Gluten Free Banana Flour Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

I generally don’t venture too much into gluten free baking. My forté is vegan baking, and I tend to stick to it.

But recently I scored some highly nutritious allergy friendly flours from Banamin Health Care and I wanted to see if I could come up with a completely GF cake with the Green Banana Flour. I was totally surprised by the results!

 

 

The texture is on the crumbly side and also more fudgy than cakey. But overall a very yummy thing.

 

 

GF Banana Flour Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

Dry Ingredients:

1 C Banamin Green Banana Flour

3 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Sada

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Arrowroot Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 Cup Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp Jus’Amazin Crunchy Hazelnut Spread

2 Tbsp Coconut Oil

1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

1 tsp Psyllium Husk

1 C Warm Water

• Whisk together wet ingredients & allow to cool completely in fridge
• Preheat oven to 180 c/350 F
• Lightly grease a cake pan and line it with baking paper
• Mix together dry ingredients
• Quickly mix wet & dry mixtures (don’t overmix)
• Pour into cake pan
• Bake for 35 mins and test with a toothpick for doneness (bake for 5-10 mins longer if required)
• First cool the cake in the pan for 15 mins, then gently transfer to a wire rack along with the paper and cool completely before slicing

For the Icing:

 

• Whisk Jus’Amazin Crunchy Hazelnut Spread in a few spoons of Warm Water 
• Pour over the cake 
• Optionally layer with Strawberry Compote (made by cooking down chopped strawberries with sugar)
  

 

If you'd like some sweet discounts:

 

Use my referral* code "VEGANOSAURUS10" on Jus'Amazin or Banamin websites to get 10% off on all your orders, every time.

 

Jus'Amazin has free pan India shipping on all orders.

* I receive an affiliate commission when you use my code at no additional cost to you. Read my disclosure page for more details.

Vegan GiNNada KaDubu (Jun KuDumulu)

 

 🍮 GiNNa ಗಿಣ್ಣ is a dessert traditionally made out of Jaggery and Colostrum. Let me describe these exotic ingredients to you...

Freshly extracted sugarcane juice is boiled for a long time in large, heated vats. It gets caramelised into a delicious sweetener. That’s Jaggery. 🤤

A female is pregnant for a long time. Soon after she gives birth, an antibody rich secretion comes out of her mammary glands to feed her baby. That’s Colostrum. 😳

Now imagine what kind of a sick, twisted mind decided to put the two together and invent dessert.

Someone sees a cow give birth and says, “hey, let me push that wee baby calf aside, squeeze the very first milk out of his mother’s udders, and cook it with Jaggery.”

And then it just becomes a special, gourmet recipe, passed on from generation to generation.

It’s bloody scary how easy it is for us humans to commodify and normalise the use of things which we have absolutely no business taking! 🤯😨

Sadly, as a kid, GiNNa was one of my favourite desserts.

Usually I’m not the kind of vegan who feels guilty about my past food choices. What’s done is done. I’m just grateful I make better choices now.

But GiNNa is the one dessert from my past that breaks my heart. 💔😢

I can’t believe how casually my tastebuds could enjoy something that an innocent new born should’ve been eating. 🐮🐄👩🏽‍🍼

If you still like GiNNa, you don’t have to wait for a cow to give birth and steal her baby’s first food.

Instead, make this Vegan GiNNa anytime you crave it!

 

1 1/2 L Soy Mylk
15 g Agar Agar Sheet – cut into small strips
1 1/2 C Jaggery

🌻Rinse the agar agar strips
🌹Add to soy mylk and bring to boil
🌻Reduce heat to low and keep cooking, stirring periodically, until the agar dissolves completely (takes 20-30 mins)
🌹Gently stir in the Jaggery and simmer on low heat for a couple of minutes until it dissolves (don’t let the mylk boil!)
🌻Turn off heat and transfer to a tray or individual cups
🌹Allow to cool, then let it sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours
🌻Enjoy cold!

