Sweets

Since Valentine’s Day lands on Thursday this year, we decided to celebrate two weekends, before and after.

So last weekend for our celebration part one I wanted to make a chocolate cake for us to enjoy.

I did a little google research to see if I could make my cake heart-shaped without buying a heart pan.

Well, who knew!

There was a way.

And a relatively easy way.

For the cake itself, I knew exactly what recipe I wanted to try.

Amy’s Vegan Dark Chocolate Red Wine Cake.

She has so many great ideas for Valentine’s day, and I had a very hard time deciding which one of her recipes to try until the very last minute.

But I just couldn’t resist the combination of red wine and chocolate.

This is a two-layered wine-chocolate cake with raspberry filling and chocolate frosting.

I made my own berry filling with a touch of red wine, but other than that I followed the recipe without modification.

I LOVE her whole-food approach.

For instance, the main ingredient of the frosting is such a brilliant idea (I won’t tell you what it is. You have to go to her site to find out!), and probably one of my favorite features of this cake.

Making a cake following her recipe is not just a process but a joyful and learning experience.

I served my cake with wine reduction berry syrup.

This cake was ABSOLUTELY SCRUMPTIOUS!!

I’ve eaten enough delicious vegan foods by now, so I would hate to say “you can’t believe it’s vegan.”

But this cake can be enjoyed by everyone, vegans and non-vegans.

I shared it with my husband and a couple of neighbor friends (non-vegans), and everyone loved it.

Thank you, Amy, for this wonderful recipe!

It was so perfect for our (early) celebration.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

I had frozen puff pastry sheet in my freezer I wanted to use up.

My neighbor just gave me ripe strawberries that needed to be eaten fast.

And I recently got to make vegan custard cream successfully.

Why not putting all together?

First, the puff pastry.

Perfectly light and flaky.

Thick custard cream first.

And then fresh berries and mint leaves.

The ratio of everything was just perfect!

Simple, fresh, and elegant.

This will be a good dessert option when we have our non-vegan family over for dinner.

I think my father-in-law will like this.

Our non-vegan neighbor/friend invited us for a homemade plant-based chili dinner, and I offered to bring a dessert.

She implied that we should celebrate her belated birthday, and I was happy to make a birthday cake for her.

When asked what type of cake she typically likes, she said she usually likes cupcakes that are made with vanilla cake with chocolate frosting.

I know she liked the vegan chocolate mousse I made with avocado, so this is what I came up with.

Boston Cream Pie Inspired Birthday Cake!

Vanilla sponge cake.

Custard cream.

And avocado chocolate frosting.

I made vegan custard for the first time, and I was surprised that you can make delicious custard cream without dairy milk or eggs.

Making Boston Cream Pie was not my initial intention, but when I looked at the final product, it definitely reminded me of that.

I decided not to call it “Boston Cream Pie” mainly because 1) mine has three layers and not two! and 2) mine has a little more decorative touch on top.

When it comes to cake-decoration, my motto is usually the simpler the better.

But this time I decided to put in a little more effort.

And I’m glad I did.

Absolutely loved how it turned out.

It’s a little girly but still elegant.

Unfortunately, our dinner got cancelled, so my friend never got to see or taste this cake.

The bright side is that my husband and I got to keep it to ourselves!

The flavor combination was great.

Many store-bought Boston cream pies tend to be too sweet for me.

But of course, when you make your own cake, you can control the sweetness, which is always a big plus.

I loved my BCP-inspired cake, and I will definitely make it again.

Vegan Custard Cream:
1.5 cups soy milk
1/3 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons vegan butter

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small pot, except for vanilla and butter.
2. Cook over medium heat until it achieves the preferred thickness. Constantly stir.
3. Remove from heat. Add vanilla extract and butter. Mix well. Cool. Refrigerate.

I made this pie when I saw my friend’s picture of his cranberry pie.

It looked so good, and I wanted to make something similar.

But I didn’t have cranberries.

I didn’t have cranberries, but I had lingonberry jam.

I thought that would create the similar color and the tartness I was looking for.

This was delicious!

Exactly what I wanted.

Buttery crust, fresh tart filling, and soy whipped cream.

The middle of December is a busy time for us.

There is my birthday and then there is our anniversary!

Since I made vanilla berry cake for my birthday not long ago, I wanted something very different from it.

With my husband’s suggestion “Matcha,” here it is Matcha Cake.

This is a one layer vanilla cake topped with sweet red beans, and then decorated with soy whipped cream, Matcha glaze, and homemade Vegan white chocolate.

There were some accidents (or they can be called “problems”) along the way, but the final product was pretty and tasty.

I didn’t think much of it, but this cake turned out to have East-meets-West flavors and be perfect for us!

This is my birthday week, and I was going to ask my husband to order a cake for me.

But after checking to see what kind of vegan cakes are available, I decided to make my own birthday cake.

I wanted my cake to be white.

Vanilla flavored cake sponge with vanilla flavored frosting.

Then I decorated the cake with my two favorite berries, strawberries and blueberries.

The look I wanted to achieve was “elegance” and “sophistication”, yet “rustic”.

How did I do?

The height was perfect.

And the layers.

Aren’t they beautiful?

I wanted to thank my husband for volunteering to buy all the ingredients for the cake and do the dishes.

I was just so happy that we both got to enjoy the cake very much!

Brownies are one of ultimate American sweets, and I LOVE them.

There are several criteria to meet my ideal brownies, and a shiny cracked top is one of them.

The other criteria may include moist inside, and richness in flavor, yet, no over-sweetness.

I also like chocolate chips inside as well.

These brownies were tasty as they were, but I wanted to make them extra special.

So the brownies were served with cashew-based mocha cream and walnuts on top.

DELICIOUS!

Did I say I love brownies (lol)?!