Scraps and Snippets ~ Amazing Snicker's Pie ~ Vegan MoFo #3

As promised. In spite of a computer malfunction. Sigh. Really? Yes.

One head's up warning. There is a weird ingredient that will make you think, "No WAY! I am not making this pie." Five unsuspecting guinea pig friends said that this is the best pie they've ever eaten, four of them solidly omnivore and peanut butter chocolate fans. The creaminess in unbelievable, you will never, never, never guess the strange thing is in here. Okay. Disclaimer over.

Amazing Snicker's Pie

Crust:

2 Cups salted peanuts
1 1/2 Cups dates (10-12 ounces)
2 TBSP cocoa powder.

Whir this in food processor until everything sticks together and can be shaped into a ball. If it's too powdery add two more dates, too gooey add a few more peanuts or a bit more cocoa powder.

Press this into two tart pans, a 9x13, or a dozen ramekins or approximately 18 silicone cupcake liners. Press into just the bottoms or up the sides. Either way you may end up with leftover crust. If you do, roll it into balls and stick them in your fridge for a treat later. (Tastes a whole lot like the peanut butter coating on a Twin Bing...if you've ever loved those, you'll be wanting to make and eat just the crust).

Filling NOTE: (two parts to this -- you will use half right out of the processor and save half to mix with ganache so don't dump it all in the shells or you'll get cranky and frustrated.)

1 can white beans drained, rinsed and drained (1 2/3 Cup of DIY cooked white beans)
1/2 Cup non-dairy milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 TBSP arrowroot
1 Cup sugar (I used sugar, agave or maple syrup would work I think, but hold off on the milk until the rest is mixed in, I'm guessing you'll only need to add 1/4 to 1/3 cup)
1 Cup peanut butter

Whir this in the same food processor you already used for the crust, you don't need to wash it. When the consistency of firm pudding use 1/2 of the batter to put over your crust (crusts). Leave the remaining half of the filling in your processor. You'll be adding ganache to it.

Ganache:
2 Cup chocolate chips
1 Cup non-dairy milk

In sauce pan or over double boiler heat milk and add chocolate. Stir til chocolate melts.

Take 1/4 Cup of chocolate ganache, add it to the peanut butter mixture in the food processor. Whir. In the meantime take the remaining ganache and pour over the peanut butter layer in your pie/dessert. You could refrigerate at this point and let the ganache firm a bit. But I did not.

After you whir the peanut butter/ganache mixture you are going to plop or pipe (Ziploc bag with a whole in corner) the chocolate peanut butter mixture over the ganache. You can spread it if you want. But you don't have to. I piped in a big spiral for the tart and plopped in the ramekins.

Peanut Butter Caramel

1/4 Cup peanut butter
1/4 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup non-dairy milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 Cup chopped peanuts

Heat peanut butter, sugar and non-dairy milk in saucepan. Stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and boil 1 minute, still stirring. About at the minute mark the texture will change and it will begin to look and feel like caramel sauce. You want this. Add salt and peanuts and stir well. Pour or dollop this on the peanut butter chocolate layer of your dessert.

Chill at least an hour, three would be even better. The longer you chill the firmer and more fudgelike it gets. So delicious.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Decadent Dessert Re-Vegged...Vegan MoFo Day 2

As I mentioned yesterday, the first day of Vegan Mofo, my project is decadent Vegan desserts.

A little more background on why I'm diving in to recreate the tastes, mouthfeel and bliss I found in a good dessert...

As much as I love a good plate of veggies, veggies were not always a love of mine. Adopting Vegan meat substitutes like seitan and tofu were a bit of a challenge to my palette but have grown on me. And on that note, I was never a meat lover to begin with, so the loss of animal products in the form of meat was really no loss at all.
 
But desserts, oh there are very few desserts I didn’t like. Chocolate? Fruit? Simple? Decadent? Pretty much THE food group I’d gravitate toward. Now, I have to admit that BV (before Vegan) I did not like coconut. Love it now, proof that your taste buds can conform to your chosen diet eventually, and mine are fully on board. I’m also not a fan of pumpkin pie or pie crust in general. However, coconut oil pie crust is a different story and pumpkin and I are exploring a relationship. But I digress as I tend to do, so often.

Back in the day, before understanding the connection to what I put in my body and my body's response, and the cost to the environment and critters, if it was sweet and creamy and chocolatey I was in. The desserts that didn’t fall in that category were, more likely than not, in as well. I WAS the girl who belonged to the DQ Blizzard club so I could get a BOGO Blizzard six times a year.

