Vegan Chocolate Mousse
Traditionally a specialty of French and Belgian restaurants, mousse is a creamy dessert made from egg and cream, usually in combination with chocolate or pureed fruit. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the dish made its way into American and British restaurants. To achieve this dessert’s particular light, fluffy, yet extremely rich consistency, raw eggs whites are normally beaten before being mixed with the other ingredients. The resulting mixture is then chilled to maintain aeration. An inherently...
Read MoreVegan Candy
Okay. Let’s not dwell on the fact that candy, as a basic concept, is usually just not that good for you. This much is a given: wiping away the world’s candy supply might make the human race a good deal healthier, and would put an end to some rather unsavory cravings we all experience from time to time. Ah, but that wouldn’t be much fun now, would it? Life, after all, has its moments of difficulty among the joy, and those moments occasionally cry out for a decadent, sweet treat. Let us not forget...
Read MoreVegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
From the moment of its accidental invention at the Toll House Inn back in 1933, the chocolate chip (or “Toll House”) cookie has been a staple of American snacks. Having run out of Baker’s chocolate to make her cookies, Ruth Graves Wakefield broke pieces of semi-sweet chocolate into chunks, hoping they would melt during the baking process and mix with the batter. Luckily for us, the chocolate did not mix in, and the chocolate chip cookie was born. Wakefield then sold her recipe to Nestle in...
Read MoreVegan Brownies
The vegan brownie is a modern adaptation of a very old snack whose origin is clouded in mystery. But with a treat as widely beloved as the brownie, it’s no wonder crowds line up to take credit for its discovery! Popular American folklore claims the brownie came to be when a careless cook forgot to add baking powder to his chocolate cake recipe. Who exactly this legendary cook was, though, is anyone’s guess. More recently, the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago has claimed ownership of the...
Read MoreVegan Chocolate Frosting
You know that old idiom that is used to describe one great thing happening, and an additional great thing happens on top of that? Sure you do: the second great thing is called the “icing on the cake.” This saying comes from the widespread appeal of icing, or frosting, a sweet glaze used to cover or decorate baked goods, such as cakes or biscuits. Traditionally icing is made of sugar, and also contains butter, water, egg whites, milk, or flavorings. As versatile as it is delicious, frosting can be...
Read MoreVegan Chocolate Cakes
The vegan chocolate cake is a relatively recent entry into the longstanding history of this famous desert. There is much debate over whether or not that decadent, notoriously bumbling and disconnected Marie Antoinette ever actually suggested “Let them eat cake,” as her solution to the bread-shortage that left thousands of peasants starving in the French streets. What is clear is that the cake, traditionally a sweet, baked desert, has been a part of countless historical special events. Cakes are often...
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