yesterday’s marshmallow fluff was intended to be more like fudge. I think I would need to either use more maple syrup or cook it to a higher temp to achieve that – future experimentation !
I had dropped out about 24 blobs of the fluffy onto wax paper hoping it would possibly harder if I put it into the freezer…
 Looks great but is still sticky to touch.
Today, I melted some organic bittersweet chocolate chips in hopes of maybe creating a chocolate – but the fluff is too soft.

So now I have decided to try to create a cookie base to maybe slide the blobs onto and maybe get a bit more chocolate on them, or just enjoy a great tasting but sticky mess!
Chick pea orange spice cookies

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
¾ cup chick pea flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger powder
mix dry ingredients then add:
2 tablespoons coconut oil
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 tablespoons orange juice
Mix and roll into a log about 3 cm in diameter  and chill for at least 15 minutes.
Slice into 24 discs and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.
bake 6-8 minutes at 325 degrees F.

 
Let cool on rack and flip over to place the fluffy blobs onto the bottom of each cookie.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final look is super cute, but they will stay frozen until I serve them and they will be slightly messy.
So whoever is coming to my place in the next few weeks will get a chance to try these!
 
 

Why vegan? No reason.
I’m an omnivore with vegetarian tendencies but with many friends who have more limited diets.
So I like to play.
And after I finished up with bridal clients ( days jobs), I was able to have some fun in the kitchen today!
Here are today’s adventures without further ado!
1st-avocado chocolate mousse:

4 ripe avocado-peeled and pitted
¼-½ cup cocoa
¼-⅓ cup maple syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla
Put it all into a big mixing bowl and puree it until it’s all mixed. Start with the minimum for the cocoa and syrup.
Give it a taste and add more cocoa or maple syrup if you like!
2-Maple Marshmallow Fluff

Chickpea juice from 1 can of precooked chickpeas ( approx 1 cup)
Approx 3/4-1 cup maple syrup
Heat the maple syrup without stirring, in a heavy saucepan (with room for it to bubble up ) until it hits 260degrees on a candy thermometer or forms a soft ball when a tiny bit is dropped in cold water.
While this is reaching its happy place, beat the chick pea juice on high speed into a stiff-peaked meringue.
Continue beating and pour the maple syrup in a slow stream, into the meringue. Continue to beat it until it’s either turned into fudge ( which was the original plan) or becomes and amazing marshmallow fluff!
Part 3- peel clementines, or chop bananas, berries, or any other fruit and have ready to add in!

Assembly- use 4 awesome bowls/wine glasses/anything that will show the layers!
Option 1- mousse then fluff, add fruit on top.
Option 2-fluff, then mousse the fruit.
Option 3- fluff, mousse, then marble the two; top with fruit.
Pics of that laters!

We tried the French Press Vanilla Stout a few days ago and @wtl rated it an abomination. I was not so harsh, I deemed it bread worthy.

So I poured it into a bowl and added about 3 cups of white flour ( it’s what I had on hand). I also added about ¼ cup cocoa and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon.
I stirred it and left it to percolate. 
For 2 days.
I was really busy.
This morning I looked at it – added enough flour to get a good kneaded bread texture.
Then instead of trying to let it rise any further, I figured just bake it already.
350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
The top sounded hollow so I took it out.
But it was not really full baked.
So I sliced it like biscotti and baked it for about 10 minutes each side.
Icing sugar and vanilla glaze when it came out.
Not too bad.

Some days I need to settle my molecules with the calming effects of baking. Building heat is off making it hard to focus on work. So dual benefit of warming part of the space plus…cookies! 

Original recipe :

Oven 350 degrees; bake on parchment lined cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes ; makes 30 cookies.
My variation- same baking info:

• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups ground almonds/almond flour
• 2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons white chocolate mini chips 

66 calories per cookie.
Enjoy.

Random but oh so good:

• Onion
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Butternut squash

Amounts- use what feels right 🙂
Above veggies:chop and sauté  in the order listed-I used olive oil.
Spices:

• garam masala
• Paprika
• Salt and pepper

To taste!
Add:
1 large can each:

• Roma tomatoes
• Mixed beans ( drained)
• Corn ( peaches and cream- or any type of kernel) ( drained)

Cover and let simmer until the veggies are soft.
Take a potato masher and squish some of the veggies and beans randomly. Stir it up.
Serve!

Next day breakfast:
Scramble eggs and add a few scoops of the random stew.
Top with cheese.

Ok – I thought I had a lovely post about the Cherpumple adventures in the past, but apparently not.
So, here goes:

You’ll need:

3 cake mixes – whatever brand you like and feel free to get creative with your combinations!  I use: chocolate, white and yellow.
3 pre baked pies – full size pies is good, but you can go smaller if you prefer.  If you want to make your own pies – that’s fine too – make sure they are cooled and ready to be deployed!  I use:  cherry, pumpkin and apple… < Cher-Pump-Le>
3 spring form pans – large enough for the pies and the cake batter, or 1 pan and plan to bake each one over a couple of days – this is fine!

The concept:

For each layer, take a pre-baked pie, remove it from the pie plate and place it in the centre of the spring form pan.  Mix up the cake batter according to the box, and pour the batter over the pie.  Spread it out and tap the pan to make sure it flows down and around the pie completely, removing as much air bubbles as possible.
Bake according to the directions, but bake it a bit longer – I usually aim for 55 minutes.
Let it cool, remove the sides of the springform pan, then chill it in the fridge before taking it off the bottom of the pan.
Repeat for each layer.  Cool the layers completely before assembling and letting them chill overnight is even better!

My combination is:

• Chocolate cake and cherry pie
• white cake and pumpkin pie
• yellow cake and apple pie

But really – do what you like!
Icing – yep – use what you like – pre-made, make your own, whatever works for you.
frost between the layers and slather it all over!
Decorate in whatever fashion you like!
Chill again to let it feel nice and solid.

I  did start with a simple chocolate cake mix, cherry pie filling and premade vanilla icing. Sometimes it’s just gotta be that way.
Once the cupcakes were baked and cooled, I cut the little funnel shapes to give room for the cherry pie filling.

Then I dug out the one icing tip I have and taped it securely into the bottom cut corner of a large ziplock bag. ( I know/ so not eco friendly today, but I’m using a car sharing service to drive later today, so that’s something, right?)

I blobbed the cherries into the divets and then piped the icing around. And now they sit in the fridge chillin’ until it’s party time later today.

Here’s what I did with the removed cake:

 
And if you are wondering why “Non-Mutant” BFcakes – see the mutant ones here…it’s all about your audience!