Tag Archive: Pudding

In Case You’re Craving Peppermint, Too…

December 31st 043

I didn’t cook much this weekend; I haven’t had the time. Most meals have been thrown together in 5 minutes or less and were far from blog-worthy. Who am I kidding? Most meals have been candy and Reese’s peanut butter trees because I’ve been stressed. I’m sure life will be back to normal once these last few finals are finished.

Even if I’m not feeling the holiday spirit right now, my taste buds definitely are; I’ve been craving peppermint in everything. I’ve pretty much been satisfying those cravings with peppermint extract in chocolate oatmeal and cheap mints from the store, but here are some recipes I’d make with peppermint in them if I had more time.

Homemade peppermint patties(vegan + gluten-free)

raw-dark-chocolate-peppermint-pudding1

Raw peppermint pudding

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Paleo mug cakes(just add 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract)

January 19th 050

Grasshopper brownies

And now I’ll take one of each, please.

Raspberry Tofu Pudding

July 17th 040

Normally I like fudgy desserts, or just a piece of thick chocolate. But this Summer I haven’t been able to get enough mousse desserts, like this one or this one or this one. So naturally I had to try this recipe when I saw it on the Whole Foods website.

I’ve made chocolate and peanut butter tofu mousse before but never a fruit flavor. This came out really well in flavor, although the texture reminded me more of pudding rather than mousse. It’s thick and slightly dense with a sweet, bright flavor to it, perfect for hot Summer nights when chocolate is too rich(I’ve never experienced this myself but I hear some people do—weird).

Raspberry Tofu Pudding(lightly adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients(Makes 6 servings):

  • 12oz fresh or frozen raspberries
  • 1 16oz block silken tofu
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup corn or tapioca starch
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Zest from half a lemon
  • Chocolate and mint to garnish

Combine the tofu, raspberries, starch, sugar, salt, and zest in a food processor and blend until smooth and homogenous.

July 17th 035

Pour into individual dishes and refrigerate until serving. Garnish with shaved chocolate and/or mint.

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It does not get much better than this.

July 17th 030

If you add in 3/4 cup of cocoa powder, the flavor gets even better. Although—I warn you—the color isn’t as appetizing.

London: Desserts Edition

June 14th 061

Whereas the food in London wasn’t so great, at the end of the day there was always something sweet and delicious offered up, from meringues the size of my head to vegan, gluten-free banoffee trifles from Manna.

This wasn’t the best dessert I had(that’s a little lower down) but it was definitely the prettiest. Layers of gluten-free chocolate cake, caramel sauce, soy pudding, and banana slices. I felt compelled to order this after another restaurant had banoffee pie on their dessert menu that same day and everyone in my party had to ask me what that was. It was also dessert on one of the flights; who knew it was that popular? The chocolate cake in the trifle was delicious, rich, and moist. The pudding, although it had good flavor, also had a strong soy aftertaste. If I tried to recreate this vegan I’d probably use something neutral in flavor for the custard base like cashews.

June 11th 099

One thing that was everywhere in England was fudge. It must be the national dessert, because you could get it on any street corner. This brand apparently won awards so I just had to try it, and a chocolate fudge by the same manufacturers. The chocolate fudge wasn’t very chocolaty—I prefer my microwave chocolate fudge—, but the manuka honey fudge was excellent. It had a strong amber flavor to it that made it taste like a soft, butter toffee.

June 13th 181

The best dessert I had was from a vegetarian restaurant called saf located at the Kensington Whole Foods. We didn’t eat at the actual restaurant but I grabbed a raw pudding cup from their to-go section. It wasn’t very pretty, but what it lacked in looks it made up for I flavor.

June 13th 184

Mmm, doesn’t that look appealing, especially when you know that spirulina and moss are what make that bright green color? As off-putting as it was, I just had to lick the sides of the container clean. It was that good. I will definitely try to make something like this at home, perhaps without the moss.

June 12th 006

Even though it wasn’t English, I’d give honorable mention to the chocolate covered vanilla-infused ganache from La Maison Du Chocolat. This came from the confections room at Harrods, which was quite literally a room full of gourmet chocolate stands. I was in heaven. It was hard to choose just one thing but I think I made the right choice with this; the inside was impressively soft and a nice contrast to the chocolate shell. I wanted to stay in that room all day.

Isn’t dessert grand?