Pumpkin Cheesecake Parfait with Cardamom Cream

This is what happens when my oven breaks.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Parfait with Cardamom Cream

The cold evenings we've been having here in San Francisco have brought out the pumpkin cravings.  A recent visit to Target where I was bombarded with spicy scented candles and Halloween decor didn't help.  I even bought some Celestial Seasonings chai tea (and was grossly disappointed).  I do not recommend.  

I've also spent the last few evenings watching The Wire (in preparation for a return visit to Baltimore next month), wrapped in an over-sized scarf, a knee length sweater over a thermal henley, sweat pants, and stripy socks on my feet.  I am such a wimp.  Clearly, San Francisco took the girl out of the country AND the country out of the girl.  To be honest, I think my brain likes to play this trick on my body so I can think it's fall.  We don't really get much of a fall here; so, I don't usually even know it's time to get nostalgic until Starbucks brings out their pumpkin spice lattes.  It's not fall until Starbucks says it's fall.  Sadly, in my world, this is true.

Anyway, I was dressed up in my new fall clothes (like new school clothes, remember those?  Ah, they were the BEST) with the windows open, so I could be more dramatic about the chill in the air.  I also had spiced candles burning and water for tea boiling when the urgency to bake struck.  I needed to make something with pumpkin, like, yesterday.  My mind immediately went to the pumpkin poppets I made last year at about this time.  Mmmm...fluffy pumpkin pillows with cream cheese filling:

Pumpkin Poppet

I got out some cans of pumpkin and the cream cheese.  That's when I remembered.  Our oven is broken.  As you can probably imagine, this is not ideal.

With my desperate craving for pumpkin refusing to be ignored, I decided to invent a no-bake pumpkin dessert, instead.  And, I have been eating it ever since.  I can't stop myself.  It's too good to be true.  I didn't even save any for Ralph to try.  This has something to do with the fact that he doesn't truly appreciate pumpkin.  Pumpkin could replace my sun & moon; and, he makes the "meh face" when he eats it.   I can't even be in the same room as someone who is eating pumpkin cheesecake and saying, "It's okay…could use some chocolate, though."  This is a purely fictitious statement; but, in my head Ralph is saying it.  And, I'm having a hard time forgiving him for it.  

This recipe only takes about 5ish minutes to throw together.  What?  Yes, 5ish minutes.  Ok, before you all get really mad at me for making dessert so easy to indulge in, I'm going to give you some tips on how you can make this dessert relatively healthy.  Typically I would have used homemade ginger cookies for this recipe; but, since the oven is broken I cheated with Newman's brand.  BTW, gluten free, grain free, and refined-sugar-free friends:  This ridiculously easy recipe is also for YOU!  

Pumpkin Cheesecake Parfait with Cardamom Cream

Original recipe by Emily Haydel of Picnic Bakery

Serves 4 conservatively, 2 generously, or 1 greedily

Ingredients:

8 Newman's ginger sandwich cookies, graham crackers, or 1 cup chopped pecans

For the pumpkin cheescake filling:

1 cup pumpkin puree

8 oz container of  Tofutti or brand of choice "cream cheese"

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground allspice

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

2 Tbs maple syrup or agave nectar

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

For the whipped cardamom cream:

1 can full fat coconut milk- refrigerated at least 4 hours until separated

seeds from about 4 cardamom pods ground to a fine powder in a mortar & pestle

2 Tbs maple syrup or agave nectar

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

Directions:

Follow in order, and you won't have to wash your food processor between steps:

1.  Put Newman's ginger cookies into the bowl of food processor and pulse until they are crumbs.  If not using ginger cookies, skip this step.  Feel free to use any cookie, graham crackers, or nuts of your choice.  Use pecans if you are gluten-intolerant or if you are trying to keep this recipe on the healthy side.  Empty contents out into a bowl.

2.   Add all of the pumpkin cheesecake ingredients to the empty bowl of your food processor.  Blend until well incorporated, remembering to scrape down the sides.  Empty puree into a bowl.

3.  Scoop coconut milk solids into a medium bowl and add agave or maple syrup.  Whip until incorporated. Add cardamom powder and xanthan gum and whip until thickened.  

