Paint it Pumpkin (VeganMoFo)

Happy Halloween!  I hope everyone has had a weekend full of costuming, scary movie movie watching and festive treats…or whatever it is that makes you smile (or scream!) during this special time of year.  Tonight I plan to dress up in my homemade wind-up doll costume and hand out candies to lil treat-or-treaters.  I spent Friday night out on the town in my nifty costume with friends and on Saturday my man and I enjoyed a scary movie double feature.  During intermission we wanted a festive treat so we decided to make pumpkin cookies.  We veganized this recipe from All Recipes and omitted the frosting.  They were scrumptious (and quite easy)!  These went perfectly with the strong coffee we brewed to keep us up for our second thriller.  

Boyfriend and I have a little tradition of making waffles on weekend mornings that we spend together at his house. He has a fancy waffle maker and all.  This weekend we jazzed our waffles up a bit by adding the remainder of the canned pumpkin we used in the cookies (about ½ a cup).  They made for a great weekend breakfast.  

 

We use Bisquick for our waffles and just follow the recipe on the side of the box, subbing soymilk and egg replacer for the non-vegan ingredients.  

Today also marks the last day of VeganMoFo!  I’m a bit sad, however I am so, so happy that I made it through and kept up posting on an almost daily basis.  I’ve learned a lot and added quite a few new blogs to my reader as well.  It’s been a scream!

Food and Film: Chocolate Mouse a la "Rosemary's Baby" (VeganMoFo)

“Madame and monsieur shall have the dessert after all!  Mousse au chocolat! Or as Minnie calls it, chocolate mouse.” - Guy Woodhouse

Halloween is upon us!  This Food & Film post is about one of my absolute favorite movies that also just so happens to be a great one for Halloween:  Rosemary’s Baby.  Mia Farrow plays the adorable Rosemary Woodhouse.  Rosemary dreams of the perfectly restored NYC apartment and three beautiful children with her dreamboat actor husband, Guy.  Problem is, greedy Guy is much more concerned with professional success than Rosemary’s dreams.  Enter nosy, geriatric neighbors, Minnie and Roman Castevet who want to do everything they can to get Guy his big acting break.  All they want in return is to impregnate Rosemary with the devil’s child and take the baby after it’s born!  Seems to be a great deal for everyone, except poor, naïve Rosemary…and anyone else who stands in the way.

Minnie Castevet may be a thorn in Rosemary’s side, but I just love her character.  She is blunt, overly made up and completely unapologetic.  When Guy (seemingly) comes around and decides that he is ready to have a baby, he and Rosemary plan a romantic night in with a fire, fancy dinner and wine.  The only thing missing is dessert.  Enter Minnie!  Minnie prepares and delivers to Guy a chocolate mousse which she calls “Chocolate Mouse”.  It’s spiked with a lil something extra to ensure that our heroine, Rosemary, is knocked unconscious.  How neighborly. 

“As long as she ate the mouse she can’t see nor hear, now sing!”

Seeing as how basically all Rosemary eats after she gets pregnant is raw meat, I thought it would be more fun to feature a chocolate pudding in the style of Minnie Castevete.  Only this chocolate goodness won’t have any kind of “chalky under-taste”. 

There are so, so many vegan chocolate pudding and/or chocolate mousse recipes out there but the following recipe is the only one I have made or ever plan to make.  It’s just perfect!  It comes from Jo Stepaniak’s amazing cookbook Vegan Vittles (one of my faves).  It’s ridiculously easy and tastes just like the traditional chocolate pudding I enjoyed as a kid, only richer, more decadent and free of animal junk.    

The only minor change I make to this recipe is that I add a splash of non-dairy milk to the ingredients before I blend them.  I find this helps bring the consistency together and gives it a nice, glossy finish.  I use only the 1/3 cup of sugar.  I find it doesn’t need more. 

Recipe from Vegan Vittles: Second Helpings (Summertown, TN: Book Publishing Company, 2007) © Jo Stepaniak. Reprinted by permission of the author.

The World’s Best (and Easiest) Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients:

1 package (about 12 ounces) firm silken tofu, crumbled

1/3 – 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Tiny pinch of salt (optional)

Equipment:

Food processor or blender

Procedure:

1.  Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender, and process until very smooth, creamy and thick.  Start with the smaller amount of sugar and add more to taste. 

2.  Chill thoroughly before serving.

3.  Build a fire, toast your honey and enjoy this “Chocolate Mouse” while watching Rosemary’s Baby.  You can take comfort in the fact that despite their faults, your significant other probably wouldn't exchange your first born for an acting career…I hope. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread (VeganMoFo)

My go-to recipe for banana bread is the version found in La Dolce Vegan but when I’m in the mood for something a bit more decadent, I make my Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread.  This is a recipe that I adapted from a non-vegan version I found long ago in Vegetarian Times magazine.  It’s rich and delicious and just plain wonderful, although there’s really nothing plain about it.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup natural sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ripe bananas

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Cooking spray (or vegan butter)

Equipment:

Medium - large mixing bowl

Small - medium mixing bowl

Oven preheated to 350 degrees

Loaf pan

Procedure:

1.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in your mixing bowl. 

2.  In the smaller bowl, mash the two bananas and combine with peanut butter, canola oil and applesauce. 

3.  Pour the banana mixture into your dry ingredients and mix well.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

4.  Spray a standard loaf pan with non stick cooking spray or rub with vegan butter.

5.  Pour batter into loaf pan and distribute evenly. 

6.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester can be inserted in the middle of the loaf and come out clean.  Allow to cool before slicing.

7.  Enjoy with coffee or hot tea.

Homemade Pop-Tarts (VeganMoFo)

Recipe adapted from Food Coma.

Once I saw the delectable homemade pop tarts that Emma over at Food Coma made I began to salivate.  When I read about how easy they were to make, using store bought puff pastry, I had to try my hand at them.  These were sinfully delicious and made a perfect partner to my morning coffee and reading. 

I decided to make a strawberry version using my latest batch of strawberries from the farmers’ market.  I simply chopped up a pint and added a spoonful of sugar to them.

Cut each of the two sheets of puff pastry that come in a package (found in the freezer aisle of the grocery store) into 6 equal squares, for a total of 12 squares.  On them, place your fruit filling, making sure not to go all the way to the edges.  

Feeling a bit wild, I added a few semi-sweet chocolate chips to the filling for the second sheet of puff pastry.

Place a puff pastry square on top of the square with the filling and press around the edges with a fork to seal them.  Place squares on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a 375 degree oven for 16-18 minutes.   I rotated the baking sheet once during the cooking time, but you may not need to do this if your oven bakes evenly (jealous!).

 

While your tarts bake, make your glaze.  Taking cue from Emma again, I mixed powdered sugar with a splash of soy milk and a bit of Earth Balance.  I kept stirring in powdered sugar until I got the consistency I wanted.  

Remove tarts from the oven and allow to cool slightly.  Drizzle glaze on top and chow down as you sip your favorite morning beverage and catch up on some reading.