Rolo vs. Yolo

We had eight people coming for dinner the day after we returned from a four-day getaway, and I really wasn't feeling like cooking. My husband said he would cook, and I planned to make a dessert, but I wasn't in the mood for cake or pie baking, either. I suggested we have a simple fruit salad for dessert, and my husband agreed. I just couldn't let it go, though. I always make dessert, and I needed a little something that would add a touch of fun to the fruit, without being too taxing. Not that fruit isn't fun and special, but you know what I mean.



I got out my Oh She Glows Cookbook to look for a recipe, and found one for homemade yolos. I didn't know what a Yolo was, but the recipe described a chocolate-covered caramel candy, and that was good enough for me. I never ate much candy growing up because, before I became enlightened, I didn't like chocolate, didn't like coconut, and didn't like nuts in things, which pretty much eliminated everything. The one thing I did like, though, was caramel. I would eat anything with caramel — even if it was covered in chocolate.



I made the yolos and they were GREAT! They tasted just like caramel, and everyone at the dinner loved them, especially the two kids. I found the recipe online for you so you can make them, too, in case you don't own Angela's cookbook.  On Angela Lidden's blog, she calls the candies Rolos instead of Yolos. (I do know what Rolos are.) In the cookbook, the quantity of dates is one cup, the coconut oil is 1/2 teaspoon, and the quantity of balls is 20, but everything else is the same. I didn't use the chia seeds or the toothpicks.

I'm going to give you a few suggestions for making yours come out better looking than mine. Maybe. I'm not very good at getting the coating smooth. Maybe you are better at it than I.

1. When you first freeze the date mixture, use a shallow bowl so all of the mix chills. Mine was packed into a small bowl and the date mixture in the center didn't get cold enough to make it easy to handle. 2. Make sure your date balls are perfectly smooth and round so the chocolate goes on smoothly. 3. Keep the melted chocolate warm over hot water so the chocolate stays thin enough to coat the balls easily. 4. Enjoy!

The recipe can be found on the Oh She Glows Blog. It is vegan and gluten-free. And fabulous!

Fauxmage vegan cheese — a new cultured nut cheese

Vegan cheeses seem to be multiplying like cat hairs on a couch — every time I go shopping there are new ones I haven't heard of. We were recently gifted with two flavors of Fauxmage, a brand new vegan cultured soft cheese being made right here in Seattle, by Brooke Young. Spreading the delicious cheese on crackers and munching away made me reflect on how much our access to vegan specialty foods has  changed since I first became vegan in 1981. We had things like dried beans, grains, tofu, and a couple of cookbooks in case we wanted to make special items like "cheese sauce" or seitan. I had a copy of "The Farm Cookbook" with a recipe for a cheesy sauce I used for pizza, enchiladas or lasagna. I also had a recipe for tofu cream cheese, that I made on occasion. In 1998, "The Uncheese Cookbook" was published, and more recipes became available.

Most of the time, though, we just enjoyed plant-based cooking that didn't try to replicate the animal foods we had left behind. I was never much of a processed-foods consumer, and since there were very few vegan fast foods accessible when I became vegan, I didn't get into the habit of using them regularly. Even now that so much is available, we don't depend much on packaged vegan foods, though we do sample them on occasion. However, I'm definitely happy to see all the current vegan foods at one's disposal to help new vegans and potential vegans transition to a plant-based diet. I know how hard it can be to let go of certain foods — especially cheese. Although it was more than 30 years ago, I vividly recollect my hallucination of pizza slices with extra, molten mozzarella, floating past my eyes at the moment I decided to stop consuming dairy. This is the truth, not a joke.



I know many vegans are fervently attached to one vegan cheese or another, but my husband and I have never been impressed enough in the past with any of them to make them more than a very occasional part of our diet. Many of the standard vegan cheeses are made from ingredients that, to me, don't seem worth eating, but now that the newest versions of cultured nut cheeses have appeared, we find ourselves splurging on one variety or another — usually Miyoko's Kitchen. (That is, if I don't make my own cashew cheese from one of Miyoko Schinner's recipes.) When Brooke offered sample containers of her new cheese, Fauxmage, we were curious, and happily agreed to try it. And we were impressed. It's amazing how some tastes and textures come flooding back no matter how long it's been since you've tasted them, and I think cheese is one of those items.

