Carrot Souffle
I was looking for some inspiration for new things to try for Thanksgiving this year, so I asked my friends on twitter for some ideas. There were a few things that peaked my interest, but the one that caught my attention was the suggestion of a carrot souffle. Not only had I never heard of such a thing, I was instantly determined to make one.
I wasn’t sure a vegan souffle would puff up and have those wonderful qualities that make a souffle what it is, but this sure did. It was a beautiful thing.
The recipe I based this on was a bit sweeter than I was interested in, so I cut down the sugar a fair amount. While it was lovely this way, you might want to forgo the sugar in the topping altogether and instead use some savory seasonings. I would go as far as to say that one might not even need the crumb top, but it’s also nice to have the crunch.
Also, I should note, that even though this is a recipe with carrots as it’s main ingredient, it isn’t the healthiest thing ever. But who cares? Make some as a side dish for Thanksgiving. Your guests will love it, I’m sure. And yeah, it’s got carrots!
Vegan Carrot Souffle
adapted from here
Crumb topping
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp Earth Balance, softened
Souffle
- 1 cup firm tofu
- 1 lb carrots, cooked until soft (I boiled them)
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup melted Earth Balance
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Clean, cut and cook your carrots. They should be soft but don’t need to be mushy.
- Preheat the oven to 350°
- Combine the bread crumbs, brown sugar and Earth Balance in a bowl using a fork. Set aside.
- Crumble your tofu into a food processor and mix until it is fairly smooth, scraping down the sides when necessary.
- Add the carrots to the food processor and blend together until the mixture is smooth, light and fluffy.
- Add in the remaining ingredients for the souffle and continue to blend until combined.
- Pour into souffle dishes, being mindful not to overfill as they will puff up a they bake.
- Bake for 40 minutes.
- Remove the dishes from the oven and sprinkle with the crumb topping. Bake for 8 minutes, turning on the broiler for the last minute or so to brown.
- Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
taco tuesday
I know everyone is gearing up for Thanksgiving. Perhaps you should take a break from the extensive cooking today and have tacos.
Tacos are one of the easiest things to make and highly delicious. They’re as simple or complex as you want them to be.
Here are the ingredients for a winning taco night.
- taco shells (or small tortillas)
- veggie ground/veggie burger crumbles
- taco seasoning
- soy chorizo
- beans, refried or black or whatever
- shredded lettuce
- salsa
- chopped tomatoes
- guacamole or sliced avocado
- hot sauce
- soy sour cream
Basically all you have to do is heat up the “meaty” filling of your choice and the beans, toast your taco shells and pile everything in there. Easy, right? I mix the beans, crumbles, taco seasoning & soy chorizo all together in one pan. It’s great that way.
You could totally be fancy and make your own salsa or guacamole even. Or you can just buy some pre-made stuff from the store. It’s pretty awesome no matter what you do.
What your favorite way to make tacos?
birthday cake
This weekend I got to be a part of a cake and ice cream birthday party with two lovely ladies, Tara and Gen. I would say that we outdid any other party I’ve been a part of with mere quantity of delicious cake and ice cream.
We had 3 cakes, more than a dozen cupcakes and two ice cream cakes from Scoops.
I made a chocolate covered vanilla cake and a red velvet cake. There were chocolate cupcakes too.
But my absolute favorite part…
…was the brown bread ice cream cake. Heaven on a plate. I’ve always wanted to have vegan brown bread ice cream. It was exactly as I imagined it would be. Amazing!
We all wore fluffy tiaras and sang happy birthday and ate loads of cake and ice cream. I had a major sugar overload but it was well worth it.
Oh, and I kind of fell in love with Tara’s cat Lucky.
How cute is she?
Harry Potter Day
Today is the day that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I wanted to do a something a little extra special, and since I didn’t have time to make myself a scarf, so I decided to make some Gryffindor scarf cupcakes. I took my cue from the knit night cupcakes over on Vegan Yum Yum. Unfortunately, with my late night baking, I didn’t have any marzipan to sculpt with. I used a bit of rolled fondant instead. It didn’t quite have the materiality of the marzipan, but still looked cute.
