Vegan Tiramisu Pudding Cups

 

I made these vegan tiramisu pudding cups and really liked them! I got some very small servings, though, and I wouldn’t hesitate to double the recipe next time. What I would say is that you definitely need to soak the cashews overnight (not just boil them), so I am writing that below.

For the strong brewed coffee
1 Tbsp instant coffee
1 Tbsp hot water

For the pudding
1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight
1/3 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp strong brewed coffee (from the previous step
1 pinch sea salt

For the ganache
1/3 cup finely chopped vegan dark chocolate (I used 42 g)
1/3 cup canned full-fat coconut milk

Prepare the strong coffee by adding instant coffee and hot water to a mug and stirring until dissolved.

To a high-speed blender, add the soaked and drained cashews and other remaining ingredients for the pudding (coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla, strong brewed coffee, and salt). Blend until creamy and smooth. If needed, add more coconut milk 1 tablespoon at a time to encourage blending (I didn’t need it), but avoid adding too much — you want the pudding to be thick.

Divide the pudding between serving glasses (shallow, wide dessert glasses are best) – you will only be adding about 3 or 4 tablespoons per glass. It’s rich! Set in the refrigerator to chill.

Meanwhile, add the finely chopped dark chocolate to a medium mixing bowl. To a separate glass mixing bowl, add coconut milk and microwave until hot but not boiling (alternatively, heat in a saucepan on the stovetop until very hot). Pour the coconut milk directly over the chopped chocolate. Do not stir. Cover with a lid or a piece of aluminum foil to encourage it to melt. Let the chocolate sit, covered, for 5 minutes to melt.

After 5 minutes, uncover then whisk to combine. The mixture should be entirely melted and smooth. If it’s not, heat in the microwave in 20- to 30-second increments until it is entirely smooth and no chunks remain. (Alternatively, set your glass or ceramic mixing bowl over a double boiler on the stovetop to melt – that is my preferred method).

Remove the pudding glasses from the refrigerator and add a thin layer of ganache on top of each (about 1 tablespoon per glass), spreading with a spoon until smooth.

Transfer to the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes, until the pudding is chilled and the ganache is semi-firm to the touch. To chill faster, you can set in the freezer for 20-25 minutes. Optionally, make it even prettier by adding cocoa powder to a fine mesh strainer and shaking gently over the dishes to add a light dusting.

Enjoy chilled for best texture/flavor! Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days.

Invisible Apple Cake

 

How do I explain this cake… or, really, sing its praises enough? The recipe came into my life from two sources simultaneously: Coup de Pouce (which had a half-dozen apple recipes in the fall of 2024, and the others I tried were not so great) and Smitten Kitchen (which never lets me down). Since the ingredients were ostensibly the same, but the amounts differed slightly and Smitten Kitchen had a proper weight of apples, I went with that one, and I am so glad I did!

The cake batter is very much like crêpe batter, the cake itself is not too sweet, and I cannot oversell it. You’ll want a variety of apples that tend to stay firm, like Granny Smith. Make sure that your pan is big enough – my loaf pan measures 9”x5” at the top and it was very full. If yours is smaller, bake some of the batter in greased muffin tins – as Deb Perelman says, it will not go to waste.

I want to mention also that I gave this recipe to my mother last fall after she went apple picking and was looking for a good recipe to use up some of that bounty. She complained while making it because placing the apple slices can be finicky, and once it was in the oven she was sort of thinking she wouldn’t make it again. But then she and my dad tasted it, and… it’s now a favorite. I don’t have access to apple orchards here in Texas, and it doesn’t feel like fall yet, but I’ll be sure to make it again this week!

2 ¼ to 2 ½ pounds (1 to 1.15kg) apples, such as Granny Smith or Mutsu
juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons (30 grams) unsalted lactose-free butter, melted
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
½ cup lactose-free milk
2 tablespoons (40 grams) apricot preserves or apple jelly, warmed
powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 °F.

Coat the short ends of a loaf pan with butter or nonstick spray. Line the bottom and two long sides of the pan with a piece of parchment paper. Place the loaf pan on a rimmed baking sheet, just in case there’s overflow.

Peel and core your apples, then slice them very thinly (about 1/8-inch or 1/3-cm thick). A mandoline works great for this. Place apples in a large bowl and gently toss with lemon juice.

