Curry Coconut Butternut Squash Soup

There's a butternut squash just lying around and you're not sure what to make. You love butternut squash soup but you crave something new. This recipe is just that.

Ingredients
1/3 or 1/2 butternut squash
1 small white onion or 1/2 medium
1 garlic clove
1 tsp madras curry powder (or paste)
1 veggie stock cube
1 teaspoon vegetable oil 
1/2 can coconut milk (I used Thai Kitchen)
salt
pepper

Directions

1. Cube the butternut squash in giant pieces, and boil them until soft (about 20 min or so). Remove from water and let them cool for a few minutes before scooping the squash with a spoon. Place all scooped butternut squash in a food processor.

2. Finely chop the onion and garlic, sautee over low-medium heat in a small pan. After onion becomes translucent, add the salt, pepper and curry powder. After a minute or 2, add this to the butternut squash in the food processor.

3. Crumble the veggie stock cube all over and add the coconut milk. Pulse blend a few times in the beginning, then process for 1 or 2 minutes.

4. Pour mixture into a pot and heat to preferred temperature.

Happy soup time! Have you ever tried a spicy butternut squash soup before?

Banana Bread With Walnuts, Chocolate Chips & Coconut Oil

It is soft. It melts in your mouth. It smells like sweet love which tingles your nose. I'm talking about decadent banana bread that will win the heart of even your most non-vegan friend. Yes, it's that good. One of my friend's family members who likes to be a clown usually refers to vegan food as dinosaur eggs. (it's a joke, I only clued in after the first few sarcasm remarks and I started playing back) However, after having a couple of slices of this, he had nothing to say except [insert Canadian accent]: "that was really fuckin' good."

Please note: I used 1 cup of chocolate chips because I really love chocolate. Must admit it was a bit too much, so if you prefer a more even ratio, you can use 1/2 a cup.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1 cup chocolate chips (I used Cocoa Camino)

1 cup chopped walnuts

3-5 organic bananas (I used 5 of the skinnier ones)

 3/4 cup agave syrup (Wholesome Sweeteners)

1/2 cup coconut oil (Nutiva)

2+ teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Mash up bananas with a potato masher or a fork in a medium bowl. Add in liquids and mix in well until all lumps disappear. 

2. Add dry ingredients in a large bowl, including the chocolate chops and chopped walnuts. 

3. Slowly incorporate wet ingredients into dry mixture, until all dry mixture is worked in.

4. Oil your pan with coconut oil and pour mixture in. (I used a bundt cake pan that was quite shallow, so I got a ring of banana bread. You can use whatever you would like, including loaf pans) Pick up pan and drop a couple of times to get rid of air bubbles, and even out batter. Using a pastry brush, gently brush a thin layer of agave syrup, which will make it luscious and give it gorgeous colour.

5. Bake at 350 Farenheit for about 25-35 min (do a toothpick check in the earlier minutes, it's ready when it comes out clean with no gooey batter on it.)

Feel free to leave a comment, a Facebook post or a Tweet if you have any questions or if you tried it out!!

Love,

 The Scrummy Vegan

Easy Vegan Mac n Cheese with Daiya!

I've tried to make vegan macaroni and cheese a couple of times, and somehow the texture was never quite right. Well, my dear reader, that is no longer the case. I've officially managed to muster up an easy mac n cheese recipe with Daiya that tastes absoultely yummy. (in fact, I've had it twice this week already, and I haven't really been feeling like pasta lately) I am not responsible for any drool that might fall on your keyboard so without further ado, here is the recipe...

Serving Portion: just for 1, but it's quite small.

Ingredients
1/2 cup of elbow macaroni (I used vegetable elbow mac, that's why you see all the strange colours)
1/3 cup of Daiya Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon of vegan margarine
a sprinkle of black pepper
a pinch of paprika

Directions

1. Boil the pasta just a little less longer than instructions, al dente. You want it to be cooked, but a bit hard so that it won't mush up when you bake it.

2. Mix all the ingredients in a heat proof glass bowl (like a pyrex dish) and place it over a steaming pot of water, a la double boiler method. It's best the bowl does not actually touch the water because it could burn the cheese rather than melt it, so use a bigger bowl if you have to.

