As the founder of Veganification, my mission is to celebrate the journey of becoming and being vegan. That doesn’t include only people. Where I find incredible joy is veganifying recipes, both my own original ones as well as recipes that inspire me.
Here’s one of my earlier veganifications of a recipe that I came upon while on an airplane. My inspiration began with a recipe found in an Italian cooking magazine1. A tweak here and there, and what started out as a recipe with almost half a dozen eggs, not mention over a quart of milk and scads of butter is now a vegan delight that will titillate any discerning palate, vegan or otherwise. Oh, and it’s accidentally gluten-free.
This indulgent cake truly melts in your mouth with deliciousness! It has the luxuriousness of Arborio rice, saffron, Sambuca, and almonds melded together producing a texturous creamy center.
MY VEGAN VERSION
5 cups almond milk
¼ teaspoon coarsely crumbled saffron threads
Fine sea salt
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
½ cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup blanched almonds, roughly chopped*
2 tablespoons Earth Balance or avocado oil
1 tablespoon Sambuca or other anise-flavored liqueur
Freshly grated zest of 1 lemon (or orange)
¼ cup granulated sugar
2-1/2 tablespoons Egg Replacer
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 cup unsweetened plain almond milk yogurt
½ cup rice flour or brown rice flour
8-inch springform pan
Parchment paper
Scant amount of Vegan margarine/butter
- In a medium saucepan, combine milk, saffron, and pinch salt. Bring just to a boil, then stir in rice. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until milk is fully absorbed and rice is tender and creamy, about 45 minutes.
- Transfer rice to a large bowl. Stir in ½ cup granulated sugar, confectioners sugar, almonds, butter, Sambuca and Zest. Let cool completely (about 30 minutes).
- Heat oven to 400 degrees with rack in middle.
- Grease bottom and side of the springform pan with margarine/butter and line with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, vigorously whisk together remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar, Egg Replacer, cream of tartar and yogurt for 2 minutes. Gently fold into rice mixture.
- Gently fold rice flour into rice mixture.
- Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly with a spatula. Bake approximately 45 minutes, rotating once halfway through, until dark golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean.
- Cool 15 minutes in pan on wire rack.
- Release cake from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Garnish with sprinkled powdered sugar, if desired.
* Put raw almonds in saucepan and cover generously with water. Bring to boil, and simmer for one minute. Strain almonds and put in clean, dry dish towel. Rub almonds in towel to release the skins. Pop almonds out of skins.
1(Torta Di Riso Allo Zafferano), from LaCucina Italiana magazine, March/April 2013 Issue, Page 71
*An important aspect of sharing original recipes is to give proper credit to the author(s) of the recipe(s). I hope that you enjoy making this recipe and making it your own; but please do so with that integrity in mind. With much gratitude. Linda
Linda Voorhis is a Main Street Vegan Academy Master Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educator, a vegan culinary instructor, and founder of Veganification™ and Verde Valley Vegans Meetup group. You can follow Linda on her weekly blog and/or register for her upcoming events at www.veganification.com. Veganification celebrates the journey of becoming and being vegan by providing vegan lifestyle through education, plant-based culinary instruction and coaching that promote self-actualization, community and environmental sustainability in concert with vegan advocacy and activism.