Category: Vegan Chocolate Desserts

by betsy

Vegan Fudge (with Optional Crushed Peppermint Topping for Christmas or Valentine’s Day)

Recipes for fudge abound.  But today’s cooks seem to opt for foolproof methods that either call for marshmallow cream or condensed milk (both non-vegan ingredients) to prevent that unappetizing and very disappointing sugar crystallization.

Though the area where I live has come a long way in terms of vegan grocery accessibility, we still don’t have vegan condensed milk that I know of.  I’m sure I could order it online, but when I get ready to make fudge, it isn’t with much advance warning.  No, it’s a response to an intense and irrepressible craving!

A couple of years ago, Jonesin’ for 7-layer Bars and racking my brain for a condensed milk substitute, it suddenly occurred to me that Cream of Coconut was about the same consistency and sweetness.  So, I substituted it, and it worked beautifully!  This year, craving some post-holiday holiday fudge–because I never got around to it before Christmas–I wondered if Cream of Coconut could be substituted for condensed milk in a simple fudge recipe.

Indeed it can!  And, though I love the taste of coconut, it is undetectable.  The fudge just tastes like deep, dense,-yet-silky chocolate with nuances of sea salt and vanilla.

For my fudge redux, I modified a recipe that I found online in a number of ways.  In addition to the Cream of Coconut substitution, I also used vegan butter and vegan chocolate: a no-brainer.  But then I also added 1/3 cup of cocoa for greater depth and density, a pinch of coarse sea salt because I love the way sugar and salt play together, and, though most fudge recipes don’t call for it, I added a spot of vanilla extract for a little bit of complexity.  And  I wouldn’t change a thing!

Because vegan chocolate is rather “dear,” I opted for 9 ounces (the size bag that I can purchase here)  instead of a pound of chocolate chips/chunks as the original recipe called for.  But, certainly, if you don’t mind spending about 10 bucks on the chocolate alone, use a pound or 18 ounces (2-9 ounce bags of chips) and the full can of Cream of Coconut, doubling the other ingredients as well.

Recipes calling for a pound of chocolate are typically made in an 8-inch square pan for a nice thick slab.  But, even though I only made about half of a typical recipe, I still used an 8-inch square pan and felt that, especially with a generous coating of crushed peppermint, the slab was plenty thick.  This candy is very rich!  But if depth is important to you for appearance, just use a 4 x 8″ or 5 x 9″ loaf pan.

Regardless, I think the results are fabulous and hope you agree!

9 ounces vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips/chunks

1/4 cup vegan butter

7 ounces Cream of Coconut (not coconut cream, milk, etc.; Coco Lopez is a common brand)

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/8th teaspoon coarse sea salt

Optional: 3 to 5 ounces soft peppermint sticks, crushed

Oil an 8-inch square pan with non-stick spray or vegan butter and set aside.  In the microwave or in a double boiler, melt together vegan chocolate chips/chunks and vegan butter.  Remove the bowl or pan from the heat and whisk in Cream of Coconut, followed by cocoa powder, vanilla extract and coarse sea salt.  Pour fudge mixture into the prepared pan, lightly smoothing the top.  Let cool to room temperature and then either cover and refrigerate until cold and very firm, several hours or over night or, first, sprinkle the top with optional crushed peppermint, pressing lightly with your palm to adhere it to the surface, and then chill.  Slice into squares and serve immediately, refrigerating any leftovers.

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by betsy

The Best Vegan Flourless Chocolate Cake with Revolutionary Vegan Whipped Cream–my first recipe published on VegNews!

Okay, I didn’t call my Flourless Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream the best.  Someone else did…

The Praise

When my new long-distance friend and fellow (amazing) Vegan Heritage Press cookbook author, Bryanna Clark Grogan (World Vegan Feast and others), was helping me test the recipes for this dessert, she served it to friends, one of whom said, “This is the best ——- cake I’ve ever eaten!”  That’s good enough for me!  And I trust it will be for you too.

The Back Story

Back in my pre-vegan years in Nashville, I did some moonlighting as a catering assistant for my dear friend Monica Holmes at her award winning Clean Plate Club.  She made what can only be described as a transcendent Flourless Chocolate Cake.  Since this type of cake contains no flour, the batter relies on eggs for structure and lift.

