Monday, April 09, 2007

Two Hits and A Near Miss...

I have a couple posts that have just been lying in wait...here's one of 'em....

First, the amazing Fronch Toast from VWaV. I'd been wanting to try this forever, tho getting my hands on some garbanzo flour was no small feat!
When I finally did, I used up the last of my no knead bread (a few days old in a sandwich bag made for a less shard-like crust but the bread itself was perfectly stale for the toast making). I love that it's part whole wheat, that I made the bread myself, that the batter is so egg-like it's freaky. Here you see I topped mine with beautiful strawberries, banana, some organic maple syrup and a touch of powdered sugar...you know...to pretty up the picture. This stuff was incredible and i didn't feel one bit guilty for devouring the WHOLE THING BY MYSELF.

Buying more bananas than I know we'll need then finding a new recipe to use the overripe ones has become a new favorite pastime of mine. Recently, this little search led to Banana Bars from La Dolce Vegan.
I don't know about bars, but this was the best banana cake, I've ever had. I decided to top it with some crushed walnuts on top before baking and covered it in a simple glaze (some melted Smart Balance mixed with powdered sugar, splash of soy milk, and vanilla extract) that hardened a bit as it cooled.The Cap'n thinks this may just be the BEST dessert of all time. I agree, it's definitely up there if you're craving sweet banana goodness...and we were!

One night, the Cap'n and I settled in to watch Lady In the Water (I loved this movie) and we wanted something sweet and totally naughty to snack on in the dark while movie watching. I saw that VWaV's Blondie recipe was something I had all the ingredients for and looked simple enough so that's what I whipped up.
Though, I 'm thinking it's high time I broke down and got an oven thermometer as these babies were in the oven for 25 then 30 then 35 minutes and they never did fully cook through. Their doughy interior was not what I was going for but it didn't deter me from polishing off the whole batch with little help from the Cap'n (he LOVED them but doesn't have near the sweet tooth that I do) in a matter of days!Now you see why I've yet to make good use of my copy of VCTOTW. I know once I start? I may never stop.

8 comments:

LisaJean119 said...

Thanks for commenting on my blog. Umm..so I'm really jealous of all this food. I have to start cooking! lol. I need to learn how to cook better, all I can do is bake and vegan baking is a little different than normal baking, so I'm not even used to that. The only thing I CAN do is make AMAZING vegan peanut butter cups from scratch! but I eat them all when I do, so maybe it's not a good idea I make them when they are only for me.. haha

Would you mind if I added the link to your blog on my blog?

Amey said...

Wow!
I made some of that Fronch Toast this morning too... and I also ate it all by my lonesome! ha!! :) I hope your no-knead bread turned out well, I'm a big huge fan of that stuff.

The banana cake/bars look AMAZING, especially with the walnuts on top. I will *definitely* try that recipe. Thanks for the tip!

Sorry your raspberry blondies didn't turn out right. Try them again sometime, they're super perfect when they turn out.

Thanks for sharing such great goodies... now I feel like baking!

Anonymous said...

that's it, I just HAVE to make the banana bars! yours are a work of heart.

Twisted Cinderella said...

Wow that looks amazing! Yummy!

Anonymous said...

wow, those fronch toast are so beautifull !

in wich page is the recipe? i just foun there the : scrumptious banana-nut bread, pag. 281 is the same?

Neva said...

Ok, I gotta by VWaV because my attempts at fake french toast have all failed. What gorgeous desserts.

Of course I couldn't bake all that, since I would compulsively eat it all why my husband would eat a single piece and then sit around losing weight just by thinking about it.

scottishvegan said...

I made the blondies from VWaV ages ago and they didn’t seem to cook properly for me either. I’ve never eaten blondies before so I wasn’t sure if that was the way they were meant to be. Your French Toast looks so delicious!!

Candi said...

Thy all look good, but the blondies.... whoa.... they look so fancy and delicious. I have to make them, but I'm afraid I will eat the entire pan by myself.