Vegan Vanilla Yogurt Cake
Making a great tasting moist vanilla cake without butter and eggs has never been easier. The secret lies with using unsweetened cashew yogurt, and cake flour which has a lower protein content than all purpose flour and is lighter (finer), and softer than other flours. However, with the knowledge that white cake flour doesn’t have a lot of nutritional attributes, there are two ways to make this cake:
- Use only white cake flour for a lighter, higher rising cake; or
- Use a combination of white cake flour and whole grain spelt flour or whole wheat pastry flour for a slightly denser but more nutritious cake.
In addition, using unsweetened plain cashew yogurt (I use Forager’s) gives this cake a moist, tangy flavor that is greatly enhanced with the added zest of a lemon. Read more 
Powerballs
Powerballs are moist, nutty delicious bites made from eight ingredients: dates, walnuts, dried apricots, sprouted sunflower seeds, goji berries, hemp hearts, flaxseed meal and cinnamon. Sweet and scrumptious, Powerballs are the ideal snack or dessert that satisfies those sweet cravings we all get from time to time.
Inspired by the recipe for Superfood Breakfast Bites in the How Not To Die Cookbook, Powerballs are heavy on the dates, apricots, and walnuts but its the seeds, berries, hemp, and flaxseed along with the cinnamon that make these treats so special. Read more
Maple Nut Brittle
Maple Nut Brittle is a scrumptious dairy-free confection that is super easy to make and hopelessly addicting. Crunchy, slightly sweet, and incredibly delicious, Maple Nut Brittle is made with 9 ingredients:
- macadamia nuts
- pecans
- coconut flakes
- cacao nibs
- maple syrup
- sorghum syrup
- canola oil
- coconut sugar
- salt
Sugarplums
When I was young and first saw The Nutcracker, I was fascinated with the Sugar Plum Fairy who ruled over the Land of Sweets. I remember thinking she had the best job in the world (what could be better than ruling over a Candyland?). Forget about the Prince and Clara, I wanted the Sugar Plum Fairy’s job (until I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, then I wanted Willy Wonka’s job but that’s another story).
Although I wasn’t a fan of sugarplums when I was a child (they reminded me of fruitcake), I grew to appreciate how sweet, delicate, and delicious a home-made sugarplum is, especially when I made them myself with the top quality ingredients. Read more
Baked Honey Crisp Apple Crumbles
It’s nearly impossible for me to walk by a pyramid of fresh apples in the grocery store especially if the apples are Honey Crisp – those sweet, tart, super crispy delicious apples that are also great for baking because they retain their shape and don’t turn to mush easily.
One of my favorite ways to enjoy a Honey Crisp Apple is to bake it with a nutty oat filling in the core. These baked apples really do taste like an Apple Crumble Pie but the healthier version. Easy to make, Baked Honey Crisp Apple Crumbles are a perfect mid-afternoon snack or an evening dessert served in front of the fireplace. Read more
Apple Pecan Strudel
Every autumn the abundance of apples and pecans is overwhelming – in a very good way. When I see stacks of Honey Crisp apples and freshly harvested pecans at farmers markets, I stock up and start thinking about Apple Pecan Strudel – a delicious variation on the Austrian favorite (“apfelstrudel”).
This recipe is one of my all time favorites because it tastes like an apple pastry with a crunchy rich pecan topping and yet there are only 4 tablespoons of vegan butter used in the whole recipe that serves 8-10. The strudel relies on the sweetness of the apples with minimal added sweeteners: 1/4 cup of brown rice syrup and 2 tablespoons of sugar. The lemon juice, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla extract give the strudel a depth of flavors that will have everyone begging for seconds. Read more
Blueberry Crisp
This is a blueberry crisp for those who don’t want a lot of added sugar in their desserts and prefer the sweet taste of ripe berries with a whole grain crunchy topping.
Fresh summer blueberries have a distinctly sweeter flavor than the year-round blueberries available in most grocery stores which makes them an ideal ingredient to use in a fruit crisp: plump whole blueberries baked with a crunchy, oat topping.
When fruit is naturally sweet, very little sugar is needed to make a summer crisp, which makes for a healthier dessert but do taste the blueberries first because you can’t determine the sweetness by looking at them. If there is no tanginess to them, use the lower amount of sugar (2 tablespoons). For more tangy blueberries, increase the sugar to 1/4 cup. Read more
“More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts Naturally”
Eat your fruits and vegetables but make sure you leave room for dessert, as long as the dessert tastes excellent and is made with healthful, honest ingredients…
Imagine a cake without butter, sour cream, milk, or eggs that actually tastes rich and delicious with a light crumb and moist texture. Hard to do? Not if you’re making one of the cakes made from a recipe in More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts Naturally by Fran Costigan, a professionally trained pastry chef who has shown the world that desserts – and especially cakes – don’t need dairy products to be truly great and absolutely scrumptious. Read more
Dark Chocolate Covered Dried Mangos
One of our favorite places to eat lunch or dinner in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida is Christopher’s Kitchen – a restaurant whose mission is to serve high quality, organic plant-based food. Fresh squeezed raw cold-pressed juices, nut milks, salads, veggie burgers, rustic pizzas, tacos, burritos, bowls, noodles and more are served at this casual, light-filled restaurant.
Christopher’s Kitchen also offers a wide variety of homemade desserts including dark chocolate covered mango, which is decadent and delicious: chewy, dried mango slices covered in rich dark chocolate. At $4 an ounce (or $64 per pound), the dark chocolate covered mangos at Christopher’s Kitchen are expensive so I decided to make this treat myself – a super, easy task that brings the cost down to about $11 a pound using premium dark chocolate and dried mangos). Read more
Brownies (Vegan)
Brownies made without pure creamy unsalted butter and fresh eggs seemed impossible to imagine until recently. These were the ingredients – along with cocoa – that made brownies taste so decadent. But, when my daughter decided to lead a vegan life, I started to re-think several recipes because I wanted to make food that all of us would eat; otherwise, I would be chained to the kitchen making separate meals for everyone. Read more
Paddock Post 