With thanksgiving right around the corner we have spiced up our menu at the restaurant.  We have created a little “holiday section”. We finalized the dishes and desserts last week and have had tremendous feedback this week. 

My favorite part of the menu to decide on was the dessert menu.  Who doesn’t love dessert?  We had quite a few different options and I couldn’t be happier with the ones we chose.  Although the desserts we are serving now are phenomenal, the other ones we came up with and tried were fabulous too.  I have made two of them at home already. 

Here are our vegetarian (mostly vegan) desserts we did not chose to serve.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients-
•    ½ lbs. firm tofu, pressed
•    1, 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
•    ½ cup sugar
•    ¼ cup maple syrup
•    1 tsp. vanilla
•    ½ tsp. nutmeg
•    ½ tsp. cinnamon
•    ½ tsp. ground cloves
•    2 tbsp. soy milk
•    1 pre-made pie crust




Instructions-
•    Preheat the oven to 400 degree F.
•    Put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender, obviously not the pie crust , and pulse until creamy and pour into pie crust.
•    Bake for 30-35 minutes and enjoy the wonderful combination of pumpkin and chocolate.

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake
 
Ingredients-
Crust-
•    2 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
•    2/3 cup butter, softened
•    1/3 cup sugar

Filling-
•    5 packages, 8oz. cream cheese, softened
•    ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
•    ¾ cup granulated sugar
•    3 tbsp. flour
•    1 tsp. slat
•    1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
•    ½ tsp. ground all spice
•    ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
•    ¾ tsp. ground ginger
•    6 eggs
•    1 can (16 oz.) pumpkin puree
•    2/3 cup evaporated milk


Instructions-
•    Preheat oven to 350 degree F
•    In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients for the crust and stir with a fork until mixed.  Press the mixture to the bottom and sides of a 10x13 inch pan.
•    In an electric mixer mixing bowl beat the cream cheese at low speed until smooth.  Add the remaining ingredients and beat until blended. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes. 
•    Pour the batter into the crusted pan and bake for 1 hour then turn off oven and let sit for 30 minutes.  Let the pan cool and refrigerate. 
•    Enjoy!

Cranberry Sorbet
 
Ingredients-
•    2 cups cranberries, either fresh or frozen rinsed and stems removed
•    1 ½ cup sugar
•    1 ½ cup water
•    ½ cup orange juice
•    ¼ cup lemon juice
•    2 tbsp. Grand Marnier or another orange liqueur


Instructions-
•    Make a syrup by adding sugar and water to a pot and bring to boil.  When the sugar has dissolved add the cranberries and orange juice.  Continue boiling until the cranberries burst. 
•    Let the mixture cool and then blend or puree until smooth.  Strain the mixture into a bowl and stir in the lemon juice and orange liqueur.  Freeze the mixture and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy your delicious vegetarian thanksgiving desserts!

Go green and stay keen,

Julie