Here's what Brooke says about Fauxmage on her Web site:
"The future of food is here! All of our cheeses are 100% dairy free with real, live, active cultures and are healthier for people and the planet than traditional dairy products. Our cheese is raw, vegan, Paleo, as well as gluten-free and cholesterol-free. We make our cheeses by hand, in small batches, to ensure the highest quality. We don’t use any oils, gums, starches or thickeners, so with Fauxmage you get all cheese and no fillers. We source our spices from World Spice Merchants in the heart of Pike Place Market and grind them fresh for each batch."



We are enjoying both flavors, and I encourage you to give Fauxmage a try. The cheeses are spreadable and delicious, with subtle flavors in a creamy base — delectible! Good ingredients and good taste! Do you have a favorite vegan cheese?

(Ingredients, Herbes de Provence: cashews, herbes de provence, garlic, lemon juice, salt, cultures.

Ingredients, Rooster Spice: cashews, Mama Lil’s pickled peppers, spice blend, garlic, lemon juice, salt, cultures.) The Rooster Spice cheese has a spicy kick.


Hop over to the Fauxmage Web site to find out more about the cheese and where it can be purchased. 

(Photo of a Fauxmage advertising post card.)

One last little thought. I hate to be extra picky, but I have to point out the cheeses aren't organic, and there are a few ingredients that may be of concern if you worry about GMOs or pesticides. For example, the Rooster Spice contains Mama Lil's peppers in canola oil, which is possibly a GMO oil, and I don't usually buy peppers unless they're organic because they are such a heavily sprayed crop. I haven't asked Brooke about this yet so take my warning with a grain of salt. It may not be an issue, but I'm offering the information in case it is important to you.

UPDATE!!! 
The canola oil in the peppers (that flavor the cheese) is certified non-gmo. Also, Brooke has switched to organic cashews but must use up her old labels for financial reasons. It's too expensive for a small company to print all-new labels.

Dessert validation: berry-lemon cake

The other night I brought dessert to a family dinner, as I often do, and as usual I hoped it would taste okay. I'm not so confidant about my desserts. On tasting her piece, my seven-year-old granddaughter, Miss E, declared that I was the best dessert maker in the whole wide world. Hahaha, imagine that. Then she said I should write a cookbook with only desserts. And send it to the President!

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thrilled to have her approval of my baking skills, but the downside is that now I have to maintain my reputation. :D

So what did I bake to earn such an enthusiastic endorsement? It was an easy-to-throw-together blueberry/strawberry lemon cake that has appeared on these pages before. But since it got such a high approval rating, I thought I'd reprise it. It's basically the same as the cake in this post except I added a flax egg and a blueberry glaze, and baked it in a round cake pan instead of a square one. It rose so beautifully and had such a pleasant taste and texture, I'm going to make it more often.

Berry-lemon quick bread
based on a recipe from Fire and Earth Kitchen for
blueberry breakfast bread
bake in a 9"x9x2" square pan or a 9 x 3" round pan.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed plus 3 Tbsp cold water
• 1-1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour (or similar GF flour blend)
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/4 cup oat flour 

(2 cups of wheat flour can be used instead of the other flours, if you aren't baking gluten-free. I haven't tried it but F & E Kitchen says yes, and I trust them.)

• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt (1/4 teaspoon or less)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 small organic lemon, seeds removed, plus enough almond (or other) milk to equal 1 cup  OR juice and zest from 1/2 small lemon plus enough almond milk to equal 1 cup (I used a high speed Vitamix. If your blender can't handle the intact lemon, use the juice/zest option)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup oil (I used avocado oil)
• 1.5 cups fresh blueberries or 1 cup blueberries plus 1/2 cup strawberries cut similar size to blueberries. The strawberries amp up the flavor.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil pan and line the bottom with parchment paper cut to size.
2. Place the flax meal in a 1-cup glass measuring cup and add the water. Let sit while you measure the dry ingredients.
3. Add the GF flour, almond meal, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon to a large mixing bowl. Whisk together all the dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed. 
4. Beat the flax with a fork until gluey. Add the (cut-up) lemon to the cup. Add almond milk to make one cup. Mix together.
5. Add the flax- lemon-almond milk mixture to the blender. Add the vanilla, maple syrup and oil to the blender and blend until smooth. (I used a high speed Vitamix.)
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, scrapping out the blender to retrieve all the batter. Beat with a spoon or an electric hand mixer until the dry ingredients are well incorporated.
7. Add half the berries and fold in. 
8. Place the batter into the greased pan and spread the remaining berries evenly over the top. Press in gently, so they still show on top.
9. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan about 15 minutes before removing from the pan by inverting onto a rack then turning right side up onto a second rack. Let cool completely before transferring to a serving plate. 

I made a simple blueberry glaze to pour over the top of the cooled cake, but it doesn't really need one.