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.
that lemon looks like it fell from somewhere much farther away than the neighbor's tree...like from another planet maybe...
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