📝 Other plant based mylks work, but fresh, homemade soy mylk gives the best texture
📝 You can use agar agar powder instead of sheets

Tiramisu Ice Cream - Vegan MoFo 2014 Day 6

It's the last day of Vegan MoFo. I can't believe I'm sharing recipe number six! I'm not sure if I should be surprised that I created only 6 ice creams or that I even managed to create that many at all. Ha!

I made this Tiramisu Ice Cream at Carrots a few weeks ago and it was quite a hit among everyone who tried it out. I've used our famous Almond Jowar cookies in the recipe. At the end of the post, I've shared a video of Ram and me making the cookies. They're really easy to make and super yum!

You're welcome to switch the cookies out with your favourite vegan cookies or biscuits too.

Tiramisu Ice Cream

100 g Cashews
80 g Sugar
500 g Water
500 g Strong Black Coffee
100 g Vegan Whipped Cream
6 Almond Jowar Cookies (recipe video follows)

For the garnish:
Almond Jowar Cookies
Melted Dark Chocolate mixed with a splash of Soy Mylk

- Grind the cashews into a fine powder
- Add the sugar and coffee and blend to a creamy consistency
- Pour in the water and blend well
- Add the vegan whipped cream and blend until it's incorporated

- Pour into an airtight container and freeze for 8-10 hours
- Transfer to mixer jar and blend the frozen mixture once again
- Stir in crumbled cookies and re-freeze for 8-10 hours

- Scoop onto a plate and top with melted dark chocolate
- Crumble a cookie over the ice cream
- Serve and enjoy! :)

Here's the recipe for our Almond Jowar Cookies:

ENJOY! :)

Boozy Raisin Ice Cream and Giveaway - Vegan MoFo 2014 Day 5

I started out with the idea of making the classic Rum and Raisin Ice Cream, but just when I had all the base ingredients blended and poured into the ice cream maker, I realised that we'd run out of rum! So I grabbed the bottle of brandy that was at hand and decided to make a Boozy Raisin Ice Cream instead.

Before I move on to the recipe, I'd like to share that the good folks at Vegan MoFo are running a giveaway of one of my creations. Click on the pic below to enter to win my Vegan Superstar Handmade Pendant. :)

The pendant above will be shipped worldwide. I have a more localised giveaway coming up next week right here on my blog. It may or may not involve vegan ice creams. :D Keep an eye out.

Now on to today's recipe...

Boozy Raisin Ice Cream

100 g Cashews
100 g Raisins soaked in 100 g Water
100 g Merry Whip Non-Dairy Cream
50 g Sugar
500 ml Cold Water
50 ml Brandy

- Place an airtight container in the freezer to chill
- Soak raisins in water for 2-4 hours in the fridge
- Grind the cashews to a fine powder
- Set aside a handful of the soaked raisins
- Add the remaining raisins, along with the soaking water and blend to a creamy paste
- Add the cold water and sugar and blend well
- Freeze in an ice cream maker according to instructions
- In the last few minutes of the freezing process, pour in the brandy
- Transfer the ice cream to the chilled container and stir in the raisins that had been set aside
- Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours
- Scoop and enjoy! *hic*

Spicy Peanut Sauce Ice Cream - Vegan MoFo 2014 Day 4

Ack! It's the 10th already and I'm still on my 4th post. I have a lot of catching up to do.

When I decided to do the Ice Cream theme for Vegan MoFo this time, I knew I'd be experimenting with atleast a few "weird" flavours. I mean, where's the fun in just making predictable, sweet ice creams and leaving it at that? :P

So on Sunday I put together a crazy combination of peanuts, chillies, garlic, jaggery and tamarind and turned it into ice cream. It's sweet, spicy, tangy and meant for the adventurous soul. Dudes and dudettes, I present the...
Spicy Peanut Sauce Ice Cream!!! :D

Spicy peanut sauce is the *best* dip in the whole wide world. I can never get enough of it!!! So it just made sense that my first savoury ice cream was based on it. :)

This ice cream is on the crunchy, icy side but the texture suits the flavours well. It is super easy to make too.

I've used just two chillies because the ones I grow in my Veganic Terrace Garden are super spicy. You can adjust the quantity depending on the kind of chillies you get your hands on.