3. Once the cheese sauce is coming together, drain the pasta and add it to the pyrex dish and mix the pasta all around so the cheese sauce coats it. Pop in a toaster oven or regular oven at 300 Farenheit for 5-10 minutes max depending on your personal preference.

Smell it, eat it, lick it. It's that good.

Vegetable Maki Sushi 101

I LOOOOOOOVE SUSHI. Or maki should I rather say. Which kinds? All kinds: avocado, kappa (cucumber), shitake, sweet potato tempura, hawaiian, tofu, red pepper, asparagus, etc.

Sushi is simple in its steps, but difficult to master in technique. It takes more than one try to get it right, so don't get discouraged if it doesn't come out right! I ruined many a nori sheets and plenty of sushi rice the first couple of times I tried.

Ingredients
1 cup sushi rice
3 tbs rice vinegar (I used the Marukan brand)
5 nori sheets
1 avocado
1/2 cucumber
2 tbs white sesame seeds
1/2 tsp brown sugar
pickled ginger, soy sauce, wasabi paste

Directions

1. Boil sushi according to package directions, add 2 tablespoons of the rice vinegar and mix it in well. Cool until room temperature so if you touch it, you can't feel that it's warm.

2. Toast sesame seeds in a frying pan with no oil or water over medium heat, until golden and it smells good, but not burnt.

3. Slice avocado and cucumber into long thin strips. In a small bowl, mix 1 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar.

4. Take 1 nori sheet and place on bamboo rolling mat. Using a flat spatula dipped in water/vinegar mixture, spread some rice thinly on 90% of the area, leaving an empty strip along the top. Line up long strips of cucumber or avocado lengthwise across the nori, towards the bottom of the riced area. Sprinkle sesame seeds all over rice that you just spread on the nori.

5. Going very slowly, gently lift the bottom of the bamboo mat where the strips of avocado are located, and start rolling the nori like a log or cigar. Try to roll the left and right side evenly, or else you will end up with a cone.

6. When you get to the edge of the naked strip of nori, apply water/rice mixture slightly all over, and then roll again. This helped to seal the last bit of nori onto the roll itself, feel free to dab it with a bit of liquid there to seal it up a more.

7. Ta da! You now have a roll that looks like a very skinny and long log. I usually like to cut this into 6 pieces with a straight edge knife that was dipped in the water/vinegar mixture.

8. Congratulations, you just made sushi! (Ahem, maki) It tastes best when it has been cooled in the fridge for at least half an hour. Get out the sushi set, soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi and go to town!

Mini Potato Sandwich with Daiya Cheddar and Guacamole Topping!

When I woke up this morning (around lunch time), I knew I wanted something with Daiya. Grilled cheese sammies are awesome, but I wanted something new. I considered making a hash brown casserole with creamy cheddar sauce, but that would've taken up too much of my time.

I wanted something quick, yummy, and kind of light. I scouted the fridge to check what I had on hand and found half of an avocado. I was staring at my Daiya cheddar bag and the avocado, and thought I could maybe make fried hashbrowns blended with Daiya in it. And then a new idea was born. Fry sliced potatoes, melt some Daiya on one slice, then put another potato slice on top. It's like a mini-sandwich/slider type of deal...

It may sound weird, but it sounded strange to me too. To make it better, I decided to make some guacamole and top my potato sammies with that. The results? Actually scrumptious. I'm definitely going to be making this again when I'm in a pinch for time.

Ingredients
2 medium potatoes
Daiya Cheddar Cheese
1/2 avocado
1 tsp fresh lime juice
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of chilli powder

Directions
1. Peel and wash potatoes, then slice length wise into ovals. Fry until lightly golden, then sprinkle Daiya on half of the potato ovals in the pan. Place the naked potato slices on top of the ones that have Daiya, and constantly flip them until the cheese starts melting inside.

2. Scoop out ripe avocado, add the rest of the ingredients, and mash up with a fork until you have a dip consistency. Scoop on potato sandwiches while they're still warm, and devour immediately.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

It was time for the coconut chocolate chip cookie. Been meaning to post it for a while, but I wanted to remake them again and snap a photo so you can see the end result! Feel free to make any adjustments to the recipe to suit your tastes.

