Category Archives:  Desserts

Dark Chocolate Chipotle Cake

Today marks the last day of VeganMoFo!

I have to say, this has been one helluva MoFo; this month I have gained some wonderful things: an incredible amount of inspiration, new (and old) friends, a million more blogs to look forward to in my feedreader… and so many other warm fuzzies that I couldn’t possibly list them all right here, right now.

And, can you believe all of the food? I mean… holy stromboli there was a lot of food!

Since today is the final day of this glorious month of vegan food, I made a cake. I like to reserve cakes for celebratory times in my life (I know, super traditional), and even in those times I often opt to make a pie or some cookies (lazy traditionalist). So, when I break out a cake, you know it’s important.

Thank you to everyone who’s been there throughout the whole MoFoing month. ♥

And huge high five to everyone who participated….

I have a lotta catching up to do. Do you?

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Autumn Spiced Popcorn

The Friday after Thanksgiving in our house means a major chill fest that includes continuing to feast throughout the day on the remains of last night’s dinner… and a super relaxed family movie night.

Tonight, on the menu for movie watchin’ is the ever-so-loved nooch covered popcorn, and a new family fave- Autumn spiced popcorn. It’s delicately sweet, slightly salty, and has just enough spice to still call it autumnal. That’s right, I said autumnal.

We haven’t picked out a movie yet for tonight… but I am hoping whatever we choose will be able to rival last night’s re-visiting of the classic The Karate Kid.

I love four day weekends! Happy Friday :)

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Cranberry Cooler, Cranberry Sauce & MAVEA Elemaris Review

Recently I was contacted by the fine folks at MAVEA to do a product review of the Elemaris water filter pitcher.

I eagerly agreed because I have the hardest time downing water, and any excuse to drink more is fine by me.  Even though I run 2 miles every day and crave water quite often,  I still get far less water intake than I should. The main reason? Taste. I always “taste” something when I drink water from the tap, so I tend to cover it up with lots of lemon or lime juice and crushed ice, which is a pain (I’m so lazy!).  So I usually just drink coffee.

I know….

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Buckeye Candy (with a Hint of Cardamom)

I was raised on the idea that: if you want a treat, you best learn how to make it yourself. And, if you want to learn how to make it correctly (or in other words: taste like my mom’s), you must follow the recipe exactly. The first part, I agree with- but the second part… bah. Not so.

Beginning when I was just fifteen I had started veganizing all of my mom’s, grandmother’s, aunts’ and cousins’ recipes out of an old box that my mom kept on the very top shelf of her highest kitchen cabinet (good thing I was one heck of a climber). Buckeye Candy*- popular here in the state of Ohio, where the magical buckeye trees flourish- is one of the first recipes I got my little vegan hands on.

I happen to think these vegan buckeye candies taste just as they should: incredibly unhealthy, rich and so so so delicious.

* I added the cardamom for extra yumminess, ’cause that’s how I roll.

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Coconut Creamy Fruit Salad

This fruit salad (like most fruit salads, right??) is very simple to throw together and oh so tasty. The use of avocados, mangoes, and bananas only adds to the extra creamy deliciousness.

Speaking of deliciousness: VeganMofo is still going strong!! But my google reader may not survive this one. It is so chock full of awesome vegan eats, it just may explode. Seriously, I have got a lot of catching up to do!

It is in hectic (and yummy) times like these, that a nice easy fruit salad is the perfect treat to whip up. So easy, so sweet, so good.

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Fennel Seed Stars

I really feel like Rainbow Brite would be right at home in the above photograph. And that makes me smile.

Do you know what else makes me smile? Candy coated fennel seeds.

These slightly crunchy Fennel Seed Stars are a perfect vehicle for those little candies… second only to eating them straight from the bag. ♥

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Gluten Free Crêpes

A few days ago I was asked by a very sweet gal if I could make a crêpe that was, of course, both vegan and gluten free.

Here’s one variation of a crêpe recipe I have been kickin’ around for a while.  It’s a touch lighter and airier than an “eggy”, glutinous crêpe; but, it is still very delicious.

This recipe works great for both sweet and savory filled crêpes.

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Chocolate Acorn Squash Baked Custard

I woke up this morning determined to create something wonderful with this little acorn squash that had been rolling around on my counter-top for the past few days.

After mixing up all of the ingredients,  I had no idea that I had just created my new favorite Autumn treat. I’m serious! This dessert tastes remarkably like a chocolate pumpkin pie, or a pot de créme,  or simply what it is: an awesome baked custard (no eggs or cream needed). And it’s so easy to make!

Creamy, rich, and chocolatey, I dare you to eat just one bite.

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Vanilla Bean Macadamia Biscotti

Whenever I taste biscotti, I immediately have a flashback to the year in college when I worked as a café barista. I was one of the oddballs in the café world, constantly greeting people with a chirpy hello! and an exaggerated grin. My coworkers, much cooler than I, normally went for the “service without a smile” approach.

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Strawberries ‘n’ Cream Cupcakes & Ice Cream Maker Giveaway

Today marks the one year birthday of Manifest Vegan!

I can’t even explain how fun and rewarding this past year has been. You guys are the best, seriously!

I have over 1000  subscribers to my feed already… thank all you so much! I look forward to many more years and many more recipes. But for now, I’ll spare you anymore of this mushy talk and get straight to the presents!

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Apricot Nut Roll Cookies

Every single year, for as far back as I can remember, my mother makes a rugelach type cookie which she (and what I presume every member of her extended family) calls simply a “nut roll”. I haven’t had her rugelach in quite some time because it has all kinds of things in it that I just don’t do; but every year around this time, I start to crave it like nobody’s business.

So, starting in Autumn I begin to make a bunch of cookies of this “rugelach” type… pretty much all the way until January (when I start cursing winter and planning my move to the tropics). This version is not overly sweet and they are kinda big. You could share one… if you were really desperate to be a nice person. But this recipe makes quite a few cookies, so there’s no need to get all crazy…

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Coconut Mochi Cake

After seeing countless recipes for mochi cakes lately on the interwebs, and given my pretty well known obsession with mochi… I couldn’t resist trying to make one of my own versions of a mochi cake. I also recently ran across an Indonesian cake that had shredded coconut and sweet white rice flour as the base- so I thought I’d try and combine the two.

If you have an aversion to coconut and/or mochi, you probably won’t like this cake too terribly much. But if you are like me, and thoughts of chewy, delicious mochi dance through your head on a regular basis… give this recipe a whirl. I liked it a LOT, but I could only eat half of what’s pictured -it is very filling! My one and a half year old, on the other hand, ate about three times that. And my son is actually asking for more as I type this. I’m thinking my husband will probably hate it.

This dessert is definitely different than most cakes I am used to making. It has a chewy chewy chewy inside, and a soft cake-like outside. And, it’s only about an inch tall. Maybe this dessert has a more authentic name? I’d like to think I kinda-sorta made it up… but somehow, I doubt that.

If you happen to enjoy Daifuku… I think you will find this dessert mochi-licious.

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