Category: Vegan Holiday

by betsy

Beautiful Holiday Dessert: Vegan Apple, Pear and Dried Apricot Crisp with Chai-Scented Streusel Topping

Yield: 8 servings (easily halves)

My fellow vegan cookbook author friend, the gifted and generous Bryanna Clark Grogan, mentioned making an apple crisp to take to a friend–along with a lasagna!–in a recent email.  I told her that I rarely allow myself to make crisps, cobblers and such, as I don’t know when to stop eating them.  They just go down so easily with their tender filling and crunchy topping.

But, alas, she “planted the seed” and I couldn’t resist, especially since I had all of the ingredients on hand, and since Hurricane Sandy was pelting our coast at the time making venturing outside unappealing at best.  I had inadvertently neglected to post it back then, but decided to now, as I think it would make a beautiful and welcome addition to your holiday table.

Lately I’ve seen several recipes for chai-flavored this and that, which sounded perfect for this cool and drizzly day.  So, I decided that my Crisp’s streusel-like topping would be infused with all of those warm chai spices, including the somewhat surprising black pepper.  I found my ratio of spices quite delectable, but feel free to experiment, as proportions vary widely, at least in the recipes I consulted, so that I ultimately decided to create my own.

Wow!  The aroma in our kitchen was particularly inviting!  I think you’ll love the tanginess and slight chewiness of the dried apricots playing off of the otherwise creamy and sweet–but not too sweet–apple and pear filling.  And the gentle heat of the black pepper is perfect in the mix.

Enjoy with vegan vanilla ice cream or your favorite vegan whipped “cream”!  I would love for you to try my “invention” of Vegan Whipped “Cream” published in November by VegNews (thanks VN food editors!).  It is unlike anything else I’ve seen published in print or online.  Very exciting…and you will love it.  Just be sure to “whip it good”!  (Bryanna was my co-tester for this recipe and when she gives something a “thumb’s up,” you KNOW it’s the best.)

I hope you have the bloomin’ best holiday ever!

 

2 tablespoons olive oil (you may substitute vegan butter, but there is a fair amount of vegan butter in the topping)

2 large apples (any sweet-tart variety recommended for cooking), stemmed, cored, and cut into 1/2 to 3/4-inch pieces

2 small pears, stemmed, cored, and cut into 1/2 to 3/4-inch pieces

1/4 cup natural sugar

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Pinch of sea salt

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots (about a 1/4-inch dice)

1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Chai-Scented Streusel Topping (recipe follows)

Accompaniments: vegan vanilla ice cream or vegan whipped “cream”

Oil 8 1/2-cup ramekins, place them on a baking sheet, and set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large cast iron skillet set over medium-high, heat olive oil to shimmering.  Add apples, pears, sugar, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.  Saute, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes, or until tender and just starting to break down.  Add apricots and cook, stirring, one minute more.  Turn off the heat and stir in flour just until well-incorporated.  Divide the  mixture evenly among ramekins and top with Chai-Scented Streusel by breaking it into small moist clumps almost completely covering the top surface of the filling.  Place the tray of filled ramekins on the center rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until filling is bubbly and streusel is golden brown.  Remove the pan from the oven and cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving accompanied by ice cream or whipped “cream.”

 

For the Chai-Scented Streusel Topping:

3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

Optional: 1/2 cup old fashioned oats (I didn’t have any or I would have added)

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup natural sugar

1/2 cup pecan pieces

1/2 cup vegan butter

Combine all dry ingredients in a medium-size bowl.  Break butter into pieces and work into dry ingredients with your fingers until well-combined.  Avoid over-working or butter will melt from the heat of your hands.

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by betsy

The Blooming Platter All Girls 12th Annual “Christmas, Chanukah, Curry & Cakes 2012”–Vegan Hors d’ouevres and Holiday Swap

12/12/12 marked the eve of the 12 anniversary of my annual “Christmas, Chanukah, Curry & Cakes” party.  That’s a lot of twelves!

Each year, about 20 or more (not 12) of my “peeps” gather at Joe’s and my home on the second Wednesday of December for some holiday cheer.  For ten years, the format was a veg curry dinner–with lots of fun toppings–and gifts for all.  Nobody was complaining…quite the opposite: it was a much-anticipated get-together.

But, last year, I decided to shake things up a bit by hosting the annual fete as a “swap” of new or gently used items no longer needed or wanted.  It was such a hit–we all got so much holiday swapping done!–that I did it again this year and probably for the next ten!  You can read all about last year’s party,  including simple directions for hosting your own swap and the vegan menu with some dishes from The Blooming Platter Cookbook, HERE.

For this year, I changed all but one dish–the Indian Saag Dip–to create the following menu:

*Indian Saag Dip with Rice Crackers

Roasted Pumpkin with Pepita-Sage Pesto

(served with toothpicks)

The Blooming Platter Tofu Egg Salad with Melba Toast Rounds

*Brie with Red Grape Chutney atop “Everything” Crackers

**Red Velvet Shortbread Cookies with Dark Chocolate Drizzle & Sugar Pearls

Organic Cava

*From The Blooming Platter Cookbook (Note: I didn’t wrap the brie in pastry and bake it.  Rather, I spread the chilled “cheese” on a serving platter and topped it with a different chutney than that in my cookbook.  For a similar result, you could substitute red grapes in the recipe in the cookbook recipe.)

**This delicious and simple recipe is not yet posted–sorry!

 

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by betsy

My Friend Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Homemade Vegan Palm Oil-Free “Buttah” is Perfect for Holiday Baking

If  this week finds you firing up the oven for some last minute holiday baking, as it has me (Vegan Red Velvet Shortcake Cookies anyone?), I recommend that you try homemade vegan palm oil-free “Buttah” created by my new friend-across-the-miles and fellow Vegan Heritage Press cookbook author, Bryanna Clark Grogan (World Vegan Feast and others).

It cooks up and bakes up beautifully!  Heck, it even freezes well.  So make a double batch and freeze half. Find the back story, the eco-rationale, and the recipe HERE, on Bry’s blog.

I am preparing tins of the aforementioned cookies (so pretty with a dark chocolate drizzle and sugar pearls) and Vegan Smoked Paprika and Garlic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (with Nutritional Yeast) for students, a couple of friends, and my freelance clients.  The Pepitas, especially, should come with a warning!  A recipient of the first batch on Saturday night texted me a photo Sunday morning of him eating them by the spoonful saying, “It’s all over but the shouting now!”

On a more serious note…Sunday night, I made dinner and a tin of the Pepitas for a good friend who, sadly, is battling stage 3 breast cancer and has been advised against soy since her cancer is estrogen positive.  (This is somewhat controversial in medical and health circles, but she is following her doctor’s advice for now.)   Though there is a soy-free Earth Balance vegan butter, I didn’t have any, so I made the recipe with olive oil instead of butter and bumped up the amount of spices and nutritional yeast.  Delicious!  So, if you or anyone you know is avoiding soy, know that olive oil is a more than respectable substitute.

Get your baking on with Bry’s Buttah!

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by betsy

Vegan Winter Holiday Recipes Abound in The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes

Vegan Indian Saag Dip from The Blooming Platter Cookbook

Are you in need of accessible, but creative holiday recipes that you won’t find anywhere else?  If so–and who isn’t!–look no further than The Blooming Platter Cookbook. 

My12th Annual Christmas, Chanukah, Curry & Cakes party is this Wednesday and I plan to pull out my copy of The Blooming Platter Cookbook, make my menu and shopping list this weekend, and begin the preparations for this beloved gathering.

I used to host the party as a vegan curry buffet dinner with gifts for about 20  dear friends.  But last year, I changed it to a “Swap” with vegan curried hors d’oeuvres conducive to browsing.  It was such a hit, that I decided to host a Swap again this year.

Click HERE for a fun look at last year’s party, including the menu and a description of my foolproof approach to hosting this type of event where guests bring unused or gently used home & garden items, clothing, accessories, and art to swap with each other.  Ours even ended up benefiting charity, not only through the few leftover items I donated, but through cash that guests used to purchase items when their tokens ran out!

While they shopped, my guests enjoyed, among other things, these dishes all from The Blooming Platter Cookbook:

Bloomin’ Broccoli Dip

Curried Cous-Cous

Indian Saag Dip

Lavender Shortbread Cookies

The Blooming Platter Cookbook also makes a great gift…but not just for vegans!  Anyone who loves fresh, inventive food will find “4 Seasons of Yum!”

As always, while I encourage buyers to support their local booksellers, Amazon is offering some incredible deals right now.

 

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by betsy

The Blooming Platter Gets Crafty–Cool and Contemporary Ceiling Medallion Wreath

I may have mentioned before that I am an accidental DIY columnist for the Virginian-Pilot.  (Do you remember the book and move, The “Accidental Tourist?)

Don’t get me wrong: I love conceiving of each month’s project and sharing it with readers.  It’s just that I am not the crafty type at all.  So my rule to myself is that I will only present ideas–and I’ve been writing this column for well over a year–that I would not be embarrassed to have in our home or to give as a gift.  So far so good.

This month’s is one of my favorites.

Essentially, I spray-painted a plastic ceiling medallion from Home Depot silver using an inexpensive paint that bonds to plastic.

Then, using a white paint pen, I painted white dots on each of the beads that create the relief border in order to complement the white polka dots in the narrow orange ribbon.

And finally, I made and tied together two bows.  The charcoal gray one was made out of wired ribbon.  I tied the bow so that there was one short and one long tail and I knotted these tails together–concealing the knot behind the bow–to make a loop from which to suspend the wreath from an over-the-door style wreath hanger.  Easy-peasy!

The whole enterprise, including hanger, cost about $47.  But, I have lots of silver paint leftover, in addition to the paint pen, some of the orange and white polka dot ribbon, and the reusable wreath hanger.

If, like me, you favor a minimalist aesthetic, then this may be the wreath for you.  If, on the other hand, you are a fan of over-the-top holiday decorations, you could start with this basic idea and then embellish to your heart’s content using ornaments and an adhesive that will withstand the elements if you plan to hang it outdoors.

My holiday mantra is: “Simplify without sacrificing.”  But yours should be whatever you want!

 

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by betsy

The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes (for ALL Seasons–even the heart of winter!)

Whether you are continuing your holiday shopping from Black Friday and Cyber Monday or just getting started, I would like to humbly suggest–with no pressure at all–that The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes might make a perfect gift for the plant-powered person in your life!

With “Four Seasons of YUM!” as someone once said, it really is the gift that will give all year… for many years.   Each chapter of appetizers, sandwiches, soups and much more is sub-divided into the four seasons with beautiful icons in the top corner of the pages, so it is a cinch to find delicious and nutritious dishes for every meal of the day regardless of the month of the year.

Beautiful things can bloom on your platter even in the coldest winter months, say:

White Bean and Pesto Tart

Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Pear, Walnut and “Blue Cheese” Sandwiches

Sage-Scented Fettuccine with Butternut Squash

Burgundy Poached Pears with Rosemary-Scented Onions

Pear-Rum Cupcakes with Tea-infused Buttercream Frosting

Grits and Greens with Mushroom Gravy

I would love to see you support your local bookseller, but Amazon is running sale…If you live in the local area, I am happy to meet up with you to personalize your book.  But if you live far away, I am happy to personalize and sign a custom-designed bookplate and mail it to you or the book recipient.

Thank you for your support of The Blooming Platter; here’s wishing you and yours a lovely start to the holiday season!

~betsy d.

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by betsy

Martha Washington’s Veganized Hoecakes with Savory Dried Cherry and Walnut Chutney for President’s Day and Beyond

My mother always made a cherry pie on President’s Day as a tribute to George Washington and the myth, now thought to be apocryphal, of him chopping down a cherry tree.  So, I had been thinking that I wanted to create some kind of cherry pie-inspired dish, but I wasn’t sure what.

But then, last week on NPR, I learned of a new exhibition of Martha Washington’s kitchen opening at Mount Vernon.   And in the report, they happened to mention her hoecakes being one of “GW’s” favorite recipes.  Field hands are reported to have cooked them on the back of a hoe or shovel over an open fire, hence the name.

