Mmmmmmm, Cakey!

So: CAKE.

I really think it may be my favorite thing to make. It's just so EASY and yet, with some easily souped-up frosting, so GODDAMN GOOD. And it's a giving-type food: I rarely bake one except when I'm baking it FOR someone. And I like that. It's kind of a love-food.

But honestly, baking 3 cakes in one day SHOULD BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS WHENEVER POSSIBLE. I seriously felt angry with cake when I'd gotten through the first two and realized I still had one more to bake. And then I felt pitiful and weepy. And then angry again.

It was an emotional kitchen day.

Anyways, I've been holding off on posting any of the cake recipes I used mainly because I hadn't actually TRIED a slice of each of the cakes I baked.

But yesterday, I finally nibbled on some vanilla, so I can now legitimately offer up some successful recipes to you.

Recipes for the chocolate cakes can actually be found HERE. I used that basic chocolate cake recipe (which is a good one) but filled up a (well-greased) 9x13 pan instead of two cake pans. The oreo one actually ended up a little bit overbaked and dry, unfortunately, so just keep your eye on that oven-timer and poke away with some forks. I think I may have actually gotten away with baking it 5 or 10 minutes less than the original recipe calls for.






The vanilla cake I snagged from the Vegan Chef. This one I actually ended up baking 5 or 10 minutes MORE than the recipe called for, mostly because it didn't even look or feel at all stable when the 30 minutes went by. But it was rich buttery vanilla-ish for sure, and I'd definitely use the recipe again. The only change I really made to it was to sub in more vanilla for the almond extract, mostly because I didn't have any at home.


VANILLA WHITE CAKE

                          from The Vegan Chef

INGREDIENTS:

• 1-1/3 c. unbleached cane sugar


• 1/2 c. non-hydrogenated vegan margarine


• 3 c. unbleached flour


• 1 T. baking powder


• 3/4 t. salt


• 2 c. soy milk, rice milk, or other non-dairy milk of choice


• 1 T. vanilla


• 1 t. almond extract (or 1 extra t. vanilla)

DIRECTIONS

Lightly oil a 9x13-inch pan and set aside.

Place the sugar and margarine in a large mixing bowl, and cream together until light and fluffy using an electric mixer.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Add dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, alternating with the soy milk, and continuing to beat the mixture well between each addition.

Add the vanilla and almond extract and beat the mixture an additional 2 minutes at medium speed.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Yield: One 9x13-inch cake

(Recipe from The Vegan Chef)





So there's the cakes.

As for the FROSTINGS, the buttercream is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and can be found HERE. The only difference between the buttercream and the oreo-buttercream is--obviously--oreos. So you can choose whether to add them in or keep them out.

The frosting on my double-chocolate cake was the Rich Chocolate Ganache recipe, also from Vegan Cupcakes. And I've gotta say, although I'm a big endorser of super sickeningly spun-sugary sweet whipped mounds of gloriously tooth-achy fluffy frosting, my favorite of the bunch actually ended up being the ganache. There's just something about the maple-iness of it (and I didn't even use the good maple syrup, or good chocolate for that matter). And the consistency. And how it was just so ooey gooey rich. *Drooling again* So I definitely recommend. One batch of it can easily frost a 9x13 cake and should probably be plenty for a layered 9" circular cake as well.




RICH CHOCOLATE GANACHE TOPPING

                                      from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 c. soy milk


• 4 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped


• 2 T. pure maple syrup

DIRECTIONS

Bring the soy milk to a gentle boil in a small sauce pan. Immediately remove from heat and add the chocolate and maple syrup. Use a rubber heatproof spatula to mix the chocolate until it is fully melted and smooth. Set aside at room temperature till ready to use.

(Recipe originally from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, posted at Funky Jiva)



So there you go. Your wish is my command, Eat a Vegan!

Peanut Butter Coffee Cake

                                       from Crazy Vegan Mom


My absolute favorite part of this recipe is that there's a banana inexplicably in it. And I don't mean, "Oh, THAT'S kind of a strange idea, using a banana in this recipe." I mean, "There's a banana in this recipe, BUT IT NEVER SAYS WHAT TO DO WITH IT!"