Bon appetit mes petits chefs!

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup coconut oil
1 teaspoon egg replacer powder
2 tablespoons almond milk
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
1. Add all dry ingredients in one bowl and mix everything around.
2. Add 2 teaspoons of hot water to to egg replace powder, then add the rest of the wet ingredients.
3. Slowly work in wet mixture into the dry mixture until you get a crumbly sort of dough, not pasty batter.
4. Roll into balls of desired size, press with a fork and bake at 350 Farenheit for 10-15 minutes until pale golden.

The Naked Sprout Restaurant Review

Decadently delicious.

Today, I had the pleasure of eating at The Naked Sprout in Burlington, on their grand opening day. I'll start off by saying that in no way, shape or form did I get paid or bribed for this review. I was just simply in love with the food and seriously can't wait to go back.

The Naked Sprout is located at 4040 Palladium Way, on Walker's line past Dundas, in a plaza, right next to Chrysalis Yoga. The place is bigger than I expected and pretty cozy in general. I noticed the countertop walls are made of recycled corkboard (or what it looks like), as is the little clipboard that your bill comes on. They also sell packaged fancy teas and drinks, but no coffee. The staff were super friendly and checked up on us often. There was also live music today, part of the reason why I came besides a damn good excuse to try new vegan foods and go to Rattlesnake point after.

The order for the 2 people: Sushi, Noodle Tang, Warrior Bowl, Vanilla Cheesecake, Coffee in a French Press

Sushi (raw):  Parsnip rice, cucumber, red pepper, mushroom, carrots, hemp wasabi. What a creative use of ingredients and a tasty combo. I loved the hemp wasabi sauce, it was so subtle but amazing. My only repercussion is that no chopsticks were provided so this is the first time ever that I ate sushi using my hands/fork.

Noodle Tang (raw): Zucchini and kelp noodle. red cabbage, red pepper, broccoli, carrots, almond tamirand sauce. Cold saucy goodness. Yummy crispy vegetables tossed in a nutty sauce, with lots of sprinkled sesame seeds. A delicious sized bowl for a good price.

Warrior Bowl: Brown rice, grilled tempeh, sprouts, steamed broccoli, thai almond sauce. Warm gooey Thai-almondy sauce over yummy rice and veggies. My favourite part of this dish was definitely the sauce and tempeh.

Vanilla Cheescake: OMG. OMG. OMG. When I was a vegetarian, I didn't even like cheesecake but I am absolutely in love with dessert. Vanilla creamy goodness with what looked like a nut graham base with strawberry sauce on top. I don't know whether this was raw or not but I only have one word to describe it: absolutelyfuckingdelicious.

Coffee: just right, not acidic, not too bold or bitter but with a lot of flavour and body.It came with these fabulous double glass wall cups that keep the liquid hot but are cool to hold so you don't burn yourself. You can see them @ the Bodum website.

I can't wait to go back. That is all.

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie + Crust from scratch!

This past weekend, due to time and family constraints, or rather family having time constraints for the actual Thanksgiving, I celebrated the holiday early, along with a feast of foods.

Unfortunately things were so hecticly delicious, that most foods didn't survive for photos or writing down the ingredients to post recipes....all but one very important meal: pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie is a dessert and also a meal in my opinion..but you can debate and dispute about it below in the comment box if you wish!

Please note 1 very important thing. The very first thing you should do if you are making the pumpkin puree from scratch like in this recipe is to prepare the puree. The longer the boiled pumpkin drains, the better. You can even do it overnight if you want.

Prep & Cook time: approximately 2+ hours

Servings: 1 pie

Filling Ingredients 

2 cups of boiled and drained pumpkin (approx. 1/2 of a pie pumpkin)

¼ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon molasses

2 tablespoons almond milk

½ tsp vanilla extract

3 teaspoons cornstarch

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp cloves

Directions:

1.         Start preparing the pumpkin before the dough. Slice your pie pumpkin in half, scoop out the gut (seeds and stringy bits). Depending on the size of your pumpkin, half would make approximately 2 cups that you need for this recipe. Chop into large pieces and boil it for 10 or so minutes until soft.

