Individual Pumpkin Pies in Baby Food Jars

I'm currently obsessed with desserts made in baby food jars. I have been collecting my daughter's baby food jars and using them to serve individual desserts at parties. Idea actually came after seeing these cute little mango pannacottas that Sia @ Monsoon Spice served for her son's birthday. I fell in love with her clicks and the idea of reusing baby food jars and started to store them instead of recycling them.

I made individual cheesecake parfaits for my daughter's first birthday. They were instant hit at the party. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures of them. Will definitely plan to make them soon and post it here for my own future reference.

I made these individual pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving party. This is more like a parfait with the flavors of pumpkin pie -- crispy graham cracker layer, sweet pumpkin pudding layer, crunchy candy/ toffee layer, creamy cinnamon-whipped cream layer. 

After making this pumpkin tiramisu which had a homemade cake layer along with the pumpkin pudding layer, I wanted to make something that was quick and easy to make. I also wanted to add different textures to the parfait which is why I added some crunchy, sweet candy bits as a layer.

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Pumpkin Cake Muffins (Eggless Recipe)

I wanted to use up some of the pumpkin puree I had left after making a dessert for Thanksgiving (recipe for Individual no-bake pumpkin pie coming up soon).  I browsed through Pinterest board and found these delicious Pumpkin Cake doughnuts recipe from King Arthur Flour.

I don't have a standard size doughnut pan, so I made them into muffins instead. Also since I only had 1cup of pumpkin puree left, I adjusted the quantitiesof the ingredients accordingly. Original recipe had 3 eggs and with my downsizing the recipe I had to use 2 which I comfortably substituted with egg replacer powder. 

I found the muffins to be a little too sweet to my liking. I think the next time I make it I will reduce the sugar quantity by ¼cup. I should have smoothed the tops of the muffins before baking, they turned out a little rustic looking :-)

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Pumpkin Tiramisu (Eggless Recipe)

Blogging Marathon# 34: Week 3/ Day 2
Theme: Desserts with Vegetables
Dish: Pumpkin Tiramisu

If you are still thinking of what to make for Thanksgiving dessert, then here is a perfect recipe for you. I made this couple of weeks ago for our (very) early Thanksgiving party. After that party I realized that we don't really have to wait for Thanksgiving to give thanks to people we love and care about, it can be and should be done any time.

I was asked to bring a dessert and I thought something with pumpkin will be appropriate. I found a recipe for Pumpkin Tiramisu on Martha Stewart's site and I planned to make it. Recipe used uncooked pumpkin puree for layering with the lady fingers. I wasn't sure if it would be too pumpkiny, so I scratched that recipe. Then I found vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli's Vegan Pumpkin Tiramisu and after reading through the mostly positive reviews, I made it for the party.

This dessert is a little time consuming to make, but it totally worth the effort. Pumpkin crème layer can be made at least 2 days ahead and kept in the refrigerator until ready to use. Once the cakes are baked and the trifle is made, it needs to be refrigerated for at least 3~4 hours or overnight to set. The original recipe uses whipped coconut cream to make it completely vegan, but I used regular whipping cream since I never whipped coconut milk and didn't want to take try my luck at this party.

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No Knead Swedish Cardamom Bread

Vegan Mofo Day 27:

This is the recipe for the Holiday Braid Bread I had mentioned in my Thanksgiving post. Recipe is from Vegetarian Times magazine and has won 1st place in "Holiday flavors around the world contest" and I can say that this recipe deserves to win the 1st place, hands down. The winner, Celia Ozereko, modified an old Swedish family recipe by getting rid of all the eggs and butter and making it a no-knead bread. It tastes amazing, we polished off half the loaf in one sitting. It is slightly sweet with a nice spicy kick from the cardamom, I bet no one can eat just one piece. Do try this out this holiday season. I'm sure I'll making it many many times.

Ingredients (makes 2 loaves):

All purpose Flour - 5¼ cups

Flaxseed Meal - 2tbsp

Active Dry Yeast - 1tbsp

Salt - 1½tsp

Whole cardamom seeds - 1½tsp, coarsely ground with a mortar and pestle

Almond Milk - 2 cups, plus more for brushing the loaf (I used soy milk and it worked fine)

Agave nectar (or Maple syrup)- 1/3 cup

Canola oil - 1/3 cup

Demerera sugar (Sugar in the raw) - 2tbsp, for sprinkling

Method:

• Stir together almond smilk (soy milk), flax seeds meal, agave nectar, oil, yeast, salt and cardamom in a large bowl. Add flour, and mix thoroughly with the wooden spoon.
• Cover with lid or plastic wrap (I draped the bowl with kitchen towel for extra sealing), let stand for 2½ hours at room temperature.
• Transfer the bowl to the fridge and let rest overnight.
• Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. Remove half of the dough from the refrigerator (reserve the other half for later; dough keeps good for up to 5 days in the fridge).
• Divide dough into 3 equal pieces, roll each piece into 18" long rope on a floured surface.
• Place dough ropes side by side 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Pinch ends together and tuck under. Loosely braid dough ropes, then pinch ends together.
• Cover braided loaf with kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375ºF. Brush top of the loaf with soy milk and sprinkle generously with sugar.
• Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Thanksgiving Dinner for Two

This is a quick post with pics of the dishes I made for Thanksgiving dinner. It was quiet with just the 3 of us and I didn't want any leftovers since I'm going to have company today. I made stuffed Acorn Squash (inspired from DK's recipe), Mashed Potatoes & Stuffing. For dessert I made 2 servings of Mini Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake tarts (recipe adapted from here). Here are few photos, will post the recipes and more pics soon. I've to get the house cleaned up before my guests come over. See you soon. Hope all of you have a wonderful holiday weekend.