December was quite a busy month and I didn’t get to bake as much as I would have liked, but I did make some satisfying seasonal treats!
Winter 2011 brought so many different options of nog from Earth Balance, So Delicious, Silk, Rice Dream, and Vitasoy, so it was no surprise that nog taste challenges were all over vegan blogs. Everyone named their favorites, tested which variety tastes best served with rum, and professed excitement that there was nog made with milk other than soy, like rice and coconut.
With all these nogs circulating vegan blogs and drink-themed desserts in mind, I wanted to try it out in some baked goods. Cupcakes were the obvious choice, so I wanted to try out something a little adventurous (even though I did end up making cupcakes too)…truffles! Some googling revealed the truffle idea has been done a few times, but I wanted to find the best formula and make it vegan. I ended up with a white chocolate truffle full of rum flavor and freshly grated nutmeg, dipped in semisweet chocolate.
And I had to make some cupcakes too, so these are chocolate nog cupcakes with rumnog buttercream, sparkly edible glitter, and a mini candy cane.
Peppermint bark. Super easy to make! A layer of semisweet chocolate with a bit of peppermint extract topped with a layer of white chocolate and crushed candy canes.
I also made peppermint candy cane chocolate chip cookies, which ends up happening pretty much every year.
The nog truffles and cupcakes, as well as some peppermint chocolate cream bars, went to December Milwaukee Vegan Bake Sale!
Vegan Cookies 