The Gourmellows

So I am working on yet another project. The season is busy, but I have to leave some time for me to play around with ingredients right?
This time is Nougat, yes nougat. I have been making nougat for a while now, but this is different, is Vegan Nougat of course.
Now for who is not familiar with nougat or torrone for us italians, the main ingredients are egg whites, sugar and honey, not very vegan indeed, but a lot whole yummy.
My second experiment it turned out to be not bad indeed, it is a hard crispy and crunchy type, torrone, the type I used to eat every Christmas back home in Italy.
What gives the nougat or torrone their flavor is the honey and deep roasted nuts.
I have substituded few ingredients and using Agave Syrup instead of honey, the flavor is awesome. My goal was a soft nougat, as I believe the American public would be more appealed by a softer product than a hard one.
The flavor is there, and I am very happy with it, if I was to taste it and not knowing it was a vegan torrone I wouldn't guess it.
I can't wait to go back home and dedicate an hour or so to make another batch and get the consistency right this time, the ingredients are expensive and failures are hurtful, but worth it at this oint.
I will eventually turn my vegan line of confections into my main business and I can't wait for that to happen, I want to embrace my thoughts and belives and live upone them, while doing what I like the most, play with sweet and unique ingredients :-)
Here you can see my Etsy store.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/DesiderioChocolates?ref=pr_shophocolates?ref=pr_shop

I always tend to change my recipes as I make them, so I have gazillion of different variations on the same theme :-)

Chocolate chips cookies

1/2 cup of canola oil
1 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of sucanat (evaporate cane juice)
2 tsp of natural vanilla extract or the seeds of one vanilla bean)
2 tbsp of almond milk
3 tsp of energ-G egg replecer mixed with 2 1/2 tbsp of water
2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (or if you cant find it I also use King Arthur white whole wheat flour, it is a little bit lighter in texture than the regular whole wheat)
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of sea salt
1 cup of dark chocolate chips (I use Dagoba Milagros)

Mix oil, sugar, vanilla.
Add egg replacer, mix well.
Mix flour with baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips.
Add the flour to the rest, mix well.
With an ice cream scooper form the cookies and place on a cookie sheet that will fit into the frezeer.
Freeze the dough for about 30 minutes.
Bake frozen cookies at 365F (I have a gas oven, temperature might be different from an electric)
Bake until slightly gold on the bottom.
Do not over bake, they will be puffy with bunch of cracks on the top and the inside will be still moist.

Enjoy

My favorite smoothie:
1 banana
1 cup or more of frozen blueberries
1 Tbsp of natural peanut butter
Stevia if needed (1/2 Tbsp)
filtered water (approx 1-2 cups, but check the consitency and adjust to your liking)
1 cup of organic red chard
1 cup of organic spinach
Add 1 Tbsp of hemp protein if desired.

Blend at high speed and enjoy right away. It always makes me feel great and energized even if tired and overworked and its a good way to sneak leafy greens into the, kids and non, diet.

This is a slightly modified version of my original whole wheat bread with oats. Should I say veganized, not that is hard to do, most breads I know (rustic italian etc.) are already quasi Vegan.
Anyway, I have not baked bread for a while and decided to make some last week, I was out of rolled oats so I just left them out and follow the recipe as normal. The result was a tender, savory, wholesome bread, that is perfect for sandwiches ( like the chickpea burger and fresh lattuce I just had for lunch!).

Whole Wheat bread

3 1/4 tsp of active yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup of warm water (lukewarm)

Mix together and let it sit for 5 minutes or until had "bloomed" and the yeast mixture has risen and its bubbly.

Meanwhile mix:

1 cup or rolled oats (you can leave them out or grind them very fine)
2 Tbsp dry soy milk (available in health stores)
2 Tbsp malt powder
1 Tbsp sea salt
1/2 cup of canola oil
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
3/4 cup of warm water
4 Tbsp of vital gluten flour (if you use regular flour, otherwhise you can skip the vital gluten if using bread flour, in any case it gives the bread a nice consistency, 1 Tbsp per cup of flour)
Add;
2 cups of unbleached white flour
2 cups of whole wheat flour

