Sorry for not posting for ages so here’s my wedding cake

I am doing a full time teacher training course right now and I have just got married, so I haven’t really done any baking, or updating the blog. Here’s a picture of my wedding cake to make up for it:

Unfortunately the cake was made by my friend, so I don’t even have a recipe (although she did use my Victoria sponge cake recipe for one of the layers)

So again, I’m a bit rubbish right now, but when I’ve sorted out my life, I’ll be back.

Vegan millionaire’s shortbread

I’ve been seriously confused for a while about how to make vegan millionaire shortbread. How can you possibly replace that much condensed milk?! I’ve found a way, it changes the taste slightly, but not too much for it to be unrecognisable from the non-vegan version of millionaire’s shortbread. Whilst it tastes very similar, I genuinely think it tastes better, so yay, making it vegan improved it!

Makes roughly 12 slices

Ingredients:

For the shortbread

250g plain flour
100g caster sugar
175g vegan margarine

For the caramel

100g vegan margarine
125g light brown sugar
300g vegan peanut butter

For the topping

200g vegan chocolate

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180’C/Gas mark 4. Lightly grease/line a 30 x 20cm tin.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour and caster sugar in a bowl.
3. Rub in the margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4. Knead the mixture together until it forms a dough, then press into the base of the already lined/greased tin.
5. Prick the shortbread lightly with a fork and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes or until firm to the touch and very lightly browned. Cool in the tin.
6. Whilst the shortbread cools, melt the margarine in a saucepan along with the sugar. When it has melted and combined, add the peanut butter and combine in the saucepan for about 5 minutes (it will thicken)
7. Then spread the peanut butter mixture over the shortbread and leave to cool (approx. 1 hour, probably a little longer, as I got impatient towards the end and put it in the fridge)
8. For the topping, melt the chocolate. Then pour over the cold (do not do this before it is cold!) peanut butter mix and leave to set. Cut into squares or bars.

Apple and cinnamon waffles

You will need a German waffle iron (heart shaped) for this recipe

This will serve about 2 hungry people!

Ingredients:

300g flour
75g sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tbsp oil
250ml soya milk (or other non-dairy milk)
50ml water
Oil/vegan margarine to grease the iron
1 medium sized apple
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:

1. Wash the apple then peel, core and slice it
2. Bring the apple to the boil, then gently simmer for 15-20 minutes or until soft.
3. Drain the apple, then, using a hand blender/potato masher or spoon, mash the apples into a thick puree, then add the cinnamon and mix well
4. Place in the fridge to cool
5. In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients
6. Then add the soya milk, apple sauce, water and oil and stir well. The mix should be fairly liquid, so add a little more soya milk if you need it.
7. Turn on the waffle iron and leave it to heat, lightly grease the iron using oil or margarine
8. Using a ladle, scoop the mixture into the middle of the waffle iron and bake (only put one scoop in and not enough to cover the whole iron as it will expand)
9. When finished, take the waffle out of the iron, serve with whatever topping you like then eat and enjoy!

Vegan coconut cookies

I’m not a massive fan of coconut but I really love these cookies, so they must be good. Sam approves too, and he loves coconut, so you now must be getting a feeling for just how delicious these cookies are.

Ingredients:

150g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
¼tsp salt
2tbsp oil
125g vegan margarine
100g light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
100g desiccated coconut

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c/gas mark 4
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, then set aside
3. In a medium bowl, cream the butter, vanilla essence, brown sugar and caster sugar until light and fluffy
4. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt mixture
5. Mix in the coconut
6. Take small handfuls of dough and shape into biscuits, place them on a lined baking tray, they should be a lot of space between each cookie as they will expand a lot
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes
8. Leave to cool on a wire rack, then eat and enjoy!

Vegan vanilla cupcakes with raspberry icing

Makes 16 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the Cake

250g plain flour
3tsp baking powder
200g sugar
75ml oil
250ml soya milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 tsp vanilla essence

For the icing

100g vegan margarine
150g icing sugar
1 handful of raspberries

Method:

For the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180c
2. Pour the soya milk into a jug and add the cider vinegar, set aside to curdle
3. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl
4. Add the sugar and mix well
5. Put 16 cupcake cases in a muffin tray
6. Pour the jug of milk/cider vinegar, the oil and vanilla essence into the flour and mix well until incorporated. Don’t overmix.
7. Divide the mixture equally between the cupcake cases (they should be 3/4 full as they will rise)
8. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes (the cupcakes will be ready when a toothpick comes out clean or when it springs back when touched)
9. Take the cupcakes out of the tray and leave to cool for 30/40 minutes on a cooling rack before icing

For the icing

1. In a blender, put the vegan margarine, icing sugar and a handful of raspberry (or you could use another berry) and blend until you have a thick paste
2. Put the icing on the cupcakes, then eat and enjoy!

