Vegan Funfetti Cheesecake Bites {No-Bake + GF}

Vegan Funfetti Cheesecake
Bites {No-Bake + GF}
Summer break is winding down and, as expected, I have done
about half the things I said I was going to do. I have made a
total of ZERO baby mobiles, even though we have friends who
popping out new babies left and right. I have also made a
total of ZERO yarn wall hangings even though my Pinterest is
lousy with saved projects. I’ve also read zero books but did
read the entirety of the latest issues of Vanity Fair and Bon
Appetit so that’s something, right? The good news is that
along with the laundry list of things I didn’t do this summer
break is a list of things I did do!
Of the things I did this summer (in no particular order of
importance):
1. Caught up on all episodes of UnReal
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Caught up on all episodes of The Good Wife
Caught up on season 3 of The Great British Baking Show
Made rainbow bagels from scratch
Slept 9 hours IN ONE NIGHT!
Watched 8 movies (yes, some of those included movies
involving Tinkerbell and friends, but hey, they were
full length feature films so they count).
Snuggled with children for hours on end
Taught youngest babe to play ‘peek a boo’
Drank an espresso and tonic (it was shockingly very
good).
Went to The Broad Museum in downtown LA
11. Went to Palm Springs with beloved dear friend and NO
CHILDREN
12. Finally met Shannon Goldberg, of The Nosher, in real
life (and to no one’s surprise, she is a complete
delight).
So, you see, I’ve actually accomplished quit a lot if you
really think about it. It’s like my social worker sister,
Brene Brown says, we got to focus on what we accomplish in the
day rather than the things we do not. A person can really feel
accomplished when ignoring the list of things one didn’t
complete instead of the things we did accomplish.
Another thing on the ‘accomplish’ list is the recipe for these
little vegan cheesecake bites. I’ve seen countless recipes for
vegan cheesecake and I’ve always wanted to try it. They make
the perfect parve dessert for a meat Shabbat or holiday meal
and they are raw so NO BAKING. Hallelujah! I hope you really
like them. I was inspired by the vegan goddess that is Dana
over at The Minimalist Baker. If you don’t know her stuff,
well, I’m just gonna assume you’ve been in a coma for years
because that’s the only conceivable reason I could understand
for not knowing her.
Happy no baking!
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:32]
S’mores Trifle:
+all-delicious
Non-dairy
It’s about time Shannon Sarna got her decadent hands on a
guest post for this here blog. Shannon write for The Nosher
and is the, in my mind, official Queen of Challah. I’m so
grateful to her for working her magic on this here delicious
dessert for Jewhungry. Enjoy!
S’mores trifle
Oh the dreaded pareve dessert. Is there anything worse?
I often bemoan bad non-dairy desserts above all else. I even
keep a list of go-to non-dairy desserts including my absolute
favorite: Hershey’s Chocolate Cake made with Hershey’s Special
Dark Cocoa Powder, one of my favorite ingredients when baking.
Inspiration occurs even when disaster strikes. And it happened
a few months ago. I made my cakes as usual and then: crash!
One of the cakes fell on the floor. So when life hands you a
smashed cake, I always say, make a trifle.
This may have started as a disaster but it ended up being one
of the most delicious and rich nondairy creations I have made.
This is not one recipe, but really three recipes to make. It
may seem like a bit of effort, but the result is well worth
all the patchke-ing you will do in your kitchen. It’s great
for a big potluck, Shabbat or even a birthday dinner. It
definitely feeds a crowd and I think would look pretty
fetching with some colorful candles on top.
INGREDIENTS
½ prepared recipe for Hershey’s Chocolate Cake baked in a 9”
pan
1-2 cups graham cracker crumbs
½ prepared recipe for Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse from The New
York Times
½ prepared recipe for marshmallow frosting from Martha Stewart
Suggested equipment: trifle dish and mini blow torch
DIRECTIONS
Prepare chocolate mousse and cake up to 24 hours ahead of
time.
Layer 1/3 of chocolate cake crumbles into bottom of trifle
bowl. Add 1/3 of chocolate mousse, 1/3 of graham cracker
crumbs and then 1/3 of marshmallow frosting. Repeat with two
more layers.
After you finish the top layer of marshmallow frosting,
lightly and quickly blow torch the top layer of frosting.
If you don’t have a blow torch you can either stick the pan
underneath your broiler for one minute – only one minute – or
simply top with additional graham cracker crumbs.
Bourbon Blondies with Vegan
Dark Chocolate Glaze
Guilt is a funny, funny thing. Not so much, ‘haha, funny’, but
more in the ‘I’m so uncomfortable right now that the only
thing I can do is awkwardly giggle’, funny.
As a school
counselor, I’ve been witness to guilt more often then I would
have liked.
I’ve been in one too many meetings between
parents and children where guilt has been the biggest, baddest
unspoken, third-party visitor. Whether parent to child or
child to parent, guilt is an ugly and regularly-used weapon in
the blood sport that is parenting a teen. As a result, I’ve
built up a pretty great tolerance to guilt. I’ve got some
serious (and invisible) Wonder Woman-esque bracelets that are
pretty awesome at deflecting folks’ attempts at guilting me
into doing whatever it is they want me to do. I’m pretty
proud of my invisible guilt-reflecting bracelets (their gold
with hot pink “W”s on them) but lately, I think I’ve been
forgetting to put them on before heading out to face my day.
Lately, guilt has been showing up for dinner at my place on a
pretty regular basis. Specifically, every time the kiddo is
watching TV. Actually, we don’t own a TV (and not in the
condescending, “oh, we don’t own a TV”, kinda way but more in
the “I ain’t paying for cable” kinda way), but we do own an
iPad, two laptops and two iPhones. And in this venture of my
life, this time where it’s just me and the kid against the
world, the iPad has become my co-parent (well, the iPad AND
Beyoncé, but more on that at a later date). The kid has seen
so much TV lately that my guilt is just overcoming me. In
fact, the other day I found myself quickly changing the radio
station from NPR to ANYTHING else as the segment that was
about to come on was about toddlers, TV viewing, and brain
development. I seriously panicked and was all, “Sh*t!! Change
the station, Whit. CHANGE IT!!”
Naked Blondies
I know the research. I studied early childhood development in
social work school. I’ve been trained in mindful parenting by
the Center for New Psychoanalysis. I’m a school counselor. I
actually know a few things about this topic and parenting in
general.
I’ve found myself fervently supporting and
reassuring single parents or working parents that they are
doing a great job and that 90% of the things they are feeling
guilty over just aren’t worth the anxiety. But man, do I suck
at reassuring myself.
I think back at ALL the TV watching my brother and I did as
latch-key kids growing up in the 80s. I think about how
successful my brother is, as a parent, a husband and in his
work-life, and I think about myself as well and I think, “We
ended up pretty OK, right?!” The kid watches Thomas the Train
in the morning while eating breakfast so that I can get myself
ready. She watches Sesame Street so I can do the laundry,
cook dinner and clean up. She plays too, but she watches TV.
This year of unplanned, temporary single parenting status has
resulted in my lowering of certain boundaries I thought I’d
never ease up on. I’m not sure what’s right or what’s wrong
but I do know ALL the words to Thomas the Train’s opening
credits so there’s that.
The magic.
OK, so just in case you’re not in a grain-free, sugar-free
post-New Year’s diet spiral (or just in case you are), I went
ahead and made you my FAVORITE shabbat dinner dessert . . .
brown sugar brownies, otherwise known as blondies. Then I went
ahead and upped them SEVERAL notches and poured some non-dairy
(a.k.a. parve and vegan) dark chocolate glaze on top. This
recipe is so simple it’s embarrassing. But it’s also so
delicious, your dinner guests will rave and ask you for the
recipe (and here’s where you send them to the blog). Happy
Monday!
Bourbon Blondies with Vegan Dark Chocolate Glaze:
Ingredients for Blondies
1 1/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or Earth Balance, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions for Blondies
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly
grease a 9 x 9 x 1-3/4 inch pan.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set
aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg
and vanilla until smooth. Add the bourbon in and stir
until well combined.
2. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread
evenly in prepared pan.
3. Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when
gently pressed.
4. Let cook. Pour glaze over blondies and let cool for
roughly 30 minutes before cutting with sharp knife.
Ingredients for Vegan Chocolate Glaze
8 oz. vegan chocolate chips
½ cup coconut milk
1 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
2 tbsp strong brewed coffee
Directions for Glaze:
1. Place the chocolate, coconut milk, and coconut oil in a
metal mixing bowl.
2. Fill a small saucepan with 1 inch of water. Bring to a
boil. Place the bowl of chocolate on top of the
saucepan. Once the chocolate begins to melt, whisk the
ingredients together until all of the chocolate and
coconut oil is melted and the mixture is combined and
smooth.
3. Add in the coffee and stir.
4. Pour glaze onto prepared blondies and let cool.