Which of course made me start day-dreaming while I was putting this together. And I thought to myself, Well, maybe Crazy Vegan Mom really IS kind of crazy, and she's decided to be a healthful deviant and start listing out unnecessary fruit in recipes in an attempt to get people eating better--that way they'll BUY the ingredient and, after suddenly realizing that the recipe never explains what to actually DO with it, they'll instead chow down on it so as not to make it go to waste. Which would be really kind of brilliant.

And THEN I was like, Even better: Maybe Crazy Vegan Mom is like this awesome radical sex-promoting feminist, and she was like, I will start putting random bananas in recipes because, well, if you've got a banana in your hand and 30 minutes of baking time to kill, um... you get my drift. And that would be even MORE super-brilliant.

By the time I'd finished crafting all these tales in my head, I gave in to the reality of the situation, which was that the banana probably just got left out of the directions.

Anticlimactic.

But not surprising, seeing as everything in my head seems to be WAY more crazy-ass weird than in the real world.

Needless to say, I've added banana-directions below.

Banana-ramble now complete, let us discuss this recipe:

Holy moly mother of god, this really is a damn good coffee cake recipe. And I was highly highly skeptical. Not for any real reason other than that the batter seriously freaked me out by having a total Blob moment and almost completely swallowing up my electric mixer in a way that seriously had me concerned that this would happen:



That in turn got me humming the theme song of the 1958 Steve McQueen version of The Blob while I used my electric mixer, which seriously is like THE best horror movie theme-song ever.

You MUST listen to it if you've never heard--it will get stuck in your head the rest of the day: CLICK TO DO IT!

I am A.D.D. recipe-style today. My apologies.

Anyways, seriously: despite the banana weirdness, and despite the Blob, this was seriously fantastic coffee cake. Dense, moist, and awesomely peanut-buttery. I really highly recommend this recipe.

Two bananas up to Crazy Vegan Mom!

INGREDIENTS:

Topping:


• 1/2 c. packed light-brown sugar


• 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour


• 1/4 c peanut butter


• 3 T. margarine


Cake:


• 2 1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour


• 1 c. packed brown sugar


• 2 t. baking powder


• 1/2 t. baking soda


• 1/4 t. salt


• 1 c. soy milk


• 1/2 c. peanut butter


• 1 ripe banana, mashed


• 1/4 c. (1/2 stick) margarine

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375-F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

For the topping, mix the brown sugar and flour. With a pastry knife, a fork, or your fingers, cut in the peanut butter and margarine until crumbly; set aside.

For the cake, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the soy milk, banana, peanut butter and margarine. Beat until smooth, about 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Pour into the baking pan and sprinkle with the topping.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 12 -16 servings

(Recipe from Crazy Vegan Mom)

Chocolate Cake with Oreo Buttercream Frosting

                                       from Vegweb and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World


*Shouting at the top of my lungs*

CAKE!

CAKE!

IT'S NO FAKE!

FECES

FECES

CHOCOLATE CAKE!

*/end shouting*

I made this for me and my brother since our b-days are 2 days apart (there's actually 3 of us born within the same week--yes, my parents apparently only shacked up once a year in the spring, and then they were done for the rest of the year). We ate it while half-groggy and slightly tanked.

It is the easy chocolate cake from Vegweb. And boy was it easy. *COUchocolateSLUT'SmorelikeitGH*

I was able to bake it in two cake pans. It was nice and moist. And it was delightfully chocolatey.

I topped it with the fluffy buttercream frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World which is like the best frosting recipe ever. Half the frosting I added crushed oreos to, so as you can see, the cake is half and half.






EASY VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 c. flour


• 2 c. sugar


• 6 T. cocoa


• 2 t. baking soda


• 1 t. salt


• 2 c. water


• 3/4 c. vegetable oil


• 2 T. vinegar


• 2 t. vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients first. Once the mixture is even, mix in wet ingredients. Continue mixing until you obtain an even batter (no lumps). Pour into a cake pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes.

(Recipe from Vegweb)





FLUFFY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 c. nonhydrogenated shortening


• 1/2 c. nonhydrogenated margarine


• 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy


• 1 1/2 t. vanilla extract


• 1/4 c. plain soy milk or soy creamer

DIRECTIONS

Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy.

Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.

Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

Variation:Cookies 'n' Cream Frosting (pictured): Stir into frosting 1/2 cup (about 5 cookies; mash first, then measure) of finely mashed vegan chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies, like Newman-O's.

(Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, reposted at Chow)

Crumb Cake

                                       from VeganYumYum


N/A didn't put Bac-os on this. So: TWO THUMBS UP!!

Ha.

But even though N/A and I were on the same page about the Bac-os for once, I *DO* think this recipe needed something more.

Does that mean this recipe is a bad one?

Heck no.

The problem is that I can't really be too objective when:

1. I like chocolate.


2. This did not have chocolate.


3. I like cakes with tons of frosting.


4. This cake had no frosting.


5. Though I love vanilla in things, I do not like things whose core flavor is "vanilla."


6. I associate anything that's "Vanilla" in title to be "absent of flavor." Vanilla ice cream? Ice cream that has not yet been flavored.


7. This is essentially a "vanilla cake."


8. Somehow, despite the fact that the crumb topping is an all-out fucktastic sugar-fest, it wasn't sugary enough for me.


9. Or crumb-cake-y-topping-ish enough for me.


10. Or something.


11. It mostly just tasted a little bit floury.


12. Then again I did not use molasses. I followed the original (asterisked) directions.


13. E = MC[2]


14. My crumbs were not as moist.


15. They were also not as pretty and sexy and caramel-esque-looking as Lo Lo's.


16. Which reminds me: Sidenote--yesterday I ate this apple THAT TOTALLY SMELLED LIKE A CARAMEL APPLE but wasn't caramel at all. I kept sniffing it. And thinking: damn you smell like a caramel apple. And then I'd eat it and imagine it as a caramel apple, and it almost DID taste like one. But it wasn't!!!!


17. This cake is easy.


18. Not easy like a Phi Delta Kappa sorority girl, but like: simple.


19. That was nice.


20. It's also pretty.


21. And vanilla-y.


22. Your mom is simple.


23. And vanilla-y.


24. Touche.

So yes: this probably is a really good cake recipe. But it just may not be my kind of cake.

INGREDIENTS:

Crumb Topping

• 8 T. (1/2 c.) Earth Balance Margarine, melted


• 2/3 c. granulated sugar*


• 1 t. molasses


• 3/4 t. cinnamon


• 1 pinch salt


• 1-3/4 c. flour (cake flour or all-purpose)


*The original recipe calls for 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/3 cup brown sugar. I was out of brown sugar, so I used only granulated sugar with added molasses. Afterall, that's how brown sugar is made commercially-they simply add molasses back into the sugar after processing.

Cake

• 1-1/4 c. flour


• 1/2 c. granulated sugar


• 1/2 t. baking powder


• 1/4 t. salt


• 1/3 c. canola oil (or 6 T. Earth Balance Margarine, softened)


• 1/3 c. soymilk + 1 t. apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)


• 1 T. cornstarch mixed with 1/4 c. water


• 1-2 t. vanilla extract


• Powdered sugar, for dusting

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Whisk the still-warm melted earth balance with the sugar, molasses, cinnamon and salt. Mix in the flour with a spoon, or your hands, until a thick dough forms, similar to the texture of cookie dough. Let sit to cool for about 10 minutes. It should be ready when after you've put together the batter for the cake.

Line an 8x8 pan with aluminum foil (two sheets in a cross formation, leaving excess draped over the edges to help you remove the cake later). Spray with vegetable oil. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add oil, soymilk mixture, cornstarch mixture and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth, but do not overmix.

Add the batter to the lined pan. Begin to break apart the crumb mixture into smaller, pea sized pieces. Cover the batter evenly with all the crumb mixture. It will seem like a lot! Use it all, as the cake will expand and the crumb mixture is tasty.

Bake for 40-50 minutes at 350F, or until the crumbs are slightly browned and a toothpick in the center of the cake comes out clean. Use the toothpick to push over a crumb or two in the middle an make sure the top doesn't look gooey (I went the whole 50 minutes).

Grab the aluminum foil and gently lift the cake out to cool for 20-30 minutes on a cooling rack. Give it a nice dusting of powdered sugar, slice and serve.

Serves 9.

