Heirloom Potato Salad with Vegenaise®

A super easy potato salad with tasty heirloom spuds. Vegan and egg-free.

I snatched up a bag of those cute little potatoes at the market yesterday. You know the ones I'm talking about. Those baby sized spuds as cute as a button. In Easter egg colors like custard and purple and pink. So sweet and adorable you want to cradle the bag and speak in your talking-to-kittens voice. Heirloom root vegetable deliciousness. Yeah, you shell out a little extra cabbage for these pretty babies, true. But I say, live a little.

Indulge in excellent ingredients.

You only got one life. 

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Nectarine Ice Cream with Coconut Milk

Creamy and subtle coconut milk and nectarine ice cream.

Coconut Vegan Bliss

It's been hot and sultry here in West Hollywood. [One could argue, when is West Hollywood not hot and sultry, Babycakes?] We've been settling into our new apartment, hanging curtains (adios, vertical blinds), unpacking books, and doing laundry. So before I share the new coconut milk ice cream recipe I whipped up last night (after scarfing down vegan tacos like there was no tomorrow, which would be, today)...

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Mexican Hot Fudge Sauce - Dairy and Gluten-Free

Decadent dairy-free hot fudge sauce. Vegan and gluten-free.

Now that there are some super fabulous gluten-free vegan ice creams out there (have you tried the coconut milk and almond milk based ice creams?) and we don't have to settle for less than delicious, I thought I'd reprise this silky chocolate sauce recipe from the archives. Because, you know. You may have missed it. And life is too short to live without fudge sauce. In my book, anyway.

Happy last days of summer. Now go make a sundae.

Mexican Hot Fudge Sauce

Who can resist the combination of coffee and chocolate? This is a simple hot fudge sauce to drizzle over ice cream, flourless cake, or gluten-free brownies - you name it. It's lip-smacking sexy good.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut cream
2 tablespoons raw organic agave
5 ounces dark chocolate, in pieces
1/4 cup Kahlua (omit for alcohol-free)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract

Instructions:

In a saucepan, heat the cream until it starts to simmer. Remove from heat and add the agave, and pieces of dark chocolate; stir until melted. 

Stir in the Kahlua, cinnamon and vanilla. Taste test (the fun part). Adjust sweetness level to your liking. If not using right away, pour into a glass storage container and cover.

Store the covered sauce in the refrigerator. This sauce may be made ahead and reheated gently over low heat before serving.

Lovely for drizzling over cake wedges, brownies, ice cream and holiday treats.

This recipe makes about a cup of sauce. Adjust the ingredients to make it thinner/thicker, and less sweet/sweeter to your liking.

For a Mexican Hot Fudge Sundae

Chill four fancy stemmed glasses.

Drizzle the warm sauce over a scoop of coffee, espresso chip, or coconut vanilla ice cream and a thin wedge of Dark Goddess Cake or a small square of my favorite Dark Chocolate Brownies.

Vegan Cupcakes and Baking Tips

Before you bake these cupcakes, get an oven thermometer.

Oven Temps + GF Baking

I attempted my first baking recipe yesterday. In the new apartment, that is. The kitchen is new, not the baker. I've been around the block a time or two when it comes to batter and dough (so if you're new to the blog, Darling, don't panic- I've got armloads of gluten-free recipes waiting for your brilliance to coax them to life). See that sparkling little cupcake gem above? Try it's zesty orangeness on for size. Because the recipe I was developing for you... Well. 

It failed. 

What was it? you idly wonder. Zucchini bread. A bread that should have been moist and tender and bursting with juicy bits of zucchini. A perennial August favorite I haven't sunk my teeth into since going gluten-free nine years ago. So I was due.

What happened?

Here's the thing. The thing I have to share with you that could change your gluten-free baking life. The back story: the stove is new. As in brand spanking new. No gluten has ever darkened it's white enamel door (a psychological plus). And it's a gas stove (heats quickly, super efficient). So what I am about to tell you may surprise you.

The oven temperature was off. As in way off.

How do I know? I had an inkling. I bought an oven thermometer. I installed it. And I set the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. When the preheat light went off I opened the oven door. It read 400 cussing degrees.

What?

How can a brand new oven be off by 50 degrees? Turns out ovens can be off by all kinds of degrees, Babycakes. A little high. A little low. This is not uncommon. New or old, stoves can be persnickety. So if you're one of those readers who find my baking times too short or too long? Get an oven thermometer stat and take your oven's temperature. Play nurse to that Bad Boy. And find out exactly where you're at. Because the sunken loaves with gummy centers you felt guilty about? Might not be you at all, Darling. The burnt cookies that made you feel like a Martha Stewart failure? Could be your over zealous gas burner.

To test this out we set the oven  temp to 300 degrees. And guess what? The thermometer read 350 degrees. On the nose. 

So Steve rustled up some cookies to cheer me up in my zucchini bread grief. And not just any cookies. These Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies. Because a girl needs a dunk worthy cookie for breakfast.

And there will be zucchini bread in the near future. Oh yes.

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Sweet Potato Salad

Potato salad with no mayo- and sweet potatoes!

 A recipe winner from the archives you may have missed. Because I haven't been cooking. I've been packing. We're moving from our Santa Monica apartment to a sweet place in West Hollywood. Like, tomorrow. If it seems as if we live gypsy lives, it's true. We do (if packing up and moving six times in fourteen months counts). We're signing a lease today. Ostensibly for a year. I hope to settle in fast and start whipping up gluten-free recipes in the new kitchen- which is, I'm happy to report, new as in brand new. New everything. Hence, a gluten-free stove. Fridge. Dishwasher. The landlord remodeled, bless her generous heart. I'll post pics as soon as the dust settles. xox Karina PS: And yes, there's a window over the kitchen sink.

This is a colorful and lower carb potato salad recipe, a welcome change from the ordinary white spud con mayo and boiled egg offerings so ubiquitous at backyard get-togethers. Why? Beyond the no Hellman's and huevos part, it features sweet potatoes, Dude. Sweet potatoes.

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