Blazing Sunset Salad

Something about summer just makes me want to devour an inordinate amount of fruit salad, and that desire is simply amplified when it comes to summer cookouts. Blazing Sunset Salad {page 96} was my choice for our last cookout.

This beautiful, quick, and easy fruit salad distributes the limelight gracefully between juicy cherries, refreshing oranges, sweet nectarines, toothsome bananas, and crisp apples, all dancing in a light dressing.

There's really only so much you can say about fruit salad, but this one is definitely a keeper. I truly look forward to testing out the rest of them in the book. Yum!

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl

Orange-Coconut Cake

Some of my favorite desserts of all time have come from this book, and Orange-Coconut Cake {page 450} is definitely one to add to the list!

The title of the cake didn't appeal to me, but thankfully I was patient and took the time to read through the ingredients before passing it by. Orange juice? Check. Coconut milk? Check. Vegan cream cheese? Check. How could I not make a cake that includes some of my very favorite things?

The cake was easy to put together. In 45 minutes it baked up darker than I thought it would, but I wouldn't say that affected the flavor of the cake at all. The cake was dense and moist, but with a delicate crumb. PERFECT cake texture, and something that I haven't experienced yet in a vegan cake.

The frosting is really more of a glaze, and it is easy and amazingly delicious as well. The cake is topped with shredded coconut. In the header of the recipe, she states that her mother used to put mandarin oranges on the top, but that she'd omitted it because she didn't like them. I, on the other hand, love mandarin oranges, and I live in a household of mandarin orange lovers. I decided to take her non-suggestion and put them on top. It was delicious with them, but I'm sure it would be delicious without too. All a matter of personal preference.

Overall, this is another of my all-time favorite desserts, and the Ninjahusband, Supertoddler, and Wondersisters agree. I have a feeling I'm going to get many repeat requests for this!

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl

Fruit Salad in Winter

With Fruit Salad in Winter {page 96}, fruit salad need not only be confined to your summer plate, you can enjoy this delicious concoction of fruit and nuts at any time of year.

This salad showcases winter fruits at their finest -- apples, oranges, pears, red grapes, and star fruit combine into a delicious medley of textures and flavors. Chopped walnuts paired nicely with the fruit, for a crunchy and savory surprise. My only gripe with the salad at all is the dressing. I don't really feel like fruit salads need dressing, but in the spirit of being true to the recipe, I made it anyway. It was very oily, and while I didn't find it too off-putting {although it was definitely unnecessary}, the Ninjahusband and a friend I had over joked about it being "greasy fruit salad" and how they felt like their mouths were now primed for eating any number of large or difficult to eat objects. If I made this again, I would definitely avoid the dressing, or maybe skip the oil and just toss it with the lemon juice/agave.

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl

Orange-Chocolate Chip Muffins

Do you remember those Terry's Chocolate Oranges, rich and chocolately and orangey and unfortunately not vegan? Orange-Chocolate Chip Muffins {page 410} is like a Terry's Chocolate Orange's muffin-sister.

Orange and chocolate are a match made somewhere even better than heaven, and what better place to showcase these flavors than in a muffin? The muffin derives its orangey flavor both from orange juice concentrate and fresh orange juice. I used dark chocolate chips because I was going for a rich chocolate flavor. The muffin is topped with a chocolate streusel, which I used dark chocolate cocoa powder for. These muffins truly tasted amazing.

Two small gripes with the muffins: First of all, the cooking time seems to be off. They were very overdone when I got them out at the prescribed time. Generally I start watching my baked goods about 5 minutes before they're set to come out of the oven, just to make sure that they don't overbake. This time, however, I trusted the recipe and got in the shower. So, the overdoneness could very well be my error. Secondly, the muffins stuck horrifically to the wrappers. Every time one was peeled, you lost about half of the muffin to the wrapper. In the future, I would spray the muffin tin and just skip the wrappers all together. I get so mad when paper steals my nummies!

Overall, I would recommend these muffins strongly, but watch them carefully in the oven, and don't use paper wrappers!

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl