Pumpkin Cake w/ Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting

I found this recipe online and am not sure if I can/will recommend it yet….the batter was so thick that I was worried the cake wouldn’t turn out at all.  I feel a little bit better about it now, but we’ll see after the celebration of a friend’s birthday tonight!  I did modify the recipe slightly, using all ground maple sugar instead of any other refined sugars.  However, as you can see, there is quite a bit of frosting, sweetened not only with maple syrup but also with some powdered sugar (organic and fair-trade!).

I do NOT mess around when making candy- or sugar-coated nuts.  These are coated with not only maple syrup but also maple sugar.  It’s like pouring a gallon of the syrup down your throat, only more sophisticated and with extra protein and minerals.  There are candy-coated ground and whole cashews in the middle layer as well.

Raw Carrot Cake

 

The Complete Book of Raw Food

Considering I could barely control myself long enough to stop eating the dates that were part of the ingredients for this cake, I’m very proud that I finished it and took a picture before I dug in…..

The cake part has ground walnuts, coconut, raisins, dates, flax, hempnut butter (I did this variation myself), carrot pulp, and carrot juice, with nutmeg and cinnamon.  Prepare to dirty your juicer and food processor, but it’s worth it.  The frosting is amazing, simply cashews, lemon juice, and agave nectar, but I lowered the agave and added a few dates to the topping mix.  Garnished with walnuts and coconut.

Let me say as well that I do not like coconut.  Coconut milk, sure, but coconut shreds?  Not really.  This cake is phenomenal.

Chocolate Chai Live Parfait

Vegan World Fusion Cuisine

My “raw” dessert isn’t completely raw; I don’t like carob, especially the raw variety, so I used cocoa powder instead. 

Otherwise, the dessert consists of a raw “crust” that I just used as crumbs, simply dates and nuts with spices ground together - so easy, tasty, and sweet.

The creamy layer is ripe bananas, psyllium husk, spices, and the cocoa.

Topped with a mint leaf….

Will let you know how it was after it chills for a while.

Interesting tidbit:  Psyllium husk powder is a common ingredient in over-the-counter laxatives.  You might be able to guess, from what I commonly eat, that I’ve NEVER had to buy a laxative.  :p

Spiced Apple Cupcakes w Caramel Penuche Frosting

 

From VegNews/Isa & Terry

Make cupcakes, not war!  The frosting is unbelieveable.  Not “I can’t believe it’s vegan,” because I believe that vegan items taste better than omnivorous, anyway.  It’s unbelievably fabulous, rich, creamy, and sweet.  Party in your mouth.

Yum.

Tiramisu Cupcakes (Bonus)

 

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

I have made these before and they are my favorite from the VCTOTW book.  However, I was missing something in my prior post:

Wipe that saliva off of your chin, forget about wars, poverty, inequality, and other violence for a minute while peacefully-made cupcakes take over your kitchen….

B’Nanner Bars

 

La Dolce Vegan!

Great for taking on the go when you have errands or for a snack at work.  The wet mix is made from bananas, ground flax, margarine, and sweetener (I used granulated date sugar), while the dry mix has oat flour and pecans.  The recipe called for frosting these, but I prefer to stay lower in fat and calories and just enjoy the healthiness and simplicity of the naked bars!

Shown here topped with cinnamon.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

What genius created the masterpiece of tiramisu, with cream cheese, cocoa, coffee, vanilla, and a touch of cinnamon?!  Ah, never mind, let’s focus on the people who create tiramisu filled with peacefully-obtained and healthful ingredients.  No chickens or cows were harmed in the formation of these delightful treats…and, yes, they taste awesome.  Don’t take my word for it - get this book and start baking.

Cinnamon Rolls - Testing for Joy’s Cookbook

These are so gooey, fluffy, and deliciously cinnamony!  Joy also has a great recipe for pumpkin scones (picture to be taken at a later time!).  It’s really not much work to make your own cinnamon rolls - the time involved is mostly waiting for the dough to rise.

I love to watch the icing melt slowly onto the rolls…

Chai Latte Cupcakes

 

 

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

The latte cupcakes have a nice blend of spices, for a light yet satisfying cupcake.  I had some vanilla buttercream frosting left over from some other cupcakes I had some, so I went ahead and topped them with it.

The liners are sticking a little bit - I’ve concluded that I need to add a little bit of cooking oil spray before adding the batter.