Category Archives: No Bake Desserts

My Favorite Posts Of 2013

Baby Mickey First Birthday Cake
Baby Mickey Cake

It is so hard for me to pick my favorite posts of the year, I put my heart into everything I make, and am really in love with everything I share.  Here are some highlights from 2013, starting with my most popular post of the year, this baby Mickey First birthday cake.

Crispy Peanut Butter Cups

This recipe for crispy peanut butter cups was shared with me by my sister-in-law.  She gave me a basic outline of how she does it and I wrote down measurements so that I would be able to replicate them perfectly every time.  They are the perfect non-dairy and no bake snack to keep in the freezer for those late night cravings!

Football Whoopie Pies

This recipe for whoopie pies is one of my most requested treats.  They are reminiscent of the classic snack cake Devil Dogs, but are way better!  Plus they are non-dairy.  I decided to make them in football shapes to celebrate the Super Bowl, but I usually just make them round.  Either way, they are delicious!

Designer Handbag Cake
Designer Handbag Cake

This cake was a challenge to make.  It was my first handbag cake I was ever asked to make, and I couldn’t pass on the challenge.  At the time, I didn’t really have any instructions, so I just made it up as I went along, and it came out better than expected!  I still can’t believe I made this, and that it’s all edible!  Donna absolutely loved it, and so did I.

Purple Ruffle Ombre Cake
Ombre Ruffle Cake

This is one of my favorite cakes that I ever made.  It might have to do with the fact that I made it to celebrate my sister-in-law’s bridal shower (hi Miriam)!  Her wedding color was purple, and since she didn’t pick a specific shade, I thought it would be super cute to do the whole thing in ombre, that way every shade was represented.  I think she still has the edible gum paste flowers.

Angry Birds Birthday Cake
Angry Birds Cake

I can’t go through a favorite list without mentioning this Angry Birds cake I made to celebrate Aviv’s 4th birthday.  It was so much fun to make, I am thrilled with the results!  The color scheme is really perfect and the cake is just so much fun to look at.  Aviv is still talking about his birthday cake!

Spelling Bee Cake
Knaidel Cake

This cake was just so cool to make.  Arvind from Queens, NY (my home town) won the Scripps National Spelling Bee-congrats!!  His teacher asked me to make him a special cake to celebrate with his classmates.  He was so surprised when I showed up with this custom cake depicting the winning word: knaidel.  He even took the little gum paste figure home with him!  Congrats again!

Minnie Mouse Clubhouse Cake
Minnie Mouse Clubhouse Cake

I love this cake because it was one of the tallest cakes I have ever made!  It was really fun to bring Mickey Mouse’s Clubhouse to life for a cute little 2 year old birthday girl.  Happy Birthday Libby!

Ballerina Bat Mitzvah Cake
Ballerina Bat Mitzvah Cake

Here is another insanely tall cake that I made this year.  This one also happened to be super heavy, and I carried it by myself!  This one was made to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah with a ballet theme.  The birthday girl wanted the cake to match her theme but tastefully done.  Mazel Tov Courtney!

Stacked Suitcase Wedding Cake
Stacked Luggage Wedding Cake

This was my first luggage cake I have ever made, and it was for a wedding!  Talk about pressure, but I think I did a pretty good job.  All the buckle details really bring this cake to life.  Since then, I have made at least two more pieces of edible luggage, and I can’t wait to make more!

Teacher Retirement Cake
Teacher Retirement Cake

I wanted to share at least one stacked book cake that I have made and this was the perfect one.  It was made for a teacher celebrating her retirement.  Her husband surprised her with it, and she was shocked!  She even emailed me to thank me for it afterwards.  Congrats Judy!

Pirate Birthday Cake
Pirate Birthday Cake

This cake was made pretty last minute for a special birthday boy.  His dad really wanted him to have a special Jake and the Neverland Pirates cake so I couldn’t say no.  I am so glad I made this cake, because it came out even better than I imagined!  The kids at the party loved eating the edible gold doubloons.  Happy Birthday Harry!

Gumpaste Chobani Yogurt Container

This next cake was fun, but my favorite part was the edible Chobani Greek Yogurt container that adorned the cake.  All the details were hand painted, after it was done, I almost didn’t want to give it away!

