Desserts

I imagine this is how cheesecake was made before spring form pans existed, in a rich pastry crust. Soy lecithin is what gives this cheesecake and crust the rich flavor. The crust rolls out perfectly.

For the crust
2 cups rice flour plus a little extra for rolling
1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
3/4 cup vegan butter
4 tablespoons soy lecithin in 4 tablespoons water
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons Marsala wine

For the filling
1 cup unsweetened non dairy yogurt
3 2/3 cups raw almonds
2 cups water plus water for soaking almonds
4 tablespoons soy lecithin in 4 tablespoons water
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 Tablespoon tapioca
1/2 – 3/4 cup sugar

The day before or 8 hours before preparing cheesecake, soak almonds in water. Place them in a jar and cover with double the amount of water. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Remove the soaked almonds from the refrigerator and drain and rinse them. Peel the skins by pressing them between the thumb a forefinger. Alternatively, you may blanch the almonds by cooking them for about a minute in boiling water, draining and when cool removing the remaining skins. You may also start with blanched almonds which can save some time since the skins are already remove. Put the almonds in a food processor and pulse to chop them up. Add about 1/4 cup water and pulse until water is incorporated. Do not add too much water at a time because you may reach the liquid limit on your processor and the water will leak out. Continue to add about 1/4 cup to the mixture and pulsing to blend. When the entire 2 cups water is added, pulse until creamy. The mixture with be a little lumpy, like ricotta cheese. But it should be blended enough so it’s not chewy. Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the water into the soy lecithin until creamy. (I grind the entire container of soy lecithin granules and keep them in the refrigerator in a jar. It’s very sticky but blends easier with water when I am ready to use it). If the mixture is lumpy, use a sieve, strain the mixture into a another bowl so that it is very smooth. In a large bowl mix together the rice flour, xanthan gum and sugar. Cut in the vegan butter making a crumbly dough. Add in the soy lecithin and Marsala wine and knead into dough. Make one large ball. Divide the ball in half and take one of them and divide it in half and roll the 3 pieces into balls. Let chill about an hour.

When ready to roll dough, preheat oven to 350^oF. Grease an 8 inch diameter, 2 inch deep cake pan. (A spring form pan may be used but is not necessary.) Cut a 9 inch diameter circle of parchment paper to line the bottom of the pan. The paper should be a little larger than the bottom so that it comes up the sides, about 1/2 inch.

Take the dough from refrigerator. Place a sheet of wax paper on a firm surface and sprinkle LIBERALLY with flour. The trick in rolling this dough so that it doesn’t stick is to use a lot of flour on the wax paper. Take the large ball of dough (1/2 of the recipe) and flatten it into a round circle. Dust liberally with flour and cover with another sheet of wax paper. Roll dough into an 11 inch round circle. Remove the top sheet of wax paper. Carefully turn the dough over and press into the cake pan. Press the edges against the sides to reach the top of the pan. If you are having difficulty with the dough you can press pieces of it in the pan until the bottom and sides are uniformly covered.

In a small bowl, beat the water into the soy lecithin until creamy. Using a sieve, strain the mixture into a another bowl so that it is very smooth. In a large bowl mix the almond ricotta, lecithin mixture, vanilla, tapioca and sugar. Pour into the crust. Press the crust edges in, slightly over the filling.

Take the remaining 1/4 of dough. As before, roll the dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper, only this time, roll out a long rectangle, about 10 inches by 6 inches wide. Cut dough into 6 long strips. Carefully top the filling with the strips crisscrossing as shown in the picture. Trim the edges. Extra dough can be pressed into the crust to even out the edges if necessary.

Baked for one hour and 20 minutes until the filling is firm, not wiggly. Cover the top with aluminum foil after about 30-40 minutes to keep from burning or getting too brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Carrot Cake has always been one of my favorites, but only when it’s made my way. That’s why I call this cake, Caryn Cake. There’s a secret ingredient that as of today, is no longer a secret! It’s Mace. Mace is a spice made from the outer covering that surrounds nutmeg seeds. The flavor is similar to that of nutmeg, but with its own subtle peppery flavor that gives this Carrot Cake it’s “je ne sais quoi”. I just know you will love it.

