GTKY (plus sharing all the yum): Desserts and other sweets

[wittyandwaiting]

This is pretty much one of my favorite topics, I love desserts. Also I have a lot of events coming up where I've been asked to make desserts.

So, what's your favorite dessert and if it's something that you make, are you willing to share the recipe?

[kona]

My fav dessert is vanilla cheesecake. There is a local company that makes them. I got lucky and they even sell them crust less so I can still eat them now that I have to eat gluten free.

sorry no recipes to share, I'm not much of a chef.

[JustJudy]

I am not good at baking and I'm also gluten free so my favorite deserts are things like ice cream and gluten free cupcakes from a great local shop. Around the holidays though I am so very thankful for premade GF crust so I can make pumpkin pies.

[healz413]

I'm a sucker for ice cream anywhere and everywhere.
I love strawberry shortcake on biscuits (rather than angel food cake or shortcake). This is what we had for dessert at our love party.
Pie, especially strawberry rhubarb and banana cream pie, are up there.
I have a really delicious and really easy chocolate cake that I make. It's actually vegan but I never tell people that until after they've eaten it because otherwise they expect it to be not great. But it simply designed to be a simple cake that you don't need anything other than pantry ingredients on hand for (no butter, no eggs) so it is also vegan. I have the recipe on a card and can type it up if anyone is interested.

[wittyandwaiting]

I'd love it healz413.

[2brides]

L makes an awesome carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. (this is the recipe.

I also love her lemon squares and chocolate fudge cookies (both her grandmother's recipes.)

Her buttercream frosting is incredible.

I hate baking (too exact) - I do better with dinner.

[healz413]

Jul 13, 2015 8:07:22 GMT -5 wittyandwaiting said:

I'd love it healz413.

Some vegans will not eat refined sugar or powdered sugar made with refined sugar because bone char is used in the refining process for some refined sugars. I've added notes about this in the recipe. When I was a vegan, I ate regular sugar and the vegans I know have all eaten regular (refined) sugar, but if you're making this for someone you have reason to believe is a strict vegan, it's worth asking them.

The frosting can be made non-vegan with butter and milk/cream instead of vegan margarine and soymilk.

The cake can also be made into a dense strawberry cake by leaving out the cocoa, adding a bit more flour, and then adding a bunch of sliced strawberries. I generally use a simple powdered sugar/water/vanilla glaze when I made it as a strawberry cake.




Vegan Chocolate Cake



Preheat oven to 350



Ingredients:

1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 c of cocoa, 1 c sugar, 1.5 c flour
(*note: strict vegans may require you to use raw sugar)

1 tsp vinegar, 1 c water, 1/3 c oil, 1 tsp vanilla extract



Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients. Mix. Pour into a greased pan. Bake 25-45 minutes depending on pan size and oven strength.
(Sorry that the time is such a wide range-- I've made this so many times in different size pans and doubling the recipe or not doubling it, that I can remember the time for cooking. I like to take it out of the oven when a knife/toothpick doesn't quite come out clean; then it finishes cooking in the pan while staying really moist.)


Let cool then frost with chocolate buttercream frosting (best choice) or a chocolate glaze.



Vegan Chocolate Buttercream Frosting



Ingredients:

1/2 c vegan margarine (at or near room temperature; not all margarine is vegan, so if you're making this for a vegan, be sure to find a vegan brand like Soy Garden)

2 c powdered sugar (*note--strict vegans will require you to find specific vegan powdered sugar, but I've never done this)

1 tbl vanilla

2 tbl vanilla soy milk

1/4 c cocoa

dash salt



Soften margarine in a food processesor or with a handheld mixer. Add the other ingredients holding back a little bit of powdered sugar so you can adjust consistency accordingly.