White Bean Blondies

I was sitting around the other day, looking for some gluten free dessert recipes. During my search, I decided to look for white bean blondies. I couldn't find a recipe that I liked, so I decided the black bean brownie recipe I make could easily be adapted for blondies. I didn't measure anything, so as usual, my measurements are guesses. Next time, I would add more oatmeal.

1 can white beans (such as Great Northern) drained and rinsed
1 Pear
2 T honey
1 T light corn syrup
2 t vanilla extract
1/4 t almond extract
1/4 t salt
3/8 c oats

Puree all ingredients except the last 1/8 cup oats. Add the last 1/8 c oats and stir. Bake in a greased 8x8" pan at 350 for 35 minutes.

Chocolate Vegan Icecream

Chocolate Vegan Ice Cream
2 teaspoon Coffee Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

3/4 Cup Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder
3 Cans (13.5 oz each) Regular Coconut Milk

2 Cans (17.5 oz each) Coconut Cream
1 cup Sugar
¾ bag Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (because it’s what I had)
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

In a separate container, combine cocoa powder, coffee powder, salt, and cinnamon, with about a cup of coconut milk, whisk vigorously to form a thick paste, making sure to moisten all of the dry goods and get out any lumps. Once smooth, add into the remaining coconut milk, coconut cream (found in my local asian market) and sugar in a medium saucepan. Turn on the stove to medium heat, and whisk occasionally as it comes up to temperature. When bubbles begin forming around the edges of the liquid, add in the chocolate chips, and whisk slowly or use a large spoon or spatula to keep the chocolate chips moving so they don’t burn on the bottom of the pan, continue until the chocolate fully melts. Once the mixture comes up to a full boil, cook for just a minute or two longer, and as long as there are no more whole chocolate chips remaining, turn off the heat. Stir in vanilla extract, at this point I stuck my emersion blender in the pot and mixed. Place in an ice bath and let cool completely before moving it into the refrigerator to chill. Over night is best.

Churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. We did this in 2 batches. Transfer the ice cream into an air-tight container, and store in the freezer. Let solidify in the freezer for at least 3 hours before serving. So we were a little impatient and had some soft icecream.  Addendum: This is pretty solid after freezing overnight. I've been told that Arrowroot will keep the ice crystals from forming and keep the icecream softer. Next batch. It's still wonderfully good.  Next  try will be a vanilla version.

We also tried to make Vegan caramel with an organic sugar (white sugar is recommended because you can’t see the color change well with the organic sugar) coconut cream instead of half and half and coconut oil instead of butter. I’d forgotten to half the cream and oil so we boiled some more and ended up with a hard taffy like substance the kids loved playing with. If you have fillings in your teeth, we adults don’t recommend trying it on a holiday weekend. The caramel recipe will take some more tweaking.

Black Bean Brownies

While not as good as brownies loaded with butter and eggs, these really are pretty good. No picture though. We ate them way before I could get my picture out. They are best if cooled before you cut them.

1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 pear
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/8 to 1/4 c honey (to taste)
1t vanilla extract
1/4 t almond extract
3/8 c rolled oats

Blend the first six ingredients in a food processor or with a hand blender, add in 1/4 c oatmeal and blend. Mix in the remaining 1/8 c oatmeal. Bake 35 minutes in a greased 8x8" pan at 350.

Chocolate Raspberry Trifle

I made a chocolate cake for a party that stuck in the pan. Of course the cake was way too good to waste, so I made a trifle out of it. When I make this again, I would make a double batch of the raspberry coulis and add fresh raspberries.

Chocolate cake:
9 T cocoa powder
1 1/2 c cake flour (or use regular flour and substitute 3 T of the flour with corn starch)
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/2 c sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
1/2 c coffee
1/2 c milk

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 9" cake pans.

Beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Add one egg at a time, beating until each is fully incorporated. In a seperate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking soda, salt & baking powder. In a measuring cup, mix the coffee and milk.

Stir 1/2 of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, then the milk mixture and finally the other half of the flour mixture. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool, remove from pans and tear into cubes.

