Vegan Ambrosia

You know when you have a lot left over from your farm share, you're due to pick up the next one, and you have a chocolate craving? What?  It happens to me all the time. This is what came out of that last combination of circumstances night.  I was not intending to turn this into a blog post, and so I apologize for the paltry poor quality photos.  With modifications, the recipe for the cake recipe was drawn from one on   Yummly , the frosting from a recipe on  Nouveau Raw . Cake: 3-5 small  beets (enough to make about 1-1/2 cups when cooked down) water to cover beets for boiling unsweetened applesauce (if necessary, to fill in for the beets) 1/2 cup soy milk (or other nondairy milk), unsweetened 1 tsp apple cider vinegar 1/4-1/2 cup agave syrup (or other liquid sugar) to taste (I used only 1/4 in my first try, but I'd add a bit more next time) 1 tsp  vanilla extract ...

What can I say?  Spinach pie, made with cashew/tofu ricotta and lots of garlic. Filling: Half pound of baby spinach 2 Tbsp chopped garlic 1Tbsp olive oil 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight (or at least 3 hours) 1/8 cup lemon juice 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 tsp salt 1-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp onion powder 1 tsp dried basil 1/8-1/3 cup water, to facilitate blending 12 oz (one package) silken tofu Saute spinach with olive oil and garlic (or have a willing friend do it, as I did).  Blend next nine ingredients (cashews through water) together until smooth.  Crumble silken tofu into mixture and mix by hand. Stir cashew/tofu mixture into cooked spinach.  Lay out defrosted phyllo dough (store-bought is all I know how to use) sheets flat.  Take one at a time, and assemble spanakopita as follows:  Fold phyllo dough in thirds and drop a large spoonful of filling near the top edge. Fold the top corner down at a d...

I've been drooling over cashew-based raw foods for years, my favorite being the raw vegan "cheesecake" at places like Ecopolitan in Minneapolis and Cafe Gratitude in California.  I imagined that these foods involved more magic than I could muster, and so I never attempted to make them myself. Last week, as always, my mother was making the ever-popular Yule Log (or Bûche de Noël for you francophiles) for her annual pre-Christmas family dinner.  I have been making an additional dessert for some years now, usually an apple or pecan pie.  This year I wanted to do something different that utilized the fresh, local fruit that I crave whenever I visit California.  I decided to make a fruit tart with a custard filling much like a vegan cheesecake.  It turns out there is no magic, just a little preparation and some trial and error. I'll do my best to reproduce the recipe here, but since it's a result of a lot of eyeballing and taste-testing, you may want to...