(Recipe from VeganYum Yum)

Lindy Loo's Vegan Chocolate-Raspberry Drizzle-Cake

Oh, week! How I wish you were filled with less stress and more CAKE!

Made this for my bff's b-day. Got oohs and aahs and requests for the recipe, so it mustn't've been TOO distasteful.

It's featured nekkidly above--I drizzled the chocolate over each slice instead of over the whole cake.

The Cake Itself

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 c. flour, sifted


• 2 c. sugar


• 1/2 c. cocoa powder


• 2 t. baking soda


• 2 t. cinnamon


• 2 t. vanilla extract


• 2 T. distilled white vinegar


• 10 T. vegetable oil (or 1/2 c. + 2 T.)


• 2 c. cold water



• Raspberry preserves, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 9-inch cake pans with vegan margarine.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Stir in the cinnamon, vanilla, vinegar, oil, and water. Mix until just combined.

Pour into the prepared cake pans and cook for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.

Carefully remove cakes from pans. To layer: Place one cake on a plate. Spread a generous amount of raspberry preserves on the top of it. Place the other cake carefully on top. Either spread another layer of raspberry preserves on top of *this* one as well, or just decorate it prettily with some preserves.

Chocolate Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 squares dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate


• 1/2 c. soy milk


• 1 c. sugar


• 6 T. vegan margarine (or 1/4 c. + 2 T.)


• 1 t. vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Melt the squares of dark or semi-sweet chocolate with the soy milk. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in vegan margarine and vanilla.

TO SERVE:

Cut a slice of cake and drizzle chocolate sauce over it.

Why My Mom Rocks Harder Than Your Mom (Unless Your Mom Is, Say, Joan Jett, or Some Other Rocker-By-Title, But Even Then Maybe Still)

Oh, look at that. One blog-entry ago, you thought I was a liar. You thought to yourself, That bitch, Lindy Loo. She tells us on Monday to stay tuned for vegan T-day recipes later in the week AND THEN SHE NEVER ACTUALLY POSTS THEM. That's exactly why I hate her and want to rub orange oily feces all over her and her cats.

Well, touché, friends. Touché.

Because my mom TYPED UP AND EMAILED ME EVERY SINGLE ONE OF HER VEGANIZED THANKSGIVING RECIPES TODAY, so rather than spread them out over four days, I am just gonna blow your mind with them ALL IN THE SAME POST.

In yo' face, 4-times over!!!!!

(And seriously--isn't she a goddess??)

VEGAN GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE




INGREDIENTS:

• 16 oz green beans cooked or steamed then drained


instead of one can cream of mushroom soup:


• 8 0z container of tofutti, and


• 1/2-3/4 c. soy milk




• 1 T. of hummus (or more to your taste )


• (if mix is too runny you can add a tsp of flour to thicken slightly)


• Salt/pepper to taste


• Large can of Durkees french fried onions

DIRECTIONS:

Scoop cream cheez into a bowl and add 1/2 to 3/4 cup soy milk to it gradually, stirring each time to avoid it lumping.

Combine all ingredients but 1/2 can of the onions in a 2-quart baking dish.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees..25-30 minutes..

Add rest of the onions as topping & continue baking 5 more minutes.

Bon appetit!





VEGAN STUFFED SHROOMS



INGREDIENTS:

• 16 large mushrooms


• 1 T. olive oil


• 3 T. dry sherry or white wine


• 1/4 c. finely chopped parsley if desired


• 1 T. vegan parmesan


• 1 T. unseasoned bread crumbs


• 1 clove finely minced garlic


• 1/4 t. dried thyme


• 1/4 t. oregano


• salt & pepper (or my mom used equivalent of Mrs Dash & seasoned to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

375 degrees..15-20 minutes.. 13 x 9 pan..cooking spray

Finely chop stems. Set caps aside.

Combine oil with wine. Reserve 2 T. of oil/wine mixture. Pour 2 T. of oil/wine mixture into 8" skillet & warm over low-medium heat. Saute stems six minutes until mix is dry. Add finely chopped parsley, cheese, crumbs & seasonings. Remove from heat. Stir in wine.

Spoon mix into caps using teaspoon.

Spray a 13x9 baking pan, and place a single layer of mushrooms inside.

