April Showers us With Great Food!

Well the weather didn’t dampen our spirits, though it dampened everything else! I confess I am a divided hostess, with one foot in the world of vegan cooking and one foot in the world of at-risk readers. However, the rest of you were at the top of your game. Though Roger offered more succulent food drawings, I think an enticing array of the name cards will suffice.

Why is it I never actually get to see Marie?? Speaking of name cards, Griff has nominated a committee to get us some–for people! With so many new people coming every month, it does seem inevitable. BUT to keep it as low-waste as possible, we’ll opt for the necklace version and you can leave them at our house until next time. Thank you, Christine, for your assistance with this. Until the name tags emerge, go back and look at your photos! to reacquaint yourself with your new friends.

Our special guest Kelly LeCoy of Uptown Kitchen is pictured here (on the right) with Caitlin Prins (left) and Kelly Elders (middle).

Below, Parag and Rosebud show us some of their bounty.

Christine, Jamie and Susan found a corner table to enjoy visiting.

It was delightful to have Oliver, food enthusiast and gardener, bring his mom, Catherine Creamer, to their first supper club. They are pictured here with friend Meribeth Nudelman-Fields (on the left)

Michael, Roger and Johnny decided to wait for the crowd to subside before filling up their plates.

Though the dessert table was a bit sparse–noticeably absent were bakers Kris, Morgan and Molly, Rosebud brought a lovely applesauce cake and there was a blueberry dessert that–well even the crumbs were gone–thank you, Tillie! Still the stews and soups and grain salads were amazing. Geoff brought a polenta cake topped by carmelized leeks, Michele Sellers brought an amazing yam and peanut stew with kale and Kevin Schalkofski brought pizzas from the new Kult Pizza. I do believe there were some ‘chicken’ wings from Stella’s, courtesy of Dave Ogren.

You tell me, do these ladies look satisfied? Jillane and Medha, of course!

And Suzie MacKeigan…

Our next supper club is May 15. Before you dot another i, put that on your calendar!

Make Spring Come Now

Pretend like you don’t care that it’s snowing in April. Pretend like all you want to do is have a delicious warming soup to eat. Hey, I’ve got an idea. Make this one! When I read that the owner of the Wynn Resorts became a vegan, I figured he’d hire him some pretty big name chefs. Tal Ronnen is a culinary superstar and and his ‘clam’ chowder is really inspirational. But I needed to adapt it for home cooks. If I told my students, we’d be using a stovetop smoker, they’d think I was smoking something! So I replaced Tal’s smoked mushrooms with re-hydrated dry shitake mushrooms that are then massaged with a little liquid smoke. Suddenly it’s do-able. This is one of those recipes, so warm and creamy and comforting, that friends will say “I’d eat vegan, too, if I could eat like this.”

In fact, I promised to post this for the Meijer Garden Book Club. Here you go, Ladies!

If you don’t have a high-speed blender, try grinding up the cashews to the consistency of a powder in your food processor (like fine bread crumbs…don’t go all the way to peanut butter),then soak in one cup of non-dairy milk, then proceed with the recipe. Alternately, you can proceed as below and, if you want the soup perfectly smooth, you may have to pour the cream through a filter.

Ocean Chowder
One cup raw cashews, soaked (see below)
1-2 cups plain unsweetened non-dairy milk
½ tsp. white pepper
One cup dried shiitake mushrooms
½ tsp. hickory seasoning (optional)
2 2X3 inch pieces of kombu seaweed and one sheet toasted nori
1 large onion, ¼ inch dice
2 medium stalks celery, ¼ inch dice
2 medium carrots, ¼ inch dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ waxy yellow potatoes diced in ½ inch cubes
¾ tsp. coarse salt, divided
Salt and pepper to taste Tempeh bacon (optional)

To make the cashew cream:
Place cashews in a bowl of filtered water. Cover by at least two inches and let soak 3 hours or overnight. Rinse and drain cashews and place in a blender (preferably high speed) with 1 cup of unsweetened non-dairy milk and the white pepper and the rest of the salt. I use Westsoy plain unsweetened. Locally, look for it at Harvest Health. Blend for a minute or so on high speed until mixture is completely smooth.