Pumpkin Doughnuts

I am usually busy with lots and lots of cakes, but I also do love developing recipes.  For the once in a lifetime holiday of Thanksgivukkah, I made these pumpkin doughnuts with marshmallow graham crcker glaze, and they were amazing!  I might have to make them again, just because.

My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe

The last recipe I decided to share this year is also one for my favorite chocolate chip cookies.  After almost 3 years of blogging, I can’t believe I have never shared it with you before!  It is my go to recipe for a delicious and comforting treat.  I hope you enjoyed this roundup as much as I did; it has been a fun year, filled with cakes, recipes, and photography that just keeps getting better and better.  Happy New Year!

Salted Caramel Sauce {recipe}

Vegan Salted Caramel SauceThis is a recipe I am really excited about.  I have been looking out for a dairy-free version of caramel sauce for a long time, I mean really long.  Caramel usually consists of heavy cream, sugar, and butter, so recreating a non-dairy version poses quite the challenge.  I finally came across a recipe to try from Your Life Uncommon.   The original recipe is actually for caramel sauce, and caramel candies, but I was only focusing on the sauce, so I altered the recipe for fit my needs.  I think this is technically considered more of a butterscotch sauce because it uses brown sugar, but I tried using white sugar and it just did not work, so trust me, stick to using brown sugar!  This is a really easy recipe, just measure out the ingredients, and cook on low to medium heat until done.  You do need to use a candy thermometer, but don’t be afraid of it!  This is a great beginner recipe and the caramel sauce is extremely versatile.  I have used it as a sauce over my non-dairy speculoos cheesecake, and most recently to create a salted caramel glaze for my apple pie bundt cake.  I can’t wait to find new uses for this vegan caramel sauce.

Salted Caramel Sauce {recipe}
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Ingredients
  • ½ cup vegan margarine such as Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
  • 1 cup corn syrup
  • 1-14 oz. can full fat coconut milk
  • 2¼ cups light brown sugar
  • ½ tsp. sea salt
Instructions
  1. In a medium size heavy bottomed pot add in the margarine, corn syrup, coconut milk, and brown sugar. Cook on low to medium heat stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved and the margarine is melted. Then add in the candy thermometer. Boil the sauce, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches 230-233 degrees F (thread stage). Remove from heat and stir in the sea salt. Pour into heatproof container, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface so a skin does not form. Store in the fridge for about 2 weeks. Can be served room temperature or warm, just stir before serving.

Chilled Cherry Soup

Chilled Cherry Soup

You might be wondering why I am sharing a soup with you, being that this is a place where I mainly share non-dairy desserts.  Well, this month, some blogger friends and I challenged ourselves to share a chilled soup recipe.  Normally I would pass on a challenge that went too far out of my comfort zone, but this soup recipe is special because, I always eat it for dessert.  Soup for dessert seems strange, but during the warm summer months, there is nothing I would rather eat.  The original recipe is actually my Savta’s (hebrew for grandmother) signature dish.  During the summer, she wouldn’t dare come over without a batch of her special fruit soup for the grandkids.  Her recipe actually calls for peaches or nectarines, but I was never of fan of them so I left them out.  I didn’t use recipe because like a true grandmother, she doesn’t use measurements.  I have tried recreating home-style recipes in the past, and they never seem to taste the same, so this time, I decided to use my Savta’s fruit soup as the inspiration for this dish.  I hope I made her proud!

Chilled Cherry Soup
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Serves: 8
 
Ingredients
  • 3- 14.5 ounce cans pitted sour cherries (in water)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbs. lemon juice
  • cinnamon stick
  • 1 Tbs. cornstarch
  • 1 Tbs. cold water
Instructions
  1. Drain the cherries and reserve the liquid in a measuring cup. Add water to the drained liquid until it equals 3 cups.
  2. Pour cherry juice/water mix into a medium saucepan.
  3. Add sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil, to dissolve the sugar.
  4. Once boiling, add the reserved cherries, bring back to a boil and cook for 10 minutes, until the cherries are soft.
  5. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with 1 Tbs. cold water and mix until there are no lumps.
  6. Add the cornstarch/water mixture to the boiling cherries and stir gently for 2 minutes to cook out the starch and slightly thicken the soup.
  7. Remove from heat and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.