Sinfully Vegan: When One Bite Is Simply Delicious!

Vegan Desserts Have Come A Long Way!

Thanks to cooking shows, the internet and skilled chefs that have shared their recipes, more and more people can enjoy eating delectable desserts that are not only gluten-free but are free from animal based ingredients. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,heart disease is still the number one cause of death in the United States. Obesity has also been a major health concern. Even the First Lady, Michelle Obama, has various initiatives in order to help people make better food choices. The bottom line is that people need to look at the foods they are consuming, especially when it comes to desserts which are often rich in fats, additives and preservatives.

 

Is It Bad To Eat Desserts?

Eating desserts is not always a bad thing. What matters is the kinds of desserts and more importantly, what ingredients they are made with. Anyone who maintains good health knows that all foods should be consumed in moderation. In the book, Sinfully Vegan, author Lois Dieterly has assembled quite a collection of amazing desserts that is sure to please even the toughest food critic. She also offers a great explanation of what the key ingredients are used for and why. If you are someone who loves desserts but wants to cut out the animal based products, wants to be able to enjoy gluten-free desserts or just wants to try something new, this is one book that you need to explore. The recipes are easy to make, kid friendly and not terribly expensive to make. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to author, Lois Dieterly about her new book. If you are a vegan or just want to learn more about the options you can work with when making delicious desserts, stay tuned!

Listen To The Interview

Banana Cannoli Recipe (Vegan)

Recipes from the book, Sinfully Vegan by Lois Dieterly. Reprinted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group.  Copyright © 2011.

Cannoli are an Italian pastry consisting of a flaky crust wrapped around a creamy, chocolate chip–dotted, sweetened ricotta cheese filling. Sounds yummy . . . but nutritionally a bit scary. I set out to make a healthier, vegan version; what I (okay, my daughter) came up with is the idea for banana cannoli. These cannoli have a banana leather (dehydrated banana) shell filled with a scrumptious chocolate cream. The base of the chocolate cream is avocado; while being high in fat, it is heart healthy because that fat is mostly monounsaturated—which has been proven to actually lower cholesterol. But don’t be scared off if I made it sound too healthy—rest assured, this dessert is delicious!

Makes: 12 cannoli or 36 appetizer bites. Freezes well

Preparation time: shells, 10 minutes; chocolate avocado cream, 10 minutes

Dehydration time: 11 hours

Assembly: 10 minutes

Shell Ingredients:

• 4 medium-size ripe (yellow with black spots) bananas
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Chocolate Avocado Cream Ingredients:

• 2 ripe avocados
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons water

Directions: Put the shell ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Spread in a thin layer on a tray in a dehydrator or on parchment paper placed on a baking sheet. Because I don’t have a dehydrator, I have to give directions to use a stove. If you do have a dehydrator, follow the manufacturer’s directions to dehydrate the banana. Set your oven to its lowest setting (mine is 175°F). Leave the baking sheet in the oven overnight (10 hours). Remove from the oven. While warm, remove from the parchment paper and cut into four equal rectangles (I use kitchen shears for this). Immediately roll around cannoli forms (see Note on page 131). Secure with a band made of aluminum foil (see Note on page 131). Return to the baking sheet and dehydrate for another hour. Allow to cool before removing the foil rings and taking off the cannoli form. Allow to cool completely before filling.

Wash the avocados. Cut in half. Remove the pits (see Note on page 131) and discard them. Peel and discard the skin. Slice the avocados. Put them and the remaining cream ingredients in a food processor. Process until smooth and creamy.

To assemble: Put the chocolate avocado cream in a pastry bag fitted with a large tip. Squeeze into the shells (filling from each side). Cut each shell into three pieces. Chill. When ready to serve, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

If serving on a tapas tray, instead of cutting each shell into three small cannoli, you can cut them into bite-size slices.

Notes:

• Cannoli forms are metal tubes around which you wrap a cannoli shell, or in this case, the fruit leather, so that it forms a tube shape. I found them to be sold in sets of four—available at kitchen stores and at many sites on the Internet.
• Work with the fruit leather when it’s warm. It tends to get brittle as it cools. If this happens, return it to the oven to heat it up. Be sure it’s warm to roll it onto the form.
• I used foil bands to secure the shells for further dehydrating so that they didn’t unwrap. To make a foil band, simply tear a small piece of foil and fold as if making a ring for your finger. Just be sure it’s long enough to secure the shell.
• To remove an avocado pit, put the avocado half with the pit on a cutting board. Use a large knife to chop down on the pit (keep your hands out of the way, if you want to keep all ten fingers!). The knife will penetrate the pit just a little. Twist it and the pit should simply twist loose. Presto! Pit is out!

PER SERVING (BASED ON 12 CANNOLI-SIZE SERVINGS): 125

calories, 5.4 g fat (1 g saturated), 20.9 g carbohydrate, 4.1 g dietary fiber, 12.5 g sugar, 1.6 g protein, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 49.

Fruit Spread Recipe

Makes 1 cup of fruit sauce

Preparation time: 20 minutes

• 2 cups fresh fruit (apples, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, or cherries), washed, peeled if necessary, and cut into bite-size pieces if necessary
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

Directions: Put the fruit and 1/4 cup of the water into a saucepan and bring to a boil. If adding sugar, add it now. Boil the fruit until it is soft. If using raspberries or blueberries, boil until the berries break open and combine with the water to form a sauce. Remove from the heat.

Combine the cornstarch with the remaining 1/4 cup of water. Bring the fruit to a boil again and add the cornstarch. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil once again. The mixture will thicken as it boils and will continue to thicken as it cools. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.

Notes: You may use the sauce as a topping for fruit ice cream (pages 250–252) or as a spread on toast or crackers.

In addition, I like to bake it in the middle of My Grandmother’s Crumb Cake (page 70). If you do this, after you prepare the pan according to the recipe directions, pour half of the batter into the pan and spread it out. Top with the fruit spread. Put the remaining batter on top of this and sprinkle with crumbs. Don’t worry if the batter and/or fruit doesn’t completely cover the layer below—it will be fine once it’s baked. Bake according to the recipe directions. I especially like blueberries and raspberries in this cake!

PER SERVING: 25 calories, 0.1 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 6.2 g carbohydrate, 0.6 g dietary fiber, 4.1 g sugar, 0.3 g protein, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 0 percent.