food | Avocados and Ales

Tag Archives: food

Vegan Blue Moon Ice Cream

Unless you’re from the Midwest like me, you probably have never heard of Blue Moon as ice cream before. This actually has nothing to do with the beer, although I have to imagine they would both taste quite nice together.

No one really knows the true flavor of blue moon, but it always tasted quite fruity to me. I imagine someone just thought “hey, let’s try to mix ALL the flavors together” and just went with it. Which is exactly what I went with here, and the flavor is spot on.

A few tips: stir the ice cream a few times in the freezer. I didn’t do this and it ended up a bit icy. The meringue will flop when you add it to the coconut milk but that’s ok, it will still add texture and size to your ice cream. I like Wilton sky blue coloring but you can use any blue coloring that works for you.

Continue reading →

Tags: aquafaba, blue moon, coconut milk, dessert, food, ice cream, Midwest, recipe, vegan, vegetarian

Comments 4 Comments
Categories american, desserts, gluten-free, vegan

Breakfast Pizza

24 Aug

In my post about peanut butter and jelly macarons I talked about “breakfast pizza” that was often served in my high school cafeteria. It still holds a special place in my stomach and I always enjoy the challenge of veganizing an old favorite.

You can definitely use your own favorite scrambled tofu recipe or homemade sausage in this. My favorite cheese on this is the mozzarella from the Non Dairy Evolution.

Continue reading →

Tags: breakfast, food, gravy, pizza, plant-based, recipe, sausage, seitan, tofu, vegan, vegan cheese, vegetarian

Comments 1 Comment
Categories american, breakfast, pizza, vegan

Birthday Dacquoise

19 Aug

I thought my last dacquoise was going to be the final one, but I couldn’t resist making one more, especially with my parents visiting for my birthday today. Since it is my birthday, I wanted to fill it with a few of my favorite things-caramel, chocolate, frosting, and Nutella. This is not something I would recommend eating everyday. In fact, I would highly recommend only having two pieces then letting someone else finish it, because it’s pretty indulgent.

Yet again, I planned this several days ahead of time. I made the caramel one day, the buttercream the next day, and the dacquoise the night before making it. It helps to spread out the process so you’re not trying to finish it all in one day. If you want to attempt making it in one day, be sure you don’t have a nagging toddler around your ankles and eat a full meal ahead of time, otherwise you’ll be snacking on all of the ingredients…

Continue reading →

Tags: aquafaba, buttercream, cake, caramel, dacquoise, dessert, food, recipe, swiss meringue, vegan, vegetarian

Comments 9 Comments
Categories desserts, personal, vegan

Cinnamon and Sugar Macarons

16 Aug

Do you remember the brown sugar and cinnamon Poptarts?? (Not sure if that needs a copyright symbol.) These were a middle of the night “I need to remake my cinnamon roll macarons” idea. Despite aiming for cinnamon roll flavor, eating these reminded me of my favorite Poptarts.

If this is your first time here, be sure to check out Charis’s recipes at Floral Frosting, as she is the creator of this recipe. She’s got some beautiful recipes there, her buttercream is one of our favorites! You also should take a look at the Vegan Meringue Facebook group for more amazing recipes. If you have trouble with the directions, try reading my troubleshooting guide for a little more in depth description.

Continue reading →

Tags: aquafaba, cinnamon, dessert, food, macarons, recipe, vegan, vegetarian

Comments 1 Comment
Categories aquafaba, desserts, gluten-free, vegan

Strawberry Buttercream and Lemon Curd Dacquoise

8 Aug

One of my favorite macarons I’ve made were strawberry lemonade flavored. Since it’s almost my birthday, I thought it would be really fun to combine those flavors in a dacquoise. This recipe isn’t quite as rich as my last one, but equally as flavorful. It also uses aquafaba in every layer, which I find really exciting!

Be sure to check out the vegan meringue Facebook group for more amazing aquafaba recipes and Aquafaba.com for frequently asked questions.

Continue reading →

Tags: aquafaba, dacquoise, dessert, food, lemon, recipe, strawberry, vegan, vegetarian

Comments 5 Comments
Categories desserts, gluten-free, vegan

Hazelnut Pesto

7 Aug

I grew a successful pot of basil this year, all from seeds. I’ve always purchased basil already started then moaned at how straggly and thin the plants grew throughout the summer. But not this year! I tossed in the seeds and now have a thriving, bushy plant!

I had leftover roasted hazelnuts from making my dacquoise and I figured “hey, throw them in the pesto, can’t hurt.” It’s been quite a while since I had pine nut pesto, but I can tell the hazelnuts have a different complexity to them. If you don’t have hazelnuts on hand, pine nuts or walnuts would work just as well!

Continue reading →

Tags: dinner, food, hazelnut, italian, pesto, plant-based, recipe, vegan, vegetarian

Comments 2 Comments
Categories dips, gluten-free, Italian, vegan

Hazelnut Almond Dacquoise with Espresso Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache

5 Aug

I’ve been planning this in my head for almost a full month now. This is my 100th post on my blog, and I’m so thrilled to share it!
I finally got the hazelnuts last night and I was excited I could barely sleep. This is definitely something you should plan ahead for, or have a whole day devoted to cooking. I blanched my nuts and ground them the night before and prepped my buttercream the day before that. I use homemade aquafaba which may be a bit stronger than the canned kind – be sure it’s thick before attempting this. The ganache should be made close to when you start putting it together, but try not to pour it on warm as it will melt the buttercream. This recipe for vegan Italian Meringue Buttercream would be an excellent choice on this if you have the time to make it!

This recipe is highly adapted (read:made easier) from here, which I believe was originally published by America’s Test Kitchen here. Lisa Masaar originally posted her veganized version of the recipe in the Vegan Meringue Facebook group here. I adapted it from there, partially to imitate Sweet Maresa’s beautiful creations

Continue reading →

Tags: almond, aquafaba, cake, chocolate, dacquoise, dessert, food, hazelnut, meringue, recipe, vegan

Comments 31 Comments
Categories desserts, gluten-free, vegan

Cream Cheese

31 Jul

Since making Nina’s vegan butter a few days ago, I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if I added cashew cream to the mixture. When I get ideas like this in my head, they tend to stick there until I actually make them. Some might call it “obsessive”, I call it “dedicated.”

I never think to plan ahead to soak my cashews, so I boiled them for 15 minutes to soften them for blending. This recipe will be much easier for you if you have a high powered blender – I only have a Ninja and it worked well.
I also added a few more ingredients to increase the “tang” for the cream cheese. It might seem really tangy originally but it will mellow a bit in the fridge. There isn’t a great substitute for the vegan lactic acid powder, but it’s not that expensive to purchase on Amazon or Modernist Pantry and it will really kick up your vegan mac and cheese! You can try 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice for a similar acidic flavor.

Continue reading →

Tags: aquafaba, cashews, cream cheese, food, plant-based, recipe, vegan, vegetarian

Comments 30 Comments
Categories breakfast, dips, gluten-free, vegan

Lazy Samoas

27 Jul

A few Christmases ago I received Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and it sat on my shelf for months before I finally opened it up. Once I did, I baked as many of the recipes as I could and sent them off to work with my husband. The consensus thus far is that the caramel pecan bars are the best, but these are a close second. Here’s where to buy it!!

I decided to try using aquafaba instead of flax egg in these and I wasn’t quite sure it would work. To my surprise, it worked perfectly and resulted in a fluffy and chewy cookie, as opposed to the dense flax – egg cookie. If you loved the covered shortbread girl scout cookies by the same name, you will love these, plus they’re way easier to make!

Continue reading →

Tags: aquafaba, chocolate, coconut, cookie, dessert, food, plant-based, recipe, samoas, vegan, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, vegetarian

Comments Leave a Comment
Categories american, desserts, vegan

Lentil Soup

13 Jul

Some days I really love cooking and I enjoy spending the time chopping and sautéing and preparing something fresh for my family. Other days I really enjoy throwing everything in a pot and watching Netflix. This recipe is for the latter days.