Spicy Peanut Sauce Ice Cream!!!

100 g Peanuts
100 g Jaggery
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Tamarind Paste
2 Chillies
4 Garlic Cloves
1 ltr Water

- Toast the peanuts and let them cool
- Grind all the ingredients together into a creamy paste, with a little water
- Add the remaining water and blend well

- Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions

OR

- Transfer to airtight box and freeze for 8-10 hours
- Blend again
- Refreeze for another 8-10 hours

- Scoop and enjoy! :)

Before I signed off last Wednesday, I promised you pictures from my baking and cooking workshops at Carrots. Here they are...

On Thursday, 4th September I first had a Decadent Cakes baking class, followed by a session on cooking an Oil-Free Healthy Indian Meal:

On Friday, 5th September I had a workshop on Sweet Soulful Breads:

I love teaching and I find that I'm always in my element during my classes. I'm so grateful that I now have a beautiful space like Carrots to conduct these workshops. I don't have to be stressed out about the prep work. All I need to do is hand over a list of ingredients and my boys from the kitchen set things up perfectly for the class!

And having the service guys from downstairs nearby through the sessions is very helpful too. Anything I might need gets brought to me in a matter of minutes. At the end of a lengthy session of standing and talking, I'm about ready to crash. It's a huge blessing to be able to just sit down and relax while the clean-up gets done by my helpful team mates. :)

I'm looking forward to doing more and more of these one-on-one workshops and some group demos too. If you'd like to attend one of my Vegan Kitchen Ninja Series workshops, check out the list of classes here and schedule your private session.

I'll leave you now with a bonus recipe video that we shot at Carrots on Thursday. Here, Gokul and I show you how to make a quick, easy, healthy, oil-free Coconut Mint Rice. Enjoy! :)

Blueberry Ice Cream - Vegan MoFo 2014 Day 3

After making the first two ice creams for Vegan MoFo at Carrots, today I decided to make some at home because my Ice Cream Monster wanted a whole batch of ice cream just for himself! :p

I started the day by digging around in the kitchen to see what ingredients I could use in today's recipe and was delighted to find a long forgotten pack of dried blueberries at the bottom of the dry fruits drawer in the fridge. I'd purchased them a while ago from Manak Mewa (just off Commercial Street). Those people have all kinds of awesome dried fruits and nuts...local, exotic, what have you! And their prices are pretty decent too.

I decided to make plain blueberry ice cream. Turned out to be a great decision! Pure blueberry goodness with no other flavours getting in the way. It's a really simple 5 ingredient recipe (well, 6 if you count the pinch of salt). You can blend up the mix really fast and it's ready to be frozen.

I made this one with an ice cream maker. Turned out a lot creamier and quicker this way. But you can use the freeze-blend-freeze method to make it too.

On a side note, shouldn't blueberries actually be called purpleberries? Just look at the gorgeous colour!

Before I move on to the recipe, I wanted to give a quick shout out to RandoMoFo - the bestest way to blog hop throughout the Vegan Month of Food! Take him for a ride and you'll see what I mean.

I won't be blogging tomorrow or the day after because I'm swamped with a bunch of Vegan Kitchen Ninja Classes on both days. I'm really looking forward to teaching cooking and baking, and there's a lot of prep work to do. I'll be back here at some point over the weekend with pictures from the classes. And more ice cream recipes of course. :)

Blueberry Ice Cream

100 g Cashews
100 g Vegan Whipped Cream (Rich's or Merry Whip)
50 g + 50 g Dried Blueberries
50 g Sugar
500 g Cold Water
Pinch of Salt

- Grind the cashews and half the blueberries into a fine powder
- Add the sugar, salt and a bit of water and blend to form a creamy paste
- Pour in the remaining water and blend well
- Now add the whipped cream and blend on low speed for a few minutes
- Your ice cream base mixture is ready
- Freeze this in your ice cream maker according to the instructions
- Transfer to an airtight box and stir in the remaining blueberries
- Freeze for another hour or two
- Scoop and enjoy! :)

Almond Orange Chocolate Ice Cream - Vegan MoFo 2014 Day 2

I'm a big fan of the orange-chocolate combination. When I started making vegan chocolates at home many years ago, one of the first things I tried was to put dried orange peel powder in the melted chocolate and I fell in love with the way the flavours melded together.