My Vegan journey has involved lots of relearning and attempting to create the flavors, mouthfeel and satisfaction in the foods I loved pre-Veg. And it's been an interesting journey with many fails and many experts kind enough to share their own journey's on the WWW and through cookbooks. Some of my favorite teachers have been PPK, CCK, Peas and Thank You and Forks and Beans.

But there are food re-creations that intimidate me. Some standard restaurant desserts seem impossible to tweak to Vegan, and to go toward healthier Vegan seems like super human skills would be necessary. Village Inn/Baker’s Square pies were a treat we indulged in, as were those tricky Applebee’s shooters especially on ½ price appetizer Wednesdays. Once, on a visit to Cheeseburger’s in Paradise I shared a plate of dessert nachos with friends. And the white chocolate raspberry mousse at a local French restaurant was to die for. Yeah. Dessert is a passion. And those truly decadent, really bad for everyone desserts especially. Sigh.

This public attempt at re-creating, re-thinking, re-vitalizing inspiring desserts made out of all those rotten, GMO or animal product based ingredients is truly a challenge. I have failed a few times, but I am determined to nail a high percentage of these bad boy's on my list.

Of note I.E a disclaimer: When I use the words chocolate chips or sugar etc. It is always implied that these are VEGAN versions but for my sanity and to pacify my inner lazy girl, I'm not typing a brand or the word vegan. Check your ingredients and know which items are a good fit. My flour is whole wheat pastry flour unless otherwise specified. I lean toward organic to avoid GMO ingredients, and fair trade when I can.

The following list is the dessert menu for the month. Won’t you join me for a slice of pie, a gooey treat, or a melt-in-your-mouth dessert?


Carrot Cake (Oh yes, she's delicious little dahling and will be posting very soon.)


Make You Cry Fudgy Truffle Pie (Percolating in my brain, soon to be created)
 
 Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake (Ditto the above)
 
Strawberry Cheesecake Dyno-Mites (Another ditto)

Tiramisu (Round one was an UTTER FAIL. So sad - edible, but NOT what I wanted...back to the drawing board)

Caramel Pecan Fudge Truffle Pie (Percolating in my mind)

Key Lime Dyno-Mites (Ditto)

Black Forest Cherry Supreme Pie (Ditto)

Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake Crepes (Ditto) (Is it just me or are these DITTOS kind of scary???? YIKES! )

Peppermint Pie (Oooh Baby. Come to Mama. Oh. Oh. Oh. So Good Coming to a Blog Near You Very Soon)

Tropical Supreme Pie (FAIL, but with every fail comes an opportunity to grow and learn)

Oreo Pie (Oh (Weeping) so good. Made it three times on request. You'll be able to make it soon, too.)

Cream Cake (Percolating and clueless as to what I'm going for....hmmmm)

Peanut Butter Pie (Turned into Amazing Snicker's Pie...and it's Amazing. And it's coming tomorrow. Cara. Sit down. It hurts so good and it's gluten free, too.)

Triple Chocolate Strata (Well, percolating, of course)

Strawberry Pie (Fresh Strawberry Fudge Pie. Yup.)

Dessert Nachos (Oh so good, every dip, every, chip, every bite. 4 picky omnivores inhaled it.)

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake (Another percolating idea. I have the French restaurant vision of loveliness in my mind's eye and I've got to recreate this one, can I do it? Without butter and cream? I have an idea and I'm going to go for it.)

Chocolate Mousse Dyno-Mites (another percolator - hey I've got a month, right?) 

Pear Tart was the plan, the result was Maple Caramel Pear Tart with Almond Biscotti Crumble...also known as MORE!

Scraps and Snippets ~ Vegan Month of Food ~ Decadent Desserts

 I kicked around a few ideas for the Vegan Month of Food. I considered recipe redo's from the standard classic cookbooks. But, nah, that left me feeling unchallenged. 

Exotic (to me anyway) ingredients was another idea. I've got Miso and Lucuma powder in my pantry and frankly they scare me a bit. What if I ordered some Maca and Irish Moss, too? But the fail factor of this adventure made me a little weak in the knees.

But then I went to Village Inn one night. I ordered the Fresh Strawberry Pie in an attempt to avoid animal products. And it really kind of tasted like chemicals and pretty much nasty. Someone with me had ordered one of my all time favorites, The European Truffle pie, and I took a tiny forkful, just to see if it was still all that and more. And you know what? I knew I could recreate it and make it better. So that's what I've been doing the past few weeks. I've been experimenting and creating some serious fails. But I've also managed to find some desserts that have made omnivores beg for more, too.

 
My Maple Caramel Pear Tart with Almond Biscotti Crumble was renamed "MORE" by an omnivore friend who said that's what she wanted " MORE!" And this friend travels the world and eats in the finest of restaurants. Nuff said.

