Orange Icing is perfect for doughnuts, cookies or cakes such as Rosemary Olive Oil Semolina Cake. It features fresh orange juice that lends a bright burst of flavor, coconut oil to allow it to solidify properly and a touch of vanilla extract for depth of flavor.

I love caramel because it's the closest thing there is to food alchemy. Ok, maybe chocolate is close to this too but caramel involves a few basic non-exotic ingredients and a simple process. The end result is something that's truly extraordinary and more than the sum of it's parts. One of the great things about caramel is how you can just swap in certain fats and sugars to create caramels with amazing layers of flavors. The more I experiment with working with caramel this way, the more surprised I am. 

Have you ever gone apple picking and brought back pounds of fresh apples with high aspirations only to watch helplessly as your prized stock slowly breaks down as you're just too busy to commit to making all the apple pies, apple turnovers, apple cider doughnuts and apple strudel? This happened to me recently and as I was opening the compost bin of shame my friend Dan mentioned, "you know, my Mom uses the soft apples for apple sauce and it comes out awesome!" This sounded really interesting to me but I still didn't have time. So why not combine these soft apples with this lack of time and make a quick and easy applesauce?

Where Easy Caramel Sauce is good for a quick caramel fix, Golden Caramel Sauce is the no-holds-barred version where flavor and consistency are top priorities. Traditional caramel sauce relies on heavy cream which allows the sauce to be thick and rich due to the solids present in the cream. This vegan caramel sauce recipe relies on cashew cream to supply the extra cream factor and solids, resulting in a silky smooth golden caramel that's perfect for drizzling on ice creams, baking into pies or tucked into brownies. Substitute the vanilla extract for bourbon, rum or brandy if you want an extra layer of flavor complexity.

This Rich Coconut Frosting recipe is just bursting at the seams with coconut flavor. It's similar in flavor and texture to the frosting at BabyCakes bakery if you've ever been lucky enough to do a 'shot' of theirs. This vegan frosting differs in that it takes advantage of caramelizing sugar to the thread stage of 230F (110C) where it contributes a smooth velvety texture. It also uses soy milk powder (not to be confused with soy flour) to improve creaminess and a dash of vanilla extract to tie it all together. A touch of agave syrup inhibits sugar recrystalization in the frosting. There is a delicate balance due to coconut oil's tendency to melt above 76F (24C) which is one of the caveats of using coconut oil in a frosting.

Be extremely careful if you choose to customize this recipe with your own flavor substitutions; adding too much liquid can make it excessively runny. You even have the option of using refined coconut oil if you want to go in a completely custom non-coconut flavor direction. When using this frosting and other coconut oil based frostings, try to keep your cake in temperatures below coconut oil's melting point or your frosting may slip slide away along with your sanity.

This Vanilla Icing recipe is a great companion for drizzling on cinnamon rolls, danishes, or pop tarts. The vegan icing features powdered sugar for it's base and just a touch of non-dairy milk and vanilla extract to bring it all together.

This Rum Spice Icing recipe is a great companion for drizzling on spiced versions of cinnamon rolls, danishes, or pop tarts. The vegan icing features powdered sugar for it's base, dark rum, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves to move the spice factor forward. Feel free to cut back on the rum or eliminate it completely if you're concerned about alcohol consumption.

This creamy Rich White Chocolate Frosting is a more intensely flavored recipe alternative to other vegan white frostings. It's great for cakes where you may be concerned that a dark chocolate frosting would be too much chocolate (if that's even possible). It takes advantage of caramelizing sugar to the thread stage of 230F (110C) where it contributes a smooth velvety texture. It also utilizes cocoa butter as the main fat with soy milk powder (not to be confused with soy flour) to help with emulsifying and enhancing creaminess. Cocoa butter can be difficult to work with because when it reaches it's melting temperature range of between 93F (34C) and 100F (38C) it melts instantly. Whisking the frosting periodically as it gradually cools back to room temperature in the refrigerator solves this issue. The stiffness of this frosting can be adjusted by adding or subtracting 1 Tablespoon of water.

