dessert – zezoo cooks

Blueberry cupcakes with blueberry cream cheese frosting

american, baking, birthday, celebration, cupcakes and muffins, dessert, freezer friendly, frosting, seasonal, snack, summer, sweet, themed, vegetarian

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Another no-brainer of a selection for my seasonal cupcake project – blueberries for July! No other berry, nay fruit, is better than blueberries in the month of July…at least until the peaches take over come August.

I’ve made a lot of blueberry muffins and crumb cakes over the years, and they all have a more rustic, wholesome quality to them, which I totally adore, but for these cupcakes, I wanted something more decidedly “cake” like, something more ‘dessert’ and less ‘snack’. This recipe below fits the bill perfectly. Please don’t skip the streusel-ish brown sugar and cinnamon topping – it adds amazing crunch and a really unique texture contrast with the plush cupcake and the smooth, creamy frosting! If you didn’t know already, the combination of blueberry, brown sugar and cinnamon is to die for. Now you know!

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Vegan Rose and Pistachio Cake

american, cake, cake art, celebration, dairy free, dessert, freezer friendly, frosting, indian, maharashtrian, make ahead, snack, spring, summer, sweet, vegan, vegetarian, weeknight, whole grain

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As much as I love vegan cake recipes, many times they involve strange ingredients (like flax eggs instead of regular eggs, or things like tapioca starch, and so forth). It’s most likely my ignorance on the matter because folks make wonders with these things, but my problem with them is the fact that they are substitutions, and not organically vegan.

I usually draw the line at using an extra banana or two instead of eggs in a banana-based baked good, like a banana bread, or a double chocolate banana bread, or pancakes and waffles, but beyond that I don’t find it appealing at least at this point. Which is why I was so happy to find this inherently vegan cake recipe in a handout I got at a cooking class somewhere in the Caribbean, and then spotted a variation of it on smitten kitchen!

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Vegan Chai-spice Pumpkin Bundt Cake

american, baking, black tea, breakfast, cake, california, dairy free, dessert, fall, freezer friendly, indian, make ahead, seasonal, snack, sweet, thanksgiving, vegan, vegetarian, weeknight, whole grain, winter, winter tea

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I wasn’t the biggest pumpkin purée fan all these years, and the culprit was definitely its association with cinnamon and “pumpkin spice”-everything. I don’t hate cinnamon but in the US, like clockwork, everyone craves cinnamon come September and it just don’t stop until New Years!. Anything made with pumpkin purée (store-bought) is just a cinnamon-scented assault.

But then I made pumpkin purée at home for the first time (thanks Instant Pot!) and ate a small portion of it warm, drizzled with coconut butter and just a dusting of cinnamon+nutmeg, and I was converted. I made pancakes with it, these brownies were wonderful too (vegan and gluten-free!), and then felt ready to graduate to cakes.

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Puran Poli

celebration, dessert, dinner, gudi padwa, indian, lunch, maharashtrian, main, make ahead, spring, sweet, themed, vegetarian, whole grain

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When my husband suggested that I attempt Puran Poli for Gudi Padwa (Indian New Year) this year, I really thought he was kidding. It is one of those recipes tucked into the “Advanced Cookery” category that only moms or grandmas attempt. I was obviously not prepared to take this on, and this became even clearer when my mother, kind and encouraging as always, started suggesting alternative recipes that I can make with the Puran Poli prep!

I remained cautiously optimistic and I’m happy to report that it turned out really well for a first time! My 3 yo niece recognized it to be Puran Poli and said that she loved it, so I’m going to place this experiment in the “success” category.

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“Holi Hai!”

celebration, dairy free, dessert, drinks, grain free, indian, seasonal, vegan, vegetarian, winter

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Think “Color Run 5K”. Now multiply by 50,000 and replace “run” with dancing, giggling and frolic. And that’s Holi in India for you! “Holi Hai!” translates to “It’s Holi!” and is the warcry of one of the funnest Indian festivals, usually around the beginning of March, to celebrate the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil. Part 1 of Holi is celebrated late in the evening with huge bonfires, where people burn statues of a demon princess. The only “ritual” on the following day (Part 2) is to have fun and lots of it: friends and family visit each other and throw colors on each other, hose each other down with colored water, and other such activities.

IMG_6102(1) — A few of the many colors that will cover the streets of India *(and also some in the United States)*

Music, dancing and good food is involved, as with most Indian festivals.

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