Our Culinary Blunders can't stop our Plans for Spring Quarter!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, and I confess that some culinary experimentation has occurred, and I have not reported ANY of it. But now that finals are over, and the pouring rain is keeping me inside, I can begin!

Before I completely forget, Eric and I did produce a “vegan”, sugar-free carrot cake. I just cannot divulge any recipe yet due to my lack of satisfaction with it. One thing I will tell you is that when choosing sweeteners that are less refined (closer to their natural forms), be sure to consider their taste and potential effect on the recipe. We substituted honey (hence the “vegan” in quotes), and also added half a cup of molasses. BEWARE! The molasses made the entire cake dark-colored and heavy. It still tasted pretty good, but next time I think brown rice syrup or another heat-stable, discreet-tasting sweetener such as stevia ought to be tested.

And then the cream cheese topping was another learning experience. Staying away from dairy, we used a vegan cream cheese, and made sure that it was NOT produced with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (see ingredients on the popular "Tofutti" vegan cream cheese package). We also used a soy milk heavy cream. Let's just say that it is only dairy that truly whips into a fluffy creamy consistency! Ours became a dairy-free dipping cream for the carrot cake (yea, still liquid!).

We had fun though, and Spring Quarter is going to bring some really amazing goodies, by request of my room mate Melinda. (I love when people want to cook with me).

I'm still hoping to find/create a recipe for chocolate pudding. I've heard of chocolate mousse being made with avocado, banana, cocoa powder, and a few other ingredients; I have this huge pile of healthy recipes (mostly raw and vegan) that Marika gave me, so I need to sift through them again!

Before I go, I was walking my dog Roxie (pictured below, and yes, that is indeed an underbite),

when I came across this lemon that had fallen from someone's lemon tree.

  

Voici le citron mysterieuse.

 

I brought my own fruit leather because I don't trust your snacks.

One of the things I was eager to make when I got my dehydrator was fruit leather...or fruit rolls....or just dried fruit, but that last one is slightly different.

The greatest thing about making fruit leather is that there are no specific formulas or ingredient ratios that you need to worry about. You can just grab the fruit that you had every intention of eating but just never did, so now it might be soft and wrinkly (ehh blaah).

Make sure the fruit you use doesn't have any pits. I read in my dehydrator manual that seeds ought to be removed as well, but I put kiwis in mine and the seeds were no problem at all.
Unnoticeable.
Imperceptible.
Unassuming.

So just leave 'em in there.

I like to use bananas, kiwis, vanilla, a little cinnamon, and I like to simmer dates and prunes (added for regularity!) in apple juice. If you have frozen fruits, like cherries, I bet those would be amazing.

pitted dates and prunes simmering in apple juice

Simmer the dates and prunes

In a small saucepan, throw in some pitted dates and prunes, then pour apple juice to just barely cover them. Simmer them over medium-low heat, keeping it covered. Check on it every few minutes. Soon you'll see that the dates and prunes have absorbed most of the apple juice. When this is the case, add it to a blender.

Blend

After removing the skins from both the bananas and kiwis (not necessary to remove seeds from kiwis, remember?), blend in a blender with the date-prune-apple juice concoction. To this you can add a little honey, vanilla, cinnamon, or any other spices you think would fly well. 

Just a warning

For some reason, the blended mixture of fruits does not smell good. I think it smells like hard-boiled egg yolk, in a bad way. So please ignore that smell. It doesn't taste all that good either. So please ignore that taste. Don't let this discourage you! Power forward.

Pour

Now pour the contents of the blender to a dehydrator tray - yes, a tray is needed - and even it out with a spoon or some kind of kitchen tool.

Pour slowly because you may need 2 or more trays. And you might want to keep the kitchen clean.

You can also add a garnish, such as chopped nuts or coconut. Just sprinkle on top of the smoothed mixture on the tray. Beware, shredded coconut may have added sugar, so look for a variety that doesn't.

   

Dehydrate
Plug the dehydrator in and turn it on, and now you've finished, the rest is up to the dehydrator!

The time dehydrating takes depends on the dehydrator, but they can reliably be done or close to done after about 8-10 hours.

They store best in an airtight container, try to eat within a week or two! (That will not be difficult)

Le produit fini:

You'll never have to bake old fruit into breads ever again! Who needs all that flour and sugar anyways?

Enjoy, and please tell me if you have any other fruit leather ideas!