This smooth White Chocolate Ganache recipe uses cocoa butter without the cocoa solids making it a versatile white and creamy vegan topping for cakes, truffles or fillings. Unlike margarine or butter, cocoa butter and coconut oils melt rapidly when they reach their melting point instead of softening slowly. Due to this, extra care must be taken as it resolidifies from it's melting temperature of 93F (34C) to 100F (38C). You can adjust the firmness by adding or subtracting 1 Tablespoon of water. Also feel free to substitute 1 teaspoon to 1 Tablespoon of liqueur or other flavoring extract to further customize your ganache.

This silky smooth Peanut Butter Frosting packs a peanut buttery punch that can really dress up any vegan cake. This recipe takes advantage of caramelizing sugar to the thread stage of 230F (110C) where it contributes a smooth velvety texture. It also utilizes the power of soy milk powder (not to be confused with soy flour). Soy milk powder adds extraordinary creaminess while still allowing the frosting to remain firm.

Use this smooth, creamy Buttercream Frosting recipe for decadent vegan cakes where you want some buttery flavor to shine through. In my search for a truly decadent frosting that is also resistant to melting in warmer temperatures, I utilized the power of soy milk powder.  (not to be confused with soy flour). Soy milk powder adds extraordinary creaminess while still allowing the frosting to remain firm. This allowed me to use a simple syrup (sugar and water) for a sweetener so the frosting is silky smooth. This vegan frosting also takes advantage of caramelizing sugar to the thread stage of 230F (110C) where it contributes a smooth velvety texture. Finally, I used Vegan Butter or margarine as the main fat due to it's affordability and availability.

This silky smooth vegan Maple Frosting recipe uses slightly caramelized maple and agave syrup as it's base. This allows it to be 100% sweetened by these syrups, giving it maximum maple flavor and a velvety consistency with no sugar crystals. The agave syrup prevents the maple syrup from crystalizing after it's caramelized. The firmness of this frosting can be customized to your preference easily by caramelizing your syrups plus or minus 5F (3C) from the 235F (113C) caramelization temperature which is known as the thread stage. If you slather this on pancakes I promise not to tell anyone.

Real banana is blended into this Banana Cream Frosting which creates a rich banana cream with butterscotch overtones. This vegan frosting recipe utilizes the power of soy milk powder (not to be confused with soy flour) which adds extraordinary creaminess while still allowing the frosting to remain firm. It also takes advantage of caramelizing sugar to the thread stage of 230F (110C) where it contributes a smooth velvety texture. The firmness of this frosting can be customized to your preference easily by adding or subtracting 1 Tablespoon of water.

In search for a truly decadent vegan Vanilla Frosting recipe that is also resistant to melting in warmer temperatures, I utilized the power of soy milk powder (not to be confused with soy flour). Soy milk powder adds extraordinary creaminess while still allowing the frosting to remain firm. This frosting also takes advantage of caramelizing sugar to the thread stage of 230F (110C) where it contributes a smooth velvety texture. Finally, I used vegetable shortening as the main fat due to it's affordability and availability.

The firmness of this frosting can be customized to your preference easily by adding or subtracting 1 Tablespoon of water. This recipe also works well as a reference frosting recipe that can be customized into an endless variety flavors by swapping out water-based ingredients for the water and/or adding extracts to suit your style.

Use this Easy Caramel Sauce recipe to bring another dimension to vegan cheesecakes, ice creams, pies, brownies or pretty much anything. Caramel is one of those rare taste miracles that's in the same realm of chocolate sauce and maple syrup; it would probably make cardboard taste delectable. It's liquid gold. This is an easy to make sauce that utilizes coconut cream for rich flavor. Coconut contains flavor compounds called lactones which are among the same compounds that give dairy products like cream their signature flavors. Want to turn up the flavor level to eleven? Replace the vanilla extract with 1 Tablespoon bourbon, rum or brandy.