Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie and Whipped Cream Topping

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This is the first holiday I have been dairy free, and I was determined to enjoy some pumpkin pie. Something like, "you can have your pie and eat it too?" heh Anyway...






Ingredients:

Love Trader Joes!

• Your favorite dairy free crust (Pillsbury roll out crusts and Harris Teeter Brand crusts are my fav and yes, dairy free!)
• 1 can of pumpkin
• 1 can coconut cream
• 1/2 cup dairy-free milk (I used almond)
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 Tbs powdered sugar

Directions:

Separated cream set aside

1. Lay your crust out to come to room temperature
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
3. Do not shake your can of coconut cream!!!
4. Remove thick cream from top of can of coconut cream and set aside in small bowl.
5. Use remainder of coconut milk/water mixture and add in thick separated cream by spoonful until it measures to 1 cup. Keep the rest of cream separated and put in fridge to chill.
6.  Place this cup of coconut cream/milk and add to mixing bowl. Add in can of pumpkin, 1/2 cup milk, eggs, sugar, spice and salt. Mix on high until combined evenly. 
7. While mixing, prepare your crust in a pie pan.
8. Pour mixture into unbaked crust and place in oven.
9. Cover edges of crust to prevent burning.
10. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

 
Whipped Cream:

1. While pie is baking and once cream has chilled, place cream in mixing bowl with whisk attachment. 
2. Whisk coconut cream on highest setting for 2 minutes. 
3. Add in powdered sugar and mix again on highest setting until fluffy.
4. Serve on pie!!!
5. ENJOY :)

 I am reveling in this season of Thanksgiving and the gratitude I have for my family, friends, faith, and blessings. Enjoy the season!

My biggest blessings.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake is a guilty pleasure of mine. One of my favorite memories of a cookie cake was back in college during graduation week. My friend and I devoured a cookie cake slathered in Orange and Blue icing. Go HOOS! We were both mortified the next few days when our poo was colored bright green. Finally one of us broke the silence and mentioned it. We were so relieved we weren't dying of some strange green-poo illness.

Now that I compltely grossed you out (I am a nurse after all), lets talk dairy-free cookie cake.

To get the best results, here is my go-to recipe:

 Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Ingredients:
2 1/4 Cup flour
1tsp salt
1tsp baking soda
1 Cup packed brown sugar
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Cup Earth's Best Butter Alternative
1tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 package of Chocolate Chips: dairy free. (I recommend Enjoy Life or Trader Joe's Semi Sweet brands)

I was hungry for a cookie :)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Set out butter and eggs.
3. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a separate, small bowl.
4. Combine sugars, butter, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Mix on high for a few minutes.
5. Add eggs and mix to combine.
6. Add in flour mixture and mix only enough to combine.
7. Spread on large, greased pizza tray. Using spatula, make a big blob in center and work your way out to almost the very edge.
8. Bake at 375 for 17 mins.

Once cooled, you can ice it!

 Dairy-Free Cream Cheese Icing Recipe

 Ingredients: 
8oz Dairy-Free Cream Cheese Alternative (Tofutti Brand, is the BEST)
1/4 lb Dairy-Free Butter Alternative (Earth Balance Brand is the BEST)
2 tsp bourbon vanilla paste
1 lb = 4 cups powdered sugar (give or take)

Directions:
Make sure cream cheese and butter are the same temperature. Beat on high speed in mixer until combined. Add vanilla and sugar until desired consistency is reached. Increase speed of mixer to high until combined.Pipe onto cooled cookie using tip of your choice.

**If you have kids or are kid-like at heart, add sprinkles to the icing!**

Genuine German Chocolate Black Forest Cake

AKA Schwarzwälder Kirsch Torte
(My husband would be able to say this correctly)

Let me tell you a little story. It is about my husband and his birthday. It happens to fall on January 9th. Every year, I survive working motherhood and create memorable hoidays for us. I get through Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas planning, Christmas, and then New Years. Then, every year, right after New Years, my husband has a birthday. Two things always happen: I am out of breath and money. So every year he gets a lame birthday. Add onto that this year my horrible PPD (I'm a  survivor!) and I basically asked him to reschedule his birthday. We literally re-scheduled his birthday.

So come July, I was ready for action. I surprised him with an ipad and planned an evening at Veritas Winery with some friends to enjoy the stars, wine, live band, and dancing.

I asked him what kind of birthday cake he wanted and he said: "Schwarzwälder Kirsch Torte."
So I took this request pretty seriously because he has been to Germany and tasted genuine German cake. I hunted down some Kirsch from the sole ABC store in town that carried it, and paid $55 for the bottle too. Then I headed over to Whole Foods to find the right cherries and chocolate. Then I grabbed all the other essentials at the Teeter. I almost made it completely dairy-free but my whipped frosting didn't quite come out as i had hoped. Alas. To the whipping cream I returned.

German Chocolate Black Forest Cake

Here is the thing about this recipe: It was foreign to me and took a few attempts. The cake is mainly egg-based, which really threw me for a loop. The cakes didn't rise quite like I was expecting either.

A late night and lots of cursing later, I had 3 cakes prepared and set for the morning.

Did I follow my instructor's complete directions to build a perfect birthday cake? No, I didn't have time for that. So the cake was a bit uneven but it was quite delicious. The husband was pleased. My culinary friend's dad was pleased. I was pleased. Mission accomplished.

Ingredients

If you feel so inclined to attempt the most expensive and time consuming cake I've done yet, recipe here.

Happy Anniversary to Us: The Wedding Cake

In honor of my 6th wedding anniversary, I want to post a picture of our wedding cake! I had a pretty traditional, church wedding. It had themes of lace, faith, fall and Old Virginia. But when it came to the cake, I wanted to do something out of the ordinary. And I wanted chocolate icing. So this is what I came up with thanks to Chandler's Bakery.

Chocolate bottom and vanilla cake with raspberry and buttercream filling, topped with chocolate buttercream. Chocolate mosaics and fresh berries for decoration.

The cake cutting

Started off prim and proper

Then I went in for the kill.

I love my groom. Muahahaha

And we lived happily ever after. The end :)