Vegan chocolate covered flapjack

The last flapjack recipe I posted was more sweet, crisp and crumbly, you can find that recipe here. I decided to experiment with the recipe and I have made the most perfect (really you could definitely sell it in a cafe) flapjack recipe, and added some chocolate on top. It’s both chewy and crunchy at the same time, finding the right balance between the two is usually impossible. In the words of Sam “it’s a very good flapjack” 😉

Makes about 16 slices

Ingredients:

250g porridge oats
125g vegan margarine
100g light soft brown sugar
3 tbsps golden syrup
125g vegan chocolate

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c
2. Pour the oats into a large bowl
3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, sugar and the golden syrup and mix well
4. Pour the melted mixture over the oats and mix well
5. Put the mixture into a lined or greased baking tin and press down until smooth
6. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your tin (or until golden brown)
7. Once the flapjack has been baked, take it out of the oven and leave it to cool for 10 minutes (do not take out of the tin yet)
8. Melt the chocolate, then pour the chocolate on top of the flapjack
9. Leave to cool on the side or in the fridge until the chocolate solidifies
10. Take the flapjack out of the tin and cut into small slices
11. Eat and enjoy!

Vegan golden syrup cake

Ingredients:

100g margarine
75g sugar
200g plain flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
150g golden syrup
150ml boiling water

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c

2. Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper or margarine.

3. Beat together the sugar and margarine until combined, then slowly mix in the golden syrup

4. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix well

5. Then mix in the boiling water

6. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes (on the lower shelf), then cool on a rack

7. Eat and enjoy!

Vegan falafel

Perfect with hummus, salad and pitta bread, this falafel recipe is ideal for lunch or for a light dinner.

Ingredients:

275g/9oz dried chickpeas (you can use tinned, but the falafel isn’t as good)
1 small onion
A handful of fresh coriander (you can use dried, but it’s not as good)
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp plain flour
Vegetable oil (for frying)

Method:

1. Soak chickpeas overnight in cold water
2. Boil chickpeas for 1 hour, then drain them
3. Roughly chop up the onion, garlic and coriander, then put them into the blender along with the chickpeas, baking powder, cumin and salt
4. Blend until the ingredient are finely ground and hold together
5. Take a small handful of the mixture and shape it into balls
6. Lightly cover the falafel balls in flour
7. Fry the falafel balls in the vegetable oil until brown and crisp on all sides
8. Serve with pitta, hummus, salad and other sauces
9. Eat and enjoy!

Easy to make vegan white bread with thyme

I promised a bread recipe the other day, and here it is. This is the first time I have ever baked a loaf of bread, and I’m very proud of it. It tastes great, it rose very nicely, and was baked all the way through. it’s also really easy to make for all you new bread bakers.

Ingredients:

In the dough

500g plain flour
1 sachet (7g) of dried yeast
300ml water
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp dried thyme (or any other herb you like)

On top

Small handful of thyme (or other herb)
Pinch of sea salt

Method:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, yeast and salt
2. Pour the water and olive oil into the bowl and mix well
3. Add the thyme and mix well
4. Knead the dough for 5 – 10 minutes (add a little extra flour if it is too sticky, or a splash more water if it seems too dry
5. Leave the dough to rise for 2 hours (ideally so it rises to twice the original size), make sure you cover the bowl with a damp tea towel, but do not let the tea towel touch the dough
6. After the dough has risen, give it a quick knead, then put it onto a lined baking tray. Shape the dough and make sure that it is fairly thin as it will rise a lot in the oven
7. Add a small handful of thyme and a pinch of sea salt on top of the bread and pat it into the dough, then leave it to rise in the tray for a further 15 minutes whilst you preheat the oven at 180c
8. Bake the bread for about 20 minutes in the oven, you will know it is done if you knock the bread on the bottom and it sounds hollow
9. Eat and enjoy!

Engagement party

A few days ago I had an engagement party which I used as an excuse to try out new recipes on willing guinea pigs. Also I wanted a party.

Here are a few pictures of the yummy food I made (along with the help of my brilliant housemates):

I made:
Chocolate cake
Apple crumble cake
Rocky road
Lemon biscuits
Banana muffins

Obviously the food was all vegan, and all yummy! I also made a loaf of white bread with thyme and lots and lots of falafel, recipes to follow soon, so keep an eye out for them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food (especially the cakes) disappeared almost as quickly as the wine…..