2 ½ cups hot water
3 tablespoons ground flax seed in 6 tablespoons water (lightly beaten)
1 cups agave nectar
3/4 cup vegan butter like Earth Balance
1 1/2 cups sugar (evaporated cane juice) – use 1/2 cup less sugar if you don’t want it very sweet
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 cups rice flour
½ cup sorghum flour
1 ½ cups tapioca flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon mace
½ cup ground almonds (if allergic to tree nuts, or use sunflower or pumpkin seeds)
1 cup finely grated carrots

Frosting:
Two packages Vegan Cream Cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar, or to taste
1 tsp almond extract or vanilla
1/3 cup organic coconut

To make the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350^oF. Grease two 8 inch round cake pans, or cupcake tins for 2 dozen cupcakes. You can use any size pans you like. The size and shape will determine how long it needs to cook. See step 11 below.
2. Cream sugar with margarine in a medium size bowl.
3. Slowly beat in flax seed mixture, agave, vinegar and vanilla.
4. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended.
5. Combine flours, almonds, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, cinnamon and mace in a large bowl.
6. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
7. Stir in hot water, 1/2 cup at a time. Mix well. Batter should be thick.
8. Stir in the carrots
10. Pour batter into greased pans, filling each halfway.
11. Bake for about 40 min or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn off oven; leave cake in oven for 10 min to gradually cool (prevents cake form falling). Mini cupcakes will take about a half hour, average cupcakes take about 35-40 minutes. One large round will take about 60 minutes. If you make one large cake, cover the top with foil after 30 minutes to prevent top from burning.
12. Remove cake from oven and allow to completely cool. Remove from pan and top with frosting.

To make the frosting:
Blend vegan cream cheese, almond or vanilla extract and sugar with a fork. Don’t use an electric beater, it can make it runny. Beat with fork until smooth, do not overbeat. Let chill several hours.

Option – Toast the Coconut:
The frosting can be topped with plain coconut or toasted. To toast the coconut spread it out on a sheet pan and toast at 300^oF for several minutes. Keep and eye on the sheet – it can brown quickly and burn. Shake the sheet ever one of two minutes so the coconut gets evenly toasted. When lightly browned, remove coconut from over and let cool.

To Assemble Cake: Frost top of one layer, place the other layer on top and cover with frosting. Add coconut to top and sides by gently tossing it onto the frosting. Coconut that does not stick can be pressed into the frosting with a knife.

There’s something about coconut that irresistible. Several years ago I craved coconut cake for my birthday. I went to the kitchen and created this recipe using white wheat flour. Still getting that coconut cake craving from time to time, but wanting to make it gluten-free I came up with this recipe. It’s heavenly.

CAKE:
2 cups sugar/evaporated cane juice
3 cups all-purpose baking flour gluten-free flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 3/4 cups coconut milk (1 can)
2 tablespoons apple cider
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup vegan butter (I use Earth Balance)
1/4 to 3/4 cup hot water
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

FROSTING:
2- 8 oz vegan, nondairy cream cheese, nonhydrogenated oil version preferred (Tofutti brand has no gluten)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 teaspoons almond extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar or more, to taste
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Adjust oven rack to middle position, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 9-inch round cake pans; set aside. Mix sugar, flours baking soda and xanthan gum into a large bowl, then whisk to combine. Cut in the vegan butter, making a crumbly mixture. Combine coconut milk, vinegar and vanilla in medium size bowl and add this mixture to dry ingredients. Mix well, batter will be thick. Pour in hot water, 1/4 cup at a time and mix well. The batter should be thicker than a standard cake batter, not runny. Fold in shredded coconut. Divide batter evenly between cake pans. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, switching position of and rotating pans after 12 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours.

Sift powdered sugar, removing any clumps. Blend vegan cream cheese, almond and vanilla extracts and sugar with a fork, whisk or beater. Beat at low speed until smooth, do not overbeat. Add additional sugar to taste. Let chill several hours.

Frost top of one layer, place the other layer on top and cover with frosting. Add shredded coconut to top and sides by gently tossing it onto the frosting. Coconut that does not stick can be pressed into the frosting with a knife.

Giving up cheese and all dairy products does not mean you have to give up fabulous desserts.  Try this rich, New York style cheesecake that’s not only vegan but gluten-free. No one will know it’s dairy-free and you may even fool yourself.

Crust
1 1/2 cups white rice flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/3 cup sugar (evaporated cane juice)
1 ½ tsp Ener-G egg replacer in 4 tablespoons water
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened

Filling
2 1/2 pounds vegan cream cheese, five 8 oz containers, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar (evaporated cane juice)
3 tablespoons tapioca flour
5 tablespoons ground flax seeds (yellow flax seeds will blend in with the batter, brown flax seeds will be more visible, as in photo)
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Lightly grease an 8 or 9 inch diameter springform cakepan.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and xanthan gum.
4. In a small bowl mix egg replacer with water, cut in vegan margarine.
4. Add to the dry mixture creating a dough. Knead the dough, which will be slightly dry. Pack the dough together and press evenly on the bottom of the pan. Prick the dough with a fork.
5. Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees F. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
6. In a small bowl, mix flax seed, coconut milk, vanilla and lemon zest. Mix in vegan butter.
7. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, tapioca, flax seed mixture and mix thoroughly.
8. Pour filling over crust and bake for 40 minutes. Reduce temperature to 200 degrees F and continue to bake for 20 minutes. Turn oven off leaving cake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
9. Chill overnight.
10. When ready to serve, remove from springform pan and slice.