FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Toasted Coconut Cake Donuts

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Homemade Coconut Cake Donut

Donuts are a food that I rarely thought about before Instagram and #nationaldonutday. I have always been one take down a few glazed Krispy Kremes if presented with a box, but I’d never go out of my way to find a donut. But lately, and this is slightly embarrassing to admit, I’ve been on a quest for pretty food, Instagrammable {but also delicious} food, which led me straight to a donut pan purchase.

Donut Pan

And for my first donut recipe? I turned to my blogging pal Liren, of Kitchen Confidante, because trying one of her recipes has been on my list for entirely too long.

Homemade Coconut Cake Donuts

Liren mentions in her post that if you love coconut cake, this is the donut for you {and I couldn’t agree with her more}! I love how she added fresh lime juice to the glaze for a subtle burst of tartness that complimented the sweetness of the coconut so well.  I can’t wait to experiment with flavors of my own as donuts will be the perfect treat to bring to get togethers all summer long!

Click here for the coconut cake donut recipe.

Strawberry, Raspberry & Fig Skillet Crumble

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Strawberry, Raspberry & Fig Skillet Crumble

One of the major downsides of traditional cast iron pans {other than, but related to, how difficult they are to clean} is how you have to commit to savory cooking.  I’m never able to get them clean enough after searing steaks, cooking bacon, or grilling veggies to use them for sweets.  For this reason alone, I’ve never experimented with skillet desserts.

Strawberries Raspberries Figs

When I received the enameled cast iron pan pictured below, I immediately thought of how perfectly over-medium eggs would cook in this non-stick, high-heat resistant pan. And after I scooped out my eggs {and a few turkey sausage links}, the pan cleaned up so easily that a skillet dessert seemed like the next logical use.

Strawberry Raspberry Fig Dessert

A skillet dessert with strawberries, raspberries, and figs topped with a brown sugar and almond crumble came to mind.  And even though I couldn’t wait the 30 or so minutes to let it cool before digging in and taking pictures, it turned out better than I could have ever imaged.  Topped with vanilla bean ice cream, I’d take this crumble over pie any day!

If you’re interested in winning an enameled cast iron pan of your own, the giveaway for this pan is open for another two days!

Recipe below adapted from this recipe and this recipe.

White Sangria Granita

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White Sangria Granita

Icy treats are key to survival during the blazing hot days of summer.  But why settle for survival when creating something fabulous is equally as simple?  This white sangria granita made with peaches, raspberries, agave nectar, and Butterfly Kiss Moscato is the perfect dessert for your next sunshiny shindig.

Frozen Peaches & Raspberries

Although I received compensation to review wine provided by The Wine Bar, the recipe and opinions in this post are completely my own and based on my experience.

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Postal Cookies

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You know those moments when you know why your best friend is your best friend?  Like when you’re having a rotten day and things instantly get brighter because you get an email with a subject line “these look yummy” and inside is a recipe that’s so up your alley you can hardly stand it.  And then the body of the email begins with something like “and non-dairy for you!” and your smile gets grander.  And up next you read “and they look care package-able…” and you laugh so very inappropriately loud at your desk.  And by the time you recover from the slight embarrassment of looking like a crazy person, your day has gone from rotten to perfect.  Yup, that’s a best friend story right there.

So Ariel’s care package-able email was the sole inspiration for the first Postal Cookies post.  But since she was out of town while I had super baking motivation, I decided to wait on her cookie and mail out a completely different cookie to other friends across the nation (seriously).  And now that I’m on day 4 of cleansing, baking motivation turned into its most severe form of baking craving.  Needless to say, the cleanse was a bust (let’s go with I had a very successful 3-day cleanse).  Mostly because in order to modify this recipe, I had to sample the dough to see what was going on.  Really.

FoodFash Vegan Peanut Butter & Both Types of Chocolate Cookies (yields 12 cookies)

1-1/2 cups white chocolate peanut butter (or regular natural peanut butter)

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, blend peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla.  Add flour and beat until thoroughly mixed.  Then fold in chocolate chips.  Roll 2″ diameter balls with your hands and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Flatten balls with a fork and bake for 12 minutes.  Remove cookies from oven and let cool for 20-30 minutes before handling.  The cookies are very mushy and fragile when they are warm, but harden when cooled.

And then I had to sample the cookie before I packaged everything up.  You see, I didn’t wait the 20ish minutes prior to handling and the cookie I messed with completely fell apart.  But by the time I did a few dishes and satisfied my Instagram addiction, the cookies turned into cookies and I was curious.  Legitimate sample, right?

I’m not 100% sold on the way brown rice flour feels between my teeth (see crazy person reference above), so I’d be curious to try these cookies with almond meal or coconut flour.  But flavor and moistness are totally good and worth sending to your best friend, especially if she appreciates a sweet treat on the healthier side!