2.   Drain pumpkin cubes and once cool enough to handle, start taking the skin off so you are only left with the pumpkin “meat”. Place all of the pumpkin “meat”/goo in a strainer or cheese cloth and let drain over sink or in a bowl. 

 3.        When it is drained, add pumpkin meat to a blender or food processor with the molasses, vanilla, almond milk first and then all the dry ingredients. Stir around with your spatula and then pulse and blend it until it looks like a puree consistency.

Pie Crust Ingredients

1 cup flour

Pinch of salt

½ vegetable shortening

2 tablespoons of water

1 tablespoon margarine

Directions:

1.       Put the flour and salt into a bowl, and let shortening sit out from fridge for a few minutes.

2.       Cube the shortening into tiny cubes and slowly add them into the bowl while mixing in with a spatula.

3.       When all the shortening is worked into the flour, you should have a very crumbly floury texture. Add 2 tablespoons of cold water, and working it in with the spatula. You can use your hands to start forming the dough into a ball.

4.       Once the ball is formed and everything is incorporated, place in fridge for about an hour or less.

5.       After an hour, take out the dough ball. Flour a flat surface that you want to roll your dough on and flour your rolling pin. Flatten the ball into a disk and start rolling from the centre outwards in all directions until you get a large enough square to cover your pie pan. 

1.       

Pie Assembly:

1.  Take your pie pan with the crust already in it and rub margarine all over the crust and sides. 
2. Pour the filling into the pan as even as possible and gently pick up and drop the pie on a flat surface from a short height. Doing this carefully will even out the filling puree into all of the crust and get rid of air pockets.
3. Bake at 350 Farenheit for about 30-40 minutes and let cool for 30 minutes or longer to set.

Peach Cobbler with a Maple/Walnut Twist

What is a cobbler? According to Wikipedia, cobbler is a dish consisting of fruit filling covered with a batter, biscuit or pie crust. The name possibly originated due to the fact that the dish looks like a cobble road when it's assembled..either way, delicious fruit with a yummy crunchy topping, what's not to love?

Here is my rendition of peach cobbler:

Filling:

-8 ripe peaches
-1/4 white sugar
-1/4 maple syrup
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1/4 nutmeg
-2 tbsp lemon juice
-2 tsp cornstrach

Topping:

-1/2-1 cup flour
-1/4 white sugar
-1/4 maple syrup
-1 tsp baking powder
-6 tbsp margarine (salted)
-1/2 cup or more crushed walnuts

Directions

1. Parboil peaches in boiling water for a few minutes, remove and cool so you can easily peel the skin with your hands.
2. Slice peaches into wedges, throw in a pot on medium heat with all of the filling ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients of topping first, then slowly incorporate liquids.
3. After 5-10 minutes of filling simmering down and thickening, pour in to a pyrex dish and dribble the topping everwhere.
4. Bake for 20 min on 350 Farenheit or until desired gold colour.

Simple, easy dessert. I'm gonna try making apple crumble next time, gotta use those 20 lb of apples from a pick your own farm somehow!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Cherry Frosting

Who loves cupcakes?? I sure do, and I'm a big fan of the cupcakes made by Sweets From The Earth. I've tried many times to amalgamate a recipe that tastes good, isn't too dry or crumbly, and doesn't have a lot of soy after taste. I think I've finally found a keeper. These are flavourful, have the right texture, no soy aftertaste and they're not as heavy as other vegan cupcakes. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Cupcake Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/5/tsp salt
2 teaspoons egg replacer
7 tablespoons vegetable shortening (a bit under 1/2 cup approx.)
1/2 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Yield: approximately 45 mini cupcakes (maybe 12+ large cupcakes?)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix almond milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes to curdle.

2. Cream the vegetable shortening using a stand up mixer, starting from low speed to high speed.  After it starts becoming fluffly, slowly incorporate sugar and add vanilla extract.

3. Prepare the egg replacer according to package: usually per 1 dry teaspoon of egg replacer, use 2 teaspoons of warm water to turn it into a paste.

4.. In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Add egg replacer to creamed shortening, then slowly alternate between adding dry mixture and wet mixture. Use mixer on low speed until everything is incorporated, then use high for a minute or 2 to mix up batter perfectly.

5. Line baking tray with muffin cups and use a brush to lightly oil the insider of the cups. Pour batter and bake at 350 Fahrenheit for approximately 20 minutes until golden brown.

Frosting Ingredients:

14 tablespoons of vegetable shortening (I used Earth Balance)
2-3 cups of icing sugar
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cherries

1. Whip shortening in a stand up mixer on high speed for a few minutes. Slowly add icing sugar, sifted with no clumps.

2. If using frozen cherries, let defrost in a bowl and pour the red juice in the bowl. If using fresh cherries, squeeze cherries into bowl until all juice comes out. This will colour the frosting naturally pink and give it a cherry aroma.

3. Decorate cupcakes after they completely cooled from the oven. 

Epic Photo Essay..

 I decided I want to do a sneak peak tease with some photos of dishes I've made in the past, and will slowly upload about 2 photos to this post every other day. If there's a particular recipe you're interested, leave a comment bellow and I will recreate the magic of cooking up the dish again and type up the recipe for anyone! 

Vegan French Onion Soup with Daiya Mozzarella 

 Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Homemade Garlic Croutons

 Vanilla Coconut Cream Cake adapted from Marly's Recipe

 Chocolate Hazelnut Crepes (think Ferrero Rocher)

Vegan Marinara Sauce with Vegetables

Pasta. and Italian tomato sauce. I've been told by real Italians that the tomato sauce that Canadians are used to (the real thick and smoothie like one) is good, but well,...err not exactly traditional in true Italian cuisine. According to them (and most Italians I know), the "real" traditional tomato pasta sauce is a lot lighter, more watery, and a bit more clumpy than smooth. If you are Italian and disagree with what I just said, please comment below and let me know your opinion of true Italian sauce.

Thus being said, I like both varieties and the version below is closer to the Canadian style, aka more thick, only because I pureed the tomatoes in a Magic Bullet..if the tomatoes are hand diced, and there are some other minor alternations, I'm sure you can get closer to the traditional Italian sauce. The only way you could get closer is by befriending a nonna, and be blessed if she allows you in her kitchen while she's cooking. (By the way, nonna=grandmother in Italian, or so I've been told)

Moving on to varieties of sauce: Neapolitan, marinara, Bolognese (side LOL, I almost spelled Bolognese as Blogonese...haha), Puttanesca, Arrabbiata. I'm sure there are more styles, but I just wanted to briefly look at these. If you have any additional information on these sauces, please comment below and let me know, I can only trust internet research so much.

Neapolitan: basic tomato sauce without the onion (no onion???? seriously?)
Marianara: basic tomato sauce with white wine and parsley. In Italy marinara sauce is associated with serving it with seafood.
Bologonese: ground meat tomato sauce
Puttanesca: traditionally made with olives, capers, and anchovies
Arrabbiata: Rome based tomato sauce, very spicy because of red chillies, but traditionally made with no basil? (is this really true, no basil? can anyone confirm this?)

Please add white wine and parsley to your shopping list, unfortunately I didn't have either of these ingredients on hand, so if you want a more authentic marinara sauce please add white wine and parsely...or go to Italy, have some marinara, come back and tell me what they put in it.

Ingredients 

1/2 medium white onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves
1 handful of spinach
1  or 1/2 portobello mushroom
2 medium tomatoes
2 teaspoons of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

a few shakes of freshly cracked black pepper
a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
4 fresh leaves of basil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 of whole grain pasta (dry measurement)

Yield: 2 servings

Directions

1. Finely dice onion and garlic and sautee over medium low heat, and add the onions first. In the mean time, dice portobello mushrooms in bite size pieces and dice your tomatoes. For a more authentic Italian style, leave tomatoes diced, or if you want a thick goopy sauce, puree them in a blender. I pureed mine for this recipe but I like both methods.

2. After a few minutes of sauteeing, add the fresh spinach leaves and they wilt in a few minutes. Also add the diced portobello and add freshly cracked black pepper (a few shakes). After a minute, add the tomatoes, diced or pureed as well as the white wine vinegar (or white wine if you have it on hand it is preferred) and the tomato paste. Boil water in a separate pot, and add pasta when water is at boiling point.