Melt butter in a medium bowl. Whisk in sugar and salt, then eggs and vanilla, until evenly incorporated. Whisk in flour until smooth, then milk. Pour batter over sliced apples, then stir and turn the apples a few times so that they’re evenly coated. This is much easier to do with your (clean) hands. Push about a dozen full slices to the side of the bowl for the final layer.

Arrange the remaining apple slices slightly overlapped around the prepared loaf pan, pushing the straight edges against the sides for the neatest appearance. (Once again, using your hands is easiest for this.) Use any smaller or broken apples to fill any center gap. By the time you’re down to just batter and a few scraps of apple, just pour it over and then use your hands to push the pieces around until it’s level. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to release any trapped air bubbles. Use the apple slices you pushed aside to decorate the top, fanning them into a flower pattern if you wish.

Bake the cake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out batter free and doesn’t feel like it’s spearing any raw/crunchy apples. Transfer to a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then brush top with warmed apricot preserves and let cool completely in the pan. The cake will be puffed at first and will settle flat as it cools.

Once cooled to room temperature, use a knife to loosen the cake from the short ends of the pan. Use the sling of parchment paper around the longer sides of the cake to help lift it out of the pan. Remove parchment paper and transfer to a serving plate. Cut into slices. Dust with powdered sugar, if using. (This cake keeps fantastically in the fridge for 5 to 6 days. Bring back to room temperature before serving.)

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

 

I found a recipe for banana cupcakes with chocolate frosting and couldn’t resist! These were really good, but I would make the frosting differently next time. I used 200 grams of cocoa, but that was too much – I ended up using 1 tablespoon of lactose-free milk to thin it a bit. I would try 150 grams of cocoa next time. That being said, the Little Prince said that he enjoyed the leftover frosting more than chocolate hummus! I got a total of 17 cupcakes.

For the cupcakes
1 banana
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup water
3 eggs

For the frosting
2 bananas
2 cups cocoa powder, sifted (see note above)
½ cup honey
½ tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Prepare a 12-cup muffins tray by greasing the cups or lining them with paper. (Note that I had 17 cupcakes in total.)

In a large bowl, mash a banana until it reaches a liquid state. Mix in the remaining cake ingredients.

Pour the mix into the prepared muffin tray. Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

To prepare the frosting, mash 2 bananas until they reach a liquid state. Mix in cocoa powder, honey, vanilla, and salt.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, frost them as you wish.

Kugel

 

This is the famous kugel from Smitten Kitchen, where Deb Perelman jokes that her mother married her father to get his family recipe. The Engineer and I really liked it, but our kids did not (to be fair, I think they just don’t like kugel in general, and it was nothing against this kugel in particular).

1 pound wide egg noodles
8 eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
2 pounds full-fat lactose-free cottage cheese, creamed or large curd
1 ½ sticks sticks melted unsalted lactose-free butter or margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla
dash of salt
optional: 2 cups canned cherry pie filling (Comstock is specified)

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Parboil the noodles (five to seven minutes).

In a very large bowl, beat eggs until fluffy. Add the sugar gradually, then the cottage cheese, butter, and vanilla. Stir in the drained noodles.

Pour into a 9×13-inch pan. Bake for 1 ½ hours, or until kugel is set (my oven runs hot, and mine was done after 1 hour; Deb Perelman specifies that her oven runs cold and takes almost 2 hours). If using the cherry pie filling as a topping, pour it over at the one-hour mark, then bake it for an additional 30 minutes.

Tarte aux œufs et à la muscade

 

Voici une tarte aux œufs et à la muscade très simple de Ricardo. J’ai beaucoup aimé ça! Mon seul commentaire serait de recouvrir la croûte de papier d’aluminium ou d’un cercle de silicone, pour qu’elle ne brunisse pas trop, alors je rajoute ça dans les instructions. Bien sûr, la tarte sera un peu gonflée en sortant du four et va s’aplatir par la suite – c’est normal!

