Cherry Bomb

I dig doing Vegan cooking classes, "Tofu Tuesdays" and "Koffee Klotches", here at Veganville. A Koffee Klotch or Coffee Klatch is defined as a gabfest with coffee. We add lots of laughs, cool  tunes and of course dessert making. I also like to provide the Klotch with a salad and some crusty bread. I do this not because I'm so beatific, but mostly because I don't want anyone in the Klotch to go into a diabetic coma. Suing is not nice.
Last Friday's Klotch whipped up some PB/Chocolate goodies and the very awesome Lauren and Jeff requested a cherry dessert as well.

I considered Dried Cherry and Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. I thought about very Cherry Cobbler, or an Autumnal Crumble or Slump. My earlier class made a Pineapple - Cherry Kugal, (not to be confused with Kegal), that wowed us. Yes, Kegals might wow some people but this is not that kind of cooking class. Anyway none of those seemed to jive with the PB/Chocolate desserts. And then at the 11th hour I hit upon this...

"The Cherry Bomb", called thus because all the flavors just explode in your mouth, and of course a nod goes out to the Queen of Rock and sister in Veganhood - Joan Jett.

Cherry Bomb

The following cupcake part is from the Isa Chandra Moscowitz and Terry Hope Romero's book "Veganomicon".

Except I'm so smart I changed  the raspberry jam to cherry jam...but that's just the beginning.

For the Cherry Donut Cupcake you'll need...

1 C rice milk

1tsp apple cider vinegar

2 T cornstarch

1.5 C unbleached flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg or pumpkin spice

3/4 C plus 2 T granulated sugar

2 tsp non - alcoholic vanilla

a little more than 1/3 C black cherry preserves

Let's make the cupcakes for the Cherry Bomb Parfait first. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour rice milk and vinegar and cornstarch into a measuring cup and set aside. Line 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In large mixing bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and pumpkin spice. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add oil, sugar and vanilla. Stir until well combined. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4's full with the batter. Place a heaping spoon of cherry jam on the center of each cupcake. You don't have to press it down. It'll sink down when baking . Bake for 21 - 23 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on rack for a little bit. Remember to take the cupcake out of the liner before you plop it into your parfait glass.

For the remainder of the bomb, (I bet I'll have some interesting new readers today because of today's bomb making.)

1-11/2 C cherry pie filling

4 scoops of your favorite Vegan vanilla ice cream

Crumble Topping

1/2 C flour

1/2 C brown sugar

1tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp pumpkin spice

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 C canola oil + 2 T

Mix dry ingredients then drizzle oil in and crumble with your very super clean fingers until you make crumbs.

Line up your parfait glasses. Place a cupcake on the bottom of parfait glass, cover with a layer of cherry pie filling, then a layer of of crumble, layer again and top with a scoop of Vegan ice cream. We used Vanilla Rice Dream. This recipe rocks...seriously.