It was a fun little project, it would be fun to make some for all the houses for a Harry Potter party. I think when Deathly Hallows Part II comes out, I’ll throw a huge festive event. Oh gosh, I can’t wait to go see the movie.
I’m excited for Thanksgiving next week, I’ve got a few exciting recipes to planned out, I can’t wait to make.
Last but not least, today is officially 3 months until our wedding. There is so much left to do before then! It’s time to really get cracking on that list. I think we have quite a few of our major decisions figured out, but still have some tough choices to make. Not to mention a lot of projects to complete. This weekend I’m going to have my first dress dress fitting. I’m nervous and excited all at once. I hope it goes well.
Peanut Butter Cream Pie
I’m super excited that my recipe for this wonderful Peanut Butter Cream Pie was featured on PETA’s Vegetarian Living Blog. I’m so happy to be able to share with so many people who are looking to know more about veganism.
I’m reproducing the recipe here for posterity, and of course to not leave out my dear readers who definitely need to know how to make this super sweet pie.
This peanut butter cream pie is a lovely balance of a flaky crust, a sweet peanut-butter filling, and a fluffy coconut-cream topping.
It takes a bit of advanced preparation but nothing more than putting a few cans of coconut milk in the fridge the night before. You’ll want to make sure that you use the full-fat coconut milk, as this is what makes the dense coconut cream topping. It’s my favorite. In fact, you can use it as a topping on just about any cake, ice cream, or pie. Trust me when I say that you’ll want to.
Let’s start with the crust, shall we? This is a versatile crust that you can use for any sort of pie, either savory or sweet.
Vegan Pastry Crust
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup nondairy butter
2-3 Tbsp. ice water
- Mix the flour and the salt together. Cut together the flour mixture with the nondairy butter using a fork, two knives, or a pastry cutter. Combine until the mixture resembles crumbs. Slowly incorporate the ice water until the dough just starts to hold together when pressed between your fingers.
- Shape the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll out the pie crust until the dough is about 1/4 inch thick. Roll from the center out so that it’s even.
- Drape the dough over your rolling pin and transfer to a pie dish. Press the dough into the corners and trim off any excess hanging over the dish. Using a fork, poke a few holes in the bottom of the crust to prevent air bubbles.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.
- Set aside to cool. Make sure it cools completely before you assemble the pie.
Next, we’ll put together the filling. It is essentially two layers, but we start with the coconut cream, as it is the base for the whole thing. Ideally, it should be made in a stand mixer, if you have one, as this allows the cream to become extra fluffy. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can still make it with an electric hand mixer; just be sure to at least double the beating time. You want to incorporate as much air as possible into the mix. Also, I recommend using a metal bowl if possible.
As for the peanut butter, choose whichever type you like best. I like a creamy pie, so I go with creamy peanut butter. If you like crunchy, though, I bet that would be great. Just be sure to skim off any excess oil at the top of your jar. You can always add it back into your peanut butter jar later or use it for cooking up some stir-fry. If you use an unsalted peanut butter, add an additional 1/4 teaspoonful of salt to the mixture if you like.
OK, now let’s get to that pie-making!
Pie Filling
3 cans coconut milk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter
- The night before you are planning to make this pie, place the coconut milk in the fridge.
- Open the cans of coconut milk, skim off the thick cream at the top of each jar, and put into the bowl of your stand mixer. (I’m sure there is a great use for the clear liquid at the bottom, although I haven’t figured one out yet.)
- Beat on high until the mixture is fluffy and thick.
- Add in 1 cup of the powdered sugar and mix until all the sugar is incorporated, scraping down the sides as necessary. Beat until fully combined. Add the vanilla extract and beat for 3 to 5 more minutes.
- Set about 2/3 of the mixture aside in a cool place. This will be the topping.
- Add 1/2 cup of the peanut butter to the mixer and beat until fluffy. Add the remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar and beat until combined. Finally, beat in the last 1/2 cup of peanut butter until creamy.
- Spread the peanut butter mixture over the bottom of your cooled pie crust. Gently spoon the remaining whipped coconut cream onto the peanut butter layer. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
Enjoy!
