Tag Archives: so delicious original creamer

MOLTEN LAVA CAKE – Vegan & GF

On the way to a great recipe, there are often a lot of disasters.  I don’t usually highlight my recipe failures, however I decided to share my Vegan Molten Lava Cake recipe creation process with you.  A lot of work goes into coming-up with one of my new recipes.  It is rare that a recipe comes together on the first try, but it does happen from time to time; My PB Chocolate Chip Dessert Hummus was one of the rare exceptions in that I really liked the results of my first recipe version.

I sometimes feel like I am in a chemistry lab when I attempt to bake vegan and gluten-free.  Gluten-free flours work so differently than standard wheat flour and when you throw in the monkey-wrench of not using eggs, everything changes yet again.

The photo collage above tells the story of my first and second recipe attempts.  Version one used flax eggs and almond flour as the base.  I thought I would try to see if I could make this molten lava cake in the microwave and… let’s just say I got the “lava” part spot-on.  I had some more batter left, so I tried baking  it in the oven and it completely puffed-up only to deflate all the way back to the bottom of the ramekin.  So, for version two I switched to using baking soda and vinegar eggs (I got the tip from Chef Chloe’s website) and added some more blanched almond flour.  It looked so promising while baking, like a beautiful soufflé, and then TOTALLY deflated when I took it out of the oven.

When I am in the middle of the recipe writing process I get a bit obsessive and tend to think about it constantly.  After stewing about this for yet another day it came to me; everything started to make sense.  I needed to take out some of the blanched almond flour, add in some gluten-free flour mix, a little xanthan gum, and some baking powder.  Voilà, vegan and gluten-free Molten Lava Cake.

That being said, isn’t it so true that those missteps make the successes all that more sweet?  I set-out to create a molten lava cake that was vegan and gluten-free while also being easy on the waistline.   I am really proud of this recipe.

My honey LOVES molten lava cake and now I have a much healthier version to serve to him.  Some people buy their men electronics or cologne for Valentines, I made mine a cake.

 INGREDIENTS
Serves 2
 
Wet
1/4 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips
3 Tbs. So Delicious original creamer
2 Tbs. applesauce
1 tsp instant decaf coffee crystals
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla
 
Dry
2 Tbs. blanched almond flour
2 1/2 Tbs Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour mix
1 Tbs. cocoa
3 stevia packets
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp. xanthan gum
Pinch salt
Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (I used a toaster oven).

Whisk together all of the dry ingredients.

Melt the chocolate chips over a double boiler or in the microwave.  If melting in the microwave, do it in 30 second intervals and stir in between (this will prevent the chocolate from burning).  It usually takes about 90 seconds to melt the chips completely.

Once the chocolate is melted, whisk it together with the rest of the wet ingredients.  The coffee crystals are included in the wet ingredients so you can make sure they melt into the mixture properly and are completely disbursed.

Whisk the wet and dry ingredients together.  The batter will be very thick like brownie batter.

Lightly oil and flour a small (approx. 4 1/4 inch) springform pan.  When flouring the pan use a mixture of flour and cocoa in order to preserve the gorgeous brown color of the cake.  I used a heart springform pan by Wilton that I found at Homegoods.  I also saw that the pans are available at Target (Click HERE to see them on Target online).

Pour the batter into the pan making sure to only fill the pan 2-3 full.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  The top and edges of the cake should be set while the middle will be slightly loose.  After the cake has baked for 10-12 minutes,  remove it from the oven and allow it to cool on the counter for 5 minutes.

Serve the cake immediately after it has cooled for 5 minutes.  This cake is best HOT from the oven and would be awesome with some Vanilla So Delicious coconut milk ice cream and strawberries.

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

34 Comments

Filed under Cake, Dessert, Gluten Free, Holidays, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

VEGAN RANCH DRESSING MIX – Orphaned SRC

Happy Halloween!

On a day like today when candy is king, here is a great recipe to use in order to get some salad into your little ones before they go out trick-or-treating.

I was contacted this morning by Amanda from the  Secret Recipe Club because the blog, A Cooks Quest, was orphaned in this mornings reveal.  I checked-out her blog and instantly found the recipe I wanted to make.  My son has been begging me lately to make a vegan ranch dressing that ACTUALLY tastes like ranch and thanks to A Cooks Quest I just made a vegan version that will fool the most discerning ranch aficionado!  My little guy is going to be soooooo  thrilled with me (major mom points!).

I did need to alter the recipe a little since I could not find dried minced onions (my grocery store had 4 different brands of onion powder, but no minced onions) and I think that the next time I make the mix I will reduce the salt a little.  It did not taste overly salty, but I am trying to reduce my family’s salt consumption.

Click here for the original recipe from A Cooks Quest.

INGREDIENTS for Ranch Dressing Mix

3 1/2 teaspoons organic onion powder
8 teaspoon parsley flakes
4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika

**Cook’s note-this recipe is easily modified!  I love to add salsa to it for taco salads and roasted garlic for a delicious dip**

Mix together in a bowl and then pour the contents into a coffee grinder to reduce the size of the parsley flakes.  That’s it!  Store the mix in an air tight container (I used a small mason jar).

Now you have a great mix that you can use to make Ranch Dressing and Ranch Dip.  Since I did not use the minced onions and the powder had a smaller volume, I had to adjust the amount of mix you use to make the dressing and dip.  Thank you Google for helping me figure out that 1/3 cup total mix – 16 teaspoons.  I knew that the mix would yield 4 full size dressing or dip recipes, so I was able to figure out that 4 teaspoons of mix is needed for each recipe.

To veganize the recipes I used Vegenaise and Sour Supreme by Tofutti sour cream.  I also reduced the amount of mayonnaise (originally was 1 cup) to reduce the amount of fat in the total recipe.  I replaced 1/3 cup of the mayonnaise with So Delicious Original Creamer.

DRESSING RECIPE *
 Mix 4 teaspoons dry mix with
2/3 cup Vegenaise
1/3 cup So Delicious Original Creamer and
1 cup vegan sour cream

DIP RECIPE *

Mix 4 teaspoons dry mix with 2 cups vegan sour cream

*Mix up a few hours before serving, so the flavors all blend nicely.

Enjoy!


13 Comments

Filed under Dip, Gluten Free, Quick, Recipes, Salad Dressing, Sauce / Spread / Jam / Yogurt, Secret Recipe Club, Vegan, Vegetarian

CREAMY PUMPKIN PIE ICE CREAM – Vegan and GFree

My recent trip to Hugo’s for vegan soft serve ice cream (click here to read the post) inspired me to try and create some vegan ice cream of my own with Japanese sweet potatoes as the base.  I am in the midst of pumpkin fever and wanted make some pumpkin flavored vegan ice cream that was health conscious along with being truly creamy and decadent.

This was so easy to make and the results were so good that I can’t wait to make more and more flavors.  I am dying to make a chocolate version, but my son is requesting peanut butter and since I am a big fan of anything PB, I am sure I will go that route next… I am happy to score some points wherever I can!

INGREDIENTS
3 cups cooked (fresh) Japanese sweet potato, peeled
1 cup So Delicious Original Creamer
1 cup canned organic pumpkin
¼ cup yakon syrup
3-4Tbs. Somersweet*** or Stevia to taste
1 vanilla bean (or alcohol-free vanilla extract to taste)
1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
 
***Somersweet no longer contains Acesulfame K.  It’s ingredients are Inulin, Erythritol, Fructose, and citrus peel extract
 
~

To cook the Japanese sweet potato steam them until softened (mine took 30 minutes) and then bake them at 400-425 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-30 minutes.  I learned this technique from my Chinese in-laws and it makes sweet potatoes and yams sooooo sweet and creamy.  It is my experience that when a sweet potato or yam in only steamed they have a slightly watery texture.  Baking the sweet potatoes after steaming them makes them creamy every time.

Place all of the ingredients into your high speed blender and blend until very smooth.  I blended mine long enough that the mixture was warm.  Although I have not tried it, I am sure it would work ok in a food processor as well (make sure you periodically scrape down the sides).

Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.  You may decide to cool the mixture in the fridge first; I poured it straight in to my ice cream maker.

***A little side note…sometimes taking photographs by yourself can get messy.  Notice anything funny about the pic above???  My depth perception was messed-up since I was looking through the camera and I ended-up pouring some of the ice cream mixture onto the counter, down the cabinet, and onto my feet.  After cleaning up, I took the picture below and actually made it into the ice cream bucket.  Sheesh!!!

If you have any of the ice cream left and freeze it, make sure you take it out of the freezer 15 minutes before serving so it can soften a bit.

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

13 Comments

Filed under Dessert, Frozen Treats, Guest Blog, Ice Cream, Kid Friendly, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian