Vegan Yum Yum (39 page)

step 3
Meanwhile, to make the biscuits, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the margarine (or shortening) into the dry ingredients until it resembles a crumbly mixture. If your berries aren't done yet, put the dry mixture into the fridge or freezer to keep the margarine cold until you're ready to finish it.

step 4
When the berries are done cooking, add the soy milk to the dry mixture to form a soft biscuit dough. The consistency is pretty forgiving—a slightly too-soft or too-firm dough won't make a difference in the final product. As long as it holds together, but is soft enough to break apart into clumps, you're good to go. Don't overmix the dough, or the biscuits will be tough (but you already knew that, right?).

Ingredients

Blueberry Filling

4 cups fresh blueberries (or frozen)

cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup water

½ teaspoon cinnamon
(optional)

½ teaspoon nutmeg
(optional)

Simple Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine or vegetable shortening

to 1 cup soy milk

Stove-top directions if you're making one large steamed grunt:

Break the biscuit dough up into small, bite-size pieces. Spread the pieces evenly on top of the hot, still-cooking berries. Cover the skillet with a tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat slightly, and steam for 15 minutes without peeking. The biscuits should be puffed up and cooked all the way through. Serve warm.

Baking directions for one large baked grunt:

Follow the instructions for a steamed grunt, but place in the oven to bake at 400 ºF (without a lid) for 20 minutes. You can sand the biscuits with sugar before baking if you like! Serve warm.

For individual baked grunts:

Put the berry mixture into individual ramekins or gratin dishes, filling only until they're half full. Add biscuit mixture on top. Sand with sugar and place all the grunts on a baking sheet (this will help you take them out of the oven without burning yourself). Bake for 20 minutes, serve warm.

Here's what my individual grunts looked like before baking:

Serving suggestions:
These are great just as they are, but you can also serve them with some ice cream if you want. I invited Sandy over to try them, and she said that not only were they delicious, but they tasted “exactly like a nonvegan grunt.” So if you're looking for a simple but elegant dessert to use up summer berries, I highly recommend this one. I won't blame you if you call it a cobbler, though.

Cherry Trifles

Y
ou can use a standard-size trifle dish for this recipe, but what's the fun in that? I first made this recipe using individual-size trifle dishes, but they just weren't quite small enough, and I ended up being overwhelmed by this very beautiful but sweet dessert. Then it hit me: drinking glasses! Do you have shot glasses in your cupboard? They make the cutest, most adorable super-mini trifles, perfect for a tiny treat at the end of your meal. But don't limit yourself to shot glasses—almost any glass will do.

Before assembling the trifles, the almond pudding, cherry filling, and the sponge cake need to be prepared and cooled. I find it easiest to make the almond pudding and cherry filling the night before, and then I bake the cake on the day I'm planning on serving the trifles. This ensures that the cake is fresh and moist. Fully assembled trifles can also be made ahead of time and refrigerated before serving; they taste extra good this way.

Cherry Trifles

Makes 4 miniature trifles or 1 large trifle

step 1
To make the almond pudding, whisk together the soy milk, rice syrup, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract in a large pot. Place the cornstarch in a bowl. Pour a little bit of your liquid pudding mixture into your cornstarch mixture (¼ cup or so). Whisk the cornstarch/pudding mixture until smooth and add it back into the pot. Whisk well. Cook the pudding over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened. It won't be super thick, but it should coat the back of a spoon well. (Note: You may need to turn your heat up to get your pudding to thicken. This should be your first problem-solving step if your pudding is not changing consistency. If you have turned your heat up higher and the pudding is very hot but still not thickening, you may need to add more cornstarch. Never add dry cornstarch to a hot mixture or you will get lumps. Instead, mix the cornstarch with a little cold or warm liquid and then stir it into the pudding mixture.)This can take up to 10 minutes.

step 2
Once the pudding seems to be fully thickened, put it into a bowl and chill until cold.

step 3
To make the cherry filling, it is easiest to use frozen cherries. Simply add the cherries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and cornstarch mixture to a pot over medium heat and stir well until the cherries are defrosted and the filling has thickened. Remove from the heat and let chill. You may want to have some fresh cherries on hand for garnishing.

Ingredients

Almond Pudding

4 cups soy milk

cup brown rice syrup

¼ cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons almond extract

½ cup cornstarch

Cherry Filling

3 bags of frozen dark sweet cherries
(or 6 to 7 cups fresh dark cherries, pitted)

2 cups sugar

½ cup lemon juice

Zest of 2 lemons

3 tablespoons cornstarch plus 3 tablespoons water, mixed

If you're using fresh cherries:
Wash and set aside 20 of the prettiest cherries that have stems intact. Wash and pit the remainder and add them to a large pot. Add the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and cornstarch mixture and turn heat up to medium-high. Mush some of the cherries with your spoon, but leave the majority whole. Cook until the cherries are softened and the filling has thickened up a bit.

step 4
To make the cake, preheat the oven to 375 ºF and grease two 8 x 8-inch baking pans. Add the apple cider vinegar to the soy milk and set aside.

step 5
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt together in a large bowl.

step 6
Add the oil and vanilla and almond extracts to the soy milk mixture and mix, then add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until there are no lumps or just a few small lumps.

step 7
Spread the batter out evenly between the two baking pans. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden on the top, a toothpick tests clean, and the cake springs back to your touch. Let cool.