Sunday Brunch: Cranberry-Strawberry-Tofu Dumplings

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1.5 cup Cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup Strawberries, diced
1/2 pkg Extra Firm Tofu, crumbled
6 Rice Paper wraps (or vegan wonton wraps)

In a medium pot, combine sugar, vanilla and water until dissolved, then boil. Stir in cranberries and strawberries, return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, until all the cranberries pop. When the sauce thickens, add crumbled tofu and heat for another 5 minutes (if sauce doesn't thicken, add small amounts of corn starch until it does, then add tofu).

In a large bowl, dip rice papers in hot water until they soften, then spoon 2 tbsp of filling and twist the top. If you are using wontons, spoon in the filling and then steam in a bamboo steamer before enjoying.

Sunday Brunch: Strawberry-Peach Cookie Bars

I took advantage of the Victoria Day holiday today to make these. The recipe I adapted from was on Epicurious and they were cookies, but the reviews were negative based on them being cake-y and too liquid as batter. I adapted to make them vegan, cut down on the gooey-ness and put them in bar form.







INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar (Cane or vegan white)
1 cup Shortening
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 pint Strawberries, chopped
1 Peach, peeled and chopped 
3 cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Chopped Nuts (pecans or walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream shortening and sugar in a large bowl. Stir in baking soda. Puree fruit in a food processor and stir in along with the flour, salt and nuts.

Flatten out the batter into a cake pan. I made it too thick, so aim for about 1/2 inch thickness. Bake until knife comes out clean!

Sunday Brunch: Banana Oatmeal Everything Cookies

1.75 cups Flour
1.5 cups Instant Oats
1 cup Sugar
3 Very Ripe Bananas
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Baking Soda
Dash Lemon Juice
Dash Cinnamon
1 Egg Replacer
4 Strawberries, chopped
1/4 Mango, chopped
Handful of Chocolate Chips

Mash bananas with lemon juice in a large bowl, then cream in sugar, oil, egg replacer and vanilla. In a separate bowl, blend flour, oats, baking soda and cinnamon. Add both mixes together, along with fruit and chocolate chips then mix until all flour is blended in. Bake at 350F until edges turn light brown and then let cool. Enjoy chewy goodness!

Sunday Brunch: Strawberry-Cherry Custard Tarts

INGREDIENTS (Shell, from How it all Vegan):
3 cup Graham Crumbs
6 tbsp Water
5 tbsp Oil
dash Salt

INGREDIENTS (filling):
4-5 Strawberries
4-5 Cherries, pitted
1 cup Soy Milk
3ish tbsp Custard Powder
1-2 tbsp Sugar (to taste)

Combine shell ingredients and press into muffin papers, creating a thin cup shape. Bake at 350F until very lightly browned. Remove and let cool.

In a blender, combine strawberries, cherries and soy milk until smooth. Over medium heat, combine custard powder and sugar, adding soy milk mixture gradually. Stir frequently until it becomes thick, remove from heat. Once it thickens slightly, fill the cooled graham cups up until almost spilling over. Refrigerate until custard thickens up (overnight is best).

Sunday Brunch: Strawberry Shortcake w/ No-Egg Custard

INGREDIENTS - CUSTARD:
3 tbsp Vegan Custard Powder
3 tbsp Sugar
2 cups Soy Milk

Combine sugar and custard powder in a saucepan and slowly add milk as you whisk it together. Continue whisking over medium heat until it comes to a full boil. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until gel-like (overnight is best).

INGREDIENTS - SHORTCAKE
2 pints Strawberries, washed and chopped
2 1/4 cups Flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
2 tbsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1/3 cup Vegetable Shortening
1 Egg Replacer
2/3 Cup Soy Milk

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl. Knife in shortening until you get an even crumble. Add egg replacer and milk to the centre and mix in. Push dough evenly into round cake pan and bake at 425F for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on a rack, cut it in half when partially cooled. Put custard in the middle, and then spread across the top and top with chopped strawberries (you can add sugar to them in a bowl if desired). There should be some left over strawberries and custard to serve alongside if needed.

*Note: Mine looks odd because I had a section of seed-free strawberries for a guest that couldn't have seeds.