cup dark rum or bourbon

1 cup soy eggnog

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

scant 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup sugar

1 1/3 cup AP flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.

In a small bowl, mix together the rum, eggnog, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.

In a large bowl, mix together nutmeg, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pour in rum mixture and whisk until just combined. Divide evenly into muffin tins (a 1/4 cup measure is good for this).

Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. Cool in the pan for 3 – 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

1/4 cup soy margarine, softened

3 tablespoons soy eggnog

2 tablespoon rum

generous pinch of nutmeg

2+ cups confectioners’ sugar

Cream together margarine, eggnog, rum, nutmeg, and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar. Add more sugar if needed to make frosting stiff but spreadable. Spread on cupcakes and garnish as desired.

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Challah kugel

 

 

So, I tried googling recipes for stale challah, and this bread pudding came up right away. This was made for the lactose intolerant, so no modifications were necessary by me. I added no fruit, as my challah already had raisins in it, but I do think that some fruit would also be a nice addition. This tasted amazing.

Challah kugel (from PrinceClan blog)

2 – 3 cups stale challah

1 1/2 – 2 cups vanilla soy milk

4 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

optional: two large apples, chopped small; or 1 cup raisins

Tear challah into smallish pieces, and drop into large bowl.

Pour soy milk over. Allow to soak for 20 minutes. Add eggs and sugar. Mix well.

Place into a greased pan (8 x 8″ or 9″ round) and bake at 350 degrees F for 50 – 60 minutes, until browned and golden.

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Eggnog ice cream (dairy-free)

Smooth and creamy. Dreamy. LOVED this recipe from Couldn’t Be Parve – many thanks! Good any time of year.

Eggnog ice cream

3 cups almond milk (used Almond Breeze unsweetened original)

1 cup soy milk powder

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup sugar

pinch of salt

6 large egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons dark rum

2 tablespoons brandy

1 tablespoon vanilla

In a medium saucepan, whisk together 2 cups of almond milk, soy milk powder, oil, sugar, and salt. Place the egg yolks into a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Place the remaining cup of almond milk in another medium bowl set over a bowl of ice water and set the strainer on top.

Slowly stream the warm mixture into the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Scrape the warmed yolk mixture back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan with the spatula while stirring. Cook until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer into the remaining almond milk. Stir in the nutmeg, rum, brandy, and vanilla. Stir over the ice bath until cool.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator and then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Makes approximately 1 quart.

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Leek and mushroom quiche

Here’s a tasty little vegan quiche. Easy to make with a pre-made whole wheat pie crust. Great week-night dish.

Leek and mushroom quiche (from Chow Vegan)

1 pre-made whole wheat pie crust

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium leek, white and pale green parts only, coarsely chopped

5 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/2 pound fresh small leaf spinach

1 pound firm fresh tofu, water pressed out

1/2 cup soy milk

salt and pepper

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 tablespoon dried thyme

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Precook the pie crust according to the package directions if necessary.

Heat a skillet until hot, lightly drizzle with olive oil, and saute garlic and leeks until done, season with salt to taste while cooking. Transfer to a dish and set aside. Heat skillet again and saute and season the mushrooms until cooked, drain any water and set aside. Saute and season the spinach until just wilted. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Squeeze out any water and coarsely chop.

In a food processor or blender, combine the tofu, soy milk, salt and pepper to taste, nutmeg, thyme, parsley, and nutritional yeast, process until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl, add the vegetables, mix well and scoop into the pie crust, spreading the filling evenly. Bake for about 35 minutes, let the quiche cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Makes 6 servings.

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Cinnamon egg nog scones

Who doesn’t love scones? Just as I thought – nobody. Almost all scones are made with dairy products – butter, buttermilk, cream, milk – in varying measures. I always enjoy creating great little nondairy adaptations – here, here, and here. Oh, and here and here, too.These egg nog scones sounded so tempting – and at this time of year, it’s quite easy to find Soy Nog on the shelves of my local natural foods store. (btw, I’ve been known to guzzle this stuff by the quart-fuls). Anyway, these were a welcome addition to my scone recipe collection, and will become an annual treat during the holidays.

Cinnamon egg nog scones (from FlamingoBear blog via King Arthur Flour)(modified to be nondairy by me)

Dough:

2 3/4 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup margarine, diced and frozen for 20 minutes

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup soy eggnog

Topping:

1 tablespoon eggnog

1 generous tablespoon cinnamon sugar

1 generous tablespoon sparkling white sugar (I left this ingredient out)

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Work in the frozen margarine just until the margarine is the size of peas.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, and eggnog.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough in half. Roll and pat each half into 6 1/2″ circle about 3/4″ thick.

Using a large knife, slice each circle into 6 wedges. Transfer the circles of wedges to a Silpat sheet. There should be about 1/2″ space between them, at their outer edges. This ensures that their sides will bake up soft and tender.

Brush each scone with some eggnog, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and then top with sparkling white sugar.

For best texture and highest rise, place the pan of scones in the freezer for 30 minutes, uncovered. This half-hour in the freezer relaxes the gluten in the flour, which makes the scones taller and more tender. Plus, chilling the fat makes the scones flakier. While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Bake the scones for about 20 minutes or until they’re golden brown. Remove the scones from the oven, and cool briefly on the pan. Serve warm.

 

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Nog panna cotta

This is a recipe I’ve been meaning to try. In my neck of the woods, you can only find vegan egg nog during the Christmas holiday season; it is not stocked during the rest of the year. For this recipe, I used Silk brand Nog, which I love all by itself. I just knew this panna cotta would taste good – even without any sauce at all, it was smooth, creamy, delicious.

Nog panna cotta (from BitterSweet blog)

1 1/2 cups vegan “eggnog”

1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons agar agar powder or 2 tablespoons agar agar flakes

1 6-ounce container unsweetened soy yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lightly grease four 4-ounce ramekins and set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the nog, sugar, and agar. Bring the mixture up to a simmer and do not let it boil. Continue to simmer for 5 – 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the agar has mostly dissolved. If you’re using powdered agar, it will dissolve much faster than the flakes, so keep an eye on the pot.

Strain the mixture using a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Quickly whisk in yogurt and vanilla until smooth and homogeneous. Pour into your prepared ramekins, and let it cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. Transfer the ramekins to your refrigerator, and allow the panna cottas to remain undisturbed for at least 2 hours, until set and fully chilled.

To serve, either eat the panna cotta directly out of the ramekin, or invert onto a plate. Top with a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, if desired. Makes 4 servings.

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Pumpkin apple bread pudding

Think of your favorite coffee cake – I’m thinking moist, cinnamon-y, nutty. Now think of adding pumpkin to the flavors. There you have it – this delicious recipe. Mine did not come out as moist as a bread pudding, but it was a total win-win yummy dessert.

Pumpkin apple bread pudding (slightly adapted from Smokin’ Chestnut blog)

2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

1/3 cup applesauce

3 tablespoons honey

1/3 cup margarine, melted and slightly cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, beaten

2 – 3 tablespoons soymilk or almond milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 apple grated, roughly 1 cup

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped apple

3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

cinnamon and raw sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9″ loaf pan

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In another bowl, combine applesauce, honey, melted margarine, vanilla extract, eggs, soymilk, and pumpkin puree. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, and then add grated apple, raisins, chopped apple, and half the chopped nuts. Fold together until mixed well.

Pour batter into pan and top with cinnamon/raw sugar mixture and the rest of the chopped nuts. Bake for roughly an hour or until toothpick comes out (relatively) clean. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes and enjoy. 8 servings.

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Cinnamon ice cream

This stuff is truly too good to be true. It’s all things ice cream should be, but without the dairy. I can’t say enough good things about these not ice cream recipes from Couldn’t Be Parve. Except that I am delighted, and inspired. I have a few good ideas about some variations that I hope to explore this summer.(While I LOVED this ice cream, I think mine could have stood a little stronger cinnamon flavor – it seemed a little light).

Cinnamon ice cream

3 cups almond milk (unsweetened)

1 cup soy milk powder

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

10 3″ cinnamon sticks, broken up

6 large egg yolks

In a medium saucepan, whisk together 2 cups of almond milk, the soy milk powder, oil, sugar, and salt. Add the cinnamon and heat the mixture until warm. Remove the saucepan from the heat, cover it, and let it steep for 1 hour.

Reheat the mixture until warm, and whisk it to recombine the oil that may have floated to the top. Strain out the cinnamon by pouring the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Return the mixture to the pan and place the egg yolks in the bowl, whisking to combine. Place the remaining cup of almond milk in another medium bowl and set the strainer on top.

Slowly stream the warm mixture into the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Scrape the warmed yolk mixture back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan with the spatula while stirring. Cook until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer into the remaining almond milk. Place the bowl over an ice bath and stir until cool.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator and then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

(let it sit out for 15-20 minutes after it’s been sitting in the freezer, so it will soften a little – best texture this way). Makes about 1 quart.

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Vegan chocolate cheesecake

I combined a couple of recipes together, and then made a modification of my own. I absolutely love chocolate soy milk, and thought that this would be the perfect place to utilize it. This cheesecake will not disappoint the chocolate lover in you, and it will pleasantly please the cheesecake lover in you, too. Enjoy!

Vegan chocolate cheesecake

crust ingredients:

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cocoa powder, unsweetened

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup apple sauce

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

cheesecake ingredients:

1 12-ounce package firm silken tofu

1 8-ounce container tofutti cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup chocolate soy milk

2 tablespoons powdered cocoa, unsweetened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons cornstarch

Make the crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9″ pie pan with nonstick spray. Mix together in a medium bowl all of the dry ingredients. Then add the applesauce and vanilla and stir to combine (you may have to use your fingers, but that’s okay). Press into the pie pan to line bottom and up the sides, as evenly as you can. Bake for 10 minutes and remove. Set aside to cool.

Make the cheesecake: Turn heat in oven down to 350 degrees F. Combine the tofu and the cream cheese in the food processor until smooth. Add the sugar, chocolate milk, and cocoa to the food processor, and process again til smooth. Then add the vanilla and cornstarch and process a final time til smooth. Pour into the graham cracker pie shell, and bake in oven for 50-55 minutes. Top may be slightly jiggly but almost set.

Cool on a rack then refrigerate completely before serving. Top decoratively with either chocolate or soy whipped cream, or your favorite topping. Or serve with no topping at all. It’s all good. Makes 8 servings.

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Roasted Potato soup with whole grain toast points

This is a lovely and rustic soup for the autumn, when the temperatures begin to dip. It has Italian herbal undertones, seasoned with basil, oregano, and thyme. I made it completely organic, and I am proudly entering this recipe into two contests.

The first contest is being hosted by Blog from Italy and sponsored by La Cucina Italiana cookery magazine – to come up with the most delicious organic Italian soup for the fall weather. For me, this recipe fills the bill. 

The second contest is for Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. In honor of Gina DePalma, author of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen, who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, bloggers from around the world are organizing and getting out the word about this horrible disease. The details of the contest are below:

 

O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of Gina DePalma, author of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen and Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy, Jenn ofThe Leftover Queen, and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are asking you to donate to the:

Ovarian Cancer Research Fund

and then, out of the goodness of your hearts and to be eligible for theOFoods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest, please do the following:

1. Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato) and include this entire text box in the post;

   OR

2. If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word about the event and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

   AND

3. Then send your post url [along with a photo (100 x 100) if you’ve made a recipe] to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on September 30, 2008.

We will post a roundup and announce prize winners on October 3.

Prizes:

• 1 Recipe Prize for best “O food” concoction: $50 gift certificate to Amazon;
• 1 Awareness Prize for only publicizing event: Copy of Dolce Italianocookbook.

———

From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

• Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
• The American Cancer Society estimates that 21,650 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the U.S. in 2008 and about 15,520 women will die from the disease.
• The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms. 
• In spite of this patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region. 
• When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.

Please donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund 
and help spread the word!

Here is my recipe submission.

Roasted Potato soup with whole grain toast points

2 pounds (1 kg) all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut in half

2 medium onions, halved and peeled

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 medium head garlic

1 teaspoon fresh oregano, minced

1 teaspoon fresh basil, minced

2 1/2 tablespoons margarine or butter

6 cups of broth (vegetarian, chicken, or beef – your choice)

1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk or soy milk

8 slices whole-grain bread, toasted (or your favorite bread)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place the potatoes in a large bowl. Snip the root end off each onion and cut each half into 3 sections. Add the onions to the potatoes, breaking up onions with your fingers to separate.

Drizzle vegetables with olive oil, add the thyme, and toss well. Spread the vegetables on a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper. Slice the top third off a head of garlic and place it on a piece of foil. Put 1/2 tablespoon butter/margarine on top of the garlic and drizzle 2 teaspoons water onto the foil. Fold the sides of the foil to enclose and place on the pan with the vegetables. Roast in oven for 45 minutes, then remove the garlic. Continue roasting vegetables for another 15 minutes.

In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer over medium-low heat. Transfer half the roasted vegetables to a food processor and add 1/2 cup hot broth. Process mixture until fairly smooth, then transfer to bowl. Repeat with remaining vegetables and a little more broth, squeezing garlic pulp out of the husks into the last batch. Stir all pureed mixture into the broth in the pan, add the minced fresh oregano and basil, and keep the pan over low heat.

In a small saucepan, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter/margarine. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly 1 1/2 minutes. Stir in the milk and cook, stirring often, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in a ladleful of soup and cook one more minute.

Add the mixture back into the soup. Cook over medium heat until heat through, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Serve with toasted whole grain bread, cut into points. Makes 8 servings.

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