3. Let the sauce simmer on low heat for 10 minutes or so, until it cooks and thickens up. Add spices last minute and do not over cook sauce, as spices can lose their potency and oregano can become bitter.

4. Serve over warm whole grain pasta and then devour.

 What is your favourite kind of pasta sauce? Do you have any great recipes or secrets you would like to share?

Thai Chili Peanut Butter Stirfry

I love Thai food and peanut butter. I'm currently testing a low carb diet, so I figured this recipe would be filling and tasty even if I omitted rice or rice noodles. Peanut butter is not low in fat and there is also about 3, 3.5 g of carbs per 1 tbsp of peanut butter, so just keep that in mind if you are counting your carb intake. I am not claiming this recipe is low-carb, but it's certainly better off than pasta, pizza, potatoes, noodles or rice stirfrys.

This recipe is SPICY for the average spicy food eater. If you don't handle spice well, please reduce the quantity of chili used.

Ingredients 
 
1/2 broccoli head
1 red pepper
3-4 mushrooms
1/4 white onion
1/2 pack of firm tofu
1 teaspoon oil (vegetable, coconut)

Sauce:
4 tablespoons peanutbutter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 tablespoon Thai chilli sauce
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder

Yield: 2-3 servings

Directions

1. Cube tofu in 1/2 inch square cubes. Slice vegetables into stirfry size and heat up oil in a wok or a large pan.

2. In a separate bowl, mix all wet ingredients for the sauce first, and pour the hot water last. Then add the rest of the spices.

3. Saute tofu cubes first until golden brown, then add vegetables and stirfry on medium heat for 5 minutes or so until tender but not over cooked.

4. Add chilli peanut sauce over vegetables and cook on low heat for another few minutes so the flavour gets absorbed. Serve warm.


Feel free to change up vegetables in the recipe with whatever you like or you think goes well with peanut butter. Do you have any favourite chilli peanut recipes or peanut satay?

Savoury Mozarella Pancake Puffs

Pancake puff pans are quite an amazing thing. Aside from making sweet treats which originated as the Dutch dessert Aebleskiver, there is a savoury Japanese version of this dish called Takoyaki.

What does this have to do with the Savoury Mozarella Pancake Puffs? Nothing really, except I found that tidbit of history slightly amusing. The photo in this recipe post is actually a Frankenstein puff in which I poured some batter first, spooned some marinara sauce and Daiya mozza and then more batter to fill up the well.

Get ready for some delicious snacking!


Ingredients 
 
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Daiya Mozzarella cheese
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil


Yield: approx 12 pancake puffs

Directions

1. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl with the Daiya Mozarella cheese. Mix the water and oil in another bowl and whisk well. Slowly mix in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until you reach batter consistency.


2. Heat up your pancake puff pan to a LOW-MED temperature. This allows the pancake puffs to be cooked without burning. Scoop or pour enough batter in one well to almost fill up the well to the brim. (It is easier to flip pancake puffs if they are larger.)

3. After a couple of minutes when they are cooked on one side (pale yellow-gold colour), flip them holding one stick on one side of the puff, and the other stick on the opposite side of the puff.

4. Wait another few minutes for the other side to cook, then remove puffs using the 2 sticks like chopsticks. They will be pale in colour, but do not fret, they will be cooked inside. If you would like a more golden colour, keep flipping them on each side until they reach desired colour.

5.  Serve with warm marinara sauce.

Vegan FUNnel Cake Recipe

  If fairs, carnivals or amusement parks were part of your childhood (or adulthood), then maybe you remember the sweet waft of funnel cakes coming from the stands or the shops. A long line-up later and intoxicated with vanilla, you got a plateful of funnel cake topped with smooth ice cream, crisp strawberries, a glimmer of icing sugar, and ooey gooey strawberry sauce.
     For some reason, it had never crossed my mind until now that a vegan funnel cake is even possible. Here's the recipe folks!

