Solas na Cruinne

“Everyone eats and drinks, but few appreciate taste.”
~ Confucius, Chinese Philosopher (551-479 BC)

First things first, this product is only available in Europe, to the best of my knowledge. It is a soya version of pudding (a.k.a. Custard.)

Provamel Soya Dessert is vegan and organic. It’s made by the same folks who make Alpro Soy Milk.

From the company website:

Description:
A delicious dairy free chocolate flavoured dessert made with a blend of water and soya beans with added calcium and vitamins.

Ingredients:
Water, Raw cane sugar, Hulled soya beans (6%), Modified tapioca starch, Chocolate (1.8%), Cocoa powder (1.6%), Tri-calcium phosphate, Thickener: Carrageenan, Sea salt, Natural flavouring, Vitamins: Riboflavin and B12.

Nutritional values: per 100g/100ml
energy value 88Kcal / 371KJ
protein 3g
carbohydrate 13.6g
of which
sugars 10.8g
lactose 0g
fat 2.3g
of which
saturated 0.8g
mono unsaturated 0.6g
poly unsaturated 0.9g
of which
omega 6 0.82g
omega 3 0.1g
cholesterol 0mg
fibre 1.2g
sodium 0.05g
calcium 120mg
vitamins
vitamin B2 0.24mg
vitamin B12 0.15µg

*My Review:

The appearance is the first thing that you notice. It looks like those little pudding cups that you can buy in multi-packs at the supermarket.

I put it in the fridge and let it get nice and cold before trying it, as they sell it out on th warm market shelves. (At least at my local whole food retailer.)

When you open it, which can be difficult if you get a very well-glued pull-top, you may need to mix it up a bit to get the creamy texture, as mine were a bit lumpy upon opening.

I tried the chocolate, as that was always my favorite flavour of instant pudding. I must say that I was impressed to no end with the similarity of this healthy product to my over-processed, chemicalized pudding of yesteryear. So yummy!

I have since sampled the vanilla flavour, and sadly it does not compare. The soy-ness of it is underwhelming. But the chocolate is tops!

They have other flavours as well, mocha and toffee I believe.

What must be said is that I gave up dairy because of the excess of unhealthy mucous that it caused when I ate it. Provamel’s Soya Dessert causes the same effect for me, probably due to the thickeners more than anything else, but may not for you.

My final vote: Good product for chocolate pudding lovers. Great healthy alternative for kids lunch boxes. Avoid if you have sinus reactions to dairy, food thickeners or soy products.

I give it a 3.5 on a scale of 5. Try it out and decide for yourself.

“Nothing on Earth so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night.”
~ Steve Almond, American Fiction Writer

This is the mother of all cakes, made for my favorite season, Autumn. And for me the best spiritual harvest of the year is in the cool and leaf-strewn time between my two favorite holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving. :-)

As for the cake itself, I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of this gooey monstrosity of a tasty sweet treat!

Anyone who knows of my cake baking/decorating exploits of the past knows that I have tried several times to master the tall, round and flat cake of picture books and cooking magazines, but to no avail.

Well, this is it! Rich, fruity, spicy, sweet and perfectly shaped! I think I’m in love.

The secret to that perfect depth and shape is in ditching your regular baking pans for a good old-fashioned saucepan instead. ;-)

Sadly, it’s perfection brought such tears to my eyes, and it’s smell such grumbles to nearby bellies, that photos were inadvertently missed out. :-(

I’ll make this one again next year, for Thanksgiving, and get some good snaps then.

This cake has all of the leading ladies of yummy and some quite tasty co-stars as well. So be decadent, get into the harvest-time spirit, and use up some of those pumpkins and apples from your autumn garden-picking adventures!

Harvest Haul Cake
Makes: 10 (or more) servings
Prep Time: 20-30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30-40 minutes

Ingredients:
*large stainless or non-stick saucepan

Cake Base
2 cups apples, sliced and peeled
.5 cup sugar
1 tbs flour
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbs butter or margarine
1 tbs water
1 tbs lemon juice

Cake Batter
1 cup pumpkin puree
1.5 cup brown sugar
2.25 cups white flour
1 tbs corn starch
.25 cup soy milk
.5 cup buttermilk***
.75 cup butter or margarine
2-3 large eggs
3 tbs olive oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
.5 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
.5 tsp nutmeg
.5 teaspoon allspice
.25 tsp powdered ginger
.12 tsp ground cloves

Optional:
.5 cup ground walnuts
1 cup dried raisins or cranberries

Directions: (for base)

1. Melt butter over medium-low heat in the saucepan.

2. Add sugar, water, cinnamon and flour, mixing until it is lump-free.

3. Continue cooking on low until it becomes quite thick and caramel in colour.

4. Place apples in mixture, let sit over heat for just a minute.

5. Remove from heat, arrange evenly in the bottom of the pan and set aside.

Directions: (for cake batter)

1. Preheat oven to 350°f (175°c.)

2. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

3. Slowly spoon batter into the saucepan, over top of apple base.

4. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until cooked all the way through.

5. Let sit for up to an hour before cutting, this helps to keep it cooking evenly while cooling.

*6. You can sprinkle the top with powdered sugar as a decoration if you’d like.

This may sound a bit like a simple apple upside-down cake, but it is so much more! This is a very rich and flavorful cake that is nearly a meal in itself! Great for big family get-togethers.