Vanilla Pudding:
8 T sugar
4 T corn starch
1/2 t salt
4 c 2% milk
4 egg yolk, slightly beaten
2 T butter
2 t vanilla extract

Combine the sugar, cornstarch & salt in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the milk cooking over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat and cook an additional 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.
Stir a small amount of the hot mixture into the egg yolk to temper it. Pour the tempered yolk into the warm mixture. Bring to a gentle boil, cooking and stirring for an additional minute. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.
Cool for 15 minutes before transferring to a dish to cool. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Hot Fudge Sauce:
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 c water
1 c heavy cream
1 c light corn syrup
1/4 t white vinegar
4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsley chopped
4 T unsalted butter, softened
1 T vanilla

Whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a large pot. Whisk in the milk until well blended. Bring to simmer over medium high heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add the heavy cream, corn syrup, white vinegar and 2 oz of the chocolate. Return to the heat, whisking frequently over medium high heat until it reaches about 225 degrees F. The bubbles will be small and the liquid will be a little thicker and sticky. Remove from heat and add the remaining chocolate, butter and vanilla. Let cool.

Raspberry Coulis: I would double this next time and add some fresh raspberries at least on top of the trifle if not in the middle as well.
12 oz fresh or frozen raspberries
3 T sugar
2 t fresh lemon juice

Blend all three ingredients together and strain through a small sieve.

Trifle:
Layer 3 layers of each cake, pudding, fudge sauce & raspberry coulis in a glass bowl.

Vegetarian Mincemeat

3 large Granny Smith Apples
2 Oranges
2 Lemons
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1 t nutmeg
1/2 t ground cloves
1 c butter
12 oz golden raisins
12 oz jumbo black raisins
12 oz red raisins
1/2 c almonds, chopped
6 T brandy (I used Kirsh)

Mix together the raisins, sugar and spices. Core and chop apples, but do not peel them. Add the apples, chopped almonds and butter to the raisins. Zest and juice the lemons and oranges and add that. Cover and let stand overnight, stirring periodically.

Preheat the over to 225F. Stir the mixture one last time and roast for 2 hours. Take out, stir and let cool. You can stir it periodically while it cools. When cool, stir in the brandy. Store in jars.

Once the mince was done, I made these pies. This might be the best dessert I've ever made. The fruit caramelized on the top and they were amazing cooled a little bit out of the oven. I froze them and they are even good warmed up a little in the microwave.

Pecan Coconut Torte

I got this recipe from my brother, who always makes the most amazingly bad for you desserts. It's so good! I love pecan pie, but this tops any pecan pie I've ever eaten.

Shell:
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c old fashioned rolled oats
1 c flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 c cooled melted butter

Stir together the sugar, oats, baking powder & salt. Add the butter. Mix well. Pat into the bottom and 1/2" up the sides of a 9" spring form pan. Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes. Cool.


Filling:
1/3 c honey
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c butter
1/4 c heavy cream
1 c old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c flaked coconut
1 1/4 c chopped pecans

Combine the honey, sugar & butter in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until smooth. Stir in the cream. In a bowl, mix the oats, coconut, pecans and a pinch of salt. Poor the butter mixture over the oat mixture and mix well. Poor into the cooled shell. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are golden. The middle will still look wet until it cools. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan. Let cool completely.

If you'd like, melt 1 oz semi sweet chocolate with 1 t butter and drizzle over the top.

Caterpillar Cake

Both of these cupcake recipes looked decent, but as always, I had to make changes to them to improve on them. To make the caterpillar, I used dates for the legs and sage leaves for the antennae. I used the same frosting for both types of cupcakes.
Red Velvet:
1 c unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 c sugar
2 T cocoa powder
2 oz red food coloring
1 1/2 c white flour
1 c white whole wheat flour
1 t salt
1 c buttermilk
1 t vanilla extract
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla

Frosting:
2 T flour
1 c milk
1 c unsalted butter
1 c powder sugar
1 t vanilla

Cream together butter, sugar & egg. In a different bowl, mix together food coloring and cocoa. Add this to the butter mixture and mix together. Add flour and salt to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk and vanilla in 3 additions. Fold in the baking soda and vinegar. Pour into lined cupcake pans. Bake about 22 minutes at 350. Or, pour into 2 greased 9" pans and bake 30 minutes.

Frosting: Cook flour and milk over medium heat, whisking, until thickened. Let cool. Cream together butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the milk mixture to the butter mixture. Beat in any food coloring if wanted.

Buttermilk Cupcakes:
2 c white flour
2 c white whole wheat flour
2 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
1 c unsalted butter
1 1/2 c sugar
2 t vanilla
1 t almond extract
4 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add vanilla and almond. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well between each. Add buttermilk until combined. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to to butter mixture in 3 batches. Beat just until combined. Bake about 22 minutes in lined cupcake pans.