Category Archives: sweet

sugar and spice and everything nice

almond and dark chocolate chunk ice cream

By jacqueline | Published: April 1, 2010

ever since i got an ice cream maker i have played around with different ice cream recipes. the problem is the milk substitutes i was using are so much thinner than cream, they never thicken up in the machine, so they froze into a solid block in the freezer. the beauty of this recipe is that in adding a full cup of almond butter, not only am i thickening it, but i’m also infusing the ice cream with a rich, toasty almond flavor. and with chunks of 70% cacao dark chocolate swirled in, this has quickly become one of my new favorite ice cream flavors.

Posted in sweet | Tagged almond butter, almonds, chocolate, dark chocolate, ice cream | 8 Comments

sweet and salty seedy nut bars

By jacqueline | Published: March 10, 2010

sometimes inspiration will carry me to the kitchen to bake something, but when i open the cupboards the ingredients are dismal. i wanted to make granola bars but as i eyed the most discouraging amount of oats i had ever encountered, i thought it might not happen. just then i spied small amounts of different seeds and nuts all over the cupboard, so instead of sulking away empty-handed, i got a little creative.

i toasted them all up in a dry frying pan, tossed them with some kosher salt, vanilla and agave, then baked them into bars. and, of course, finished them off with a drizzle of semi-sweet chocolate. the result is a toasty, crackly, just-sweet-enough bar that flakes and pops as you chew it. the hint of salt compliments the treat’s sweetness and toasty crunch really well. it reminded me slightly of the taste of fresh popped popcorn, but tucked into a hardy and healthy snack.

Also posted in snack | Tagged almonds, bars, buckwheat, chocolate, coconut, flax, granola bar, oats, pecans, quinoa, sunflower seeds, sweet and salty | 7 Comments

grapefruit and mandarin oranges in chamomile jelly

By jacqueline | Published: February 27, 2010

i saw the inspiration for this post on foodgawker a while back and the idea has since stuck in my head. i wanted to make the dish with my own twist so i chose chamomile tea instead of white, agar agar as a vegan alternative to gelatin, and a mix of seedless mandarin oranges with sweet oroblanco grapefruits, which are hardly tart at all.

if you struggle as i do with sweet cravings, this is a lovely little snack that helps satisfy. the flavors of the jelly are so subtle, but they hold together piles of sweet citrus that pop in your mouth.

Posted in sweet | Tagged agar agar, chamomile, grapefruit, jelly, mandarin orange, orange | 6 Comments

marmalade cookies for my valentine

By jacqueline | Published: February 14, 2010

it’s probably too late for anyone to actually make these for valentine’s day but i thought i would share what i made for my valentine.

a few weeks past i exclaimed that it is the peak of orange season. i also mentioned that i used many of the seedless mandarin oranges i got from the farmer’s market to make orange spice and red wine marmalade for chirstmas – which is rich with flavor from a dash of red wine and spicy from ground cloves, cinnamon and ginger. i gave one jar to my boyfriend and he was quite smitten with the stuff, so when i found an extra jar in my fridge i decided to play with those same flavors in a new way. this recipe, while essentially a simple sugar cookie, features the flavors of the marmalade just perfectly.

it doesn’t matter if it’s too late to make these for your valentine, you can make them all year round and swap out different jams and preserves for endless possibilities!

Posted in sweet | Tagged baked goods, cookie, mandarin orange, marmalade, orange | 4 Comments

chocolate chip gingerbread cupcakes with cardamom infused frosting

By jacqueline | Published: December 24, 2009

this recipe started as a far cry from what it ended up as. it began with a gingerbread persimmon upside-down cake that was a true disaster. all the persimmons stuck to the pan, the cake wasn’t sweet or moist enough, and most of all it had no chocolate. but 4 or 5 tries later and the result is an amazingly fluffy and moist squad of cupcakes with little chocolate chips tucked inside of them.

to top them off is a recipe i’ve been playing around with for the past few months. i grind some fresh cardamom pods and infuse soy milk with them to make a truly unique tasting frosting. if you’re not familiar with the flavors of cardamom it is actually closely related to the ginger plant, which may explain it’s slight spiciness. it is sort of like a cross between black pepper and cinnamon.