Pour la croûte
170 g (1 tasse et 2 c. à soupe) de farine tout usage non blanchie
1 pincée de sel
85 g (6 c. à soupe) de beurre sans lactose, froid et coupé en dés
3 c. à soupe d'eau glacée, environ

Pour la garniture
4 œufs
½ tasse de sucre
1 tasse de lait sans lactose
noix de muscade râpée ou muscade moulue, au goût


Pour la croûte
Au robot culinaire, mélanger la farine et le sel. Ajouter le beurre et mélanger quelques secondes à la fois jusqu’à ce que le beurre ait la grosseur de petits pois. Ajouter l’eau et mélanger de nouveau jusqu’à ce que la pâte commence tout juste à se former. Ajouter de l’eau au besoin. Retirer la pâte du robot et former un disque avec les mains. Envelopper de pellicule plastique et réfrigérer 30 minutes.

Placer une grille au centre et une grille dans le bas du four. Préchauffer le four à 425 °F. Sur un plan de travail fariné, abaisser la pâte à environ 3 mm (1/8 po) d’épaisseur. Foncer un moule à tarte en verre de 23 cm (9 po) de diamètre. Retirer l’excédent de pâte et festonner la bordure.

Pour la garniture
Casser un œuf et séparer le blanc du jaune. Réserver le jaune d’œuf dans un grand bol. Placer le blanc d’œuf dans l’abaisse. À l’aide d’un pinceau, badigeonner du blanc d’œuf toute la surface de la croûte. Jeter l’excédent.

Dans le bol avec le jaune, ajouter les œufs et le sucre. À l’aide d’un fouet, mélanger vigoureusement jusqu’à ce que le mélange blanchisse. Incorporer le lait en remuant. Verser dans l’abaisse. Râper ou saupoudrer la muscade sur le mélange d’œufs. Placer du papier d’aluminium sur la bordure de la croûte, pour éviter qu’elle brunisse trop.

Cuire dans le bas du four 15 minutes. Déplacer la tarte au centre du four et poursuivre la cuisson 12 minutes ou jusqu’à ce que le flan soit très peu tremblotant et que le dessus de la tarte soit légèrement doré. Laisser refroidir sur une grille, soit environ 2 heures. La tarte se conserve 3 jours au réfrigérateur. Laisser tempérer 1 heure avant de servir.

Coconut Turmeric Loaf

I liked this coconut turmeric loaf for breakfast! I used Bob Red Mill’s shredded coconut, which is much finer than standard, and I prefer that in a loaf cake; that being said, anything with shredded coconut goes on my kids’ blacklist (with the notable exception of Nanaimo bars).

For the dry ingredients
1 ½ cups flour (I used 1 cup unbleached all-purpose and ½ cup whole grain white wheat flour)
1 cup coconut flakes (I used ¾ cup, plus 1 Tbsp. for topping)
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
1/3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. turmeric
1/8 to ¼ tsp. black pepper
¼ tsp. cinnamon or nutmeg (optional)

For the wet ingredients
1 cup non-dairy or lactose-free milk, such as almond or lite coconut (I used ½ cup coconut milk + ½ cup lactose-free milk)
½ cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp. sugar, (for sweeter cake)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
juice of 1 lime (2 to 3 Tbsp. lime or lemon juice)

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line a loaf pan with parchment or grease well.

Blend all ingredients under wet so that coconut flakes breaks down a bit. to very small flakes.

In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients really well,

Combine wet and dry and mix to form a batter. Transfer the thick batter to a loaf pan. Sprinkle a tbsp or so coconut on top and Bake for 45 mins or until a toothpick from the center comes out clean.

Cool for 10 mins then remove from loaf and cool completely. I usually cool the loaf, then refrigerate for an hour or so then slice.

Maple Mushroom Cupcakes

 

For Christmas 2024, the Engineer gave me a book called Vegetable Cakes, by Ysanne Spevack – at my request, don’t worry! My mother saw it and it was right up her alley too, so she picked a recipe that we made together: these maple mushroom cupcakes. I’ve simplified the instructions below, and the frosting recipe is mine (the original called for a tofu frosting, but since both my mother and I agree that those frostings are always failures IRL, we improvised). These cupcakes were surprisingly good!

For the cupcakes
2 cups (250 g) whole wheat flour
4 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. ground cardamom
½ tsp. pink or sea salt
400 g (14 oz.) button mushrooms
½ cup (1 stick) lactose-free butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (115 g.) coconut sugar (we used brown sugar)
2 eggs
½ cup almond milk or lactose-free milk
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
½ cup (75 g) black sesame seeds
a cluster of small edible mushrooms, for decorating

For the frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) lactose-free butter, at room temperature
1 ¼ cup (250 g) powdered sugar, sifted
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pinch of pink or sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners (the original recipe says the yield is 9 cupcakes; we made 15).