Bake 15-20 minutes.

Halfway thru baking, brush caps w/remaining oil/wine mixture.

Serve hot.




VEGAN APPLE CRISP



INGREDIENTS:

• 4 apples cored/pared cut into cubes


• 3/4 t. lemon juice


• 1/2 c. granulated or 1/4 c. brown sugar


• dash cinnamon


• 1/4 c. water


dry ingredients:


• 1/4 c. + 2 T. flour


• 1/4 t. cinnamon


• 3 T. butter (Earth Balance)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix apple cubes with lemon juice.

Add half of the sugar, dash of cinnamon and water.

Place in lightly greased 1 quart baking dish.

Mix dry ingredients cutting in butter with whisk or fork.

Sprinkle over top of apples.

Bake 30 minutes.





VEGAN SWEET POTATO CAKE



INGREDIENTS:

• 1 c. butter (Earth Balance)


• 2 c. granulated sugar


• substitute for 4 large eggs (for each egg, my mom used 1/4 cup well mashed tofu + 1/4-1/2 tsp baking powder--so I guess that would be 1 c. well-mashed tofu and 1-2 t. baking powder)


• 2-1/2 c. cooked mashed sweet potatoes


dry ingredients:


• 3 c. all-purpose flour


• 2 t. baking powder


• 1 t. baking soda


• 1 t. ground cinnamon


• 1/4 t. ground nutmeg


• 1/4 t. salt


• 1 T. vanilla extract



• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream vegan margarine and sugars in a large bowl. Add tofu and baking powder gradually, mixing well to minimize lumps. Add cooked well mashed lump-free sweet potatoes.

In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients.

Combine dry ingredients with sweet potato mixture, stirring into a stiff batter.

You may add pecans at this point.

Pour into a well-greased baking pan (13 x 9 or loaf pan).

Bake for one hour if 13 x9.

If using loaf pan check after one hour using toothpick to make sure center done.

Sprinkle top w/chopped nuts if desired during the last 5-10 mins baking.

Cooking times may vary slightly.

Let cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with a vegan cream cheez frosting if desired. (I used leftover vegan cream cheez frosting with some of the leftovers, and it was DELISH!)

Mexican Chocolate Cake

So like I mentioned yesterday, Saturday was "Coincidental Cinco-de-Mayo-ish Food Day," and the icing on the cake of Mexican-food night (quite literally) was the Mexican Chocolate Cake recipe I stumbled across on vegcooking.com.

Holy crap.

Seriously, folks. I mean, I know I'm a sucker for chocolate with cayenne pepper in it (it's delectable), but regardless, this was hand's down the best cake I've ever baked.

It was wonderfully moist. It was delightfully chocolatey. It was raunchily spicy. And the chocolate-drizzle you can pour on top--fan-fricking-tastic (though I *did* just end up using semi-sweet baking chocolate instead of dark chocolate, but it was nonetheless gloriously yummy).

Now, I know the cayenne pepper probably scares off some of you, but jesus, peeps! Be daring! You only live once! If it scares you that badly, just use 1/4 t. (I used only 1/2 myself, and it set my mouth ablaze, so be forewarned)--or you can just omit it entirely and still have a wonderfully moist chocolate cake, but what fun would THAT be?

And if you haven't ever *HAD* the pleasure of TRYING chocolate with cayenne pepper, get ye to an oven, because you must. There is some sort of wonderful chemistry that goes on when the two meet--couple that with the cinnamon (which also lends an added richness to the chocolate) and you have a crazy-ass sexy motherfucking threesome going on--all batting eyelashes and garter belts and thigh-high pleather boots. How can you pass THAT up?

The Cake Itself

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 c. flour, sifted


• 1 cup sugar


• 4 T. cocoa powder


• 1 t. baking soda


• 1 t. cinnamon


• 1/2-3/4 t. cayenne pepper (I used 1/2 and it was pretty damn spicy)


• 1 t. vanilla extract


• 1 T. distilled white vinegar


• 5 T. vegetable oil


• 1 c. cold water


• Confectioners' sugar for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch cake pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Stir in the cinnamon, cayenne, vanilla, vinegar, oil, and water. Mix until just combined.

Pour into the prepared cake pan and cook for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool.