To make the ocean stock:
Bring 4 cups filtered water and seaweed to a boil. Turn off heat and let steep while preparing the rest of the ingredients. Strain out all seaweed. You will have a clear fishy smelling broth.

Rehydrate mushrooms:
Place mushrooms in a bowl with water to cover and bring to a boil in the microwave. Let steep for at least ten minutes. When cool, drain mushrooms (you can reserve the soaking liquid for use in rich soups or gravies) and chop roughly. Sprinkle hickory smoke over mushrooms and massage it in with your hands.

Heat a heavy-bottomed soup pan over medium heat for a minute or two. Sprinkle ¼ tsp. coarse salt on the bottom of the pan and sprinkle the onions and celery on top. Let cook for a minute or two undisturbed. When the vegetables begin to give up their juices, stir and cook for another minute or two until they soften. Add the garlic and carrot and continue to cook and stir for a few more minutes. Add the potatoes and the ocean stock and simmer for ten minutes or so until the potatoes are tender (you really don’t want to overcook the potatoes). Add the mushrooms and the cream. Depending on how thick you want your chowder, add small amounts of milk until you have reached the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, ladle soup into wide bowls. Add a few grinds of fresh pepper and a tablespoon of tempeh
bacon.

Tempeh Bacon
1 block tempeh 2 tbsp tamari or shoyu (soy sauce)
2 T coffee or black tea 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce 2 tsp. sesame oil
1 T tomato paste 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
2 tsp maple syrup

Cut one block of tempeh into thin slices and lay singly in a shallow platter. Whisk together marinade ingredients and pour over tempeh slices. Allow to marinate for half hour or so.

Preheat oven to 275. Lay slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet. ‘Paint’ any remaining marinade over each slice. Bake for about an hour, flipping the slices halfway through. When they reach the dry crispy consistency you want, remove from the oven and cool. Crumble into a bowl and store in a covered container until ready to serve.

Looks like I added some chopped kale to this batch as well as garnished it with a little ancho chili powder and freshly ground black pepper.

My friend, Kathy Roth, who is an excellent healthy vegan cook, shared this chowder recipe with us. It’s similar but different from mine. Try them both. Thank you, Kathy!

Ocean Chowder

Half cup raw cashews, soaked (see below)
1-2 cups plain unsweetened non-dairy milk
½ tsp. white pepper and 1/2 tsp sea salt
Four containers of oyster mushrooms, remove all stems
½ tsp. hickory seasoning (optional)
about 5X5 inch pieces of kombu sea vegetable
1 small onion, ¼ inch dice (optional)
2 medium stalks celery
¼ inch dice 2 medium carrots, ¼ inch dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
about 7 small Yukon Gold potatoes diced in ½ inch cubes
¾ tsp. coarse salt, divided
Salt and pepper to taste

To make the cashew cream: Place cashews in a bowl of filtered water. Cover by at least two inches and let soak 3 hours or overnight. Rinse and drain cashews and place in a blender (preferably high speed) with 1 cup of unsweetened non-dairy milk. I use Almond milk plain unsweetened. Blend for a minute or so on high speed until mixture is completely smooth.

To make the ocean stock: Bring 4 cups filtered water and seaweed to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes.Turn off heat and cover. Leave on stove overnight. Strain out all seaweed and cut into little pieces to add to the soup. You will have a clear fishy smelling broth.

Chop oyster mushrooms and saute in a little olive oil with onions and the garlic until a little brown. Add celery and carrots. Add Kombu broth and potatoes and cook until potatoes are cooked (about 15 minutes. May have to add a little more water to cover potatoes. Add hickory seasoning, salt and pieces of Kombu. Add cashew cream and cook on low until warmed. You can add more almond milk if it is too thick.
To serve, ladle soup into wide bowls. Add a few grinds of fresh pepper. ENJOY

Makes 5 one cup servings
about 160 calories per cup.

A Funny Thing Happened…

A funny thing happened to the photographer on the way to documenting this event…

Could I really have a supper club post without pictures? I don’t think so. So, I recruited professional artist, Roger Gilles, to re-create the event for us. Thank you, Roger! For donating your talents at no charge.

What began as a promise of spring turned into cold wintry weather! Below, Griff and Kendra warm themselves by the fire before the feast begins.

Everything looked delicious! Shawn Kohlhaas tantalizing chickpea salad was the first thing that enticed me.

Medha Kosalge’s upma was a perennial favorite…

But who could concentrate on entrees with all the delectable desserts on offer? Below find the pies that attracted much attention (though I was also wooed by Morgan’s brownies..personally. Just saying). Molly’s pie was beloved. And Cindy’s pie reminded us of an old supper club story, oft told around the campfire with some celery root roasting on the spit (more on that later).

Mary Johnson deserves particular praise for getting things going in the clean-up area (apparently I forgot to designate a clean-up volunteer!). Here Roger documents the hard work it takes to get that kitchen spic and span.

As we were preparing to go, Geoff Fields came up to us with a proclamation.

“I’ve got an idea!” Geoff said. “I think next month we should get a jump on Cinco de Mayo and all cook Mexican!”

That remains to be seen. But what we do know is that we closed the evening with a reverent telling of one of our origin stories that has come to take its place in the annals of vegan lore. We call it:

The First Plantsgiving

A long long time ago before your grandmother’s grandmother’s grandmother learned to tie her apron strings, the event of the year was Plantsgiving. At the very first Plantsgiving, the Pilgrims and the vegans and Indian guys came together by one consent to celebrate the harvest. Fearing the cold winter ahead, the group was moved to share the summer’s bounty together. An enormous carrot was rendered and roasted and everything…everything! was to be shared.

Pilgrim Cindy brought her very special crumb-topped apple pie. When all were asked to share their desserts, Pilgrim Bert pulled Cindy aside and said, “Why share our apple pie with the rest of the pilgrims and the vegans and the Indian guys when we could have it all to ourselves?”

Pilgrim Cindy, remembering the creed to ‘be nice, even if only for dinner,’ said, “But doesn’t that go against the rules?” To which Pilgrim Bert replied, “Rules are meant to be broken.” No one had ever thought of this before. The other pilgrims at Cindy and Bert’s table were swayed by this argument: “Let’s keep the pie! Let’s keep the pie!” they chanted.

And keep the pie they did. All to themselves. Greedily, they ate their pie while the nice pilgrims and vegans and Indian guys shared all that they had. In the end, everyone had enough to eat and everyone was satisfied. But the pilgrims who didn’t share went home with a heavy heart. They felt badly about the pie. It worked on their conscience (and they weren’t even Catholic). Down through the generations the story was told. If you were a pilgrim who shared everything, the story of Plantsgiving is one of joyous celebration in the midst of want. But if you were a pilgrim descended from the group hoarding the pie, you are filled with a sense of remorse that time cannot erase. The moral of the story is: S/he who hoards the pie will forever bear the shame of not being nice.

As the dinner guests bid one another farewell, they remembered fondly and admonished one another to always be nice! and to share, even for just one meal.

Requested recipes are forthcoming…

Our Last Wintry Supper Club

Well, it wouldn’t be Michigan if we didn’t have people stuck in the snow at a potluck at least once a year. But the weather didn’t keep us from making new friends and celebrating delicious food! In fact, we decided we need more space for our gatherings. Our merry band of plant-based eaters has encouraged us to do something we thought heretofore impossible, which I will detail at the end of this post. Many of your requested recipes are included in this post as well.

A lovely quiet descends over the rooms just before everyone arrives.

We had many new guests bearing food. And some really amazing dishes appeared, including a summery tabbouleh, stuffed peppers, curry stew and spring pea shoot risotto. The dessert table was groaning. The peanut butter chocolate brownies and the lime curd tarts were gone in a flash.

Michele Sellers arrived with eggplant involtini. I didn’t get a bite!