Recently a friend of ours brought us a box of gourmet chocolate covered candied orange peels. One bite and I knew I just *had* to try my hand at making them.

So I made orange peel candy at Carrots. Thanks to Mohan who expertly sliced the peels into strips of just the right thickness for me, the end result was fantastic! But by the time the candy had cooled down, I'd decided to put them into an ice cream instead of dipping them in tempered chocolate.

And so we come to today's recipe...

Almond Orange Chocolate Ice Cream

100 g Almonds
50 g Soymilk Powder
300 g Pure Orange Juice (juice of about 3 oranges with no water added)
30 g Cocoa Powder
100 g Sugar
550 g water
Pinch of Salt
200 g Chopped Candied Orange Peels (recipe follows)

- Grind the almonds and sugar into a fine powder
- Add the soymilk powder, cocoa powder and salt
- Add a little water at a time and blend into a creamy paste
- Blend in the remaining water

- If you have an ice cream maker, turn this mixture into ice cream according to the machine's instructions and stir in the candied orange peels

- If you don't have an ice cream maker then transfer the mixture to an airtight container and freeze for 8-10 hours
- Re-blend the mixture
- Stir in the candied orange peels and refreeze for 8-10 hours

- Scoop and enjoy! :)

For the Candied Orange Peels:

Peel of 3 Oranges
220 g Sugar
220 g Water

- Slice oranges into thin strips
- Place sugar and water in a *heavy bottomed* saucepan
- Heat until sugar has dissolved
- Stir in the orange peels and cook on a medium flame, stirring once in a while
- The peels should be ready in about 15-20 minutes
- Transfer to a plate immediately
- After they've cooled slightly, gently separate them
- Cool completely and store in an airtight container

Vanilla Tahini Ice Cream - Vegan MoFo 2014 Day 1

Woot!!! Vegan Month of Food 2014 has begun! :)

This is my 4th time participating in MoFo. Even though there's a lot going on in my life this time around, I couldn't help but sign up for the event yet again because I've really enjoyed it each and every year! Blogging on an almost daily basis is one part of the excitement, but also visiting the various participating blogs, drooling over the delicious foods and interacting with my fellow MoFo-ers is a truly delightful experience.

For Vegan MoFo 2013 I had chosen a Raw Foods theme. I created and shared a bunch of video tutorials using an app called HowDo and they were a big hit. Unfortunately HowDo closed. :( I'm going to miss that app terribly this year. But once the Vlogging bug has bitten, it's hard to let go. So I plan to shoot at least a few YouTube videos through MoFo this time around.

My theme for this time is ICE CREAMS!!! :D I'm expanding that to include other frozen desserts too so there's a lot more variety.

Today's recipe is a Vanilla Tahini Ice Cream. I made it at Carrots as soon as I signed up for MoFo. Everyone who tried it absolutely loved it. So now our bakery chef Kanchan makes it often. :)

This ice cream does not require an ice cream maker (but if you have one then feel free to use it). It melts quickly and has a light, soothing feel to it. The roasted sesame and pure vanilla flavours go together beautifully.

I've used Merry Whip (commercially available non-dairy whipping cream) in this ice cream. But if you'd like to avoid this, you could use whipped coconut cream in it if you like. However, it might takeaway from the flavour a bit.

I've also used whole vanilla pods as the flavouring because I can't stand the artificial vanilla essence that's available locally. Besides, we don't use any artificial colours or flavours at Carrots so I couldn't have used it in this recipe anyways.

Getting good, pure vanilla extract that's vegan isn't easy here. But if you have the patience and inclination, you could make your own extract at home by putting chopped vanilla beans into rum or vodka for about 6 months. I have tried this at home (again, not at Carrots because we're an alcohol-free restaurant) but compared to that, I am in *love* with the depth of flavour and texture that whole vanilla beans give. So I recommend using them.

