Raw Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Blueberry Coconut Frosting

I came across this easy recipe on Facebook.  These cupcakes spend a little time in the freezer and a little time in the dehydrator making them crispy on the outside and cake like on the inside.  They were a huge hit at the potluck.  Luckily I held out a couple at home so we could enjoy them.

The recipe calls for almond pulp from fresh almond milk. I don't use a juicer, but I do have a very good high speed blender. Whipped these up in my Blendtec and used cheesecloth to separate the fresh almond milk from the pulp. 

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Blueberry Coconut Cream Frosting

 - by Priscilla Soligo, founder of Rawthentic Food

This heavenly raw cupcake recipe by Chef Priscilla can be created easily at home.  All you need to get your hands on is one of those flexible silicon cup cake trays so you can pop out the base with ease.  That’s really the key to getting raw cupcakes to look this gorgeous!  Take note of Priscilla’s detailed instructions for creating the cupcake frosting with a firm yet creamy texture.

Ingredients

Cupcake Base:

• 2 (258g) Cups Almond Pulp , (defrosted and excess water squeezed out.  Almond pulp is the left over almond after almond milk has been made with water in a blender and strained.
• 1 (87g) Cup Dessicated Coconut Flakes
• 1/4 Cup Coconut Nectar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/8 tsp Pink Himalayan Crystal Salt (I used a Celtic Sea Salt, worked just fine)
  

Blueberry Coconut Frosting:

• 2 1/2  Cups Coconut Butter Melted, (271g unmelted measurement)
• 1 1/2 (190g) Cups Blueberries
• 1 (60g) Cup Macadamia Nuts, (or cashews, pre-soaked 2 hours)
• 1/2 Cup Raw Organic Honey, (or coconut nectar for lower glycemic sweetener)
• 1 Cup Filtered Water

Method

For the cupcake base

In a food processor, process all ingredients together and place cupcake dough into a large bowl.

Using 14 mini silicon cupcake molds, press the dough firmly into each one making sure the top is flat.  Place in the freezer for 2 hours for the cupcakes to get up.  This will make molds easier to remove.  During this time, commence making the frosting.

Remove from the freezer and here you have two options.

Dehydrator Option 1:  Remove cupcakes from silicone molds.  Place cupcake bases onto a mesh lined dehydrator tray (not teflex sheet) and dehydrate at 115 for 6 hours.  Remove from dehydrator and allow to cool all the way through completely before icing.

No-Dehydrator Option 2:  Remove cupcakes from silicon molds.  You are ready to ice your cupcake! 

Using a knife, gently place frosting on top of the cupcake and garnish with a blueberry.

Storage:  The dehydrated cupcake bases keep well frozen for up to two months in an airtight sealed container.  The non-dehydrated cupcake bases will keep for up to a month, or so in the freezer in an airtight sealed container.  The frosting will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks in an airtight glass sealed container.

Variation: Replace the blueberries with other berries such as, raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries, or a ‘very berry’ combination.

 For the Frosting

In a high speed blender, place in all ingredients except blueberries and blend until smooth and well incorporated.  Pour into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mash the blueberries with a fork.   

Fold in gently (don’t over mix) blueberry mixture with frosting mixture so you can see two tones showing through.

Refrigerate frosting overnight, or for at least 8 hours before frosting the cupcakes.  For a faster set up try freezing and then stirring gently hourly for 3 – 4 hours to keep the temperature consistent.  This is a ‘cream’ frosting and won’t set stiff.

Almond Pulp and Almond Milk

 Almond Milk

• 3 Cups Raw Almonds (pre-soaked 8 hours, or overnight, rinsed and drained)
• 6 Cups Filtered Water

Blueberry Goodness and other Culinary Delights

Morgaine and I put our culinary delights together this weekend.  I like going out to her place. She lives on an island on the Columbia River.  It's not very far, about 20 miles, but it seems like I've gone somewhere far when we're out there.  The scenery is a bit different driving along the river, there are many shorebirds and a fresh coastal smell. It was a great break.  She's also a whole foods cook, working with the freshest, local ingredients available. We both love the adventure of just trying something that sounds good with the ingredients currently available, recipe in hand or not.  Dessert was very blue and very tasty.She made some blueberry pie with local blueberries she put up last summer.