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt in a medium bowl.

Wipe clean the mushrooms, then chop them roughly but quite finely (we did this in the food processor). Aim for the size of Puy lentils, though it doesn’t matter if this is accurate.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and coconut sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition.

Turn the whisk up to medium and beat while you add half of the almond milk. Add half of the flour mixture, then the rest of the almond milk, the maple syrup, and finally the rest of the flour mixture and the sesame seeds, beating to combine after each addition. Fold in the chopped mushrooms.

Spoon the mixture evenly into the cupcake liners and bake for 23 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, beat together the butter and powdered sugar, then add the rest of the ingredients. Frost the cupcakes as desired, using mushrooms or sesame seeds to decorate if you wish.

No-Bake Gingerbread Mousse Pie

 

I had some cookie butter to use up (after my kids basically decided they didn’t like it anymore – I don’t know what’s wrong with them, but that’s a different topic). When I saw this recipe for no-bake gingerbread mousse pie in Real Simple, I took that as a sign that I had to make it! Honestly, the kids weren’t super fond of it, so that made more for the Engineer and me.

2 ¼ cups packed finely crushed gingersnap cookie crumbs (about 45 cookies, from a 16-oz. box), plus whole and roughly crushed cookies for garnish
9 Tbsp. lactose-free butter, melted
1 ½ tsp. unflavored gelatin (from a ¼-oz. envelope)
3 cups lactose-free cream
¾ cup (85 g) confectioners’ sugar
1 8-oz. package lactose-free cream cheese, softened (it is important for it to be at room temperature)
1 cup creamy cookie butter
1 Tbsp. unsulfured molasses
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

Coat an 8-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Line sides of pan with a ring of parchment paper.

Stir together cookie crumbs and butter in a medium bowl. Press gingersnap mixture into bottom and about 2 inches up sides of prepared pan. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, add 2 tablespoons cold water to a small microwave-safe bowl; sprinkle gelatin evenly over water. Let stand until gelatin is hydrated, about 5 minutes.

Beat heavy cream and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until starting to thicken, about 5 minutes.

Microwave gelatin mixture in 5-second intervals, stirring between each, until gelatin dissolves, 10 to 20 seconds total. Gradually stir 1 ½ teaspoons cream mixture into gelatin mixture.

With mixer on medium speed, gradually add gelatin mixture to cream mixture in a thin, steady stream, beating until combined and medium-stiff peaks form, 45 seconds to 1 minute.

Beat cream cheese in a separate large bowl on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add cookie butter, molasses, pumpkin pie spice, lemon zest, ginger, and cinnamon; beat on medium-low speed until well combined, 15 to 30 seconds.

Fold 3 cups whipped cream and gelatin mixture into cream cheese mixture, 1 cup at a time. Spread evenly over prepared crust. Refrigerate remaining whipped cream and gelatin mixture in an airtight container. Refrigerate pie, covered, until set, at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.

When ready to serve, uncover pie and remove sides of pan. Discard parchment; transfer pie to a plate. Stir reserved whipped cream mixture until smooth and softened to soft-peak consistency; spoon over top of pie. Garnish with whole and roughly crushed cookies.

Tahini Confetti Cake

I’m going through old files, which have become a mess not only because they piled up for too long, but also because I suffered a computer crash last year and some things got irrevocably messed up along the way.

This tahini confetti cake (by Soom) is something that I asked the Engineer to make for my birthday the year before last, and it did not disappoint! I don’t even have a good photo, but it was so good that I wanted to share the recipe. Both the cake and the frosting have some tahini, and the taste comes through in a discrete, yet pleasant, way. Plus, I don’t think I’ve met a rainbow confetti cake I didn’t like!

In this recipe, you’ll want to use the oblong jimmies-type sprinkles, not the small round non-pareil ones, as the latter would bleed more.

For the tahini confetti cake
3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. fine sea salt
1 cup lactose-free butter, room temperature
¼ cup tahini
1 ¾ cups sugar
½ cup avocado or vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs, room temperature
½ cup lactose-free sour cream, at room temperature
1 cup lactose-free buttermilk substitute, at room temperature
¾ cup rainbow sprinkles (see note above)

For the tahini buttercream
1 cup lactose-free butter, at room temperature
¼ cup tahini
5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2-3 Tbsp. lactose-free milk of choice
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
½ cup rainbow sprinkles, to decorate


For the tahini confetti cake
Preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease the bottom of three 9-inch cake rounds and line each with round parchment paper. Set aside.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

Using a hand or stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add oil and mix on low to incorporate.