Mix well, kneed couple of times until smooth.
Place in a well oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or place the bowl in a plastic bag (I use the produce bags I save from the grocery store, it creates a nice proofing chamber).
Let it rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours.
Grease with some canola oil a loaf pan.
Oven 350F
Place the dough on the counter and give it a loaf shape, I usually just roll it on itself and place it in the pan. Cover again with the plastic or the bag method, let rise until has formed a nice dome and filled all the pan. With a very sharp knife or oiled scissors make few cuts on the surface, I make mine diagonally, about 5 or 6. Brush with a little bit of soy milk or other non dairy milk (Almond and soy are what I use the most).
Let it rest 10 minutes then bake in the oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes, but it depends on the type of oven you are using.
Let it cool on a grate, make sure is fully cooled before ctting or placing into a bag or container.
Enjoy :-)

I am here laying on the grass, enjoying a gorgeous day in the sun. I am warm and comfortable, I feel one with the nature surrounding me. It's been awhile since I haven't done that, makes me feel whole and at peace with everything around me. The feelings I have hidden for so long are finally back, it isn't always a good thing, as sometimes they make me vulnerable and very sensitive "but I'd rather feel pain that nothing at all".
Living accordingly to ones believes isn't always feasible or easy, but it sure makes me feel like I belong, like I care and I am not here just for the ride, I am making it happen.
The joy I have finally found inside is of the type that fills the Universe, is the one that tells me this is who I am, and I am liking it, a lot.

These past few weeks have been I would say, different. Different in a way I have not been in a while. I missed many things in these past six years, life just slipt away. Busy, raising a family and trying to find my place in this world. I lost focus on what my life was all about, at least what I think it should be.
I forgot to remember that life its a journey and not a destination, like everything else. I focused on things that are not important or not focus at all. I lost precious time, I will never get that back, but I can learn from it.
Losing yourself in the clutter of this world is easy, especially western civilizations.
I need to go back to the basics, I crave simplicity right now, like a healing path, to restore the unbalanced way of life I have followed for so long. I am not willing to do that anymore. I want to live the way I am supposed to, or feel to. We have no excuses to waste our lives if we dont want to. And I dont want anymore. I want my life connected to something higher, something that is worthwhile the efforts, connected to the source.
I want to be aware, I dont want to be blind anymore. I want to feel the nature around me again.
I have forgot how to listen, to see, to smell, to breath in.
Those true colors around me, sometimes it felt like I was living through someone else's eyes, scary.
I want to slow down and take the time to enjoy the fly of a butterfly or the laugh of my children, give them all my attention, and love, without feeling rushed, no pressure, I want them to feel that as well. I want to learn how to sit in stilness, somehow so hard for me to accomplish, learn how to listen to my own heart beat and syncronize my life around that.
I think every human being is reborn every few years.
I am new here today, I am still learning.

I think one of the biggest joy of the day, apart from my little devils, is coming home after 8 hours of brain frying and find a package waiting for me.
I don't know it is like being a little kid all over again!
Today it was Chocolate, yes my beloved, sensual, pretty chocolate. I tried to tide up the kitchen really quick and then proceeded to open the not one but two small medium boxes. One was from Dagoba organic and the other was from Santa Barbara chocolate, organic as well. Usually the first thing I do is open the bag were the chocolate is kept and trying to get in as much of the aroma as I can.
Then I pick a small amount, in this case they both came in buttons form, and smell it again, place it in my mouth and try to block out all of the other stimuli around me.
Dagoba 68% Milagros origins Peru', is smooth with strong sweet notes. I love it, I am definitely keeping this for my production, it would make an outstanding creamy vegan ganache.
Santa Barbara chocolate, 72% dark no vanilla or soy lecithin added, strong aroma but very smooth finish, a smoothness you wouldn't expect from a 72%.
For some reason after I burned some incense couple of days ago, I can't seem able to get that burned incensy smell out of my nose, so I have hard time identifying clearly the many different tones in the chocolate.
Overall I am very pleased with both, organic, fair trade, green companies, great chocolate.

This is my version of vegan chocolate chips, and more, cookies. I have been looking for recipes around, but I haven't found anything that I really liked. So I just modified the recipe I use for regular non vegan cookies, which I have perfected in the past couple of years. They passed, my sweet toothed little boy, test and I was really please with them as well. I handed a couple of oven hot cookies to my husband on his way out of the door, telling him they were vegan and of course he gave me "that" look and said " Vegan!?" I didn't have the chance to ask him this morning how he liked them, because working opposite shifts kinda does that to you :-)
I want to do some more baking trying to modify recipes I already know into vegan version. I know there are a lots of books out there and I might get few and do some comparisons.