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon egg replacer (I like Ener-G or Bob's Red Mill)
1 teaspoon vanilla (or to taste) 
1 cup vegetable oil or as needed

Directions

1. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and prepare the egg replacer (usually 1 tablespoon warm/hot water per 1 tablespoon egg replacer powder).

2. Slowly add in the egg replacer mixture, the milk and vanilla until you have a thick batter. It should be thick, but dripable but not extremely drippy like a crepe batter.

3. Use a middle sized pan and fill it with at least 2 fingers height of oil. Let it heat on medium-high and wait until the oil is hot but not smoking. Take a ladle and pour some of the batter in a large funnel and keep the hole covered with your finger. Start in the middle of the pan and take off your finger, slowly guiding the funnel in a spiral shape keep the spiral continious and close together. Continue until you reach the edge of the pan and let the funnel cake cook, turn when golden brown.

It takes a couple of tries to get the motion going right and the temperature right so don't worry if the first ones come out burned or not perfect! Just snack on them for quality assurance ;)

This should make about 4-5 funnel cakes if you use a medium pan but it all depends. I served it with Coconut Bliss vanilla ice cream, powdered sugar, fresh strawberries, homemade strawberry sauce, and Healthy Top whip cream.

Vegan Whipped Cream Product Review

Do they serve Healthy Top in heaven?

Last week, I discovered a whipping cream product called Healthy Top. It comes in a carton, it is made of thick cream from almonds, cashews and coconut oil and it is the most delectable sweet I had in years. You keep it in the fridge for minimum half an hour, stick a bowl and the beaters in the freezer and then whip it on high for 1-2 minutes.

The last time I tried finding vegan whipped cream I came across Soyatoo, in a can which stopped spraying after one use. Utter garbage, I thought I would never eat whipped cream again.

Cherry Chocolate Heaven

Healthy Top officially made me feel alive again. It's creamy, silky, smooth, rich and stiffs up better than dairy whip cream (not as wishy washy). You can dip strawberries in it, put it on crepes or on top of coffee or just damn eat it out of the bowl (guilty as charged).

If you haven't tried it yet, close your eyes, and prepare for your tongue to be delighted.

By the way, I didn't get paid for writing this, I just genuinely absolutely love this whip cream! It's to die for!

How To Make Vegan Butterscotch Pudding

Ingredients

3/4 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon of fine salt
2 cups non-dairy milk (I used almond)
2 tablespoons margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Mix the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan, slowly add about 1 cup of the milk and put it on medium-high on your stove top.
 
2. Whisk once in a while for the next few minutes, and pour the rest of the milk slowly.

3. Once the pudding is almost thickened up to your desired consistency, stir in the margarine and vanilla.

4. If you like your pudding warm, let it cool in the pot for 10 minutes or if you like it cold, chill for an hour or 2.

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups!

Since I moved my blog, I'm starting to switch over the old posts, so let me present to you the vegan chocolate peanut butter cup recipe!

Ingredients (approx)

1 cup peanut butter (pref. use organic one that does not have added oils, salt or sugar)
1/2 cup icing sugar (I like Wholesome Sweetners)
1 cup of chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life)
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
12 paper muffin cups

Directions

1. Cut the muffin cups in half horizontally so that the paper cup left resembles a peanutbutter cup shape.
2. Melt chocolate chips in microwave for 20-60 seconds. (stop and check every 10 seconds to make sure it's melted and not burned)
3. Use small basting brush (silicone preferred)to spread chocolate on the cups. Coat thickly so that you cannot see the paper (otherwise cup will break when it's ready) Make sure to leave some chocolate to coat the tops.
4. Place coated cups on a plate and place it in the freezer.
5. Mix the peanut butter with the salt and sugar. Add more of either item to taste, find your balance of sweet and salty. Remember the chocolate is sweet.
6. When cups are hardened (10 mins or so) scoop the peanutbutter into the cups with a teaspoon and flatten them in the cup gently.
7. Pour remaining chocolate on top of the peanutbutter and use the brush to spread it to the edges.
8. Freeze for another 10 mins. Gently peel the muffin paper off the cups.
9. Serve frozen or refrigerated otherwise you may find a sneaky surprise! (cups melted out of their shape when you grab them)

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Scrumptious Vegan