I knew there had to be a way to veganize it, but the recipes I’d researched, including from people I respect in the field, looked and sounded like vegan chocolate cheesecakes made with tofu or they contained beans and appeared a bit dry with a crackly top, or they actually included some flour.  I’m sure all are delicious, but they aren’t what I wanted.

The Cake

I wanted something as dense, moist, silky and rich as the original.  And that’s what I got, but not until I had baked the cake about 5 times (and made the cream about 7)!  At least. The first try was an unmitigated disaster.  But it had potential, and that just spurred me on to redouble my efforts.  Meanwhile, the generous Bryanna, in British Columbia, was doing the same with the recipe revisions I’d send her, and we were comparing notes.  Bry, I love you for many reasons, including your help with this feat o’ chocolate and cream!

My version of the cake is, indeed, based on tofu, but it has some “secret” ingredients responsible for its fabulousness which you are sure not to confuse with cheesecake.  It’s its own brand of wonderful.

The Revolutionary Whipped Cream

And the cream, well, it is truly revolutionary.  At least, I could find no similar recipes online.  As you can see in the photo, it is a beautiful thing to behold. Plus, it is fat-free, cholesterol-free, soy-free, gluten-free (if your extracts are gluten-free), and low calorie!  Not only that, but it is delicious and a breeze to make.

For a very long time, I had been thinking that there had to be a way to make homemade vegan whipped cream from one of the vegan creamers.  I love both savory and sweet cashew cream, but it is a little heavy and thick, calorie laden, and distinctively flavored.  Ditto coconut cream aerated in one of those n2o cartridge-powered whippers. 

My cream is delicious with a creamy-fluffy, even billowy texture, and a more neutral flavor (but by neutral, I don’t mean bland!).  You will love it on all of your desserts that call for a whipped topping. The base is coconut milk creamer.  But can you guess the secret ingredient that makes the magic happen?  Funny story about the coconut milk creamer: I purchased it, disappointed that my grocery store was out of soymilk creamer.  But what a happy accident!  It turns out that the recipe ONLY works with the coconut milk creamer.  With soymilk creamer, you get something akin to pastry cream instead.

The Recipe and Thanks to VegNews

Many thanks to the brilliantly talented and generous food editors et al at VegNews for publishing these recipes in “What’s Cooking” online.  Please click right HERE to be taken directly to their site for both.  And while you’re there, if you haven’t already, enjoy all the good things VegNews offers its readers on a daily basis.

Happy Thanksgiving

I’m posting this recipe now just in case you, like me, are offering chocolate for the first time for Thanksgiving.  But, personally, I think the winter holidays are the dessert’s time to shine, dressed up with a little pomegranate seed bling, as in the photo, or a bit of crushed peppermint.  In the summer, it has to be raspberries.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

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by betsy

Vegan Chocolate Wafer Cookies Filled with Fresh Raspberry-Champagne Buttercream Frosting

Yield: approximately 2 dozen 1 3/4-inch wafers

This Raspberry-Champagne Buttercream Frosting is about the best thing, well, since sliced cookies.  Seriously, it had omnivores requesting the recipe and laying the compliments on thick!

It is as delicious on vanilla cupcakes–heck, it’s delicious on the end of your finger!–and it is in these not-too-sweet chocolate wafers, with their perfect balance of crispness and tenderness.

Coincidentally, while looking for commercial chocolate wafers to encase this buttercream (remember “Famous” brand?), I noticed that Oreos now come filled with a berry cream.  If the combination is good enough for Oreos, it’s definitely good enough for me!  And by the way, this recipe for homemade wafers is very close to what I remember of the taste and texture of Famous wafers, though a tad thicker.

The Chocolate Wafer Cookies are adapted from Alice Medrich’s Pure Dessert by SmittenKitchen.com and veganized by me (just a matter of substituting vegan butter for butter and soymilk for whole milk).  The frosting is The Blooming Platter all the way!

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour (I always use the latter)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) vegan butter, slightly softened
3 tablespoons soymilk (plain or unsweetened)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 recipe Fresh Raspberry-Champagne Buttercream Frosing

Combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of food processor and pulse several times to mix thoroughly. Cut the butter into about 12 chunks and add them to the bowl. Pulse several times. Combine the soymilk and vanilla in a small cup. With the processor running, add the milk mixture and continue to process until the mixture clumps around the blade or the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a large bowl or a cutting board and knead a few times to make sure it is evenly blended.

Form the dough into a log about 14 inches long and 1 3/4 inches in diameter. Wrap the log in wax paper or foil and refrigerate until firm, at least one hour, or until needed.

Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut the log of dough into slices a scant 1/4-inch thick, on a slight bias if you choose, and place them one inch apart on the lined sheets (cookies will spread just a little). Bake, rotating the baking sheet from top to bottom and back to front about halfway through baking, for a total of 12 to 15 minutes. The cookies will puff up and deflate; they are done about 1 1/2 minutes after they deflate.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheets on racks, or slide the parchment onto racks to cool completely. These cookies may be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks or be frozen for up to two months.

Note: These cookies should crisp as they cool. If they don’t, you’re not baking them long enough, says Medrich — in which case, return them to the oven to reheat and bake a little longer, then cool again.

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by betsy

One Green Planet Published My Vegan Snickers-Inspired Chocolate, Caramel and Peanut Butter Pie–Outrageously Delish!

This decadent pie takes “layers of flavor” to a whole new level, proving that 1 + 1 = 10!  Six, actually, but who’s counting?!

Wait until you try my Cream of Coconut-Peanut Caramel Layer!  Try not to eat it all like candy before assembling the pie. 🙂

Find the surprisingly simple recipe and back-story HERE at One Green Planet!

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by betsy

Vegan Chambord-Spiked Fudgy Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies with Coconut-Espresso Buttercream Frosting

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen cookies (easily doubles)

Everyone loved my Vegan Mini Kahlua-Spiked Chocolate-Almond Cupcakes with Coconut-Espresso Buttercream Frosting.  And, since I had frosting left over from my testing session, I thought it might be perfect in a decadent fudgy thumbprint cookie.  Since I also had hazelnuts and Chambord on hand, they became Chambord-Spiked Fudgy Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies. 

These were devoured by my non-vegan husband!

1/4 cup melted vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)

1/4 cup canola oil

2 tablespoons chocolate almond milk (chocolate soymilk would be tasty too)

2 teaspoons Chambord (or your favorite raspberry flavored liqueur)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract (that sounds like a lot, but it was just right to my palate)

1 cup natural sugar (this also sounds like alot, but I tried it first with 1/2 cup and it just wasn’t enough; you could reduce to 2/3-3/4 cup if you are concerned about your sugar intake)

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

generous pinch sea salt (you may use table salt if you prefer)

1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts (if the nuts are too large, when you press your thumb into the dough balls, you will break them up)

Coconut-Espresso Buttercream Frosting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Combine wet ingredients (first six ingredients) in a medium bowl.  Combine dry ingredients in a separate medium size bowl.  Make a depression in the center, pour in wet ingredients and stir until well combined.  Dough will be stiff.  Line a baking sheet with Silpat or parchment paper.  Using s small scoop, place mounds of cookie 2 inches apart in rows.  Press your thumb into the center of each cookie to create a little depression.  Bake 10 minutes.  Remove the baking sheet to a wire rack and,when cookies are cool enough to handle, press your thumb again into the depression to define it a little more and make plenty of room for lots of frosting!  Let the cookies cool completely on the cookie sheet, as they will break apart if you try to move them while warm.  Fill the depression with  frosting by simply spooning it in or piping it  if you prefer a fancier presentation.  Store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  Note: avoid using all vegan butter in place of the butter-oil mixture, as the cookies will spread too much.

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by betsy

Vegan Kahlua-Spiked Chocolate-Almond Cupcakes with Coconut-Espresso Buttercream Frosting

Yield: 2 1/2 dozen miniature cupcakes

Where did May go?  I feel that I’ve been out of touch for so long, and that was not my intention!

I had the flu for the first two weeks of the month, and it was all I could do to get myself to school and home.  And, I guess, by the middle of the month, we were deep into testing, final assignments, end of year celebrations and, come the first of June, the creation of exams and oh-so-much-more in preparation for graduation which is only a week from tomorrow!  The last days of school are absolutely breathless!

Speaking of breathless, these fabulously decadent cupcakes will take your breath away!

They were inspired by the irrepressible Kisha Marie, Starbucks barista and beaded jewelry designer extraordinaire.  I love starting my day with an exchange of greetings, ideas, and news with Kisha.  Her exuberance is infectious.  And, I swear, she has my Green Tea Soy  No Syrup Frappuccino started before I even arrive!

Every so often, my local Starbucks where she works offers free tastes from a big carafe.  A recent Kisha Marie concoction gave rise to my newest favorite cupcake: a blend of iced Via concentrate, coconut syrup, and soymilk.  Mmmm…  She always gets the balance of flavors,  consistency, and color exactly right.

Though there is no chocolate in her signature beverage, I thought the chocolate cupcakes would be a perfect foil for the coffee and coconut in the frosting.  Yes, indeed! And the Kahlua?  Well, who needs to justify coffee liqueur?  I just have to remember not to spike them when I share with my students!

But I did share them with all my pals at Starbucks.  The cupcakes received a latte praise (sorry, I couldn’t resist), though Kisha recommended that I use Via instead of my standard espresso powder.  I’m sure she’s right about that.  Next time!

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup natural sugar

1/3 cup finely ground almonds, plain or toasted for deeper flavor (use a food processor to achieve the consistency of an almond meal)

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt (table salt is fine, but I love sea salt even in baked goods)

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (or canola oil)

1 cup chocolate almond milk (chocolate soymilk may be substituted)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

5 tablespoons Kahlua or other coffee flavored liqueur for brushing tops

Coconut-Espresso Buttercream Frosting (recipe follows)

Optional garnish: 30 chocolate-covered coffee beans, sliced almonds, or a pinch of plain or toasted coconut

Line 30 mini-muffin cups with mini-muffin papers.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together all dry ingredients.  In a small bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients except Kahlua.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture.  Stir both together until the batter is smooth, though a few small lumps may remain.  Using a small scoop, divide batter evenly among the lined muffin cups.  Bake for 20 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted in the center of one cupcake comes out clean.  Check at 18 minutes to avoid over-baking.  Remove muffin tins to wire racks to cool.  When cool enough to handle, remove cupcakes from the tins onto the racks in order to prevent them from continuing to cook.  Prick each cupcake a few times with a toothpick and brush the tops with up to 1/2 teaspoon Kahlua each.  Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe in swirls on top of each cupcake.  Or simply spread the frosting on each cupcake with a dinner knife, spoon or offset spatula.  Garnish as desired and serve immediately or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Coconut Espresso Buttercream Frosting:

6 tablespoons vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)

6 tablespoons vegetable shortening

3 cups powdered sugar

4 teaspoons espresso powder dissolved in 4 teaspoons unsweetened or plain soymilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons coconut extract (extract is preferred over coconut flavor, though the flavor will do if you can’t find extract)

Cream together butter and shortening until smooth.  Beat in powdered sugar, one cup at a time, alternating with the espresso and soymilk mixture, until smooth and creamy.  Start electric mixer on low so as not to coat yourself in sugar.  Beat in vanilla and coconut extracts until completely incorporated.

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by betsy

Vegan Banana Mini-Cupcakes with Chocolate-Banana Mousse Frosting–Thank You Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero!

These beauties were  baked from a recipe in Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero’s Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  And they are out-of-this-world, or so my AP Studio students, the lucky recipients, thought!

I simply baked the batter from their Banana Split Cupcakes recipe (p. 81) in decorative paper-lined mini-muffin tins without the addition of the pineapple preserves or chopped dark chocolate.   Then I frosted them with their recipe for Chocolate Banana Mousse (p. 157) and topped them with a half macadamia nut–they’re too expensive to use whole!

I omitted the  soymilk from the frosting recipe, as I wanted it quite thick, and only used 10, instead of 12, ounces of chocolate (10 ounces is what came in my bag), and it was perfect.  The recipe is almost identical to my go-to mousse from another source that uses a liqueur in place of the soymilk, so either way would work great.   And both are equally as delicious whether enjoyed as frosting, a mousse, or a pie filling!

The frosting recipe is essentially a package of extra-firm silken tofu processed until smooth with melted chocolate, a couple of more tablespoons of the sweetener of your choice, a little bit of vanilla, and a banana, chilled for about an hour before piping.

I recommend buying this cookbook–a staple in my kitchen (right along with The Blooming Platter that is!)–so that you can enjoy this and lots of other recipes for both traditional and contemporary cupcakes.  Think “Cupcake Wars,” vegan style.

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by betsy

New Year’s Eve at Restaurant Nora in Washington, D.C.–Home of the Inspiration for Vegan Chocolate Carrot Cake in The Blooming Platter Cookbook

Photo Credit: Restaurant Nora website

If you live in or near Washington, D.C.–or are lucky enough to visit our nation’s capital and one of my favorite cities (it never seems the same twice!)–put Restaurant Nora on your dining to-do list.

For the last two years, we’ve traveled to D.C. with different couples to ring in the New Year.  This year we went with our good pals, Jonell and Scott Walthall, staying at the W Hotel again this year.  It is hip and stylish and ideally located between the Washington Mall (NOT a shopping mall!) and the White House.

In trying to choose the perfect spot for a New Year’s Eve dinner, I recommended Nora’s in Dupont Circle, the first restaurant to be certified organic in the U.S.  But  my connection to the restaurant goes even deeper.  I first learned of it years ago when my good friend, Anne Wolcott, shared Nora’s recipe for Chocolate Carrot Cake that had been published in a culinary magazine.

Anne had it made for her wedding cake and shared it with me, requesting it at some point later for her birthday.  At the time, chocolate and carrots sounded perfectly odd together–a forced pairing that didn’t seem necessary or even desirable.   However, when I was developing recipes for The Blooming Platter Cookbook–whose focus is seasonal–and was in need of a spring dessert, I decided to veganize and adapt the original vegetarian recipe and see what I thought.  I adored it!  And I hope you will.  The recipe follows at the end of this post.

Back to Restaurant Nora…I asked Jonell if she would mind doing a little investigating to see if it would be appealing to the three omnivores in our party, as I didn’t want to speak for them.  She discovered it to be an optimum choice, offering a 5 course omnivorous prefix meal AND a 5 course vegan prefix meal.  The only difference between the two–besides the obvious–was that the omnis had several choices for all but the first course and I only had one.  But one was all I needed.  Each course was perfection!

The meal was light, but plenty filling, full of flavor, stunningly presented, and timed impeccably for an ideal rhythm and flow throughout the evening, lasting about two hours and 45 minutes from start to finish.  Plus, the restaurant itself is so warm and inviting.  The modern-with-traditional-roots appearance of the Amish and Mennonite quilts that hang on the exposed brick dining room walls embody one of my favorite aspects of Nora’s: a fresh take on classics.

Following are photos of each course (I apologize for the poor light quality), ending with my Chocolate Carrot Cake recipe.  But first, here is our party in the lobby of the W ready to hail a cab to Nora’s.   My stunning orange dress came from Zara’s that day (on sale!), purchased because Jonell and I had both packed long-sleeved black dresses, black tights, and black ankle boots.  No way was I going out dressed as the Bobbsie Twins!  My necklace and earrings are from Terri Lindelow’s “Cluster” series.

Jonell & Scott Walthall with Betsy & Joe DiJulio
1st Course: winter squash and wild mushroom terrine

1) The first course for all of us was this diminutive but flavorful triangular slice of winter squash and wild mushroom terrine.

2nd course: hearts of palm and mango salad

2) My second course was a shaved hearts of palm and mango salad with pomegranate seeds and a citrusy dressing.  (Hearts of palm always remind me of my father; he adores them and we usually put a tin of them in his stocking , but the socks he requested took up most of the space this year.)  I have never been served hearts of palm shaved and it was a really nice way to enjoy them.

3rd Course: roasted beet and fruit salad

3) Up next was this shimmering landscape of roasted beets with fresh fruit:  juicy and simultaneously earthy and bright. It was almost to beautiful to eat.  Almost.

4th Course: vegetable risotto with truffle shavings

4) The most filling of the dishes was, of course, my entree.  Still, it wasn’t too much: a creamy and flavorful vegetable risotto with decadent truffle shavings over the top.

5th Course: trio of fresh fruit sorbets

5) For dessert, hot tea plus a trio of fresh fruit sorbets and a cookie called a “Cat’s Tongue.

 

I love sorbet and it was the ideal ending to this multi-course meal: refreshing and light.  But sometimes we vegans want something even more decadent for dessert.  If you feel the same, I hope you will enjoy this sneak preview from The Blooming Platter Cookbook:

Vegan Chocolate Carrot Cake from The Blooming Platter Cookbook

 

Vegan Chocolate Carrot Cake

Yield: 8 servings

When my friend Anne Wolcott raved about the chocolate carrot cake she served at her wedding, “mouth watering” was not the first thought that came to mind. I adore both chocolate and fresh spring carrots, but I didn’t think they could be happily married. However, Nora Pouillon of the eponymous Restaurant Nora in Washington, D.C., knew exactly what she was doing as culinary match-maker. Her cake inspired my vegan version.

Cake:

1 cup soy milk

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons natural sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/3 cup walnut oil or canola oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups grated carrots

Ganache:

9 ounces vegan semi-sweet chocolate

chips

1/2 cup vegan sour cream

Garnish:

Halved or chopped pecans or walnuts

1. Cake: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy milk and vinegar. Set aside to curdle, whisking a couple of times. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the soy milk mixture, walnut oil, and vanilla. Stir until all ingredients are well combined and no lumps remain. Stir in the carrots.

3. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the side and then invert onto the rack to cool completely, covered with a kitchen towel. Transfer to a serving platter.

4. Ganache: In a double-boiler, heat the chocolate chips until melted, stirring frequently until smooth. Alternatively, you may heat them in a microwave-safe bowl at 20 to 30 second intervals in the microwave, whisking after each. Remove the pan from the heat and quickly whisk in the sour cream.

5. To assemble: Frost the top of the cake with the ganache, allowing some to cascade over the edges. Garnish with pecans or walnuts.

For 150 additional recipes, treat yourself to The Blooming Platter Cookbook:  A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes.

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by betsy

Chocolate-Orange Mousse from The Blooming Platter Cookbook

Following is another gift of the season from The Blooming Platter Cookbook.  While I can’t purchase locally-grown oranges, I did notice a sweet shipment from Florida in the grocery store last week, which made me think of this recipe.

It is a luscious marriage of rich chocolate and fresh oranges.  Especially if you spike it with a tablespoon or two of orange liqueur, it is a wonderful dessert for a cold winter evening.  The mousse sets up almost instantly, so it is ready and waiting as soon as you put your dinner fork down.

Yield: 8 servings

This is a luscious marriage of rich chocolate and fresh oranges. Spiked with orange liqueur, it is a wonderful dessert for a cold winter evening. The mousse sets up almost instantly, so it is ready and waiting as soon as you put your dinner fork down.

2 large oranges

12 ounces extra-firm silken tofu

1/2 cup natural sugar

9 ounces bittersweet vegan chocolate,melted (see note) and slightly cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Pinch sea salt

Optional garnishes: vegan whipped topping, orange slices, or candied violets

Arrange 8 (4-ounce) ramekins in a 9 x 13-inch pan and set aside. Zest and juice the oranges and transfer to a food processor along with the orange pulp, discarding the seeds and pith. Add the tofu and sugar to the food processor, and process until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the melted chocolate, vanilla and almond extracts, and a pinch of salt. Process for several minutes until smooth and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Divide the mixture evenly among the ramekins. Cover the top of the pan with foil. This method is faster than covering each individual ramekin and makes them easier to transport. Chill the mousse until set, about 30 minutes. Serve chilled, garnished as desired.

Note:  melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl in the microwave for about a minute at 30 second intervals, whisking in between.  Alternately, melt on the stove in the top of a double boiler.

For 150+ additional gifts of the season, please consider The Blooming Platter Cookbook for yourself or as a gift for a health- and taste-focused friend or loved one. 

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