You can see why we need more space. We stopped counting after forty people. For next month, we’re working on a way to make it easier to access the food.

Still everyone was in good spirits about it, filling plates and finding somewhere to sit, even when we ran out of chairs.

Good food really does bring people together. We love it when you bring your friends and relatives. Here, Diane Flaherty-Cisler has brought her son, Nick, and daughter-in-law, Sophia, who is a medical student.

Jan and Beth and Shane and Sandy also found time to catch up.

Here are some of the recipes your requested. I wish I had photos for them all! But I think you’ll agree, the recipes are far more priceless.

Geoff Fields’ Wayland Wedding Gumbo was a huge hit! Yes, it looks like a Louisiana bayou in this photo, but trust me, people couldn’t get enough of it. Here’s his recipe, down-sized from 100…

Wayland Wedding Gumbo

1/4 cup corn flour (Masa Harina)
1/4 cup olive oil

6 cups vegetable stock
1 cup dried mushrooms (porcini, morel, etc.)
1 dried ancho chile

3/4 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced green pepper
3/4 cup diced celery

1 T garlic salt
1 t black pepper
1 t white pepper
1/2 t cayenne pepper

2 cups arugula, chopped

1 T curry powder
1 t garlic salt
1 t garlic powder
1 t dried basil
1 t dried thyme

1 T olive oil
6 green onions, diced
1 poblano, diced
1 pound mushrooms, diced
2 T vegan margarine
1 cup frozen sweet corn

1 head garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch parsley, diced
1 cup white wine

6 cups cooked rice

Make Roux

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix corn flour and oil in cast iron pan. Bake flour/oil mix in oven for about 1 hour, stirring well every 10-15 minutes. [Note: corn flour is less stable than wheat flour, and olive oil burns at a lower temperature, so baking the roux poses a less risk of burning the roux. Aim for a tan color, as the mushrooms and ancho will give the gumbo the classic darker color. If burnt specs appear in the roux, start over.]

While roux is baking, heat stock to a simmer, turn off heat, and add mushrooms and ancho to steep in the stock. When the stock has cooled, blend the mushrooms and ancho in 1 quart of the cooled stock, and return the blended mixture to the stock pot. Return stock to simmer.

When roux reaches desired color, remove from oven, stir in onions/peppers/celery and salt and peppers. Cook on burner over low temperature for five minutes, then turn off heat. Add roux mixture by spoonful’s to the stock, stirring well after each addition. Once roux mixture is completely incorporated into the stock, turn off the burner, and add the arugula.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in pan and sauté green onions and poblano until just softened. Add spice mix and stir to incorporate. Add mushrooms and sauté by shaking the pan back and forth. When mushrooms start to release water, add vegan margarine, 1 T at a time, until melted and incorporated all the while shaking the pan back and forth, until margarine is melted and incorporated.

Add mushroom mixture and corn to the gumbo. Simmer on low heat for 60 minutes, adding wine towards the end (as well water as enough water or more stock to reach a consistency you like). Just before serving, salt and pepper to taste, as desired; stir in garlic and parsley; and simmer for 10 more minutes.

To serve, mound rice in center of bowl and ladle gumbo around rice.

Serves 8 to 12.

Everyone wanted to know more about Medha’s dish. Here she is chatting with chef Shawn Kohlhaas about it.

Medha says: That was Kachhi Dabeli, a fast food snack from the Kutch region of Gujarat, India. These are Indian burgers with a spicy mashed potato filling along with fresh garlic chutney, tangy dates and tamarind chutney, roasted peanuts, pomegranate seeds, chopped onions, and cilantro. Instead of pomegranate you can use black or green grapes cut into small pieces. Find a nice recipe online here

Vegan Sweet Potato Breakfast Cookies
brought by Kathy Harwood and inspired by Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
2/3 cup sweet potato puree
2 TBSP ground flax seed
1/4 cup almond milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup spelt flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 350*F. In a large mixing bowl, mix together sweet potato puree, ground flax seed and almond milk. Add in the remaining wet ingredients and mix well (oil, syrup, and vanilla). Sift in spelt flour, ww pastry flour, spices, soda, and salt and stir until fully incorporated. Fold in the oats, pecans and dried cranberries.
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop cookie dough and drop on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave 2″ of space between each cookie. Press down the scoops to form a flat patty. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies are a light golden brown.
Makes ~20 cookies
Note: You can substitute pumpkin puree for the sweet potato. Be sure to add more sweetener to make up for the substitution.

