Vegan Donuts

Just in Time for the Cupcake Backlash: My Baked Vegan Spelt Donuts

It has been 9 months since I baked my first donut. I used a special pan that my fiancee (now husband) found at an outlet kitchen store in northern Florida, a pit stop between tour dates with his band. He knew I loved donuts, but enjoyed them rarely. If I did find vegan ones, they were either too expensive, too sweet, or fried. I craved a donut I could treat myself to every day and still feel & look great.

In the beginning, there were sad imploded donuts. There were stubborn, sticky donuts that refused to come out of the pan. There were hard donuts that could crack your teeth. There were countless sleepless nights. But for some reason, I could not stop until the recipe was perfect. Read more…

Food Q&A: Can I Melt Raw Chocolate?

I have recently become addicted to answering food questions on foodpickle.com. Then, yesterday, I was psyched to get two food questions directly from friends. This is something I want to do a lot more of, so please, keep them coming! Here is the answer to one.

Hi Anita,

So I bought this amazing organic raw chocolate and I was wondering if you knew any recipes for it. I tried melting it with confectioner’s sugar and agave and it’s delicious, but it didn’t really melt. The texture is like if peanut brittle and a rice crispie treat had a baby. It’s weird. How do I make it melt?

xo, Jocelyn

Jocelyn,

If it is what I think it is, it is mostly made of cacao nibs (the “crispie” part). Those don’t melt because raw chocolate doesn’t have any of the emulsifiers, sugar or added cocoa butter that make regular chocolate melt.

I have two solutions for you. Read more…

Sustainability and Tropical Fruit Obsessions: My Casa Grande Interview