Vegan Fruitcake Recipe

A lot of things are better with booze: Wii Sports, rum raisin cupcakes, hockey, watermelon, booze...  It pains me to say this, but fruitcake is better without the booze.  I created two vegan fruitcake recipes, one with rum and one without.  The one without the rum won the hearts of my family.  

This recipe was adapted from Alton Brown's recipe, which can be found here.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons milled flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup currants

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup dried blueberries

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

Zest of one lemon, chopped coarsely

Zest of one orange, chopped coarsely

1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped

2 cups unfiltered apple juice

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 to 1/2 cup pecan pieces (optional)

Preparation
Combine dried fruits, candied ginger, both zests, flax seed, and 3 tablespoons of water. Add 1 cup of apple juice and allow fruit to soak overnight in a covered bowl.  Alternatively, you can microwave the mixture for 5 minutes to re-hydrate the fruit.

Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, coconut oil, water, 1 cup of apple juice and spices. Bring mixture to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.  Cool the mixture for at least 15-30 minutes.

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients and sift them into the fruit mixture. Quickly bring the batter together with a large wooden spoon.  The batter will be very, very thick.  You will get a good workout while working the batter.  Fold in the nuts.

Divide batter in half and spoon it into 2 8-inch non-stick loaf pans.  Bake for 40-50 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out mostly clean, it's done. If not, bake another 5 minutes, and check again.

Allow to cool completely before turning out from pan.

**Note: Feel free to mix and match the fruits as you see fit.  Trader Joe’s didn’t have currents for my first batch, so I used a combination of golden raisins and dried mango.  It turned out quite lovely.


 

Vegan Peanut Butter and Jelly Blondies

Ingredients

3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons milled flax seed
1 cup creamy peanut butter

¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¾ cup rice milk, room temperature

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup strawberry preserves or jelly

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8”x8” cake pan with greased parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the milled flax seed and water and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.

  

To the flax seed mixture, add the peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla.  (Tip - If you heat the peanut butter in microwave for 30-45 seconds.  It makes it much easier to work with.)  I used a spoon to combine all of my ingredients.  The batter gets a little thick so it was easier to use a spoon than a mixer.

Add the rice milk and combine thoroughly.

Sift together baking soda and flour.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  The mixture will be quite thick.

Spoon half of the batter into the lined cake pan.  I find it easiest to spread the batter with my hands since it is so thick.

Spread the preserves over the batter in the pan (as if you were spreading preserves on toast).

Spoon the remainder of the batter on top of the preserves.  Again, I found it easier to work the batter with my hands.

Bake for 22-28 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Vegan Chocolate-Covered Espresso Bean Blondies

Not everyone likes chocolate brownies, so I decided to make a blondie version of my chocolate-covered espresso bean brownies.

3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons milled flax seed

1/3 coconut oil, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup espresso or strong coffee
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate-covered espresso beans (cut into smaller pieces if they are large)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8”x8” cake pan with greased parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the milled flax seed and water and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.

To the flax seed mixture, add the sugar, coconut oil, vanilla, and espresso.  I used a spoon to combine all of my ingredients.  The batter gets a little thick so it was easier to use a spoon than to use a mixer.

Sift together the cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and flour.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  The mixture will be very thick.

When the wet and dry ingredients have been incorporated together, add the espresso beans and chocolate chips.

Spoon out the batter into the lined baking cake pan.

Bake for 28-32 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Vegan Chocolate Covered Espresso Bean Brownie Recipe

I have been making so many cupcakes lately that when I typed the name of this recipe, I accidentally typed "cupcakes" instead of "brownies", and that is the type of experience you have to look forward to when you make this recipe.  It's packed full of chocolate, sugar, and caffeine, but it isn't all bad because it has flax seeds and flax seeds lower cholesterol.  That makes them healthy, right?

I may not sleep tonight, but rest assured that these brownies are delicious.

Yeah, ok, maybe I should just go ahead and post the recipe before this stream of consciousness rant turns into some sort of manifesto.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons milled flax seed
1 ¼ cups sugar
1/3 cup coconut oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ cup espresso or strong coffee
 ½ cup vegan chocolate chips

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt

½ cup chocolate covered espresso beans (cut into pieces if they are large)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8”x8” cake pan with greased parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the milled flax seed and water and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.

To the flax seed mixture, add the sugar, coconut oil, and vanilla.  I used a spoon to combine all of my ingredients.  The batter gets a little thick so it was easier to use a spoon than a mixer.

Combine the hot espresso and the chocolate chips in order to melt the chocolate chips.  Add the espresso/chocolate chip mixture to the wet ingredients.  Melting the chocolate chips in this way makes the brownies extra fudgy.  

Sift together the cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and flour.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  The mixture will be quite thick.

When the wet and dry ingredients have been incorporated together, add the espresso beans.

Spoon out the batter into the lined baking cake pan.

Bake for 28-32 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  (Since it is vegan, you can underbake them just slightly to make the brownies a little more moist)

 


Eat the whole pan and never sleep again!

Vegan Rum-Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

In my efforts to incorporate more booze into my life, I made cornbread muffins with a hint of bourbon.  This time I went for dark rum in a chocolate cupcake.  They are delicious.


Cupcake Ingredients
1 cup demerara sugar*
1/3 cup coconut oil (or veg oil)**
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup rice milk***

1/2 cup dark rum
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup golden raisins, raisins, or chocolate chips (or a combination)


Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin pan paper baking cups.

Beat together the coconut oil and sugar. Mix in the rice milk, cider vinegar, dark rum, and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, combine the cocoa powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour.  When all of the dry ingredients have been combined, slowly add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients.

When the wet and dry ingredients have been incorporated together, mix in your raisins/chocolate chips.

Portion out the batter into the pre-lined muffin pan.

Bake for 18-22 minutes.

I topped mine with buttercream to which I added the zest of four small limes and the juice of one lime.

*I think that demerara sugar adds a richness to the recipe.  If you don't have demerara sugar, use 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar.

**I use coconut oil because I like the texture and body that it adds to the recipe, but canola or vegetable oil would also work. 

*** You can use any milk substitute for this.  I use rice milk because it's what I use on my cereal.

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