Vegan Meringue

It's real, and it works - vegan meringue is here, and the Vegan Internet has lost its collective mind. And it's not meringue-like, or meringue-ish, it's proper meringue, made exactly the same way as a traditional recipe. Secret ingredient to replace the egg whites? Chickpea or bean brine, now also known as Aquafaba. And I do mean the liquid that you drain from a commercial can of chickpeas, or the cooking water from chickpeas cooked at home. Its amazing potential was apparently discovered earlier this year by way of a French chef and a vegan blogger called Goose, and nobody knows why it works, but it does.

Amazingly, you use the bean brine *exactly* like egg whites. It whips to stiff peaks, then you add the sugar and it whips to glossy, hold-it-upside-down perfection. This was simply 1/2 cup (1 can) of chickpea Aquafaba whipped with 1/4 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (for stability - cream of tartar works too, apparently, as with 'normal' meringue), and a cup of caster sugar. Boom.

 

Baked in a super-low oven, 100C, for 2 hours or so.

 

I even made a little pavlova, which I've never even had, let alone made.

 

Sweetness-wise, its obviously pretty full-on, but I understand that you can use this magic new ingredient to make mayo, perfect breaded tofu, fudgy brownies, killer waffles - who knows what else can be done! There's an international Facebook group dedicated to 'hits and misses' - and this is one of the things I love about vegan cooking; the creativity, the community spirit, and the willingness to share these crazy discoveries. Until the professional chefs catch up, it's all grassroots experimentation, driven by home cooks and food bloggers. Punk rock.

I, for one, have dug out my French cookbooks and am rummaging for inspiration in the formerly impossible. Index: Egg Whites.
 

English Ambrosia

It's the last day of Vegan Mofo! I have to admit, I struggled with the 'Fusion Challenge'. But come snacktime, I had some fruit, and 10 minutes, so I made this simple, healthy version of Ambrosia. If you're not familiar with Ambrosia, it's a traditional Southern American dessert, and it can be either a delicious fresh mix of citrus and coconut, or a gloopy marshmallow-y monstrosity. I favour the former variety, and I base my recipe off of the one in The Glory of Southern Cooking, but I use coconut milk or cream instead of icing sugar. It's so simple, you won't need precise measurements - just eyeball it!

An orange or two, chopped into pieces. The less pith the better, though I'm not terribly fastidious about this. 

An English Apple or two, something tart-ish like Cox, peeled and chopped.

An English Pear, like Conference, peeled and chopped.

A handful of crushed pecans

A small handful of dessicated coconut flakes (don't go overboard with these - one or two tablespoons max)

A little fresh orange juice, a couple tablespoons will do it.

About 1/4 cup of coconut cream

That's it! It's sugar free, and I swear, my kid thinks I'm the coolest right now. 

Goodbye Mofo, it's been real. I've learned that I perhaps can't keep up with all these amazing food bloggers, but it was fun! 

Late Summer Love - Fresh Figs

Is it late summer? Or early autumn? It certainly feels like autumn around here. Today's Vegan Mofo prompt is 'favourite late summer food', and although it's hard to choose, I immediately thought of fresh figs. I like them every which way, but the best is just plain, fresh, sliced into quarters. As I mentioned yesterday, I think they make a respectable dessert for guests: if you want to be really fancy, you could drizzle with a little brown rice syrup and serve with your favourite vegan cheese - I'd choose Vegusto No-Moo, Piquant flavour. 

As you can see, the little hands are straight in there too.