So. You will see all the recipes of the desserts pictured here and some more as I work out the kinks. A total of twenty desserts. Some easy, some labors of love. Tomorrow I'll post the initial list of desserts I've picked out to recreate or make better because dang it, Vegan can be better.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ High-Pointedly Caffeinated

What were some highlights of the Seattle/Portland trip? 

I'm so glad you asked. Allow me to blather. 

First and foremost, the Queen Mother signature of the trip, coffee.

Now, I'm not talking brown water Folger's in your cup. I'm talking serious coffee. From the espresso to the clover; from the exotic blend that tasted just like blueberries to the whole luxury of enjoying conversation over a steaming, aromatic brew. Oh yeah. 

Probably the best experience, coffee-wise was the Coffee Crawl. (highly recommended - our tour guide, Emily, knows her coffee and her city.) Our tour was two and one half hours of coffee focused bliss. Not only that, Emily extended our great time by providing information that turned our great experience into another one. A mere two and one half mile walk (one way, up hill) took us to Capital Hill where we were able to get involved in an actual coffee cupping. I have always wanted to do one of these, ever since I found out there was such a thing. A coffee cupping is a little like a wine tasting (or so they say, but I've never done a wine tasting event). There are ground beans of several different coffees placed in individual bowls. The first step is to sniff the freshly ground beans. Then perfectly hot water is poured over the coffee to allow the coffee to begin brewing. This is sniffed as well. The crust is broken and it is sniffed again. Finally, the crust is removed and a spoon goes into the hot liquid and the coffees are slurped. Slurping fills your palate so you can fully experience the liquid you are tasting. 

You are looking for flavors (do you pick up hints of other things like fruit, is it citrus, stone fruit, berry?) mouth feel, does the coffee have body vs a watery "feel", the acidity level...and a few more things I have forgotten. It's very scientific. The third time through I finally tasted lemon in one of the coffees. 

Because of the caffeine content in tasting five different coffees several times there is also a spit cup provided. Can I just say I didn't spit? Okay, once, but good coffee is a terrible thing to waste. As suspected, Kenyan coffee topped the list. Give me Kenya and I'm a happy woman. This particular batch was full of fruity, rich flavor. 

In case you are in Seattle and want to find this fabulous, free, and informative opportunity here's the link to Stumptown Roasters. (While we waited for the tasting, we watched roasters roast three batches of beans. Uhh, cool, and amazing. They shared a ton of details with us and were chatty about the world of coffee.)

We also visited a Stumptown in Portland. Consistently good coffee. 

Other amazing cups of coffee.

The tasting room of Batdorf & Bronson in Olympia Washington
Trabant in Seattle - Clover coffee. Clean, crisp and delicious
Barista in Portland (Alberta)
Burien Press in Burien Washington
Zoka Pour over amazingness 

Sigh.

Scribbles and Scrambles - Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Touched down on home soil at 9:55 p.m. After a very long day of traveling. Denver had a rain storm that slowed our return and soaked our luggage.

Glad to be home and to see all the critters (and people of course) that we love. However there is a teeny part of me that wonders if I couldn't just become independently wealthy and travel for fun.

I think this was a once in a lifetime trip. I'm posting the self portraits that are &'s trademark shots. More about the trip later. I have laundry to do and an internal clock to reset.

Scribbles and Scrambles - Last Day

We will be flying out this morning. It is time.... but I hate to go back on so many different levels.

Yesterday we packed so much into ten hours that my head is still spinning. Coffee crawl ... Excellent great time. The Ferris wheel, a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, a coffee cupping and literally ten miles of walking. two trains, a bus trip and the best vegan pizza ever. Yeah it was a full day.

Scribbles and Scrambles - Flexitrip

This trip has become bigger and different than originally planned. I don't know about you but until I actually touch, taste or at least touch down something/somewhere I am pretty clueless about details. Hence this trip was into the unknown.

I was in Seattle 24 years ago. A very long time... I remember the following details: a most delicious, decadent chocolate dessert at the Pike's Market, my first sighting of a pierced nose...I thought the poor girl had a wicked nasty whitehead. I also remember the fish market and the flowers. Oh and a week of drizzle.

We have had perfect weather. Absolutely perfect. And we've seen and experienced more than we thought we would. Seattle is different than I remembered. Portland was a lot like I expected. Ours plans have all changed several times. Things we thought we wanted to do have become no's due to time, space or $. But other things have slid into place and made for some fun memories. We've even shared air with Esselstyn and Bob of Bob's Mill.

So today is the last full day. We'll see what it holds.