Ultimate Vegan Holiday Guide
Ultimate Vegan Holiday Guide? First of all I never thought I’d be writing this type of post. Due to my husband’s heart attack and a his new quest for a vegan life, I am and here we go creating new foods, new traditions and a new mindset for the holidays.
Mind Set
I realized that in order to make a vegan holiday for others to follow along the first thing I needed to change was my mindset.
Getting rid of the negative:
Removing the word ‘can’t was my first step. I caught myself saying I can’t use butter, I can’t use milk and so on.
I began the mind set of
- “Let me see what I can use instead of .. “
- It will be fun experimenting with new foods, herb and spices.
- I love how I am exploring new ways to be creative.
Robert Rose Publisher comes to my rescue one more time! I was given this book to review. I am now excited to create a vegan holiday for my family and friends.
Experimenting with new recipes before the holiday is crucial!
Why I love this book
- The photos are gorgeous! I love getting preview of what my recipes will look like when I prepare them.
- Contents is easily found and divided into:
Elegant Appetizers, Festive Party Dishes, A Feast of Sweets, Festive Cocktails and Gourmet Gifts - There is a ‘Wonderful Menus’ section suggesting themed menus to set the perfect mood.
- Suggestions for these themes:
Traditional
Light and Sophisticated
Buffet
Last Minute - This book has given me confidence that my Vegan Thanksgiving will be filled with fun moments, special memories and great food!
First of all, I do not want any disappointments on the menu for our holidays! Therefore I am beginning to try out the recipes in The Vegan Holiday Cookbook so our holiday is perfect with any of these delicious recipes.
We are dessert lovers
My philosophy of desserts is, “Why stop at one?”
It will come as no surprise then that I have already picked out one of our desserts from this cookbook.
Courtesy of The Vegan Holiday Cookbook: From Elegant Appetizers to Festive Mains and Delicious Sweets by Marie Laforêt © 2017
www.robertrose.ca Available where books are sold.
Image credit: Marie Laforêt
Snow White Layer Cake
Makes 10 to 12 servings
• Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)
• Kitchen scale
• Four 7-inch (18 cm) springform pans or round cake pans, greased or bottoms lined with parchment paper
- 10 oz plain soy yogurt 300 g
- 3 ⁄4 cup + 5 tsp neutral vegetable oil 200 mL
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar 5 mL
- 1 cup + 6 tbsp raw cane sugar 270 g
- 3 ⁄4 cup ground almonds (almond flour 75 g)
- 1 tbsp baking powder 15 g
- 1 tsp vanilla powder 2 g
- A few drops almond extract
- 1 ⁄2 cup plain soy or other nondairy milk 125 mL
- 31 ⁄3 cups all-purpose flour 450 g
- Icing
- 2 cans (each 14 oz/400 mL coconut milk, refrigerated overnight 2)
- Pinch vanilla powder Pinch
- Confectioners’ (icing sugar)
- 22 ⁄3 cups shredded coconut 250 g
- Cakes: In a large bowl, whisk yogurt, oil and vinegar. Whisk in sugar and ground almonds. Whisk in baking powder, vanilla powder and almond extract until well combined. Whisk in milk, then gradually stir in flour. Stir well until batter is smooth.
- Using a kitchen scale, divide batter into 4 equal portions by weight. Spread one portion of batter in each prepared pan.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Unmold and let cool completely on a rack.
- Icing: Open cans of chilled coconut milk and spoon solidified cream on top into a bowl (reserve thin liquid for another use). Whisk coconut cream with vanilla powder and confectioners’ sugar to taste.
- If necessary, use a wire cake leveler or serrated knife to level tops of cakes so they are completely flat on top. Place one cake layer on a serving platter and spread a layer of icing on top. Repeat with the remaining layers. Spread icing over top and sides of cake and cover with shredded coconut. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
This cake, delicately flavored with almond, vanilla and coconut, is the perfect base to decorate with fruits, chocolate, caramel or your choice of coulis.
I’ll be sharing a main course and sides from this book in upcoming posts for my Ultimate Holiday ‘eating’ Guide.
I made a commitment this year that I would maintain the holiday spirit with my attitude thru the holiday season in a previous post. I am keeping my promise and my first gratitude expressed on this blog is for Robert Rose.
We’re not vegan, but have begun looking at the recipes to incorporate them into a better diet. Will be watching for more!
Thanks Scott. Amazingly this is not as difficult as I first imagined and I am actually saving money on groceries. So far eating a vegan menu plan is a win win for us.
I love Robert Rose cookbooks so it doesn’t surprise me that you found one to fit your lifestyle. Sometimes as a non Vegan we can expect Vegan food to be plain but that cake doesn’t sound plain or boring at all. I love the addition of coconut. Thanks for sharing.
I like your was expecting this vegan meal plan to be lacking but I am pleasantly surprised with all the great options I have.
Although I am not vegan myself, I am always looking for healthy veggie recipes to incorporate into our meals. Thanks for sharing this wonderful cookbook filled with vegan Thanksgiving options!
I have found a lot of recipes that non vegans would enjoy too and I agree with you that it is always good to incorporate plant based meals into a menu plan.
We eat vegan alot due to food allergies, so this is definitely going to be a hit in our household
I am amazed with what great recipes are coming from the vegan communities. They are such a great alternative.
I have a lot of friends with allergies and vegan recipes really help them with well balanced meals.
I love this time of year, because of gift guides! They’re such a big help! I have several vegan friends, and this will make it easier to shop for them.
We are buying two copies of this book to give as gifts. I think it will be a big hit with any vegan.