I made a vegan blueberry pudding cake, a variation of the lemon pudding cake I've made before from the Vegan Dad cookbook.  I substituted blueberry juice for the lemon juice in the recipe, used orange zest instead of lemon, and put a layer of fresh blueberries on the bottom of the pan before the cake batter.

They were very good together, parfait style with a little soy whipping creme.

For our dinner, I made vegan AuGratin potatoes and roasted a whole acorn squash.  She made some wonderful whole grain bread, vegetables tempura with a nice variety of fresh vegetables, onions, carrots, yams, and more.  She also made a sweet and sour sauce for the vegetables and some sautéed chicken breast.  Most of the meal was plant based.  This is where my flexitarian comes in.  I didn't enjoy a whole portion of chicken breast, but I did have a small taste.  After all, someone did go to the trouble to make it, I am going to show my appreciation for her cooking and try it. I also know that she obtains her animal protein from the most local sources. I used her homemade sauce over the tempura vegetables, it was a great combination.  Together we came up with a great feast and there was some jolly conversation in the room after dinner, but soon there was a quiet that came over the house as everyone settled in very well fed and relaxed.

Vegan Au Gratin

Homemade Fresh Whole Grain Bread

Tempura Vegetables

Vegan Blueberry Cheezcake

This is one of my favorite vegan cheezcake recipes for the Vegan World Fusion Cuisine cookbook.  I've made this for non veggies and didn't mention there was no cheese in it until it was enjoyed by all. I only made a couple changes.  I used 1 12 oz. package of firm tofu and one container of Tofutti, Better than Cream Cheese instead of the 2 lbs of tofu in the recipe. I adjusted the liquids as it blended for the right consistency. I also used coconut milk instead of the soy milk.

Shaka's Vegan Cheezcake 
      Vegan World Fusion Cuisine

Filling:

2 lb Tofu, firm
1 C Sucanat
1/2 cup soy milk
1.2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 1/2 TB Arrowroot powder
2 TB Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt

Crust Dry:

2 C spelt flour
1/4 C Sucanat
1 TB Arrowroot powder
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Crust Wet:

1/3 C Safflower Oil
2 TB Maple Syrup
2 TB Apple Juice, fresh (I used some of the applesauce I canned last summer.)
1 tsp Vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350º.  For crust, place dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and mix well.  Place wet ingredients in another bowl amd mix well.  Add wet to dry, mixing well with hands, crumbling the ingredients together repeatedly.  Press into the bottom of a 10" spring form pan.  Bake for 5 minutes.  (I used a ten inch pie plate this time.)
    
2. Place all filling ingredients in a large blender and blend until smooth  Pour on top of crust and bake for 1 hour or until top turns  golden brown and center does not jiggle too much.  Allow to cool before running knife around the edge and removing from the spring form pan.

For the topping I just took the blueberries, about 1 lb, a cup of sparkling apple juice, 1/3 cup sucanat, 11/2 TB lemon juice, a dash of cinnamon powder and heated it all in a small saucepan until it started to boil.  I added about 21/2 tablespoons of Agar flakes to the mixture and let it simmer until it was dissolved, stirring constantly.  Since it was so cold outside, I just put it into a bowl and set in on our deck on the table to chill.  After it was completely cooled and thickened, I poured it on the cooled cheezcake.

Enjoy!

Gifts of the Summer

 I'm doing my shopping in the garden now.  I'm pulling out little summer squash, zucchini, artichokes, broccoli, chard, edible flowers, and many herbs.  The green beans are starting to appear and the tomatoes are starting to ripen.  My shopping list this week was short and consisted of small items I needed for the meals I will prepare for the week.  I wanted to make a zucchini pie so I needed some cheese and eggs this week, but most my groceries are coming from my garden or another local garden right now.

I surveyed my fresh groceries and made some pretty fun decisions about what to do with my fresh garden vegetables and the fruit of the season.   I had some organic soy beans in the drawer so I made some fresh soy milk to use in the zucchini pie.  I made some peach preserves sweetened with fresh local honey using Agar for thickener.  I only used a little, I didn't want a jelly consistency, just a thick fruit mixture.

Peach Preserves

I put up some blueberry freezer jam sweetened only with 1 teaspoon of powdered stevia to five pounds of blueberries. To make up for the liquid lost by omitting the sugar, I used one cup of water. I used pectin to thicken this time. It's fruity and sweet and doesn't taste like it's sugarfree.

Sugar Free Blueberry Freezer Jam

These little summer squash all became raw teriyaki noodles.  I'll post the recipe separately a little later. I have a handy little sprializer gadget that turns them into curly long noodles.  Tossed with a teriyaki sauce made from pumpkin oil, pomegranate juice, shoyu, miso, a little agave, and fresh ginger, they become a fresh Asian inspired dish.

Sunburst, Crookneck, and Zucchini Squash picked this morning.

I have some cabbage, four large heads, sliced and wilting in the crock for some homemade sauerkraut.  I also prepared some barley this morning and have been adding some sliced vegetables in throughout the day.   As I used the vegetables in other dishes, I threw the ends and pieces in with the cooked barley.  The barley has fresh cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, squash, peas, and fresh raw corn kernels.  I think I'll add some balsamic vinegar and a dash of chili oil and call it a barley vegetable salad. 

I still want to make something sweet for a dessert.   My friend, Morgaine, made a blackberry custard recently and I have some of the fresh eggs I bought for the zucchini pie left.  I think I'll hunt down that blog and make some peach custard with some of the preserves I just made.  I'll let you know how that works out.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins - Dairy Free

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

I picked some fresh blueberries with friends Friday afternoon and thought it was time for some simple wholesome muffins. These are made with whole grains and no dairy products.  They aren't considered vegan as they are made with honey.  To make these vegan, just use agave or stevia in place of the honey.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
31/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 cup non dairy milk
1/4 cup fresh local honey
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 400°

Combine dry ingredients and make a well in the center to add wet ingredients.  Whisk together honey, non dairy milk, and the melted oil until combined.  Add to the center of the dry ingredients.  Stir just enough to moisten.  Fold the fresh blueberries into the batter.  Spoon batter into lightly oiled muffin cups.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Dairy Free Blueberry Creme Pie

This is one of Dr. Andrew Weil's recipes from Eating Well for Optimum Health.  This was one of the first books I read when I decided to go head first into cooking for health as well as enjoyment.  I have had it a long time.  I can tell because I have weight watcher's points written in the book near recipes.  I haven't kept track of what I eat like that or counted calories for many years.  I just eat a plant based diet as much as I can and I don't have to count calories or points.

This is a very light dessert, with added protein and less sugar than your average blueberry creme pie. It's made with tofu masquerading as cream cheese and since fresh  blueberries are abundant right now, it's time for pie.  I had great fun watching my husband and granddaughter trying to get just the right picture without eating it.  The model got so small by the end of the second serving at lunch the next day, there was only one small piece left. I did make some changes, as I usually do, reducing the processed sugar where I can.

  Dairy Free Blueberry Cream Pie

1 pound silken tofu

1/4 cup sugar, or more to taste

      I used a few drops liquid Stevia

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

     I used the seeds from half a vanilla bean

freshly grated zest of 1 fresh lemon

1 baked Easy Pie Crust, (follow link to recipe)

1 pound fresh or frozen blueberries

1/4 cup light brown sugar 

     I used a little less than 1/4 cup raw agave

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

11/2 tablespoons arrowroot powder

     Agar can be used in place of the arrowroot powder

2 tablespoons water

1. Drain the tofu well and process in a food processor until smooth.  Add the sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon zest, and blend well.

2.  Pour the tofu mixture into the pie crust and chill in refrigerator.

3.  Place the blueberries in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until they begin to boil.  Boil gently for about ten minutes.

4.  Add the brown sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon, and cook for another 2 minutes.

5.  Mix the arrowroot well with the water, and pour mixture into the simmering blueberries while stirring.  Cook, stirring, until the mixture becomes clear and thick.  Continue to cook for 1 minute.

6.  When blueberry mixture is cool, spoon it over the tofu mixture, and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Dairy Free Triple Berry Mousse

This is a variation of the dairy free mousse, Dairy Free Strawberry Mousse, I learned to make last winter with avocados and bananas.

I used about four small ripe avocados, one banana for sweetness and texture, about three cups of fresh local strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, mixed, and almost a teaspoon of liquid stevia.  I made a smooth puree of it all in the food processor and poured into a large mixing bowl.  I folded in some whole fruit and a half tablespoon Agar dissolved in a half cup of hot water.