Apple Fig Crisp with Coconut Cashew Vanilla Creme

Last summer my friend Mary told me of a fig tree that was just loaded with ripe figs.  We promptly went to work picking and drying figs that weekend.  I am really glad I did.  I've store my dried figs in the freezer to keep them from molding.  Dried fruit has a shelf life too no matter how well you keep it.  Some fruit seems to do very well when I store it in the freezer.  I took some out and re-hydrated them in filtered water overnight.  They worked out fine, beautiful sweet figs in January.  I made a nice big apple fig crisp.  It was very easy.

Fig and Apple Crisp

1 1/4 cups dried figs, stems removed and diced
1/2 cup apple cider or fresh apple juice
3/4 cup spelt or whole wheat pastry flour + 2 tablespoons
3/4 cup turbinado sugar + 2 tablespoons (your favorite dry sweetener will work)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
6 tablespoons vegan margarine, I used Organic Earth Balance
3/4 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
2 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/2 inch thick

Combine the figs and apple cider in a large bowl and let stand 30 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally. This will work fine with more moist dried figs, but if they are very dry like mine are, I would soak them for 2 - 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350º

To make the topping, whisk the 3/4 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar and spices together in a medium bowl.  Using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingertips, blend in the margarine until the mixture is crumbly and forms moist clumps.  Stir in the pecans.

Mix the apples, 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of sugar into the figs.  Transfer the mixture into a lightly oiled 8 x 8 x 2 baking dish.  Bake for 40 minutes, then cover loosely with foil and continue to bake until the apples are very tender, about 20 minutes longer.

Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

I made a quick vegan cream I like using the solid potion of a can of chilled coconut milk.  I put the coconut creme in my blender with about a half cup of cashews, the seeds from half a vanilla bean, and about a cup of powdered sugar.  I used about 2 tablespoons of the liquid coconut milk to get the desired texture.  Then I chilled it for about an hour to thicken a little.  Very Nice.

Chocolate Tofu Pudding ~ Vegan

I finally got a decent blender for the food I want to prepare.  The blender has really become my main cooking tool.  I bought a Blendtec. It came with a pretty nice cookbook too.  I've tried quite a few recipes already.  This pudding is of the first I tried.  I made really good creamy chocolate pudding in like 90 seconds.  The pudding was as warm as if I simmered it on the stove top. It also made the cashew coconut creme the way I like it, creamy not grainy.  This blender made it with a smooth creamy texture in just a couple minutes.   Before this, I ground my cashews and nuts in the food processor then transferred them to the blender, stopping and scraping them down for quite awhile.  I am pretty impressed with it already.  It took me a long time to break down and buy one.  I've bought whole cars cheaper than this blender.  Of course, I probably would drive cars most people wouldn't. A fancy new car has never been one of my top priorities. But, if I put together all the cheap blenders and food processors I've killed because of the use I put them through, I've probably spent more.

Chocolate Tofu Pudding
 10.5 oz soft tofu
¼ cup non dairy milk, plain or vanilla
5 TB vegan margarine, melted
2 squares semisweet chocolate, broken
½ cup agave, maple syrup, or sucanot
1 tsp vanilla

I put this on the soup cycle twice.  It took about 90 seconds.  If you don't have a blender like this, I would blend it all up in the blender anyway and then simmer on the stovetop a few minutes until it was bubbly and getting thick.  Chill for at least 1 hour.  Top with cashew coconut creme.

Cashew Coconut Creme

about a 1/3 cup raw cashews (soaked in water for an hour or more)
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
the creme from a can of coconut milk
the seeds from one vanilla bean blended until smooth and creamy.