Stand Mixer

Old-fashioned shortcake is made with biscuit dough, not cake batter. This makes a great fresh dessert or a fancy weekend breakfast. You eat it warm, straight from the oven! And the Vegan Whipped Topping is an extra-special treat. I was unable to find a dairy-free, soy-free whipped topping, so I whipped up my own! Use it anywhere you’d use whipped cream.

This fabulous low-fat teacake is a favorite with kids and grown-ups alike. My sons like it for breakfast with a glass of rice milk, I prefer it in the afternoon with a nice cup of tea, and my husband eats his with a scoop of Vanilla Rice Dream for dessert. Make it a day in advance so the flavors meld.

I learned from my mother that the easiest dessert to bake for a dinner party is a simple spongecake. It takes almost no time and can be dressed up to look quite fancy. This not-too-sweet cake can be served with fresh berries or compote and topped with a dollop of Vegan Whipped Topping (page 113) for a light finish to any meal.

I know they say apple pie is about as American as you can get, but I give that moniker to blueberry pie instead. When I think of pie, I think summertime and blueberries! Every summer, we visit my father in western Massachusetts and go to a big field with the most prolific old blueberry bushes you’ve ever seen, and fill our buckets with heaping cups of blueberries. We eat a lot of them right then and there while picking, but the rest get made into pancakes, and best of all, baked up into pie!

This is a sophisticated cake that also gets “two thumbs up!” from my kids. I’ve been told it tastes like pound cake, but because it’s made with canola oil, not butter, it’s really a vegan chiffon cake. Chiffon cakes are very moist, and do not tend to harden or dry out as much as cakes made with butter or shortening, because the oil stays liquid, even at cooler temperatures. Chiffon cakes are traditionally served with flavorful sauces or other accompaniments, such as chocolate or fruit fillings.

Banana cream pie was always one of my favorite desserts as a child, and now it’s a favorite of my son Lennon, too. The yellow food coloring is optional, but it mimics the lovely creamy hue imparted by traditional egg yolks in custard. Coconut milk makes a great vegan custard, and pairs beautifully with the bananas. If you prefer, you may use rice milk instead for a much lighter pie.

As a Cape Codder, I’m crazy about cranberries. And “apple” was my son Lennon’s first word, so you know how we feel about them in our house! This pie is the perfect combination of tart and sweet. It is an ideal dessert to end any holiday meal. It is extremely pretty, with its tiers of fruit and deep golden crust. Look for firm, sweet apples to balance the tartness of the cranberries. I like Braeburn, Fuji, or Jonagold. To make this dessert completely refined sugar–free, double the proportions for the Single Flaky Sucanat Pie Crust recipe (page 130) and roll out as instructed below.

This is not your mama’s pumpkin pie! This vegan spin on the old-fashioned favorite is light, fresh, and decidedly modern. I consider this one of my greatest achievements in this book, because I was able to make pumpkin pie without eggs, and without tofu, which is the usual substitute in vegan baking. I much prefer this version of pumpkin pie to the one I grew up on, because it’s not too rich and is made without refined sugar, making it a treat my whole family can indulge in, until we’ve eaten every last crumb!

There is nothing more delicious than custard cream and fresh berries, as far as I’m concerned. I could eat it with a spoon, morning, noon, and night. This light, fresh tart is easy to make and a favorite with all ages. My kids adore the shortbread crust, because it tastes like cookies and it’s heaped with antioxidant-rich berries, making it rather virtuous (well, sort of . . .).

I would argue that these egg-free, dairy-free, wheat-free cookies are even better than traditional counterparts. The edges have that coveted toffee-like crunch, and the inside is soft and chewy.

My friend Amy has celiac disease and a dairy allergy. She says this tart is just perfect, and makes her feel “normal” again. She loves that she can share it with her non-food-allergic husband and kids, and that they gobble it just as voraciously. The shortbread crust is heavenly with the rich chocolate pudding.

These chewy, brownielike cookies contain a double dose of chocolate and are full of Enjoy Life Boom Choco Boom chunks. They’re perfect for every chocoholic (and I should know!).

This lovely tart is great made during peach season, when peaches are at their peak. It can also be made with frozen peaches, but most store-bought brands are underripe and bland. If using frozen peaches, be sure to macerate them a little longer in the syrup/brandy mixture to soften them up. Test for readiness after the first 30 minutes, and continue to macerate as long as necessary, but not so long that they become mushy.

I take this cake to meetings at my sons’ school and wow the teachers. It’s a conference room favorite. Nobody can believe it’s vegan and gluten-free. It’s straight-up classic coffee cake—moist and buttery, with a scrumptious crumb topping.

This moist, buttery coffee cake with its crisp, cinnamon-sugar topping is based on an old fashioned recipe from the 1950s, called Blueberry Boy Bait, a coffee cake named for the effect it had on teenage boys. My boys aren’t teens yet, but this bait works for them. They’ll gobble it up in one day—with not a crumb left over.

This simple quick bread is one of my favorites. It’s wholesome and subtly sweet. Whole-grain amaranth has a nutty flavor, adds great texture, and is packed with protein and fiber.

With rich, tempting spices and a lovely autumnal hue, this bread is perfect during the harvest season.