Gluten Free Vegan Raspberry Chocolate Tart

Are you ready to LOSE YOUR MIND over this easy and delicious dessert?

For Thanksgiving, I volunteered to make dessert- for a Gluten Free and Vegan dinner. First I made a GF Vegan version of Cranberry Upside Down Cake from Martha Stewart using pretty standard GF and Vegan substitutions.

And then I searched for a GF Vegan dark chocolate dessert... Oh how I searched. I googled "Vegan Flourless Chocolate Cake" and "Gluten Free Chocolate Tart" and every dessert category you can think of. I don't have a food processor to make most of the crusts, most flourless cakes are full of eggs, yada yada. Then I decided to combine a truffle recipe, a crust, make a few changes and voila: the result was divine.

Srsly tho, ARE YOU READY FOR THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

Gluten Free Vegan Raspberry Chocolate Tart

Crust
(**Slightly adapted from this recipe)

1 and 1/2 cups ground walnuts
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup coconut oil
6 medjool dates (look for these in the bulk section or the produce department)

You can probably use just about any ground nut you want; I found ground walnuts in the kosher department at Ralph's so that is what I used.

1. Melt the coconut oil by placing the jar in a bowl of hot tap water.
2. Mix the ground nuts and cocoa together.

3. Add the melted coconut oil.
4. Mash the dates with a fork or chop them in some way... I had to use a knife to get them into small pieces.
5. Add the dates and mix thoroughly. I did use my Kitchenaid Mixer to really work this mixture together. If you are living in a world without a Kitchenaid Mixer- first off, sorry bro. Secondly, find a way to get in there and mix until it's smooth and there are no large pieces of dates.

6. Line a 9-inch round pan with parchment paper. Or a tart pan if you fancy.
7. Using a fork, smash the crust evenly into the pan of your choice.

Filling
(**Slightly adapted from this recipe)

1/2  cup chocolate almond milk
1 10-oz. package of vegan chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Mini Chips)
1/2  cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons Chambord raspberry liquor

Topping

1 package raspberries

1. Warm almond milk and set aside.

2. Use a double boiler or make a fake one using two pots: bottom pot will have boiling water. Top pot will have chocolate. Keep stirring, always keep up with the stirring. A silicone spatula is ideal for this.
3. Start melting chocolate chips in the top of the double boiler. 

4. Add Chambord raspberry liquor and stir.

5. Add chocolate almond milk. Stir it baby, one more time.

HERO'S JOURNEY: 

It may not quite come together at first. You may be looking at a weird chocolate soup and for a moment you might think OMG this is a disaster- Thanksgiving is in 4 hours- all the stores are closed - I'm out of cocoa - and I just ruined this pricey vegan chocolate. But have patience, my dear GFVeganers. 

6. You just keep on stirring and working that double boiler until everything is combined. Maybe smash some chocolate chunks on the side of pot to get the party going.

7. When it's all nicely melted....pour onto the crust.

8. Let it set for a moment and then place the raspberries on top in a pattern that appeals to you. I made a heart even though it was for Thanksgiving because it seemed like a fun thing to do. 

9. Refrigerate until served.

I had a bit of this the next day and I think it got even better. So you can definitely make this a day or two before your party! 

Mint or orange liquor instead of raspberry, with a new topping? Your life, your choices! You can probably use any kind of chocolate, real milk, whatever, I don't know? Go for it!

xoxo

German Chocolate Brownies.

Short story: I lost a bet at work about work to my friend at work, Chris. Payment to Chris was in the form of a German Chocolate Brownie, and since it's kind of difficult to make a lone brownie, naturally I doubled the recipe.

Shout out to my sister Katy for continuously allowing me to use her very excellent kitchen.

Doubling the recipe meant using four sticks of butter! That's two sticks of butter per 9 x 13 pan! Oh, until you keep reading the recipe, get to the frosting part, and realize it's actually THREE sticks of butter per pan. Woof-slash-yum?

Unsalted butter is for baking, I say.

Butter and sugar, blended, as they should be.

Cocoa! Cocoa makes me nervous. Remember that scene in The Departed after Jack Nicholson goes to the opera with his girlfriend and another other chick and then they go back to his place to do it probably and he throws a bunch of coke around and says, "Don't move until you're numb"? Cocoa always reminds me of that because it flies around all weird, much like thrown coke (or at least how thrown coke looks in the movies; I don't know how thrown coke looks in real life thanks to Francine Pascal).

Really thick batter!

Two more sticks of butter and six egg yolks. Do they sell egg yolks at the store the same way they sell egg whites? I kind of want to know but not enough to Google it.

Now it's time for the frosting.

Also, our eggs are religious.

German Chocolate Brownies: Undecorated (I may throw a whole pecan on each square before I cut them; we'll see).

German Chocolate Brownies

This recipe is for one 9x13 pan (supposedly 12 servings...12 HUGE servings).

Brownies
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs and blend well. Add vanilla, salt, cocoa, and flour, and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes and cool. Turn off oven.