Essentially, they are a pancake made with half cornmeal–I use self-rising cornmeal since I don’t use any egg–and half flour with melted butter in the batter.  Evidently, President Washington ate them every morning with more melted butter and honey drizzled over, as if they need more butter!  I veganized a recipe I found online and made them as small “silver dollar” versions so that they could be served as appetizers or tapas.  I also added a pinch of sea salt to offset the sugar nicely.

Joe and I served as judged for Hampton Roads Magazine’s Platinum Plate Awards (what a fun thing to do together!) and so were comped a pair of tickets to the annual Strolling Supper Party last night at the Virginia Beach Resort and Conference Center.  The winning restaurants set up stations and provided tapas size servings of some of their specialties.  I love eating that way so I had tapas on my mind.  As an aside, the only restaurants that prepared anything vegan were the two Indian establishments, and what they served was delicious: a tiny portion of lentil soup with one plump organic crouton and a cold chick pea and lentil dish topped with pineapple, mango, pomegranate seeds, cilantro, and a sauce they left off because it contained yogurt.  It was DIVINE even without the sauce.

Back to the hoecakes: I didn’t stop with just the hoecakes because I wanted to somehow include my mother’s cherry pie tradition in my new tradition.  Since fresh cherries are hardly available in February, she always used canned cherries or even cherry pie filling and we always loved her pies with their homemade crust.   But, being a seasonal cook, I couldn’t bring myself to use canned cherries, so when I chose dried ones, I decided to take them in a savory direction and make a chutney.

I think the end result is a fitting tribute to George and Mom.  Happy President’s Day!

Start chutney first and set aside:

Savory Dried Cherry and Walnut Chutney

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup yellow onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1/3 cup red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 large clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or walnut pieces

2 tablespoons maple syrup (note: you may use all maple syrup or all natural sugar)

1 tablespoon natural sugar

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional, but I love the richness it adds)

1/2 teaspoon anise seeds

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

Red pepper flakes to taste (start with about 1/4 teaspoon)

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons red wine (I used a Vicious Petite Sirah–someone brought it to a party, probably because it had a dog on the label, but it’s good and spicy!)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Zest of 1/2 of a large naval orange

2 tablespoons minced dill

In a large cast iron skillet placed over medium-high, heat the olive oil to shimmering.  Add the onion and saute, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes.  Add bell pepper and continue sauteeing and stirring for another 2 minutes.  Add garlic and saute, stirring, for another minute; avoid letting the garlic brown, so reduce heat if necessary.  Add all remaining ingredients except orange zest and dill, and simmer, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking, for approximately 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium if necessary and add additional wine, 1 tablespoon at a time if necessary to keep mixture moist and pulpy.  Stir in zest and dill, and serve warm or at room temperature atop hoecakes, toasted bread, crackers, etc.  Dolloped on soup?  Use your imagination!

Martha Washington’s Veganized Hoecakes

Yield: 16 hoecakes

1 cup yellow self-rising cornmeal

1 cup wholewheat or white whole wheat flour (all-purpose is fine if that’s what you have)

1/4 cup natural sugar (you may omit, but I think a little sugar is nice for balance)

1 teaspoon baking powder

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

1 1/2 cups unsweetened soymilk (use plain if that’s what you have, but definitely omit the sugar)

Preheat the oven to low.  In a medium size mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Make a well in the center and add melted butter and soymilk.  Using a fork, whisk the dry and wet ingredients together until well combined.  A few lumps are fine.  In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high, heat about a tablespoon of vegan butter.  Fry hoecakes, about 4 at a time, using a generous tablespoon of batter.  Cook for approximately 2 minutes on each side until a light golden brown, adjusting heat as necessary.  Keep warm in the oven while you make the remaining 3 batches.  For each batch, melt a tablespoon of butter in the skillet before you add the batter.  Serve hoecakes with a dollop of the Savory Dried Cherry and Walnut Chutney.  Note: the hoecakes are delicious plain and/or with a drizzle of maple syrup.  But the chutney dresses them up and makes them extra special.

Photo Note: my hoecakes are perched on a plate atop a pot holder given to me by my good friend Becky Bump and made by our mutual friend, the incredibly talented Tammy Deane, who calls this line made from recycled or “upcycled” fabrics, sECOnd hand.

For 150+ more inspired seasonal recipes, check out a copy of The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes.

 

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by betsy

Heart Healthy Valentine’s Treats: Vegan Chocolate-Dipped Dried Apricots with Crunchy Coating and an Uncle Sam Cereal Product Review

Well, if our dog, Huff’s, national Superbowl celebrity hadn’t overshadowed almost all else, I would have made these for our Superbowl party last Sunday and posted the recipe as part of my “Crash the SuperBowl Snack Recipe” countdown during the week leading up to the big event.

But alas, I didn’t make them until Monday night to take to my AP art students’ critique on Tuesday. We call them Critique Treats.  However, I also had Valentine’s Day in mind.

These confections are as nutritious and delicious as they are beautiful.  And though each one looks like a precious gem, they are super-simple to make.  Another of  their best features is their texture contrasts: plump chewy dried apricots, silken dark chocolate and crunchy wheat berry flake and flaxseed cereal coating.

This recipe–which is more of a procedure than a true recipe–was inspired by a gift of Uncle Sam Toasted “Original” Whole Wheat Berry Flakes and Flaxseed Cereal from Alisa Fleming, founder of GoDairyFree, who also does some online marketing for Attune Foods.  When she asked if I’d be interested in reviewing a couple of cereals, and invited me to choose which ones I wanted, she happened to mention that my choices were good “recipe cereals.”  So that got me thinking in terms of what I could do with the cereal besides eat it.

Though eat it I did.  I put a little in my mouth and closed my eyes to try to get in “tune” with its distinctive flavor.  I thought I detected the pleasantly subtle taste of barley malt, checked the box and, sure enough, there it was in the very short list of wholesome ingredients.  Otherwise, Uncle Sam is deeply nutty in flavor.  It just tastes wholesome, with pleasant texture contrasts.

So, next I poured a little unsweetened soymilk over it and tasted it before doctoring it up in any way.  I decided that–and this admittedly sounds odd–it would be tasty with a sprinkling of both nutritional yeast and natural sugar to create the same sort of savory-sweet appeal of Kettle Corn.  I loved it.   Be advised, though, that, even without the nutritional yeast and sugar, Uncle Sam’s is calorie dense. I recommend measuring out the cereal so as not too meat too much.  Because it is so healthy and tasty–10 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein with less than 1 gram of sugar per serving–it would be very easy to go overboard.

Not being much of a cereal eater–I get a little carried away with it in the house and don’t know when to stop eating–I opted for making the treats mentioned above.  Still thinking in terms of dried apricots and nuts from my morning hiking in Back Bay Wildlife Refuge/False Cape described in a previous post, and with a bag of vegan chocolate morsels in the pantry, I decided to dip the apricots halfway into the melted chocolate and then roll them in the cereal.  The resulting color contrast of shimmering translucent orange and dark ebony brown chocolate studded with lighter brown flecks was just beautiful.

I can scarcely think of a more appealing nor unique box of Valentine’s treats than these combined with my Peanut Butter Brown Rice Cereal Treats with a Dried Apricot-Almond Surprise.

Vegan Chocolate -Dipped Dried Apricots with Crunchy Coating

Yield: 24 confections

24 plump dried apricots

12 ounces vegan dark chocolate (you won’t need this much, but I like the melted chocolate to be deep so that dipping is easy)

approximately 1/2 cup Uncle Sam’s cereal

Line a baking sheet with waxed or parchment paper and set aside.  in a small microwave safe mixing bowl or a 1 quart saucepan set over a double boiler, gently melt chocolate.  While chocolate is melting, pour cereal into a small bowl.  Holding each apricot between your thumb and forefinger, dip halfway up in the melted chocolate, gently roll in the cereal, and place on the prepared baking sheet.  Store in the refrigerator between layers of waxed or parchment paper in an airtight container, but allow to come to room temperature before serving.

For 150+ more recipes for holidays and every day, please check out The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes.

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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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