Finally, my personal fave was Kevin Schalkofski’s Italian “Beef” Sandwiches. He found the recipe at this link and he has this to say about making the recipe: I basically prepared the whole recipe the day before. 1. I did not use tofu in the seitan loaf. 2. I did not have beer, so I just used extra veggie broth in the au jus. Since I was making ahead, on day 2 I put the au jus in the crock pot on low at lunch time and put the sliced seitan back in foil and followed the “steaming process” noted in the original recipe — keeping it from mixing with the broth. I would be curious to have time to do this all in the same day.

So that’s what we have so far. If there’s anything else you’d like, tell me so I can badger the cooks.

Finally, we are hoping (fingers crossed) to clear out a space for more diners. We have a lower level. It used to be called the ‘Post Office,’ because it contains an entire post office wall, complete with counter. Now it’s called…well, nothing. It’s kind of a junk repository. But it has a beautiful fireplace! So we’re hoping to clear it out for March. Everyone has to have goals. Thanks for kicking us into gear!

.

Roger’s Lovely Loaf with Mushroom Gravy

This delicious gluten-free loaf adorned with mushroom gravy was a gift from my Valentine, Roger Gilles. The photo elicited so many requests for the recipe that I’m posting it now in anticipation of the landslide of requests we’ll get at our supper club this evening. If you’re free, come over and try it!

Walnut Basil Rice Casserole

This came from ExtraVeganZa, by Laura Matthias, p. 106. I wasn’t sure if the 2 cups of rice meant before or after cooking, so I started with 2 cups of uncooked rice and then used about 4 cups of cooked rice, which seemed about right. Also, in place of fresh basil, I used two “cubes” of frozen basil blended with olive oil—which Sue makes in the summer in ice-cube trays and then puts in our freezers. This was very easy to make.

2 c brown basmati rice, cooked
1½ c walnuts
½ c fresh basil
½ medium onion
2 T tamari or soy sauce
5 T rice milk or soy milk

Cook the rice. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Blend all ingredients in a food processor until reaching a coarse consistency. Press mixture into an oiled loaf pan. Bake 60 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before turning onto a dish and slicing.

Mushroom Gravy

This came from Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, p. 211. I used a blend of shiitake, oyster, and baby bella mushrooms. I also used brown rice flour because Sue wanted the meal gluten-free. After sautéing the onion and mushrooms (but before adding the garlic, etc.), I whirled the mixture in a food processor, even though the recipe didn’t say to. I wanted a smoother gravy.

2 c vegetable broth
1/3 c flour
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
10 oz. cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t thyme
½ t sage
Salt and pepper
¼ cup white wine

Mix flour into broth and set aside. Sauté onion in oil, then add mushrooms and sauté. Add garlic, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper, and sauté some more. Add wine and bring to simmer. Lower heat and add flour/broth. Stir until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Bean Can Man to the Rescue!

Another exciting installment in the life of Bean Can Man

I came home from the gym…starving. BUT I wanted exactly what I wanted, which was a taco salad. I wanted crunchy, creamy, chewy. Anyway. I started with Vertical Paradise baby greens.

Talk about Paradise! It’s February in Michigan and I can get my hands on this stuff. We’re working on YOU getting your hands on this stuff. Come to next week’s supper club and lobby Tim Sharer, owner of Vertical Paradise Farms. Here’s Tim (holding his stash).