Toppings
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup caramel bits/caramel sauce

Melt chocolate chips (in microwave for 1 minute) and drizzle over brownies.

Melt caramel bits (in microwave for 1 minute) and drizzle over chocolate.

Frosting
3 egg yolks
1 cup white sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 cup pecans, chopped

Combine egg yolks, sugar, milk, butter, and vanilla in a large saucepan. Cook and stir constantly over medium heat until thickened (about 12 minutes). (Seriously, STIR CONSTANTLY.) Add coconut and pecans, and beat until thick enough to spread then pour over top of brownies. (You can stick them in the fridge, too, to help the icing harden.)

Enjoy! (I hope. I totally wrote this blog before even trying them myself.)

Peanut Butter Cake with Honey Butter Cream Frosting

My roommate Jon eats peanut butter & honey sandwiches All. The. Time. So in honor of his birthday it was time for a GirlMixALot experiment.

Peanut Butter Cake with Honey Butter Cream Frosting


Peanut Butter Cake II from AllRecipes.com

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 4 eggs
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package butter cake mix
• 2/3 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.
2. Combine 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1/2 cup butter or margarine. Cream until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each one. Add cake mix alternately with the water. Stir until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 minutes or until cake tests done. Allow cakes to cool in pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

I used yellow cake mix & it still turned out great!

Honey Butter Cream Frosting
I tried to find a recipe for honey frosting and kept ending up with meringues which never last. So, this is a standard butter cream recipe with a bunch of honey added!

• 1 cup (2 sticks) Butter
• 4-5 cups Powdered Sugar
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 3 Tablespoons Honey

1. Cream the butter, add the sugar and milk and beat until the right consistency and sound- you know what I'm talking about Mixer Girls!
2. Add the honey one tablespoon at a time. 3 was very sweet but everyone liked it... so sweeten to taste. The sweetness of 3 TBs was a good balance against the peanut butter cake, it you use it for something else it might be too much.
   

Frost the layers & decorate!

S'more Brownies.

I love Rachael Ray. People dis her because she's got a chatty personality, some ridiculous TV deals, and she doesn't have kids. The gall of not procreating! Crazy lady.

I love her because her shows are entertaining and informative, and she is a big promoter of the time saving semi-homemade method of cooking without needing brag about it in the title of her show (like some people). Also I think she's cute and the whole not having kids thing is a turn-on for me.

S'more Brownies.



1 box of brownie mix (for 9x13 pans -- important!)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup crushed graham crackers (about half of one sleeve, i.e. 4 large cracker sheets)
6 large marshmallows, chopped**
12 large marshmallows, whole

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9x13 pan.

Mix up the boxed brownie mix as you do except sub milk for the water. Crush the graham crackers by hand, as you want medium-sized pieces. Snip the 6 large marshmallows into smaller bits. Stir in the chocolate chips, graham crackers, and marshmallow bits into the prepared brownie batter. Spread the batter into the greased pan evenly. Place 12 large marshmallows strategically atop the batter.

Bake uncovered for 25ish minutes, until a toothpick comes out pretty clean or, as Rachael says, "moist crumbs" stick to the toothpick. Turn off oven. Cool completely and cut and yum!

Don't forget to break your eggs separately and take artsy reflective photographs of them as you do.

Just like making brownies in your youth, except now with your fancy grown up KitchenAid mixer.

I'm not a player. I just crush a lot.

This ain't Amsterdam, Vince. This is a seller's market.

Ben & Jerry are so jealous right now.

Anecdotes.

Spray the brownie pan. I don't care how hot of stuff you think you are. You could be who Donna Summer was looking for that evening - I DO NOT CARE. Spray that pan.

I use skim milk because that's what I keep in my house and rarely does the use of it destroy a recipe (unless you're making, you know, anything with "buttermilk" in the name), so just go ahead and do that. I'm a stickler about other baking rules -- "eggs" mean "Grade A large eggs" (as opposed to medium or extra large), "butter" means "unsalted butter," and other nuggets. Ideally I'd bake with whole milk but I'm not made of money to shell out for additional milk (my cheapness is further evidenced by the prominent use of Target brand products when available).

OMG though! Yes, I'm a cheapskate and like to consolidate purchases and whatnot but for the love of Jesus, buy smaller marshmallows instead of cutting up large ones. Even if you use your favorite and best kitchen scissors, you are going to get so mad! They stick to the scissors, they stick to your hands, they stick to the bowl you're cutting them into -- veto! Buy the little ones and just use the big ones for the topping.

Oh and whenever "chocolate chips" are not further categorized, I use milk chocolate chips. I am just itching to be diabetic before I turn 30.

I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?

Chocolate Cupcakes With Peanut Butter Frosting

I have been wanting to make Chocolate Cupcakes With. Peanut. Butter! Frosting!! for awhile, so when I heard my friend was having a b-day party and she was into that combination I jumped at the occasion. Then I realized two additional friends had birthdays that week, so it was time to get busy.

