Sweets

I'm not a fan of baking. There is too much measuring, and you really have to follow the recipe otherwise it won't work out. That seems hard core to me. I really prefer to do most of the things in my life a little half assed. Jess likes to figure out the really hard problems whereas I tend to stick with the easy fixes. We often joke that we need to invite a third person into our relationship that really excels at the medium hard problems. Then we'd really have it made.

Out of the two social occasions I attended this weekend, I was responsible for dessert. I'm not sure what went wrong there because I try very hard never to have that responsibility. My desserts tend to not work out. It's mainly because I try and change the recipe to a healthier version. Desserts don't react well to that. There is a reason they taste really good and it's called butter and sugar, and lots of it. Jess likes to call my dessert affliction the "too healthy to be tasty syndrome".

Well I got it right this weekend. I followed all the rules and regulations and both desserts worked out. I made Annie's super easy chocolate cake and the following pie for my vegan friend. Don't let that vegan bit scare you off. It was damn tasty.

Chocolate Almond Peanut Butter Pie
from Fresh at Home

Crust
1 1/2 cups vegan chocolate cookie crumbs
1 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup maple syrup

Filling
3/4 cup natural smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp firm silken tofu
1/4 cup +2 tbsp vanilla soymilk
pinch sea salt

Topping
1/2 cup vanilla soymilk
4 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped
1/4 cup + 2tbsp almonds, chopped and toasted

Crust
In a mixing bowl, combine cookie crumbs, oil and maple syrup. Press into an oiled 9 inch Pyrex pie plate. Bake at 350 C for 10 minutes, remove from oven and set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 300 C.

Filling
In a food processor, blend all filling ingredients until smooth. Pour into crust and bake for 15 minutes. Cool.

Topping

In a small saucepan, bring soymilk to a boil. Remove from heat, add chocolate and stir until smooth. Pour chocolate mixture over pie and sprinkle nuts on top. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and serve.