KLY21: Molecular Popsicles

A creative looking popsicle gets me every time. Having grown up with tradition, one-dimensional popsicles, I always get excited when I see someone put a new spin of these frozen treats, and David Marx, food scientist and founder of The Science Kitchen in Berlin, is just the guy to do it!

Marx’s popsicle line, named KYL21 after the Swedish spelling of molecule (molekyl), features futuristic looking sweets that have been molded into complicated, geometric shapes. He describes them as “the reinvention of popsicles and a real masterpiece of avant-garde cuisine.” They are also free of additives, organic, vegan, and gluten free. They aren’t due to hit the marketplace until the Spring, but, in the meantime, you can click here to check out KYL21 website. ~Erin

Date Syrup

I am a huge fan of dates. No, I don’t mean the kind of dates where you sit awkwardly across from a stranger. That’s not the kind of date I’m referring to. I’m talking about the deliciously sweet fruit of the date palm tree. So good. It’s practically candy. It should come as no surprise then that I did a little happy dance when I first saw this date syrup, which is commonly used in the middle east, but is used less widely in other parts of the world. It’s such a great idea and I love the idea of using it in place of other sweeteners like honey and caramel. Speaking of caramel, Date Lady also offers a caramel sauce that is made from organic dates (date syrup), organic caramel extract and sea salt. Yum! I love how these two items really encourage you to explore different flavors and baking ideas. I can’t wait to try them! For more info and to shop online, click here. --Erin

Sweet Testing: Pumpkin and Bee Pollen Cake

I almost didn’t make this cake. I went back and forth, and back and forth, over and over and over again. Yes! No. Yes! No. It went on like this for days! All because I couldn’t decide whether bee pollen + cake was a good combination! You see, this is the first bee pollen recipe that I have ever come across and, at first, I couldn’t wait to try it! Then, after doing a bit of research, I discovered that some people have extreme reactions to bee pollen supplements. Oh, no! What if someone has to be rushed to the hospital after eating my cake! None of party guests seemed all that concerned about bee pollen side effects, though, so, in the end, I finally decided that I would go ahead and make the cake, and I’m sooo glad that I did. This is a really tasty cake. Really. The coconut and the pumpkin go really well together and the date crust is simply wonderful! It’s also very easy to assemble and it is, visually speaking, so bright and sunny that you’ll feel better just by looking at! As far as the bee pollen is concerned, I don’t really think it’s a necessary ingredient, although the creator of this recipe, artist Kirra Jamison, considers it to be an essential element. Perhaps, I just didn’t use it correctly. It makes a good story, but it didn’t add much in my opinion. If you do use it, you may want to warn your guests beforehand, in case they are allergic to bees or have problems with asthma. You can find the complete recipe after the jump.

The Mixing Bowl: Strawberry Shortcake by Lee Price

Food, generally speaking, makes me happy, eating it, thinking about it, looking at it, so when I first saw Lee Price’s photorealistic oil paintings of women and food, I was thrilled! The way she uses food is amazing! At first, there is that initial surface reaction of seeing a gorgeous, beautifully rendered image, but the more you look at her work the more you realize that beneath the quiet facade, so much more is going on. For me, her work definitely brings up issues of how the role of food changes in a society where a high supply of goods makes food consumption less about survival and more about our mental state, how eating a candy bar can, often, comfort us or shame us, cause arousal or nausea, depending on our emotions at any given time. As much as I love food, even I am guilty of letting my emotions affect my eating, of letting what I eat, sometimes, affect my emotions. The human race’s relationship with food is a complicated one and, I, for one, couldn’t stop looking at Lee’s paintings. Really lovely and interesting work.

Given the fact that she is vegan, Lee actually makes a lot of the baked goods that are featured in her paintings. Of course, I was super excited when she agreed to snap some photos for us the next time she made something for a shoot. I love, love, love seeing the process of her making the dessert and then seeing the finished painting (see image below). I was also really happy that she used a Strawberry Shortcake recipe from the BabyCakes cookbook, which is a great book for vegan and gluten-free baking (note: this recipe is only vegan, not gluten-free because of the spelt flour).