I'm not so secretly in love with Martha Stewart, so I made her One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes. I made the version from her Baking Handbook- it's a little bit different and calls for a slightly larger quantity of ingredients which worked with my plan of having enough cupcakes for all of my friends.

After filling the cupcake liners to what I believed was 2/3 full, I was horrified when I checked the oven. The cupcakes had risen over the edges and combined to form a cake mass over the entire pan! When it was finally time to take them out, I had to cut each cupcake out of it's blanket. So... that batch ended up at the karaoke bar where people couldn't see the edges of their cupcake. A few batches later and I had the proper amount of batter figured out.

Time for Peanut Butter Frosting. I used a recipe I found online, and I would totes make it again.

Peanut Butter Frosting

• 2 cups confectioner’s sugar


• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature


• pinch salt


• 1/2 creamy peanut butter


• 2 Tbs milk

Beat together sugar, butter and salt until creamy. Add peanut butter, beating well. Add milk and beat until smooth and creamy. Gradually add confectioners/powered sugar. I used crunchy peanut butter and it was still good.

I had to make 2 batches- this probably is also because I stuffed these cupcakes. WHAT? It's true.

Stuff Your Cupcake

Defy physics and get frosting into a decorating bag. Get yourself some tips- I picked up this cute kit from Joann's. Because I had used chunky peanut butter, I had to use the widest tip in the kit. Then, simply push the tip into the cupcake, a quick squeeze, then spiral to frost the cupcake.

I think "Simply" is one of the funniest words that can be in a recipe so I added it in there. The first few cupcakes looked a little weird- good thing they were headed for that dimly lit Karaoke bar.

Fun!!!

Derby Pie.

The day of the Kentucky Derby has always been eventful for my family and me, and fortunately this excitement continued to be shared with my friends in Chicago -- Curt in particular. He and I are spending this Kentucky Derby with his family in New Jersey and as such are using his parents' fantastic granite to make our own Derby Pie.

Neither of us can knock store-bought-and-ready crust. Sometimes you just need a pie in your belly and the convenience of Pillsbury (or Jewel brand if you revel in a deal like I do) is undeniable, but homemade is homemade, friends. It's just better.

This morning while I slept, Curt prepared the crust for our Derby Pie. He also did all the grocery shopping but I swear I'm involved in more than just the documentation process.


Rollin' with my homies.



Dog butt optional.



The first five ingredients kind of look like an apparition of Marge Simpson's love child with Krusty the Clown...right?



Chipping the light fantastic.



The secret's in the sauce.



More proof that this pie crust is homemade!



Fortunately there was no pork contained in the pie so not hitting the recommended temperature wouldn't kill us/cause swine flu/whatever it does.


Derby Pie.

1 cup light corn syrup
3 extra-large eggs
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) pecans
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. Kentucky bourbon
1 unbaked 9-inch, deep dish pie crust

In large mixing bowl, combine first five ingredients and stir. Add in pecans and stir. Add in chocolate chips and stir. Finally, add in bourbon, stir, and pour mixture into prepared pie crust. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 55 to 60 minutes. Turn off oven. Cool for 2 hours.


Mine That Bird!


Useless Tip: We read somewhere that the pie should be 200 degrees F in the center when it's finished. We could only get it to 170F before being afraid of burning the crust, so we went with the "spring back" testing method.

Useful Tips: Tap the top of the pie when you think it's done -- it will "spring back" if done.

I like to use a microwave-safe measuring cup and melt the butter right in that and use that measuring cup as often as possible. (i.e. For this recipe, I used a 1/2-cup measuring cup since the pecans require a 1/2-cup and all the other cup measurements are a factor of 1/2. Math = Fun!)

Also, I break each egg individually into a smaller bowl (or the 1/2-cup measuring cup! Reduce, reuse, recycle!) before adding it to the larger mixing bowl. One time I got a fertilized egg that was no good to use and blew it entirely by cracking it over cake mix so nothing was salvageable. Lame, but live and learn and la la la.

Banana Bread

If you're like me, you often buy fruits and vegetables with the full intention of eating them. Then it's Thursday and I'm making microwave s'mores for a snack instead of eating one of the five bananas in my fridge. So I ended up with a few very ripe bananas and suddenly the thought of some Banana Bread was very apeeling.

I distinctly remember that when I was a kid, my mom got me to eat ripe bananas by telling me the dark parts just had more sugar. Excellent tactic but probably a lie. With this super sassy recipe, you can eat your ripe bananas in bread form and stop the lies.

Banana Bread
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed banana (2 bananas)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt

3/4 cup walnuts (optional)

Sugar & Cinnamon mix for topping (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).


2. Cream margarine and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, then bananas. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, stirring just until combined. Fold in nuts if adding nuts.


3. Pour into a loaf pan. If you want to get super sassy, sprinkle a mixture of sugar and cinnamon on top. This will give you a nice crunchy and sweet top crust.


4. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 50-60 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean).