Who else gets excited when they can sneak veggies into their desserts? I like to make healthy choices most of the time, but I’m also not opposed to treats, like this nana-politan ice cream parfait I whipped up with my friend Brooklynne (@beetsbybrooke)!We got together to create a Galentine’s Day menu featuring beets! We made a divine heart beet pizza and salad for the main meal, and for dessert, we decided to go crazy and put beets in our banana ice cream too! Beets have a lovely sweetness that is truly marvelous. #beetcrush Continue reading
Tag: dessert
Unicorn Naked Cake Truffles
I kind of made these by accident.
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Citrus Persimmon Bread Pudding
Growing up, my cousins and I saw many seasons pass through my grandparents’ house in Oklahoma. Winter nights meant steaming pots of my aunt’s phở chay and whispering under warm blanket forts. In the spring, our fingers became green and fragrant from plucking Vietnamese herbs for spring rolls. We spent our summers making our own adventures in the closets and under the tables (and doing math). In the fall, we were filled to bursting with ripe trái hồng (Fuyu persimmons) from my grandmother’s tree. No matter the season, our cheeks were always full of laughter, and our grandparents were always full of love for us, to the brim and more.
Fuyu persimmons were my favorite fruit growing up, especially the ones from my grandmother’s tree. When eaten young, Fuyu persimmons are crisp and refreshing. At full ripeness, their texture becomes deep and tender–gelatinous globs of honeyed sweetness that melt in your mouth and make a mess when you eat them. My favorite stage to eat them is the middle stage, in which the fruit retains some bite, while still being delectably fleshy and succulent in texture. Persimmons are also amazing when dried–they are a gooey treat with a really satisfying texture. Continue reading
Ginger Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chinese Five Spice Gingerbread Cookies
Happy Christmas Eve, y’all! 2017 is coming to a close–I can barely believe it! I’m in the mood to bake spicy cookies and drown my stress in hot chocolate, how about you?
Needless to say, grad school life has kept me quite occupied this year. I actually got sick twice this semester (currently still recovering)–which is absolutely insane to me, because I hardly ever get sick. This semester seriously took a toll on me. I have another year left–my thesis looms ahead! Cue the tears and hot chocolate…and Chinese five spice gingerbread cookies.
Chinese five spice, ngũ vị hương in Vietnamese, is one of my favorite things to reach for in the kitchen. It has a complex balance of flavors: sweet, savory, sour, and bitter. Around this time last year, I shared a savory recipe featuring it–Fusion Jackfruit Bao Bites. This year, I’m showing you how I decided to throw it into some cookies…it turned out to be a success at a vegan Christmas cookie swap I went to, so I decided to refine the recipe to share with you!

Chilling the dough before and after rolling keeps cookie shapes intact–but I also like the cute mistakes that occur when I forget to chill the second time, like this little dancing cutie!
Lemon Lavender Candied Ginger for Chinese New Year (Mứt Gừng)
Chai Spiced Pear Tarts With Crushed Pumpkin Seeds
This recipe post is coming to you from a very sleepy but determined grad student…lately, my life has consisted of 12-hour long days working on final project stuff at school. I’ve still got a long way to go until it’s all over! Anyway, I’m sorry for my absence of content this month–I’ve missed blogging so much.
I want to let you guys know I just published my first Buzzfeed Community post–a curated list of visually stunning crowd-pleasers for your upcoming potlucks this weekend! I urge you to check it out and show the world that vegan food is wonderful and delicious. 🙂


To me, chai spices represent the quintessential flavors of autumn. These tarts feature fragrant pear slices baked with warm chai spices, in a flaky golden crust. A drizzle of maple sweetness and toasty crushed pumpkin seeds complete the experience. I’ve had this flavor combo in mind for a while and I’m so glad I finally have a moment to share it with you.
Last weekend, my friend and former co-worker Richard came over to catch up and we basically had a creative workshop! Richard actually taught me a lot of basics when I first started getting into DSLR photography. Hanging out with other creatives makes me so happy, especially when we can encourage and learn from each other.
Richard’s a multimedia specialist (check out his work here) and I love all kinds of visual media, so we plan to have more collabs in the future–stay tuned! We spent our day geeking out about photography, sharing our creative aspirations, and playing with food. We made a cozy winter soup (recipe coming soon) and these adorable pastries.