Tuesday, May 19, 2015

raw. vegan. refined sugar free. blueberry cheesecake

RAW. VEGAN. REFINED SUGAR FREE Blueberry Cheesecake
Slightly adapted from RAMY Health

PRE-SOAK the night before in separate bowls:
2-1/3 cups raw cashews 
1 cup dates

CRUST
2 cups raw slivered almonds
1 cup pre-soaked dates (soaked from the night before)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
zest of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
generous pinch of kosher salt ***Do this to taste. Leaving it out will result in a bland crust***

CHEESECAKE
2-1/3 cups raw cashews (soaked from the night before)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup agave/maple syrup/honey 
***I used honey which technically is not vegan. :( ***
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
juice of 1/2 lemon
generous pinch of kosher salt ***Do this to taste. Leaving it out will result in a bland cheesecake filling***

If needed, add 1 - 2 tablespoons of almond milk ***Only add the almond milk if your mixture is not blending in your food processor.***

BLUEBERRY TOPPING
1/2 cup blueberries - fresh or frozen
1/4 cup agave/maple syrup/honey
1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup blueberries - fresh or frozen for garnish
***I like to cook my blueberries with a little honey in a small saucepan until it's thick and syrup-y.***

Remember to pre-soak the cashew and dates in separate bowls overnight.

Line a 8 x 8 square pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a food processor, pulse all CRUST ingredients until dough-like. Press CRUST into prepared pan and flatten with hand/fingers getting into corners and sides evenly.

Carefully wipe out food processor bowl and pulse CHEESECAKE ingredients. Blend until smooth. Add almond milk if needed. Cheesecake mixture should look thick and smooth. ***Depending on your food processor, the cashews will not come out entirely smooth.***
Spread mixture out onto your prepared crust.

Wash out your food processor bowl. In your clean bowl, pulse BLUEBERRY TOPPING ingredients. This mixture will look a chunky from the coconut oil if your coconut oil is in a solid form/cold. Spread topping onto cheesecake. Wrap pan in plastic and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.

Remove from freezer, cut into squares and top with blueberries (fresh or cooked with honey).


Friday, May 15, 2015

a momofuku milk bar-like bday cake

I just LOVE the way Momofuku Milk Bar's cakes look! Super rustic but elegant in my opinion. I was totally inspired by them to make this cake - chocolate cake, peanut butter buttercream, charred marshmallows, & chocolate cookie crumbs!!!


























I even went as far as making their chocolate cookie crumbs too.


























The charred marshmallows were a little hard to peel away from the parchment paper, but I managed to get most of the gooey-goodness between each layer. 


























Lastly, in MMB fashion, a hand-written chocolately birthday greeting…..





Wednesday, May 13, 2015

DOUGH & BATTER is on Instagram!!!

Follow DOUGH & BATTER on Instagram for all the sweet (and savory) stuff!!! Just click onto the link and follow the crumbs……..


Tuesday, April 21, 2015

cookies. cookies. and more cookies!!!

Decorated vanilla sugar cookies have sure been popular lately (here, here, here & here). HERE are more designs that I worked on earlier this week.



These cute rainbow cookies were "works in progress" when I snapped this pic. Still super cute at this stage but the finished product had fluffy clouds on them. Sorry, no pic. 



Cowboy boot cookies for a John Wayne themed 70th birthday!!!


























Lastly, simple spring flower cookies.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

PBR cookies

Dennis Hopper said it best in David Lynch's Blue Velvet….."Heineken? F*ck that sh*t! Pabst Blue Ribbon!!! (excuse my French) :)

























These cool cookies start with a vanilla sugar cookie base. I first piped the red stripe then filled in the corners with white. 

























Royal blue colored sugar gum paste was used for the iconic PBR ribbon. I laid down the tails before adding the scalloped circle.


I was unable to avoid the rough edges from my scalloped cutter and they were awfully hard to clean up. Please don't judge or look too closely.

























Another strip of royal blue sugar gum paste completes the ribbon. Once dried I piped the words, "Pabst Blue Ribbon."



















Saturday, April 18, 2015

more baby onesie cookies and elephants

Spring is in the air along with the scent of sugar cookies!!! It's also baby shower season and I'm adoring these girly elephants and the onesie color combo.




























Instead of decorating all of the onesies the same, I shook it up with varying the designs and mixing the colors.
















Saturday, April 11, 2015

an ombré cake & baby shower cookie favors

A gradation of teal blue sugar paste petals were made to adorn the outside of this vanilla cake with raspberry filling and lemon curd buttercream…..


What to say when you don't know if it's a girl or a boy???





























A baby shower is never complete without onesie cookies!!!



























Of course each of them get individually bagged and tied with ribbon.



























And to continue with the elephant theme, more elephants with pink and blue toes. Hee hee.