Vegan Blueberry Loquat Cobbler

I would like to admit something to you: I am addicted to chocolate. If presented with a list of desserts, I will find the most chocolaty one and order it with chocolate syrup on the side. I take my love, nay, my obsession, with chocolate so far that most people are repulsed by the amount of it I can consume in a single dessert cup.




But alas, summer is upon us! The hot and muggy weather usually deters most from indulging in rich chocolaty desserts. With summer barbecues and pool parties, you don't find chocolate cake; you find apple pie or strawberry cobbler, except at MY barbecues and pool parties, at which there IS chocolate cake.



Now, an obsession becomes an addiction when it negatively impacts your life in some way, and before, I could find very few, if any, reasons, why chocolate was an addiction rather than a simple obsession for me. But then it hit me (and I'm going to throw some business school jargon your way, so be ready): the way my chocolate obsession was negatively impacting my life was because of the opportunity cost of giving up any other dessert that was devoid of chocolate!



I was missing out on lemon custard! I was missing out on apple pie! I was missing out on cheesecake! I was missing out on poached pears! And I was definitely missing out on cobbler! I couldn't let this happen anymore! I realized that chocolate was limiting my palate, and that I had to take a stand. This cobbler, my friends, is one step towards a recovery, and a tasty step at that! So bring on summer with its fruit-based desserts. I'm ready!



This cobbler is really versatile, too. Almost any fruit can be added! Some suggestions: strawberry rhubarb, blackberry nectarine, raspberry blackberry, or apple cherry.

Ingredients:

4 cups fruit (I used 2 cups blueberries and 2 cups loquats)
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp corn starch

1 1/2 cup flour
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 1/2 cup oats
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup vegan butter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

In a large sauce pan, heat the fruit over medium heat until it starts to release its juices (about 5 minutes). You can crush some of it with a wooden spoon while it's cooking, if you want. Meanwhile, combine sugar and corn starch in a bowl and then pour over fruit. Bring to a boil and let boil for about two minutes. Then remove from heat.

In a food processor, process oats until they form a coarse meal. Pour into a large bowl and set aside.

Again in the food processor, process flour, cinnamon, allspice, salt, and baking soda until mixed together. Then add vegan butter cut into small chunks, and process until the butter chunks are about pea-sized. Add this to the oat meal.

Add the brown sugar and vanilla extract and mix with a wooden spoon until all is well combined. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the mixture and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9x13 pan, line with parchment paper, and grease the parchment paper.

Press the oat and flour mixture (minus the 1 1/2 cups) evenly into the pan to create a base layer. Then spoon fruit mixture evenly over the top. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups oat and flour mixture over the top of the fruit mixture.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until the top starts to brown and the fruit is bubbly around the edges.

Vegan Blueberry Muffins

This is what it looked like outside today from my apartment window. Beautiful to look at, yet miserable to be out in. On days like this, I love to just curl up with a book and tea and a sweet treat. Deciding to try and make this desire a reality, I proceeded to do the exact opposite. I ended up running all over town getting the ingredients to make these muffins and a vegan chai latte to go with it. But once I got the end result I was looking for, it was so worth it!



I also got some wonderful news today, which turned this not only into a cozy snack, but also a celebratory snack. One of my friends and soon to be business partners came over to tell me we would be up and running with a commercial kitchen to sell at the farmer's market by next week! I've been waiting for this opportunity for about a year now and today was finally the day. I'm bubbling with excitement!



The recipe for these muffins is below, and the recipe for the vegan chai latte is here. Guaranteed to make your rainy day a little brighter. Or at least more enjoyable.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegan butter, melted
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup plain almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pint fresh blueberries
brown sugar for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium sized bowl, sift four, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon very well.

In another medium bowl, mix sugar, melted butter, and apple cider vinegar until smoothly incorporated. Add almond milk and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir very slowly just until incorporated. Make sure not to over-mix so that your muffins will retain pockets in them while baking.

Mix in the blueberries ever so carefully.

Spoon into a greased muffin tin until all compartments are equally full. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top of each muffin. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

Let cool for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. Devour.