Vanilla Tahini Ice Cream

40 g Cashews
20 g Toasted Sesame Seeds
150 g Commercial Vegan Whipped Cream (Rich's or Merry Whip)
1.5 pods Whole Vanilla Beans
200 g Sugar
1 litre Water

- Grind cashews, sesame seeds and broken vanilla pods into a fine powder
- Add a little water at a time and blend into a creamy paste
- Add the remaining water, sugar and whipped cream and blend well
- Freeze in an airtight box for 8-10 hours
- Re-blend this icy mixture
- Freeze again for 8-10 hours
- Scoop and enjoy! :)

Pan Baked Hazelnut Mocha Crunch Cookies aka Tava Biskut and Vegan MoFo 2014

Howdie howdie howdie! Hope all you awesome people are doing great!!! :)

I miss you all and I've been wanting to blog for a long time now. But as I've mentioned in my previous posts, I've been super duper busy ever since I became the Countess of Cuisine and Jollification at Carrots - the bestest, wonderfulest place to work ever!

I did something a few weeks ago in one moment of sheer madness...I signed up for Vegan MoFo!!! *gasp* Now as September is around the bend (tomorrow, to be precise), I'm beginning to freak out just a teeny tiny bit. I should probably be freaking out a lot more, but I think I'm still in denial. :P

What's more, I signed up for a theme. A verrrrry specific theme (thanks to hubby's bright idea *grumble grumble*)...Ice Creams! And guess how many new ice cream recipes I have ready and under my belt? Exactly ONE! *gaaaah*

So my master plan is keep making new ice creams and other frozen desserts on an almost daily basis. I'll make many of these at home yes, but also plenty at the restaurant, because that's where I have all my minions to help out. :D

Bangalore peeps, whenever you visit Carrots, remember to ask about the "special edition ice cream made by Susmitha". If you're lucky, some of the recipes you see on the blog here through September might just be available on the menu the day you visit. :)

Now on to today's recipe - Pan Baked Hazelnut Mocha Crunch Cookies, which I lovingly refer to as Tava Biskut. :D



These cookies can be baked in an oven at 200C/400F for 20 minutes, but they're special because they can be quickly made on a pan too. :)

Hazelnut Mocha Crunch Cookies

140 g / 1 C Hazelnuts
110 g / 1 C Quick Cooking Oats
5 g / 1/2 t Salt
140 g / 1/2 C Sugar
2 g / 1 t Instant Coffee Powder
10 g / 2 T Cocoa Powder
5 g / 1 T Flax Seed Powder
3 T Water

- Grind hazelnuts to a buttery consistency in a dry grinder jar and transfer to a mixing bowl
- Grind oats to a coarse meal and add to hazelnut butter
- Mix in the remaining ingredients with your hands
- Shape into flat cookies
- Cook on a pan on medium heat for a few minutes, press gently with a flat spoon
- Flip and cook the other side while gently pressing down again
- Cool on a rack
- Store in an airtight box
- Enjoy! :)

Madhu's Besan Laddoos, Rithika's Carrot n Coconut Date Squares and a message from Zeeshan of PCRM

Besan Laddoo, or as we say in Kannada, Besan Undé, is one of my absolute favorite sweets! I have wonderful memories of my grandma making them in my childhood days. Popping that freshly made, warm Besan Undé into my mouth as soon as she shaped it into a ball was pure bliss. Mmmm.

After I turned vegan, my gran and my aunts started to switch out the ghee with oil when they made Besan Undés for us. Those are pretty darned yum too but the texture is a bit on the softer side.

So recently, during Deepavali, when I saw a recipe for Besan Laddoo by my Facebook friend Madhulika Jajodia where she'd used cashew powder in the recipe to add firmness to the Laddoos, I just knew I had to try it out.

I made a few tweaks to the recipe to suit the ingredients I had at home and created these super delicious Besan Undés. They are so easy and quick to make that I'm afraid I'll be making them a little too often. :p

Vegan Besan Undé

1 C Besan (Chickpea) Flour
3/4 C Sugar
1/2 C Cashew Powder
1/4 C Groundnut (Peanut) Oil
Elaichi (Cardamom) Powder
Toasted Almond Pieces

*Pour the oil into a heavy bottomed pan (iron baandli) and heat.
*Add the besan flour, stir and toast on medium flame till it emits a nice aroma.
*Add sugar and cashew powder and continue to heat and stir for a few minutes.
*Finally add the elaichi powder and toasted almonds, mix well and turn off the heat.
*Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, till it is comfortable to handle.
*Grease your palms with oil and shape into tight balls.
*Eat some.
*Allow the remaining to cool completely and store in an airtight container.
*Enjoy! :)

Talking about Deepavali sweets, Zeeshan Ali of PCRM wanted to share a few words here about healthy desserts, along with a delicious recipe by my good friend Rithika Ramesh of Vegan on the Prowl and The Green Stove.

“Following the celebration of Diwali — a festival of lights, fireworks, and sweets — in India, physicians with the non-profit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) offer a healthful alternative to traditional treats that are typically made with high-fat, high-cholesterol eggs and dairy products, including milk and ghee. These ingredients aren’t just bad for your waistline, recent studies link dairy consumption to prostate cancer.

“The good news? Health-conscious families can now swap dairy products for nondairy options, such as cashew milk. Other tips, to boost nutrients and curb fat, include swapping sugar for dates and applesauce for eggs.

“According to the study published in the journal "Diabetes Care," a diet low in cholesterol, fats and sugars lowers risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

“Carrot and Coconut Date Squares is a delicious example of a healthful, cholesterol-free treat; it’s packed with a decadent combination of carrots, coconut, and dates, which provide a mega-dose of beta-carotene, vitamins, and dietary fiber. These antioxidants naturally boost your immune system and fiber will help fill you up without filling you out.

Best,
Zeeshan Ali PhD
Phone: 202-527-7302
Email: Zali@Pcrm.org"

Carrot and Coconut Date Squares (Dessert)

For the base and crumble:
3 cups oats powdered
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 medium carrot grated
1/2 cup jaggery melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons almond butter

For the filling:
400 grams pitted dates
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons orange peel

Preheat your oven to 180˚C.
Mix all the dry ingredients for the crumble and then add the wet ingredients. Make it into a thick, firm dough.
Boil the dates with 1/2 cup water for 15 minutes. Make sure it doesn't burn. Once it cools, blend it into a smooth paste and add more water if required. Add the vanilla and orange peel.
In a square or rectangular baking dish lined with parchment paper, put two thirds of the oat mixture and spread evenly. Spread the date mixture on top of it. Crumble the rest of the oat mixture on top of it.
Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Links to additional recipes:
NutritionMD.org
21daykickstartIndia.org

Veganosaurus Raw Food Theme Full Recap - Vegan MoFo 2013 Day 17

It's the last day of the Vegan Month of Food! I'll miss having something awesome to look forward to on the blogosphere each day. But I definitely won't miss the freaky stress associated with having to post every single day. Ha! In fact, I'm taking a break from my blog for the next week (at least). A well deserved holiday.

Over the last month I've shared a series of raw, vegan dishes here. Unfortunately I wasn't able to do 20+ recipes like I'd intended to. :( But I'm glad that at I'm getting at least 17 posts done for MoFo this year.

It's been a really good challenge to create these raw recipes. I've enjoyed it so much, I think I'll be creating raw foods more often. :)

Thank you everyone who has visited me here and at my various social media spaces (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest) throughout this month. Your supportive comments about my recipes, HowDo clips and time-lapse videos have been really encouraging. :)

I think I've had as much fun participating in Vegan MoFo this year as I did last year. Here's a link to my Vegan MoFo album from 2012 if you want to see what I did last time.

I am highly inspired by all the wonderful recipes I've been seeing on my fellow MoFo blogger's spaces! I'm going to spend the next few days just blog hopping and drooling over the goodies. :) Ahhhh bliss!