Posted in sweet | Tagged baked goods, cardamom, chocolate chip, cinnamon, cloves, cupcake, ginger, gingerbread, infused | 7 Comments

raw hot chocolate

By jacqueline | Published: December 21, 2009

you’re probably asking yourself how it can be both raw and hot at the same time. without actually cooking, if blended on high for a few minutes anything will warm up. it’s a tip often used by raw foodists to make raw soups more appetizing.

after a few minutes of blending the combination of fresh homemade buckwheat milk, raw chocolate powder and agave syrup gather a froth just like the real thing. but this treat is much lighter, raw and free of most allergens, like dairy, gluten, soy, nuts and refined sugar.

Also posted in drink | Tagged agave, buckwheat, cacao, cacao powder, chocolate, milk substitute, raw | 4 Comments

vegan thanksgiving: cookie-crusted sweet potatoes

By jacqueline | Published: December 1, 2009

we got a bit caught up – as is expected of foodies on the most culinary-centric day of the year for some – and didn’t find the time to post this recipe. but luckily, these would be great for christmas too, any time of the year really!

the topic of sweet potatoes vs. yams has come up many times in the comment section and it’s something i should finally address. i get orange-fleshed, brown-skinned tubers from the farmers i work for at the market. they call them yams, so that’s usually how i refer to them, but i’ve been corrected many times, that in fact they are sweet potatoes.

wikipedia says that yams are traditionally white inside, but the orange variety of sweet potatoes are marketed as yams to distinguish them from the white-fleshed sweet potatoes. so perhaps everytime i’ve said yam in the past i should have said sweet potato, but i often still call them yams because that’s what i called them growing up. it doesn’t matter the name, if you get the ones that are orange on the inside it’s hard to go wrong.

this is a new take on the brown sugar and butter heavy version we usually made for thanksgiving, topped of course with marshmallows. instead i coated each piece with a pumpkin pie spiced cookie crust and crunchy bits of pecans, which are just sweet and spicy enough to satisfy a sweet tooth, but just light enough that they won’t send you into sugar coma.

Also posted in side | Tagged cookie, crust, pecans, sweet potatoes, thanksgiving, yam | 9 Comments

naturally sweetened yam and asian pear sauce

By jacqueline | Published: October 20, 2009

last year i made homemade pumpkin applesauce, a real fall favorite. packed with cinnamon, vanilla and brown sugar, it was a decadent traditional treat made fresh with organic ingredients. but i’m on a low sugar kick lately and wanted to make a much lighter version.

instead of brown sugar, i sweetened it with the fresh juice of fuji apples – the first of the season. and since asian pears and yams are in abundance at the farmers’ market i thought they would mimic the flavors of apples and pumpkin quite well, even adding a hint of vanilla from the pears and a creaminess from the yams.

Also posted in sauce | Tagged apple juice, apples, asian pear, cinnamon, naturally sweetened, pear, yam | 6 Comments

pluot cobbler tart

By jacqueline | Published: August 24, 2009

people think tarts are so fancy, so european. but in reality, all you need to make one is the pan. the crust that you press into it isn’t far off from that of a pie and the filling is much simpler – just dice up fresh fruit, arrange it in concentric circles and voilà! you have yourself a certified fancy dessert

and like the pizza i made a few weeks ago, this treat just happens to be gluten-free. i used ground cashews and oats for the crust, which got crispy on the edges, but left the center gooey and cobbler-like.

this is the perfect dessert to end a lovely summer meal. use whatever fruit is seasonal, it would be great with any stone fruit, cherries, blueberries, apples or pears!

Posted in sweet | Tagged cashew, gluten-free, oats, pluot, tart | 11 Comments

salty caramel dipping sauce

By jacqueline | Published: July 20, 2009

i remember fondly the trips to the grocery store when my mother let me get that ooey gooey caramel sauce they stack next to the apples in the produce section. if you eat it on fruit it must be healthy…right? not in the copious amounts i managed to wrap around a tiny wedge of apple.

now that i am older i have a better appreciation for the fruit to sugar ratio, as well as a taste for a little salt with my sweets. so i came up with this, a lighter version of the caramel sauce i once loved. it’s still creamy and sweet, but not as thick, so you get a thinner layer over that slice of apple.

but don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to eat it with fruit. it’s also amazing to drizzle over soy ice cream or swirl into a batch of brownies. enjoy!

Also posted in sauce | Tagged caramel, dipping sauce, salty | 5 Comments

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