4.  Assemble the pumpkin cheesecake, crushed cookie (or chopped nuts), and whipped cardamom in layers in glass serving dishes.  Top with whipped cardamom cream, a sprinkle of crushed cookie, and garnish with pecans.

Tip:  If you would like to make this into a no-bake pumpkin cheesecake, just add some melted earth balance to the cookie crumbs, press into a pie or tart pan, fill with the filling, and refrigerate until set.  Serve topped with the whipped cardamom cream and a sprinkle of extra crumbs or chopped pecans. 

*For a gluten free version of the no-bake pumpkin cheesecake, pulse pecans into a course flour, stir in melted earth balance and proceed as listed above.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Parfait with Cardamom Cream

Strawberry Shortcake With Whipped Coconut Cream

My favorite dessert is strawberry shortcake.  Actually, I'm pretty sure most desserts are my favorite.  Today, as I was in between things I spent some time looking at food porn on Pinterest.  It got the better of me, and I decided that I had to make something new.  I have had a bottle of strawberry extract in my baking cupboard for over a year (ok, more like two) and have never found a reason to use it.  I also had several cans of chilled coconut milk and a big bag of strawberries left over from Sunday's garden party.  So, with the perishable ingredients in desperate need of a reason to have lived, I decided to make strawberry shortcakes.

This was a very quick dessert to whip up, taking only about 30 minutes total.  This recipe makes 8 shortcakes.


Strawberry Shortcakes with Whipped Coconut Cream
recipe by Emily Haydel


Ingredients:


For the shortcake:

2 cups   all purpose flour
4 Tbs    baking powder
3/4 tsp   salt
2 Tbs    sugar
2 Tbs    earth balance (or other non-dairy margarine)
2 Tbs    earth balance (melted)
2 Tbs    non-hydrogenated shortening (I use spectrum brand)
3/4 cup soy creamer
1 pint    strawberries tops removed and sliced

For the whipped coconut cream:**

2 cans      full fat coconut milk chilled in the fridge over-night
1/2 tsp     xanthan gum (you can find this in the baking aisle of most health stores)*
3/4 cup    powdered sugar
1 tsp        vanilla extract (Or extract of your choice.  For this recipe I used strawberry AND vanilla)

Directions for the whipped coconut cream:

1.  Remove cans from the fridge carefully- hold them level and don't turn upside down

2.  Open the cans.  The coconut milk will have separated.  The cream will be at the top.  Scoop this out into a mixing bowl.  Do not add the coconut water, you want this to be thick and creamy.

3.  Whisk the coconut cream in the bowl until it is smooth.  Add the xanthan gum, powdered sugar and whisk again until  the mixture becomes thick and fluffy

4.  Add the vanilla (or other extract) and whisk again.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Directions for the shortcakes:


1.  Heat oven to 450 degrees F


2.  Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to blend.

3.  Add earth balance and shortening and pulse until the flour looks a little grainy, like course cornmeal.

4.  Pour flour mixture into a bowl and stir in soy cream.

5.  Drop by heaping spoonful onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush on melted earth balance.  Bake for 15 minutes.

6.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire cooling rack.

7.  Suddenly remember you need to get the dog to the vet's in 10 minutes.

8.  Rush around like a crazy person looking for your phone and keys.

9.  Find your keys and give up on the phone, take the dog to the vet

10.  Return from the vet with a healthier dog, wash your hands, and return to the kitchen to assemble your shortcakes.

11.  Slice the shortcakes horizontally.  Place a layer of sliced strawberries on the bottom layer.  Put a heaping spoonful of the whipped coconut cream on top of that.  Top with another layer of strawberries and replace the cap of the shortcake.  Serve at once and call it dinner, if you like.

*A word about xanthan gum:  Xanthan gum is often used in baking as a binding agent.  It is quite expensive, but a very little goes a very long way.  I use it pretty frequently in things that need to have a thick, custard-like texture.  I'm going to keep using it because it gives me an excuse to use the letter "x" in my blog.


**Whipped coconut cream is my vegan answer to whipped cream.  It has a slight coconut flavor to it that I think works well in fruity and chocolatey concoctions.