I'll leave you now with a recap of all the Vegan MoFo posts on my blog throughout this month. Enjoy! :)

Day 1 - Raw Almond Mylk

Day 2 - Healthy Green Smoothie

Day 3 - Fruit Sweetened Almond Mylk Ice Cream

Day 4 - Making Sprouts and Green Cilantro-Mint Chutney(chutney recipe by Dr.Nandita Shah)

Day 5 - Raw Almond Mylk Pulp Vadai/Cracker Sandwiches

Day 6 - Stuffed Bajji Menasinakayi (Banana Peppers) with Walnut Cilantro Pesto

Day 7 - Creamy Tomato Basil Soup (guest post by Manasa of Cure yourself with Food)

Day 8 - Raw Zucchini Fettuccine and Sun Dried Tomatoes in Cashew Sour Cream Sauce

Day 9 - Raw Cinnamon Apple Crumble with Date Almond Sauce

Day 10 - Melon Mustard Gazpacho

Day 11 - Mid-MoFo Recap and Giveaway

Day 12 - Ruby Smoothie

Day 13 - Fermented Cashew Garlic Cheese

Day 14 - Noochos Gracias Raw Soup

Day 15 - Frozen Basil Seed Pudding

Day 16 - Lemon Lavender Spoon Cream (guest post by Ashlee of The Little Foxes)

Lemon Lavender Spoon Cream - guest post by Ashlee of The Little Foxes - Vegan MoFo 2013 Day 16

I thought my Frozen Basil Seed Pudding recipe would be the last one on my blog for this year's Vegan MoFo. Then, the lovely Ashlee Piper sent me this delicious Lemon-Lavender Spoon Cream recipe as her guest post and suddenly I have a post #16 for all of you. :)

I normally write out a little introduction about guest bloggers so you can get to know them better. But Ashlee here sent me a neat bio about herself and made my work easier. She even sent me these photographs of herself to share. Just look at that beautiful, warm vegan glow! :)

I'm sharing her recipe first and at the bottom of this blog post, you'll find her very impressive bio. Make sure you visit the various links she's shared. Especially her blog, The Little Foxes.

Thank you for being here today, Ashlee. I am very happy to have you as a guest blogger at Veganosaurus. :)

Now, on to Ashlee's post...

--

Many thanks to Susmitha for having me on Veganosaurus today!

This recipe is a romantic take on a popular Sweet Vegan Ricotta recipe I debuted a while ago. It’s like the sexier, exotic cousin. Lavender and extra lemon make this mixture a little more viscous and luscious – the perfect complement to ripe, juicy fruit and buttery vegan croissants. I call it “Spoon Cream,” because that’s exactly what you’ll want to do – enjoy this lush dessert or snack by the delicate spoonful.

Lemon-Lavender Spoon Cream
Vegan – Refined Sugar-Free – Soy-Free – Palm Oil-Free – Gluten-Free

Yields: About 2 cups
Prep Time: 30 minutes, including soaking
Cook Time: None! Praise be!

Ingredients:

2/3 cups raw cashews
1/2 cup raw almonds
5 dates, skins on
1 cup of water
2.5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp dried lavender buds
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp fresh vanilla bean

Assembly:

1. In a medium sized dish, place the cashews, almonds, and dates, and cover with 1 cup of water. Allow to soak for 30 minutes.
2. Once soaked, add the entire mixture (soaking water included), lemon juice, lavender buds, vanilla bean, and vanilla extract in to a high-speed blender. Blend until creamy and thick. The consistency doesn’t have to be completely smooth, but feel free to add more water or almond milk to make the mixture more viscous.
3. If you really want to take this recipe to the next level, pour a generous dollop in to a vegan pastry cup and top with balsamic strawberries. I make this regularly for catering gigs and people always go nuts (pun intended) for the creamy, sweet, sour, and juicy mixture of it all.