Mix in eggs one at a time on medium speed. Add vanilla and sour cream.

Begin adding buttermilk and dry ingredients to the batter, alternating between buttermilk and dry ingredients.

Add sprinkles and fold into batter with a spatula.

Pour cake batter evenly between three lined cake tins. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cakes comes out clean.

Remove cake tins from oven and let cakes cool in tins for 30 minutes, before removing and placing on cooling rack to cool completely.

If frosting the cake that day, transfer cakes from cooling rack to the fridge to cool completely before assembling. If baking the day before, allow cakes to cool to room temperature before wrapping in plastic wrap and storing in the refrigerator overnight.

For the tahini buttercream
Cream together butter and tahini until smooth and creamy. Begin to add one cup of powdered sugar at a time, adding the milk and vanilla as it begins to thicken. If the buttercream becomes too thick, add in another tablespoon of milk.

To assemble the cake, place one layer of the cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Add a thin layer of buttercream and repeat with remaining cake layers. Spread buttercream over cake and decorate with sprinkles. Enjoy!

Lemon and Lavender Cake

And here’s one last recipe from The Currabinny Cookbook, by James Kavanagh and William Murray! I had to make a few adaptations based on what I had on hand, and I will write those down below. I omitted the icing as well, but I really loved this cake!

For the cake
1 Tbsp. dried lavender flowers
250 g sugar
175 g. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 pinch sea salt
2 eggs
250 g lactose-free Greek yogurt (I used 195 g yogurt and 55 g lactose-free sour cream)
½ cup canola oil (I used ¼ cup avocado oil and ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil)
1 lemon, finely zested and juiced
dried lavender sprigs, to decorate

For the icing
200 g icing sugar
1 lemon, juiced
1 egg white


For the cake
Preheat oven to 325 °F. Grease a 20cm/8in springform cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Crush the lavender in a pestle and mortar. Put the sugar into a large bowl and mix the lavender through. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and stir to combine.

In another bowl, mix the eggs with the yogurt and oil and pour this into the dry ingredients, stirring well. Add the lemon zest and juice. And stir.

Pour the mixture into the cake pan and bake for about 50 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the pan for a while, then turn out the cake to cool fully on a wire rack.

For the icing
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the lemon juice, whisking until smooth. Add the egg white gradually to loosen the mixture until it is quite runny and pourable. The icing should be extremely sharp and lemony. Spoon this icing over the top of the cake until it covers the top and starts to drip down the sides.

 

Arrange some dried lavender sprigs on top as decoration.

Fresh Blueberry Pie with a Lemon Curd Cream

 

Here’s another recipe from The Currabinny Cookbook, by James Kavanagh and William Murray. The authors say that since blueberries burst and fall apart when cooked, most recipe add a lot of sugar to compensate; but in this recipe, only about a quarter of the blueberries are cooked, and the rest are folded in fresh, so the blueberry flavor remains the star of the show! The lemon curd is just extra, though I liked that it wasn’t overly sweet, either. This was a good dessert! (Note that I again modified the recipe a bit, for North American cooks and lactose-intolerant eaters.)

For the shortcrust pastry
240 g all-purpose flour
1 pinch sea salt
2 tsp. sugar
180 g (¾ cup) cold lactose-free butter
1 egg, separated
1-2 Tbsp. chilled water

For the fresh blueberry filling
600 g blueberries, divided
120 mL water, plus an extra 2 Tbsp.
2 Tbsp. corn starch
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (zest it first and reserve the zest for the lemon curd cream)
1 pinch sea salt

For the lemon curd cream
50 g (3 Tbsp.) butter
100 g sugar
1 pinch sea salt
2 lemons, zested and juiced (I only had 1 big lemon)
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk, beaten
110 g (½ cup) lactose-free cream cheese (or mascarpone)
2 Tbsp. icing sugar


For the shortcrust pastry
Sift the flour for the pastry into a large bowl (I always do this in the food processor) and add the salt and sugar. Cut the cold butter into cubes and rub into the flour with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk (reserving the white) and just enough of the water to bring the mixture together into a ball. (The authors like it as short as possible, so don’t worry if it’s a little crumbly and hard to handle.) Shape into a thick disc, cover in plastic wrap, and put in the fridge for 30 to 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 °F and set the oven rack to a low position.

