I need a good vegan dessert

[LuckyMommaToo]

Just found out that my friend's husband (arriving tomorrow, they're staying the weekend) is vegan. Argh! Was not in the plan. So I am making him a Moosewood cauliflower potato soup. I am also serving veg (but not vegan) lasagna.

Any ideas for a dessert we all can enjoy? I'm hoping I can put something together without making another trip to the store. Any suggestions?

thanks,

-e

[beanma]

You could make a vegan chocolate cake:

http://www.weaverstreetmarket.coop/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=259&Itemid=1

It's really good and I know lots of non-vegans who love it, too.

You could make any fruit pie/crumble/crisp with Earth Balance instead of butter, too. That would be super easy.

[elizawill]

yes, i agree, a chocolate cake is perfect!  this is my favorite recipe & it's a video tutorial...sooooo easy!

http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-chocolate-cake.asp

hth

[beanma]

Oh, you can also make a vegan lasagna pretty easily. You just dump some tofu, garlic, salt, and italian spices like basil and oregano in the food processor and let that go until it becomes faux riccotta. Add some nutritional yeast if you like. Taste it until you think it's pretty good 'cause the flavor does not really change much while it cooks. I'm not vegan or vegetarian, but we don't eat much meat and my DH is dairy intolerant so I'm pretty good with finding non-dairy substitutes. The tofu concoction is not the same as real cheese, but it give s a cheese-like flavor and consistency that is pretty okay. If you have a small dish you could make him a mini lasagna while you do a dairy version for the rest of you. I usually just top it with sauce, but you can use bread crumbs or the tofu stuff. You could also just do some pasta.

The soup sounds really good, too. Didn't mean to suggest otherwise!

Good luck!

[LuckyMommaToo]

Thank you for your quick responses! I just found out that the cupcake bakery that's a block and a half away has a couple vegan options. I think I'm going to make life easy for myself and get a box of cupcakes.

But I could definitely make that cake and will file it away for future reference. Beanma, my husband is Italian, and while he's okay with meatless lasagna, I think he would revolt at cheeseless! If I had the ingredients, I would whip up a separate one for the guest DH. The cauliflower soup is really delicious, though, AND we get our CSA farm basket delivered tomorrow, so I"ll be able to make kale chips, too, so I think I'm covered.

thanks,

-e

[catnip]

Here's another recipe for your files that doesn't require any weird ingredients.

1/2 cup flour (White is the most authentic tasting. Spelt will work. Whole wheat pastry flour is what I usually use. Regular whole wheat is too strongly flavored and will give you health-food tasting cookies)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp canola or other mild-tasting liquid vegetable oil
2 Tbsp real maple syrup (Agave will work too. I've also used vanilla Torani in a pinch).

1 tsp vanilla extract
Handful of chocolate chips. Or white chocolate chips, if you have vegan ones. Or dip the dough balls in spiced sugar for snickerdoodles, if you prefer.

Preheat oven to 350. You can basically dump everything in and mix it with a fork. Form into small balls, about 1- 1 1/2 inches in diameter, place on a lightly greased or parchment covered cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 8-11 minutes, until lightly browned on the edges. (Or eat the dough raw. I don't care). Let sit about 5 minutes before you try to remove them from the sheet.

Variant: Substitute 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup oatmeal for the 1/2 cup flour, and add 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a handful of raisins, dried cranberries, and/or nuts.

Peanut butter variant: Decrease oil to 1 tbsp and add 2 tbsp peanut butter

Gluten free variant: Omit flour. Use 1/2 cup (gluten free) oats, 1/4 cup almond meal, and 1/4 tsp xanthan gum in place.