Bio:

Ashlee Piper (MSW, MSc, HHC, AADP) is a former governmental strategist turned plant-based health and lifestyle expert (you can read about her professional transition here). She is the owner of All Is Wellness, a boutique holistic health consultancy that assists busy individuals, families, and workplaces in giving their food, routines, and lives a gorgeously green makeover. An award-winning vegan cook, Piper also runs a popular food and style blog, The Little Foxes, and her recipes and writing have been featured in Reader’s Digest, Earth Balance’s Made Just Right, Ecorazzi, TOMS Shoes, Girlie Girl Army, Vegetarian Times, and Our Hen House. Her blog was recently named among the “Top 9 Food Blogs to Watch” by Refinery29 and Ashlee was recently featured on a Fox News segment where she discussed cruelty-free fashion.

She also writes guides on plant-based topics for Vegucated, manages the Vegucated Schoolhouse Community, a free resource where she shepherds over 1,700 in their transition to a plant-based diet, and is the “Vegan for Life” columnist for Cheeky Chicago. Think a cruelty-free, vegan lifestyle is hard? Ashlee delights in showing people that living la vida compassionate is every bit as tasty, stylish, economical, simple, and fun as the status quo (hint: it’s way more fun)!

When she’s not coaching clients or whipping up mouthwatering vegan feasts, Piper enjoys taking her two rescue dogs to the beach, getting bendy at yoga, singing karaoke, and wearing red lipstick and listening to Morrissey with sassy abandon.

Be sure to follow The Little Foxes on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest to get the latest deliciousness.

Frozen Basil Seed Pudding - Vegan MoFo 2013 Day 15

I'm not a flake. I swear! There's a reason I haven't been blogging this whole week. A very valid one. I got bitten/stung by something. I don't know what. A spider, I think. And I have been feeling neither friendly nor neighbourhood-y.

All kinds of crazy, painful stuff happened to my leg, which thankfully is recovering well now. I will not bore you with the morbid details. Pus has no place in food posts. Unless of course, the recipe involves animal milk, in which case there's *plenty* of pus in there. :P

Don't mind me, that's just a little insider vegan joke. You know why it's funny? Because it's TRUE! And yes, it's true in India too.

On hindsight, there's *nothing* funny about those facts. But it is knowledge that is definitely worth sharing. Everybody has the right to know what they're putting into their bodies.

Aaaanyway...moving on to more cheerful things, here's a nice dessert recipe I created a few days ago. It's a healthy, nummy pudding I made out of sweet basil seeds.

I started out with the idea of making a layered parfait but halfway through the process, I decided to blend the gelatinous seeds into the creamy part and ended up freezing the whole thing.

Though it's frozen, it isn't exactly an ice cream, that's why I'm calling it what it is, a frozen pudding. :)

Sweet basil seeds are a locally available superfood cousin of Chia. They are a powerhouse of nutrients and have been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years.

While we were growing up, we always had these seeds in stock at home. My mom and grandma used to soak them in water for us as a home remedy for ushna (high body heat) during the summer months. Sis and I loved to mix sugar into the gelatinous soaked seeds and ate it by the spoonfuls. It was a soothing, dessert-like snack for us everyday.

We used to call this mixture isamboosa (which is totally incorrect). It wasn't until recently that I even knew these were a variety of basil seeds and that they have all these other beneficial properties.

If you live in India and have no idea what seeds I'm talking about, you're probably more familiar with one of the local names - sabja, falooda seeds, kama kasturi, tukmaria.

You can use chia seeds in case you can't get your hands on basil seeds. They are really similar to each other.

Frozen Basil Seed Pudding
Serves 2

4 tsp Sweet Basil/Chia Seeds soaked in 1 C Water
4 Dried Figs soaked in 1 C Water
1/2 C Cashews
1 Banana
Agave Nectar to taste (optional)
Cinnamon powder for sprinkling

*Grind cashews into a powder
*Add the figs, along with their soaking water and blend into a cream
*Add the basil seeds (they would've soaked up all the water) and blend for a few seconds
*Serve into two individual bowls and swirl in the agave nectar (if using)
*Slice the banana and divide the slices between both bowls
*Sprinkle cinnamon powder on top
*Freeze for 2-3 hours
*Enjoy! :)