Roll out your chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface into a 5mm-thick round. Flip this on to a 25cm (9 or 10 inch) tart tin with a removable bottom, patching any pieces that have crumbled or torn. You want to make the walls of the pastry come slightly over the side of the tart tin.

Line the pastry crust with baking parchment, fill with baking beads, and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, lift out the paper and beads, prick the base with a fork and return to the oven for 10 minutes, until golden. Let the pie crust cool in its tin for 3 minutes on a rack, then brush with the reserved egg white. Remove the pie crust from the tin and place on a plate.

For the fresh blueberry filling
Put 150 g of the blueberries in a saucepan with 120 mL of water, cover, and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the corn starch and 2 tablespoons of water.

When the blueberries and water have come to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, stirring constantly until the blueberries start to burst and the juices begin to thicken. Add the corn starch mixture, sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Simmer for 1 minute until the mixture becomes translucent. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining blueberries.

Spoon the mixture into the pie crust and allow to sit for 2 hours.

For the lemon curd cream
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over very low heat. Add the sugar, salt, lemon zest and juice, then add the beaten eggs. Stir carefully with s straight-ended wooden spatula until the mixture coats the back of it. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Put the cream cheese into a bowl, add the lemon curd, soft over the icing sugar, and gently mix together. You can spoon the mixture on top of the pie or serve it on the side.

Chocolate Lava Cakes

One more recipe from Nutritious and Delicious, by Maria Emmerich, so that I can wrap up that chapter in my kitchen! I really enjoyed these cakes.

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, divided
¼ cup vanilla almond milk
1 stick lactose-free butter
2 eggs
2 eggs yolks
1/3 cup erythritol
½ tsp. stevia glycerite
½ tsp. vanilla
¼ cup peanut flour

To make the centers, melt 2 ounces of chocolate and the vanilla almond milk in a double boiler. Whisk gently to blend. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until firm. Form into 6 balls; refrigerate until needed.

To make the cakes, preheat the oven to 400 °F. Spray six 4-ounce ramekins with cooking spray. Melt 4 ounces of chocolate and butter in a double boiler; whisk gently to blend. With an electric mixer, whisk eggs, yolks, sweeteners, and vanilla on high speed about 5 minutes or until thick and light. Fold melted chocolate mixture and peanut flour into egg mixture until just combined. Spoon cake batter into ramekins. Place a chocolate ball in the middle of each ramekin. Bake about 15 minutes or until cake is firm to the touch. Let sit out of the oven for about 5 minutes. Run a small, sharp knife around inside of each ramekin, place a plate on top, invert, and remove ramekin.

Peanut Butter Donuts with Chocolate Icing

 

This recipe is from Maria Emmerich’s book Nutritious and Delicious, and a similar version is available here. My beef with this recipe is mainly that some donuts stuck to the pan (as a matter of fact, the chocolate cake donuts from the same book never even came out of the pan!), and the icing was maybe a bit too stiff. I ended up rewriting the recipe because the one in the book had been developed for cupcakes and was poorly edited, but anyway, I got 18 donuts from this. I baked them for 12 minutes instead of the 20 to 25 minutes called for.

For the donuts
2 cups peanut flour (for me, this was 240 g)
½ cup powdered natural sweetener (erythritol, or equivalent) + ½ tsp. stevia glycerite
3 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sea salt (I used ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt)
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1 ¼ cups unsweetened almond milk (I used lactose-free milk)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs

For the icing
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2 Tbsp. lactose-free milk (maybe 3 Tbsp. would have been better)

For the donuts
Preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease donut pans.

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix at low speed for 30 seconds while scraping bowl. Mix at high speed for 3 minutes, scraping bowl every minute.

Spoon batter into greased donut pans until they are 2/3 full (do not bother using a piping bag!). Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans, then move to wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing
Melt together the chocolate with 2 tablespoons of the milk until even consistency. Dip the donut tops in the icing, then let dry. (Alternatively, you could spread the icing over the donuts if it is solid enough.)