Top Ten Recipes of 2012: Vegan Caramel Corn

I never thought this day would come.

No butter, no heavy cream, no sweetened condensed milk and yet I have delicious caramel in front of me?! Egads! I even got to use the gimmicky "auto-stirrer" my mom got me for fun.

I am very thankful to Angela's Kitchen and The Mixing Bowl Diary for this revelation. My husband's astonishment and delight sweetened the deal even more!

This time, I'll just post my version. There are many ways to make caramel--in this recipe I'm just listing what I did with the tools I have in my kitchen and what works with my pots and pans. Please reference the other blogs for their techniques.

Vegan Caramel Corn

1/3 c. Coconut Oil
1 c. Sugar
2/3 c. Canned Coconut Milk
1/3 c. Almond Milk (I used Silk)
1/2 c. Brown Rice Syrup
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

8 c. Popcorn (already popped ~_^)

Place Coconut Oil, Sugar, Coconut Milk, Almond Milk, Brown Rice Syrup, and Salt in a tall saucepan. Stir constantly over low heat. This can take over an hour, but the results are velvety smooth. Do a cold water test to make sure the caramel is at least at hard ball stage, then remove from heat. Stir in Vanilla and Baking Soda. It will foam up to double capacity. Pour over popcorn in portions. Spread popcorn on two large silicone baking mats and bake at 200F for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Enjoy!

*It's important to stir so that you keep the individual pieces of popcorn coated and they don't clump together.

Top Ten Recipes of 2012: Pumpkin Pie Bread Pudding

This is a fabulous way to use up any stale challah and extra butternut (or buttercup) squash. I am so thankful that Food & Wine posts their recipes online, since my magazines are already packed up for our move. I'll just re-post the recipe in its original form and note my alterations in the next paragraph.

I substituted 1:1 coconut oil for the butter, and almond milk for the whole milk in the bread pudding. To make the hard sauce, I did half coconut oil and half almond milk. The bourbon I used was Wild Turkey American Honey. I was lazy and didn't make the lattice and put the bread puddings in two casserole dishes. It seemed like a lot, but it was gone fast! Enjoy!

1. 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus melted butter for brushing
2. 1 pound challah bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
3. One 3-pound butternut squash
4. 1 1/4 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
5. 4 large eggs
6. 3 cups whole milk
7. One 14-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
8. 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
9. 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
10. 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
11. 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
12. 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
13. 2 tablespoons bourbon
14. 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter two 9-inch, deep-dish glass or ceramic pie plates. Spread the challah on a large baking sheet and toast for about 5 minutes, until lightly golden.
2. Cut the neck from the butternut squash. Peel it and cut it lengthwise into two 3/4-inch-thick slabs. Very thinly slice the slabs into long, thin strips on a mandoline. Peel, seed and cut all of the remaining squash into 1/2-inch dice.
3. In a very large nonstick skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter. Add the diced squash and cook over high heat until lightly browned in spots, about 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender and glossy, about 3 minutes longer. Let cool.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the remaining 1 cup of sugar with the eggs, milk, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Add the sautéed squash and the challah and gently toss to combine. Spoon the mixture into the buttered pie plates and top each with a loose lattice pattern of the squash strips. Brush the strips with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Cover with parchment and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes longer, until the tops are golden and the puddings are set. Let the puddings rest for 15 minutes.
5. In a bowl, whisk the remaining butter with the confectioners’ sugar, bourbon and pecans. Serve the pudding with the sauce.

Make Ahead The bread puddings can be covered and refrigerated overnight. Rewarm at 300° for about 15 minutes before serving

Top Ten Recipes of 2012

I altered all of these recipes to be dairy free for my husband and will be posting my alterations along with copies of the recipes shortly. Some of these recipes are not new, but this past year was the first time I tried them and good things don't need to be reinvented all the time! The reason the strawberry cupcakes got an honorable mention is because I didn't make them myself, and had the full-fledged dairy version instead. 

In no particular order: Top 10 Recipes of 2012!

1. Pumpkin Pie Bread Pudding (F&W)

2. Vegan Caramel Corn (The Mixing Bowl and Angela’s Kitchen)
   
3. Peach Cobbler Cupcakes (Willow Bird Baking)
   
4. Almond Cake (David Lebovitz)
   
5. Radicchio Fritto (T&D Willey)
  
6. 5 Ingredient Chicken (ours)

7. Salted Chococonut Chip Cookies (Mountain Rose Blog)
   
8. (Veganized) Arugula Pesto (F&W)
   
9. Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili (Allrecipes)
     
10. Best Apple Cake (T&D Willey)
  
Honorable Mention: Real Strawberry Cupcakes (A Southern Fairytale)