Vanny's vegan nut chocolate chips cookies

1 stick of Hearth Balance vegan margarine (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup of pure hazelnut paste
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of sugar (organic )
2 tsp of natural vanilla or 1 vanilla bean scraped down
2 Tbsp of almond milk
2 1/2 tsp of egg substitute (powdered type, it needs to be mixed with 3 Tbsp of water before use, I am pretty sure you can skip this step and just do without) Actually I think I am going to try and add either veganaise (vegan majonnaise) or soy "sour cream" to add to the moisture, next time.
1 Tbsp of vital wheat gluten (I didn't have bread flour which its used in the original recipe)
1tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (be aware that the Hearth Balance is already salted)
2 cups of unbleached flour
For the chips I used 74% dark chocolate cut into chunks, 1/2 cup
1/4 cup of Pistachios, 1/4 cup of unsweetened dry coconut, 1/4 cup of walnuts.

For the original recipes, which is an adaptation of Alton Brown chewy chocolate chip cookies, I usually melt the butter and then work the other ingredients. Yesterday I just creamed the margarine with the hazelnut paste, add the sugars, vanilla, egg substitute, beat well, added the baking soda, vital gluten and flour and salt if using it. After done mixing it add the chocolate, nuts and coconut and mix by hand.
I use an ice cream scooper, about 1 1/2 inches wide. Scoop the cookies into a non greased baking sheet, bake at 375 for 12-15 minute, but the time might vary considerably since I am at high altitude and I have a gas oven, just make sure the cookies are not overdone, slightly golden brown around the edges and still soft.
These cookies don't flat down they are nice and thick, because that is the way we like them at home.
They freeze very well, just scoop the cookie on a tray or a baking sheet that would fit your freezer, freeze until hard then place them into ziplock bags for later use. They are really yummy to just munch on while still cold, perfect cookie dough, no eggs!
Well I hope everyone will enjoy them. Let me know how they turn out.

I couldn't wait and I have ordered some organic dark chocolate,Dagoba Milagros 68%. I found another organic line that doesn't add any soy lecithin or vanilla. I think a comparison is imperative to decide, which means more chocolate tasting for me!! And for my closest friends. I am excited about creating an organic, vegan line of confections, something that stands out, something I can relate to and be proud of.
Also the boxes have a arrived and waiting for me at home. Darn day job is getting in my way!!

I just finished dipping another test batch of organic raspberry Gourmellows, I can say they are probably 90% organic, the dark chocolate I use is not organic but its a really great Venezuelan chocolate and I would have hard time giving it up. I might do little bit of researching with organic chocolate, I think I already know which one I would rather use, but we will see.
I paired them with a dark chocolate raspberries ganache with a touch of Chambord. I think they are very tasty and creamy, maybe the mellows should be little bit firmer, the puree tends to soften them too much. Overall good test and of course all dairy and corn syrup free. I hope the boxes I ordered arrive today, so I can do some real testing with product packaging and labels.

Here are the first bars I made. Just plain organic vanilla bean mellows with a dark chocolate and hazelnut ganache. They are evilish yummy!

Half Marshmallow, Half Truffle! Vegetarian, dairy free confections and chocolates.

After deciding to go vegetarian I have been working on recipes so I could adapt my old ones with my new life style. Now I want to bring these changes to my products. So my marshmallows are now vegan, mostly organic and I am pairing them with a layer of non dairy dark chocolate ganache.
Made a first batch yesterday and I am going to dip em in dark chocolate today. Along with the Gourmellows I am also working on a dairy free, corn syrup free caramel, I made the first batch yesterday as well and will be dipped today, dark chocolate of course as I am keeping these products dairy free (vegetarian and vegan friendly). I have replaced the corn syrup (I actual always used glucose syrup) with organic agave syrup, in both mellows and caramel.
I am pretty excited about this new project as I needed something that could marry my life style changes with my products. I am sure that most of non vegetarian costumers will find these new products appealing as well as the vegetarian/vegan portion.