Sweets

I’m posting this a little late, but I made this for Valentine’s Day.

It was ready for Saturday, and we got to enjoy it on Saturday and Sunday,

This is not a light soft fluffy cake, but a rich, dense, and heavy cake, and that’s exactly what I wanted.

Very chocolaty and decadant.

It was delicious just like that.

But we also enjoyed it with yogurt cream.

This was a huge hit with my husband, too.

Veganize any type of cake is a challenge, but when the main ingredients are cream cheese, eggs, and cream, the challenge becomes a headache!

The Basque burnt cheesecake has become extremely popular in Japan the past few years.

Although I’ve never tasted it myself, I was intrigued by the unique look (burnt apparently) and the creamy texture inside.

So I decided to create a vegan version.

I was excited and nervous until I finally got to taste-test it.

It turned out great!!

I used homemade vegan cream cheese (this particular batch’s main ingredient was tofu) this time.

I was very happy with the result, but I may try a few different things to fine-tune the recipe.

If that happens and I’m completely happy with the recipe, I may share it.

These are like Snickers.

I follow the Vegan Snickers recipe, but only mostly, because I just use whatever the ingredients I have in the house, so they are a bit different every time.

But whether they are Snickers or not doesn’t really matter, because these were delicious!!

The ingredients are relatively “health”, but they are still dangerous because once I start eating I have a hard time stopping!

My mother was a wonderful cook and baker, but more than anything she was an adventurous one.

She loved trying new recipes, and I think it came from her general attitude toward life, that she loved (and loves) to learn new things.

When I was little, cheesecake was not well known in Japan.

It was not something you could buy at cake shops or bakeries, and few people knew about it.

Yet, my mother was baking cheesecake at home!

Interestingly, my mother’s cheesecake contained processed cheese, not cream cheese.

Soon, cheesecake did become extremely popular, and everyone began making it at home.

I did try various types of cheesecake, mostly made with cream cheese, but my mother’s cheesecake continued to be one of my favorites.

I do bake cheesecake myself, and usually I use cream cheese (until I started the plant-based diet), but yesterday this idea of using a different type of cheese came to me.

I happened to have homemade vegan cheddar, and I thought it would be fun to use it.

I wasn’t completely sure about this.

Not about not using cream cheese, but that the “cheese” I was going to use is plant-based and not dairy.

But it turned out really good!

(This is not my mother’s recipe.)

It was nice and moist, and I found the unique cheddar flavor wonderful.

This year’s pandemic force us to spend significantly more time at home.

I’ve been trying to stay positive, quietly crossing off things on my list.

Apparently, I had more time to prepare for Christmas, and I finally decided to make a yule log this year.

It was not every year, but my mother would make a yule log for Christmas every few years or so, and when she did, I would get so excited.

There is something so special about this cake.

This was a coffee cake with chocolate coconut cream frosting.

Like any other cakes I make, I keep the decoration simple.

Unfortunately, my cake broke while it was being rolled.

But I used a few tricks to keep the shape intact.

I wasn’t sure about posting this picture of a slice because nobody would know from outside as it’s completely covered with the cream.

But hey, it’s reality, and I’m not here to claim I’m the perfect cake maker (lol).

We’ve had these stockings for years.

R is for me, and T for my hubby.

I bought this one when my sister came to visit us in Minnesota a few years ago.

Actually, R, T, and K cover the initials of my entire family members!

Many of the ornaments are from my mother-in-law, including this one that she gave us the year when we were married.

Others are from our travels.

I used the recipe, https://www.fragrantvanilla.com/vegan-mocha-roll-cake/ .

I used the filling to cover the outside instead of using ganache, but other than that, only a few minor changed were made.

I’ve used her other recipes to make cakes in the past, and they were all delcious.

I love the ingredients that she uses, the cake sponge has the perfect texture, and the cream/frosting/filling is super delicious.

If you are not a big fan of the traditional frosting, like me, you should definitely try hers!

I was never a big candy bar person even before we changed our diet.

There were a few I would pick up at the cashier (they know exactly where they place them to sell!), but Snickers was NOT my favorite.

But I was excited to try this vegan version of Snickers, mostly because I liked the ingredients.

First of all, this is raw and vegan.

And it doesn’t end there.

No added oil or sugar in these!

But most of all, these are delicious!!

My husband was never a big Snickers eater, but we both liked these so much, better than the real thing.

Loved the combination of chocolate and peanuts.

They are sweet, but they are “feel good” sweet, if you know what I mean.

I also liked that the “caramel” part was creamy and smooth, but not “stick-to-teeth” sticky.

I followed the recipe from https://carolineschoice.com/sweet-vegan/ e-cookbook.

Highly recommended!