The Evoke Contemporary Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico is currently running an exhibition of Lee Price’s work, you can click here for more info. You can also see more of Lee’s paintings on her Web site, right here.

You can find the complete recipe and more images after the jump. Thanks so much to Lee for sharing her work!

Sweet Testing: Vegan, Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies, Just Like Mom Used to Make

No, my mom didn't make vegan or gluten-free cookies when I was growing up, let alone a cookie that was both free of dairy AND gluten, but, if she did, they would have tasted like these cookies! Vegan and/or gluten-free baking isn't always easy. Not every dessert holds up to the conversion, but the classic, hard to screw up, chocolate chip cookies, seems to have survived the transition effortlessly. Okay, there was some effort involved, on the part of BabyCakes, who created this recipe, but believe me when I tell you that you will not be able to tell the difference between this cookie and the white flour/dairy version.

You can find the complete recipe after the jump.

The Mixing Bowl: Bakewell Tart by Katie Green

I am such an illustration geek that when Katie Green sent over these illustrations/pictures for her Mixing Bowl recipe, I had a little internal freak out (in a positive way, of course). Illustrations make me sooo happy and these Bakewell Tart drawings by Katie are just perfect! I was also really thrilled, and quite honored, to discover that Dessert Girl is now officially part of Katie's What I Wore Today series, in which she playfully chronicles her daily outfit choices, not in photos, but in illustrations! It's a great, whimsical alternative to all those fashion blogs out there. Here she is making her (vegan) Bakwell Tart for us!

But, wait, that's not all Katie's got up her sleeve! For a lot of designers, having one creative outlet might be enough, but not Katie. She's also has found time to write and illustrate a super cute vegan cookbook, in which this Bakewell Tart recipe appears and she is in the process of writing and illustrating a graphic novel that is set to be published by Jonathon Cape (see b&w image below). Oh, did I also mention the painting, papergoods, toys, jewelry, and graphic design work?? It's making me tired just thinking about it!

I hope you enjoy Katie's Blackwell Tart! She has assured me that it tastes as good as it looks in the pictures. Oh, and in case you're wondering, Katie used natural uncoloured glacé cherries on her version, which is why they look dark and prune-like instead of red! [click on the image at the top of this post to see a large-print, readable version of the recipe.]

Click here for more info on Katie’s latest projects, including her graphic novel. Also, you can check out her What I Wore series on Flickr, right here. If you're interested in ordering her vegan cookbook, Bake Me a (Vegan) Cake, you can contact her directly. Thanks, Katie!

More tart pics and artwork after the jump.

Eating Animals, The Book

Let me preface this discussion by saying that, yes, it is true. I am a vegetarian. But I'm not the kind of vegetarian that forces my beliefs down the throats of friends, family, or any random passer by that happens to cross my path. I don't appreciate it when people tell me that what I believe is wrong, so I try not to treat other people with the same disrespect. That said, today, while I was engaged in a completely tedious and boring work activity, I passed the time by listening to various audio clips of writer Jonathan Safran Foer discussing his book Eating Animals. The more I listened, the more I realized something: I need to do more, personally, to make sure that what I'm eating is coming from a healthy and clean source, not a place that abuses animals or pollutes the earth, not one that makes me, or others, ill.

To some, that may seem like an obvious statement to make and, no, it wasn't a complete epiphany for me, either. It's not as though JSF was telling me anything that I hadn't heard, and thought about, before. As a person that is already conscious about what I eat, a person who already reads ingredient lists, and is concerned with animal welfare, his words didn't shock me, but they did serve as a reminder, a reminder to not be so lazy. As consumers, we come to rely on packaging and labels, which often, don't mean anything at all. Free Range, Cage Free, Organic, these words don't necessarily mean what we think they do. We have to take it upon ourselves to find out where our food is coming from.

I know that this is a dessert blog, so at first I wasn't sure if this would even be relevant, but then I realized that the major components of baking, ingredients such as eggs, butter, milk, are also a large part of factory farming. I'm not telling you what to do or how to eat, but I think it's important information, even if you eat meat, to know where that meat is coming from, how the animal was raised and treated and processed. Even small changes, even minor adjustments, in the way we eat food, in the way we think about it, can make a big difference. Just something to consider.

Chocolate Chips

Generally speaking, I'm not much of a chip eater. Chips have gotten more appetizing over the years, but I don't really like greasy foods, so classic potato chips just really aren't my thing. Don't get me wrong; I'll eat them, but they're not on my list of food obsessions. I'll have to admit, though, that when I saw these Food Should Taste Good chips at Whole Foods I was intrigued enough to stop and browse the flavors. Sweet potato, lime, olive, potato and chive, chocolate…chocolate?? Chocolate tortilla chips?? Oh, my gosh!! Once again, the possibility of discovering a sweet and salty masterpiece took hold of me.

Did the chips live up to my taste buds' expectations? Yes and no. The chocolate flavor is subtle. The chips are infused with chocolate and the flavor sort of creeps up on you after you've masticated the chip. The general response was hmmmm…interesting, but then you can't stop eating them! They're really tasty chips, but if you're expecting a tortilla chip covered in chocolate, that's not what you're going to get. So, no, these chips are not going to the top of my sweet and salty list, but I liked them so much that I bought some of there other chips (sweet potato, lime, multigrain) and I am now officially hooked! Next on my list? The cinnamon flavor! Oh, did I mention that they're gluten free and vegan?? Click here for more info and to shop online.

Vegan, Gluten-Free Blondies

Last weekend, my sister, my mom, and I got our hands dirty, tackling another recipe from the Babycakes cookbook: gluten-free blondies. Actually, there wasn't much tackling going on because, as long as you have the ingredients, this recipe is actually really easy to make and the blondies turned out great! And I don't mean great for a vegan, gluten-free dessert. I mean great, period. I know that there are varying opinions of Babycakes out there and I'm not saying that all their recipes hit the spot, but these were good. More like mini chocolate chip muffins then blondies, but, hey, I like mini chocolate chip muffins, so that was okay by me. Besides, Zooey Deschanel likes them, so they must be good! :-)



You can find the complete recipe after the jump.

BabyCakes: Vegan, Gluten Free, and Yummy!

I'm a big defender of vegan baking. Even though I'm not actually vegan, I've eaten my fair share of vegan baked goods during my lifetime, and I think they get a bad rap!! People hear vegan and dessert in the same sentence and instantly think yuck! That's why I'm super excited that that successful vegan bakery BabyCakes has a new cookbook out! Not only have they managed to convince dairy lovers to eat vegan cupcakes, but they managed to do it while keeping their bakery wheat free, casein free, refined-sugar free, gluten free, soy free, organic, AND kosher!! These baked goods are virtually guilt free! But, because of all the substitutions necessary to make these particular desserts, you may be a little perplexed once you read the ingredient lists. Garbanzo bean flour, coconut flour, and xanthan gum, among other things, pop up frequently in this cookbook, but fear not, most ingredients are available at your local health food store or at Whole Foods.

So, I know what you're thinking, with all those weird ingredients, how do these desserts taste?? Well, my sister recently made the chocolate chip cookie sandwiches (see pic above), and, let me tell you, they were really good! They definitely had a unique flavor. Not bad, just unique, and the coconut flour did give them a very slight coconut taste, so if you hate coconut, be forewarned. All in all, I'm anxious to try something else from the cookbook. It's like every recipe is a little baking adventure!

A video on how to make the sandwiches, along with the recipe, can be found at Martha Stewart's Web site, right here.

If you live in New York and want to try some vegan yumminess (you know who you are!) head on over to BabyCakes in NYC. A Los Angeles location will be opening soon. If you'd like to order online, click here.

Swedish Fish: A Friend You Can Eat

While at work last week, a friend of mine e-mailed me these awesome Swedish Fish ads and they totally made my day! I love them! Of course, at first, I was a little confused. Why is that bunny sitting on a toaster pastry and covered with some sort of syrupy substance??? Why is that poor kitty sandwiched between two pieces of bread?? Why is the tagline A Friend You Can Eat????


I was starting to get creeped out until my friend pointed out that the word nej, which appears below the images on the left, means no. Ahhhh . . . the bunny and cat are examples of friends you can't eat, while the candy fish are safe to devour. I get it!! Okay, the A Friend You Can Eat line is still a little weird, but, you know, in a good way.

Actually, Swedish Fish are more animal friendly than you might think. Animal lovers will be happy to know, Swedish Fish are one of the few gummy candies that are in fact vegan! Well, as far as I can tell, anyway! No gelatin in these babies!

Click here to visit the Sweedish Fish Web site where you can check out some pretty funny commercials as well.

Buckwheat and Banana Pancakes, Paltrow style

Gwyneth Paltrow, actress, mother, food lover, recently launched a newsletter named GOOP. The blog-like newsletter, which contains the tagline "nourish the inner aspect," is basically a weekly compilation of all of Mrs. Martin's favorite things. The fashion icon shares tips on everything from putting together a great outfit to eating right and staying healthy. She even shares her favorite recipes, which is, in my opinion, the best part of the whole thing! A couple of weeks ago, she offered up a recipe for vegan buckwheat and banana pancakes that sounds wonderful! GP describes them as a "combination of nutty buckwheat and sweet, sticky banana." Yum! I think most people are either waffle fans or pancakes fans, but very few like them both equally. I'm definitely on team pancakes, and banana pancakes are one of my favorites.

Right now, GOOP is only available via e-mail, but there will be an archives section added to the site soon. See below for the complete pancake recipe and, to subscribe to GOOP, click here.

SERVES: 3 or 4 (makes about a dozen pancakes)
TIME: 15 minutes

1 1/4 cups soy or rice milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus more for serving
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour or white spelt flour (substitute rice flour to make pancakes completely gluten-free)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 bananas, thinly sliced

Mix all the wet ingredients together in a small bowl. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a slightly bigger bowl. Add the wet to the dry and stir just enough to combine – be careful not to over-mix (that’s how you get tough pancakes).

Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Ladle as many pancakes as possible onto your griddle. Place a few slices of banana on top of each pancake. Cook for about a minute and a half on the first side or until the surface is covered with small bubbles and the underside is nicely browned. Flip and cook for about a minute on the second side. Repeat the process until you run out of batter. Serve stacked high with plenty of maple syrup.

LARABAR: Yummy and good for you!

Larabar, creators of what have to be the world's healthiest fruit and nut bars, have recently introduced two new flavors, both of which are, like their previous snack bars, inspired by classic desserts. The two new additions, Peanut Butter Cookie and Coconut Cream Pie, fit in nicely amongst the older bars like Banana Bread and Cinnamon Roll.

For those of you who don't know, Larabars are made of all natural ingredients. There are only a handful of ingredients on the wrapper and you'll be able to pronounce and recognize each one! That's because there are no added sweeteners or chemicals in Larabars AND, for those of you shun dairy products, they're vegan! I tried the Coconut Cream Pie bar last night and I have to say, it may be my new favorite flavor! It was pretty tasty. Don't get me wrong; It's not a candy bar, if that's what you're craving, but it is a pleasant and healthier alternative. For more information, click here.

Vegan Desserts: You've Come A Long Way, Baby

Who says that there aren't any good vegan desserts? Morons, losers, politicians who think they know a lot about foreign policy simply because they can see Russia from their house. Well, guess what? They're all wrong! At least, Desserts Magazine thinks so. They've dedicated an entire issue to, you guessed it, vegan desserts! Check it out at your local magazine rack or visit their Web site where you can browse through a free copy of the current issue! (The Web site seems to be down at the moment—too many vegans storming the site!)