Yummy yummy in my tummy!

Well since my last blog was about desserts, and so is this one I think I can officially say I am on a sweat kick and I LOVE it!! So I have a few other blogs I had planned to write first, but I just made these delish little guys and they are too good to wait to write about! So they are from Alicia Silverstone’s book 'The Kind Diet', which if you still don't own, get on it, so many great recipes mmm. They are conveniently called 'My Favourite Cupcakes', and soon they will be yours too! Here goes....

Cupcakes

2/3 cup hemp or soy milk (I used soy)

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2/3 cup agave nectar (instead of using sugar...this stuff is to die for, almost caramel in taste, YUM)

1/3 cup safflower oil (this is super light in taste, that’s why you don't use olive oil, too strong)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)

1/3 cup pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of fine sea salt

Fudge Frosting

1/2 cup Earth Balance butter

1/2 cup agave nectar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup soy milk powder (like powder milk, but soy...duh)

**Note: All of these things I simply found at the Bulk Barn...Love it there. Also I used the full 1/2 cup of Soy milk powder, and next time I would probably use only 1/3 cup. I found the 1/2 cup made it a bit too heavy and powdery tasting.

**Me a proud momma of these cupcakes, pre frosting**

Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

Combine the milk and vinegar in a medium bowl, and set aside for about 5 min. until the mixture begins to bubble. If it does not bubble, stir the mixture until it does. Add the agave nectar, oil and vanilla and stir.

In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until no lumps remain.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, and bake for 18-22 minutes (I only did 18 and they were perfect, so keep an eye on them) or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean and the tops are slightly springy when pressed. Allow the cupcakes to cool.

To make the fudge frosting, use a mixer to cream the butter and agave nectar until very smooth. Add the vanilla extract and half of the cocoa powder mix on a low speed until combined, then add the remaining cocoa powder. Add in the soy milk powder, and mix at med-high until fluffy.

Enjoy!!

Mmmm best dessert EVER!!!

When I was at the Wooden Monkey I had a chocolate Ganashe torte...and I decided to create my own! So here it is, SO GOOD and totally vegan. Super easy and fast too...yum yum!!

Here it is...believe it!!

For the Crust:

1/2 cup of melted Earth Balance butter

1/4 cup Almonds

3/4 cup Oats

1/4 cup Cashews

1/2 cup Walnuts

1/4 cup Brown rice syrup

Dash of both salt and cinnamon *optional

Pre-heat oven to 400 F. In a food processor blitz together all dry ingredients so they are finer, but some nut chunks are ok. Then in a bowl mix together with a spoon the blitzed up mixture with the melted 'butter' and syrup. Press mixture into an ungreased spring pan (the kind you make a cheesecake in) just along the bottom. Cook for 4-8 minutes until edges turn golden. Remove and let cool.

Ganache Filling (yum)

Two 283g pkgs of non-dairy chips. I used "Enjoy Life" semi-sweet chocolate chips, you can get these in any health food store or health food isle.

One 340g pkg soft Silken tofu

1 tsp pure vanilla extract.

Get a large pot and fill 1/4-1/2 with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling lower to medium heat and wait until slightly simmering. Then place a large metal bowl over the heat (you can rest it right on the pot). This helps to not burn the chocolate. So place both pkgs of chocolate in the bowl and begin stirring until almost melted. In a food processor blitz the pkg of tofu until smooth. Add this to the melted chocolate and continue to stir until completely smooth. Then pour mixture into the crust, let cool at room temp. for about 5 min, then store in the fridge until set (1+ hours).

**When serving, before releasing the spring on the pan, get a hot knife and run along the pan where the torte mixture meets it to separate it. Then cut and ENJOY!! YUMMM