Vegan Millionaire's Shortbread!

Caution: chopped chocolate is dangerously delicious!

Keep stirring!

Almost there!

Here we go!

This dessert was a delicious pain in the butt.
Okay, I exaggerate.  It wasn't so bad, but I am certain that it's not very good for you.  It's full of sugar and Earth Balance margarine, and Soy Creamer (which I will never buy again because it is terrifying).
Still, if you want to make an oldschool dessert, or get that 'you're frigging kidding it's vegan?!' reaction, this is a great dessert to make.
I have no pictures of the final product because, frankly, I'm embarrassed at how it looked.  The thick, set chocolate got hard in the refrigerator and shattered when I tried to cut into it, leading to broken, dusty shapes a co-worker called 'parallelograms'.  If I were to make this again, I'd probably them just after they'd set in the refrigerator instead of waiting until the next day.
The process is basically this:  make shortbread by combining 1/2 cup of Earth Balance or other vegan margarine, 1/4 cup of sugar, and just under two cups of flour (I mixed regular flour with 1/4 cup of rice flour). Press this stuff into a small baking pan lined with wax paper.
Bake at 400 degrees until golden (just keep an eye on it, it could be 15 minutes or closer to 40, depending on the thickness and your oven).  Take it out and let it cool. 
Then:
Combine another 1/2 cup of Earth Balance with 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1.5 cups of vegan cream in a heavy-bottomed pot.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to medium and allow the mixture to thicken and get dark.  It will take awhile, and you have to stir vigilantly the entire time.  My friend Edie and I took shifts on this one.
When it's thick, amber coloured and greatly reduced, remove it from the heat and continue to stir for a minute or so.  Then pour the guk over the shortbread and gently spread it. 
Refrigerate until set.
Then:
Melt just under 2 cups (about 20g) of chopped chocolate in a double boiler.  When it's melted, pour it over the set cookie and caramel, and spread evenly.
Let them shits cool again.
When it appears fully set, gently lift it out of the container by the edges of the wax paper and try to cut it into squares.  This is where I failed, so I wish you better luck.
Also: you'd better share this or you and your tight-ass jeans will be sorry!

Mushi Pan!

Saw these on Obachan's food blog recently, and wondered how I could do up a vegan version to share. After a little cruising online, I found a recipe that was accidentally vegan, converted and tweaked it, and came up with something I liked. Mushi Pan (literally bug bread, so I read) is a lovely, quick steamed bread/cake thing. I think it's a very versatile base for any flavour, and imagine it would come in handy for when you want a 'baked' treat, but don't have an oven.
I was out of my normal flour, and so I decided to use what was on hand, which was Teff flour (the flour used for Injera in Ethiopian foods--for a future experiment:).
I also wanted a green tea flavour, so I added matcha powder, thinking it would go well with the chocolate chips.
Here's the recipe for a small handful (probably three to four regular muffin sized cakes, or 5-10 minimuffin sized cakes)
1/5 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2-3/4 cup of soy milk or other nondairy milk
1/4 tsp matcha powder
pinch of salt
handful of chocolate chips or chunks

Set a large pot to boil. Sift the dry ingredients, then add them to the wet ingredients and whisk.
Spoon mixture into muffin cups (1/2 full), top with a handful of chocolate or raisins and place in the steamer basket over boiling water. Steam with the lid on for 10-12 minutes, et voila! I really don't know of any faster, easier dessert. This would be great if you have last minute company.
You could take out the matcha powder and add cocoa, or anything else you think might make these great. Imaging: raisin cardamom mushi pan. Chocolate red bean mushi pan. Gluten free strawberry mushi pan. The possibilities are endless.