Vegan Lavender Berry Cream Pie

Here I am on my lavender kick again. Seriously, it came to me in the middle of the night. God knows why, I was unconsciously trying to think of a dessert to bring to Christmas dinner, and it was one of those aha! moments that I have every now and then. I was thinking about lavender for some reason, probably because I had just ordered the local lavender products for the store that day which include lavender shortbread cookie and lavender brownie mixes. I thought the lavender cookie mix would be a great gift for someone, and what else you could use it for besides making cookies. The package suggests it as a topping for a fruit cobbler. And then I thought, why make my own lavender PIE CRUST?! And veganize it. GENIUS. I was so excited it took me a while to fall asleep after that. I began to think of possible filling combinations and a mixed berry one sounded best to start off with. Not very winter or fall-like, but I couldn't think of any good fall fruits that would pair well with lavender. Since fresh berries are terribly expensive right now because it's not the season, I figured Trader Joe's would come to the rescue with their $3 bags of mixed frozen berries--blueberries, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, and blackberries. Perfect.

After finding the perfect basic flaky pie crust recipe in The Garden of Vegan and doing some online research on what else you put into a pie filling, I was ready. I never really make pies so this was an adventure. A little of this and a little of that, and here is what I came up with... it turned out INCREDIBLE. Five stars, in my opinion (and those that tried it). The lavender isn't too overpowering, and is a nice compliment to the berries and vice-versa. And the lemon zest is perfect. It is really more of a summer pie, but who really cares. We need those antioxidants in the winter too! I'm so stoked on this. And that it's mostly a recipe I made up. One more to add to that book! Yes!!!

Vegan Lavender Berry Cream Pie

Serves approximately 8 people

For the Basic Flaky Pie Crust (adapted from The Garden of Vegan):

2 1/2 cups flour (I used half white and half whole wheat pastry)

1/3 cup dried lavender buds

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup Earth Balance margarine

6 Tbsp ice cold water

For the Berry Cream filling:

6 oz. non-hydrogenated Tofutti cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla bean

two 16 oz. bags defrosted mixed frozen berries (ie. blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc)

1/2 cup lavender sugar (or just add a few tablespoons of dried lavender to regular white sugar)

1/4 cup flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons grated lemon zest

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

-In a large bowl, stir together the flour, lavender, and salt.

-Cut the margarine into the flour mixture and when well mixed, add the water.

-Mix together until a dough forms. Knead for a minute or two.

-Divide the dough equally in half. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Roll one part of the dough out with a little flour to prevent sticking.

-Place into a glass pie dish.

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

-Soften the Tofutti cream cheese by placing it into the microwave for about 20 seconds, or let it sit out while you mix the berry filling. Mash the cream cheese with the vanilla bean and equally spread it over the bottom part of the pie crust.

-Rinse the defrosted mixed berries with a little water, draining out the extra juice.

-Combine the berries, sugar, flour, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl.

-Add berry mixture to pie shell.

-Roll out the second part of dough for your top crust.

-Add the top crust. I chose to do a lattice top for the crust, which seems more complicated than it is. I learned how to make it here. So pretty! You can do practically anything though. Using a cookie cutter, you can also make cute designs in the crust.

-Bake on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes.

-Cover pie with foil and bake for an addition 25 minutes. The crust should be lightly browned and the juices should bubble.

Once cooled, serve with some vanilla bean soy ice cream for the best dessert EVER!

Oh, and for other news, as I mentioned above, I'm now ordering some of the baking supplies at the grocery store I work at! Mainly cake, scone, and brownie mixes, baking chips, frostings, sparkling and dusting sugars, and other local products. I'm in the very beginning stages of learning what to do, so it's been a slow start, but I'm so excited for this opportunity. It needs a bit of a facelift, so I'll see what I can do. I look forward to getting in some new products and mixes, especially after I will be attending the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco next month! Only a few weeks away. I'm thrilled! Barefoot Contessa has attended them in the past, showcasing her cupcake and baking mixes for Stonewall Kitchen! I would crap my pants if I saw her...

So much food, so little time!

Many updates soon, I promise! So many other things have been occupying my time and trust me, the intention has been there, I just haven't been able to have the time photograph, eat, upload, post, and chat about all of the creations I've been making. So much food, so little time! I've been cooking and baking up a STORM the past week. Half have been from recipes I've found online or in books, and half have been a result of my own culinary imagination. Most were in spite of the holidays and giving treats as gifts to the ones I adore, but mainly I was just bitten by the baking bug.

Just to name a few:

-White chocolate rum raisin truffles

-White chocolate pistachio rosewater cardamom truffles

-Gingerbread truffles

-The best vegan banana bread with toasted coconut, extra bananas, and a chopped coconut curry chocolate bar inside

-Fig smooshed anise-almond vegan cookies

-Chocolate fig oatmeal bars

-Coconut cranberry pumpkin soup

-Tofu-beet burgers

-Roasted fingerling potatoes with dill and gorgonzola

-Fried plantains in a cinnamon lime sherry reduction

-Roasted butternut squash & parsnips with pomegranate molasses, cilantro, candied ginger

-Mango cranberry jalapeno chutney sauce with cilantro, lime, onions, and honey

And last but not least, my very favorite...

-VEGAN LAVENDER BERRY CREAM PIE! I made it up and it turned out so freaking amazing. I can't wait to share the recipe and talk about it!

And of course I feel like I'm forgetting something...

In the meantime, hope you all enjoy this last beautiful week of 2009. What a year! Health and happiness to everyone as we enter the next decade! January is going to be great.

Pumpkin S'mac

Invented by yours truly. It's rare that I actually make up my own dishes from scratch. Usually I tweak and add my own flair to things, but this, this is pretty much the product of a lot of foodie thinking. This is what happens when I meditate on a few ingredients and acquire inspiration throughout my days working at a grocery store and going out to dinner every now and then. I am so, so proud of this dish, I cannot lie. It turned out INCREDIBLE. I had so many ideas and ingredients I wanted to incorporate into creating a creamy pumpkin pasta dish and this was the final product:

(Pre-panko bread crumb broilage...)

How it turned out after put under the broiler a few seconds too long...

Yeah, so basically this is my dream dish come true. Freshly roasted pumpkin, orecchiette, sage, thyme, truffle oil, creamy comforting yumminess in a single-serve dish. The idea was inspired mainly from a dish that I always order at a local restaurant, a version of mac n' cheese made with truffle oil and some amazing smoked gouda cream sauce. And I wanted to be able to make it on my own, but take it to the next level. And that's exactly what I did. I also have to thank Country Living's Pumpkin-Sage Cream Sauce for inspiration otherwise it wouldn't have been the same...

Pumpkin S'mac

(Serves 1-2 people in a single-serve dish, or you can save for leftovers, or divide it up however the heck you'd like)

Roasting the Pumpkin:

-1/2 sugar pie pumpkin, deseeded, skin peeled, and cubed into 1/2" inch pieces

-1 teaspoon walnut or olive oil

-salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cube the sugar pie pumpkin and toss with the oil and a bit of salt to your liking. Place squash on a baking sheet and roast for about 20-25 minutes, until somewhat browned and crispy, or until you're able to pierce squash easily with a fork.

Meanwhile, make the sauce, and fill a medium sized pot with enough water to boil the amount of pasta you want to use (I used about 1/2 box of orecchiette) and put on "high" on the stove.

Pumpkin-Sage Truffle Cream Sauce:

-1 cup heavy cream

-1/2 cup pumpkin puree

-1/4 cup freshly grated grana padano Parmesan cheese (this stuff is BOMB, my new favorite Italian cheese, discovered thanks to an evening dining at Greens Restaurant in SF)

-1/2 cup any other cheese(s) that suits your fancy (I used a mix of smoked gouda, sharp white coastal cheddar, and a semi-firm goat cheese)

-16 sage leaves, sliced into thin strips

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper

-1 tablespoon truffle oil

Combine the cream, pumpkin puree, Parmesan, other cheeses, sage, salt, and pepper in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Simmer the mixture until slightly thickened, 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in truffle oil. Set aside until pasta is cooked.

Cooking the Pasta:

Once your pasta water is boiling and ready to go, add the orecchiette and a pinch of salt and boil according to directions (usually about 12 minutes, until al dente).

Putting it All Together:

Use any kind of oven-proof dish that you'd like (mine was ceramic and about 5x5 or something like that), place as much pasta and some roasted pumpkin that will comfortably fit into the dish and toss, and pour the pumpkin-sage sauce over that. I also added a little fresh thyme to mine as well, for some extra flavor. Now you could leave it at that and place it under the broiler for about 2-3 minutes to get a little crispy, or you can sprinkle some panko bread crumbs on top for an extra crunch, if you'd like. Just be careful and don't do what I did, which was putting it under the broiler for more than 1 minute because I smoked up the whole house and the fire alarm went off. I'll never do that again!

Take it out when it's ready and hot and prepare for your eyes to roll to the back of your head.

(Feedback is very much appreciated...)

Lavender Pumpkin Bread

Man oh man, have I been a busy bee. Finishing up school for the semester, and still trying to find time to bake is definitely a challenge. Last weekend I made a point to make this fabulous lavender pumpkin bread, recommended by a good friend of mine. And I am so, so glad I followed her advice.

If you love lavender (and pumpkin) like I do, then you'll definitely like this bread. It came out moist and very pumpkin-y, not too overpowered with a flowery fragrance. I ate almost an entire loaf and a half to myself over the course of a few mornings for breakfast, topped with some peanut butter. It would also be great with some cranberry cinnamon goat cheese. Lavender has been my culinary experiment over the past year, trying to incorporate it into as much as possible. Lavender salt on roasted vegetables, on top of the icing on chocolate cupcakes, mixed into soft cheeses, you name it. I eventually plan on infusing some olive oil with lavender. A local company makes lavender sugar and sells it at select grocery stores, and that is what I used for this particular recipe, but you can always add your own dried lavender to regular cane sugar. There are so many uses for lavender sugar! Lavender lemonade, lavender hot chocolate, lavender sugar cookies, lavender banana bread. I made some lavender hot chocolate this morning, with some pumpkin soymilk. It was heavenly! Here are some more lavender inspired recipes if you are so inclined... give it a try!

Lavender Pumpkin Bread from Little Sky Lavender

3 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup from whole wheat pastry flour)
2 cups Little Sky lavender sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 15-ounce canned pumpkin
(or about 2 cups homemade)
2/3 cup salad oil
3 eggs, slightly beaten

extra dried lavender

sugar crystals, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease well, two 9” by 5” loaf pans. In a large bowl, with fork, mix flour with next 5 ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and mix just until blended. Pour batter into pans. Sprinkle some dried lavender and sugar crystals on top, for a really nice finish.

Bake about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans and cool completely on racks. When cool, wrap each loaf and store at room temperature. Makes 2 loaves. (You can bake these in individual Bundt pans, as well. I personally used 3 disposable brown paper loaf pans and baked it a little less than an hour and they came out great. Awesome to give away as gifts, too!)

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On a side note, I was able to get out and see Fantastic Mr. Fox and I fell in love. The graphics, art, music, meditating foxes, the possum whom I share the same name with, ahhh genius, everything was very well done. Mr. Wes Anderson, you are a genius, and never cease to amaze me.

I had intentions on cooking and baking this afternoon, but studying and lethargy got in the way of that. I had some really yummy food today, but not much diversity. Hot oatmeal (made with dried coconut flakes, pumpkin soymilk, chopped date, cardamom, cinnamon) with fresh strawberries, bananas, and white chocolate peanut butter, pumpkin lavender hot chocolate, leftover sweet potato, mushroom, corn, and zucchini quesadillas that I made last night, vegan pumpkin pie, and the most delicious peanut butter sandwich ever: whole wheat sourdough with white chocolate peanut butter, sliced apples, raisins, caramel, a little apricot jam, and a few dashes of cardamom. More soymilk and ginger tea. Not what I'd usually consider a"proper" dinner, but I don't care. I have visions for some future recipes, and there is one I need to post soon because it turned out so amazing that I can't believe I made it up. Pumpkin macaroni and cheese with a pumpkin sage cream sauce and truffle oil. Coming soon, I promise.

Other than that, I've been smiling. Keeping my heart open. Looking forward to some exciting things in the foreseeable future. Taking each day by day and keeping it happy.