Back to the salad. I chopped up peppers and onions, heated a little water in a non-stick pan and sauteed them. After a couple of minutes, I sprinkled on some chili pepper and cumin. Another minute went by and I tossed in two small zucchini (diced), some frozen corn and a half a cup of salsa. I gave it all a stir, turned the pan to low and my attention to the dressing. Into my blender went a half a box of tofu (silken lite firm tofu), 1/2 of a big–ripe, people!–avocado, juice of one half lime, 2-3 tablespoons unsweetened non-dairy milk (you could use water) and whir away until it is perfectly smooth. I wanted to add just a little salt, but when I tipped my jar of himalayan sea salt, a big chunk fell out into the blender. Drat! I tasted it. Like the rim of a margarita. What to do?

As I was sitting there, fretting, apron over my head, a can of Eden Organic No Salt Black Beans fell into my lap.

Bean Can Man with his faithful sidekick, Lime Boy

“Trouble, young lady?”
“Oh Bean Can Man, I am so SO sad. I just put too much salt in my creamy dressing.”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head. Why not offset too much salt with my salt-free black beans? I assume I was destined to make it into your salad anyway.”

Yes, he was. So I mixed the dressing with the beans, which I had rinsed and drained. I chopped the lettuce and put on a layer of creamy beans, topped that with some sauteed veggies, another dollop of creamy beans and salsa. Looked like this:

How do you say Yum! in Spanish? Add some super-thin and crispy Xochitli chips and you are fueled to save the world–one can at a time! Thank you Bean Can Man.

Bon Appetit Cake Goes Vegan!

For a girl who has a healthy eating blog, I sure do fancy chocolate cake recipes. I have this philosophy that my cakes aren’t exactly health food, but they’re so much healthier than other–yes, even vegan–versions. So if you want a little indulgence, start here. My latest creation is a vegan version of Bon Appetit’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Fun Cake.

The cake wasn’t too hard since it was already vegan and similar to other cakes I’ve made. I modified it by using full-fat cocoa powder from Penzey’s and coffee instead of water. Coffee in a chocolate cake makes it just that more chocolate-y.

One More Chocolate Cake Recipe
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder (full fat if you can get it)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cup coffee (I use decaf, but really good stuff from Grand Rapids Coffee Roasters)–or water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (if you’re gonna make if vegan, check the ingredient list for milkfat)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil an 8 X 8 pan and put parchment paper in the bottom (to make your life easier, of course). Whisk dry ingredients together. In a 2 cup measure, whisk wet ingredients together. Don’t combine wet with dry until your pan is ready and the oven is preheated. In this story, the dry and the wet have chemistry and you don’t want them making out on your counter, but in the oven so the cake rises. When everything is ready, mix the ingredients together until just combined, pour into your pan and slip the pan into the oven. It will take 35-40 minutes to bake. I never got the hang of sticking a toothpick in the middle. They always come out with stuff on them. I like to gently touch the top of the cake. If it feels firm to the touch and the cake is coming away from the sides of the pan (even a little), it is probably done.

Here’s where I get all proud. The mousse in the Bon Appetit recipe comes from egg whites. And so many vegan versions of this use tons of Earth Balance and Spectrum Spread (the health-food version of Crisco). Yukky! Here’s what I did and it tastes as good as it looks. Maple syrup balances the beaniness of tofu. Trust me. No one will know if you do this right.

Peanut Butter Mousse

1 box extra firm tofu
2 T maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3-1/2 cup smooth 100% peanut butter (no Jif, people!)
1/4 cup refined coconut oil, melted

Put all ingredients except coconut oil in your blender and blend until completely smooth. Add coconut oil through blender hole in a thin stream (you are running the blender). Transfer this peanut butter pudding to the refrigerator to chill while the cake cools and you prepare your toppings.

Chop 1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts and 1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate. Once the cake has completely cooled, invert it onto a platter. I cut this into wedges and you can see how pretty it is. The mousse is very well-behaved, light and fluffy. The whole cake kept very well in the fridge for several days on a cake plate. It did not dry out. I’ve been doing Kris Carr’s Adventure cleanse (no gluten, no sugar, la la) or I wouldn’t know this.

I’m already thinking about giving this hot little number a makeover with some crushed chocolate cookies and the mousse with its toppings in a martini glass.