Dust with the confectioners' sugar before serving. Or drizzle with the following spicy chocolate sauce.

(Makes 8 to 10 servings )

Spicy Chocolate Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 squares dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate


• 1/4 c. soy milk


• 1/2 c. sugar


• 3 T. vegan margarine


• 1/2 t. vanilla


• Dash or two of cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS

Melt 2 squares of dark or semi-sweet chocolate with 1/4 cup water or soy milk. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 3 Tbsp. vegan margarine, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, and cayenne pepper, to taste.

(from VegCooking)

Chocolate Almond Midnight Cake

Last week, I noticed a post in the vegancooking livejournal forum about the Chocolate Almond Midnight cake from The Millenium Cookbook, and it looked and sounded so good (and relatively easy) that I decided I'd have some fun this weekend and try it out myself.

I was actually mildly disappointed with it, especially after reading the rave reviews coming from the person who posted it. It was a decent enough recipe, but it wasn't as amazing as I'd hyped myself up into believing it would be. But take that with a grain of salt--perhaps you will manage to whip it up into something magical and orgasmatronic if you try it yourself.

I don't own springform pans, so it was a bit more of a hassle to put together than it normally would've been (I had a hard time dislodging the mousse mold and had to do a bit of smoothing afterwards to make it look prettier), but it is feasible to do. The cashew crust was good, but I've had better. Cooking the chocolate mousse gave it an interesting texture, but even that wasn't anything to write home about--the chocolate mousse pie recipes I've used have been comparable (if not arguably better). I will admit that I didn't serve it with the mint leaves (and I just used raspberry preserves instead of making my own), so perhaps we can hold those things responsible. But all in all, I don't know that I'd go out of my way to bake it again.

If you do try to tackle it though, I will say this: if you freeze it, it somehow tastes better. Don't ask me why, but it makes the mousse seem creamier and almost like an ice cream pie.

INGREDIENTS:

Cashew Crust:


• 1/3 c. unsalted cashew nuts


• 3 T. vegan sugar


• 3 T. canola oil


• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract


• 1 c. all-purpose flour


• 1/8 t. salt


Chocolate Mousse:


• 2 c. (16 oz) chocolate chips


• 24.6 oz (2 boxes) extra-firm silken tofu (Mori-Nu)


• 3/4 c. vegan sugar


• 1 t. vanilla extract


• 1/8 t. sea salt


Maple Almond Praline:


• 1/4 c. maple syrup


• 1 c. slivered almonds


Raspberry Sauce (I just used raspberry preserves because I'm lazy):


• 2 c. fresh or 10 oz frozen raspberries, thawed


• 1/4 c. vegan sugar



• fresh mint leaves

DIRECTIONS:

First, preheat the oven to 350F, and oil a 8-inch round springform pan. In a food processor, grind the cashews to a fine meal. Add sucanat, oil, and vanilla, and process again until combined. In a small bowl, mix the flour and salt together, then add the cashew mixture and mix it in (start with a spatula, end with your hands). Press the crust into the pan, and bake 20-25 minutes, or until light brown and dry.
While the crust is baking, melt the chocolate chips. In a blender, combine the tofu, sucanat, vanilla, and salt. Blend until well mixed, then add melted chocolate and blend for 2 minutes, or until very smooth. Once the crust is done, lightly oil the sides of the pan and pour the mousse in. Bake for 35 minutes at 350F, then let cool for 10 minutes, then run a paring knife around the inside of the pan (to prevent sticking). Let the mousse cool to the touch, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Unmold just before serving.
While the mousse is baking, bring the maple syrup to a boil in a saucepan, boil for a minute, then ad almonds and stir constantly until the syrup has completely crystallized and almonds appear dry. (Mine just turned into a sticky, yucky mess, so good luck with that!) Pour the almonds on a baking sheet and let cool.
Next, blend the raspberries and sucanat until smooth, and strain the seeds out. Depending on the mesh size of your strainer, you may have to strain several times to get all/most of the seeds out.
To serve, cut the mousse into 12 pieces. For each slice, pool raspberry sauce on a plate, top with a slice of mousse, then top with praline and mint cut into fine chiffonade (very thin strips). Dust w/ cocoa powder if you like.