Oil-Free Sugar-Free Sticky Toffee Pudding

I recently went to a vegan baking evening hosted by the Cambridge Carbon Footprint group who put on a variety of events to raise awareness about climate change and sustainable living. Unfortunately, the evening was aimed more at omnivores who wanted an introduction to vegan baking rather than vegans who had been baking for quite a while. Also, the two recipes we made (Sticky Toffee Pudding and Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles) were packed full of refined sugar. But I met some lovely people and still had a great evening so it was well worth it.

I've recently been trying to avoid eating sugar as part of a regime to stabilise my blood sugar levels in order to avoid migraines. Any slight addiction to anything seems to be enough to put me in some sort of withdrawal which can start a headache which can then turn into a eleven day head pounding marathon. So despite the pudding and snickerdoodles being rather delicious, I wanted to try to come up with a recipe that did not use sugar.

The recipe I came up with uses dates to sweeten the cake and dates and maple syrup to make the toffee sauce. Now, I'm not suggesting that maple syrup is better than sugar. However, I figured that it would be better to come up with a recipe that doesn't use sugar so that I get out of the habit of using it. The maple syrup could easily be replaced by agave nectar, brown rice syrup, date syrup etc which tend to have lower glycemic indexes (although that does not necessarily equate to them being better for you). I used maple syrup because I had it on hand.

The recipe also uses quite a lot of maple syrup for the toffee sauce. This is mostly because the original recipe had both sugar and golden syrup with melted butter and so it was difficult to get the right consistency with the dates. You could easily double the amount of dates and add 80ml (1/3 of cup) of water in with the dates and milk when you boil them for the sauce and then only add a small amount of maple (or otherwise) syrup to taste. You could also easily halve the amount of toffee sauce and still have enough to complement the cake.

The biggest problem with me baking by experiment is that I end up eating all of the experiments. So I decided that perhaps it might be best to try to cut the vegan butter out of this recipe too hence why it's an oil-free sugar-free sticky toffee pudding. I will post another version that I adapted from the original recipe with all of the tasty, naughty stuff in it (although still not as much as in the original recipe!) at a later date.

The recipe uses soya milk and soya yoghurt so will only be sugar-free if your soya milk and soya yoghurt are sugar-free. It's easy enough to get unsweetened soya milk but it might be a little bit trickier to get unsweetened soya yoghurt unless you make your own. Alternatively, you could use 1/4 cup mashed silken tofu or more soya milk instead.

Enjoy!

Oil-Free Sugar-Free Sticky Toffee Pudding

Cake:

250ml (1 cup) unsweetened soya milk

100ml (slightly < 1/2 cup) water

200g pitted dates*, halved

1 level tsp bicarb soda

50ml (1/4 cup) unsweetened soya yoghurt

200g (1&1/3 cups) self-raising flour

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Toffee Sauce:

75g (approx. 8) pitted dates

150ml soya milk

80ml maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla essence

Cake:

Preheat oven to 190C/Gas Mark 5/375F.

Line a 20cm x 20cm shallow cake tin with baking paper.

Put the dates in a small saucepan and cover with soya milk and water. Simmer until dates are soft then take off heat and stir in bicarb soda. It should froth. Leave to cool.

Mix the spices into the flour in a small bowl.

Place the yoghurt into a large bowl and stir in the cooled date mixture. Sift and fold in the flour. Spoon cake mixture into prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes until cake springs back when touched.

Allow cake to cool then prick the top of the pudding all over. Pour on the toffee sauce incrementally, allowing the sauce to seep into the cake before adding more.

Toffee Sauce:

Roughly chop the dates and cover with soya milk in a small saucepan and simmer until dates are soft. Leave to cool slightly, add maple syrup and vanilla essence then transfer to a food processor or blender**. Blend until smooth.

*I prefer medjool dates.

**Please make sure your food processor or blender can handle hot liquids and is not glass. If it cannot, wait for the dates to cool completely and then carry on as per instructions.

Phirni

Don't know what phirni is? Neither did I! But it's damn delicious and a great dessert for dinner parties because it can be made in advance.

Apparently, fir-ni, phir-ni or phir-nee, is eaten among the Muslim community of North India and also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is normally flavoured with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashews, pistachios or almonds and can also have fruit pulp added!

This is just a basic recipe I found on the internet that I veganised for an Indian-themed dinner party that I had.The ground rice turns the hot liquid into a deliciously spice, gelatinous, cold pudding. Very yummy!

Phirni 

(advanced prep needed)

1/2 cup basmati rice (or some other long grained rice)

1 litre/ 4 cups of soya milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

pinch of saffron

1/2 cup mix of unsalted almonds and pistachios chopped coarsely

Thoroughly wash and drain the rice. Put it into a bowl and cover with water. Soak for 2 hours.

Drain and grind the rice to a very coarse paste. I did this with my mortar and pestle but it could also be done on a hard surface with the back of a spoon. The rice needs to be broken down into small pieces but doesn't need to be completely smooth. You want to be able to see the pieces.

Put the rice paste, milk, sugar, cardamom and saffron into a deep, heavy bottomed pan and cook on medium heat till the rice is soft. Stir often to prevent the milk from scorching or burning.

Reserve some nuts for garnishing and add the remaining nuts to the phirni. Stir well. 

Turn off the heat. Allow the phirni to cool, then chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours. You can either put it straight into the bowls you will serve it in (like I did) or put it into a bigger container and scoop the cold dessert out later into smaller bowls. I thought it looked nice in ramekins.

Garnish with remaining nuts.

Notes: 

• You can use brown long grain rice for this but I would suggest doubling the soaking time and making sure that when you cook the rice it is really soft before you refrigerate it.

• You can add all sorts of different flavours. I tried almonds and cinnamon for Christmas and it was also really delicious. 

•  If your soya milk has a lot of added sugar then consider cutting back on some of the sugar you add.

Cinnamon Scrolls and Donuts (Doughnuts)

Yes, I make my cinnamon scrolls and donuts with the same recipe. Topologically and semantically I might get away with it: the donuts are torus shaped and made from dough. However, I'm not sure Homer Simpson would have given my donuts the stamp of approval.

I love cookies and cake and muffins and all the really fatty, sugary stuff. It's really easy to eat something someone else made and not realise exactly how much fat and sugar goes into the product (and thus it's easy not to feel guilty about it). However, when you are physically mixing the batter and are measuring exactly how much oil and/or sugar you are using, you might not end up enjoying your lovely baked good in quite the same guiltless way.

This does not mean that the following donuts are healthy; everything in moderation. (Although, these donuts really need to be consumed on the day of baking (next day at the latest) so you might need to share in order to avoid eating them all yourself.) But these donuts are a lot healthier than your tradional donut from Krispy Kreme.

This dough recipe is based on the recipe for the dough for the Cinnamon Rolls in The Joy of Vegan Baking. In fact, my cinnamon scroll recipe is closely based around that recipe. I guess American cinnamon rolls are like Australian cinnamon scrolls and British Chelsea buns.

The dough you make will need 1-2 hours to rise so keep that in mind if you are pushed for time. You wil also need an electric stand mixer. If you don't have one you can do it just fine by hand but it'll be some work!

Also, don't be put off with the length of the recipe. It might look complicated at first glance but it is actually really simple once you have read through the instructions. And the results are well worth it!

Dough (for cinnamon scrolls and donuts)

(Dough needs 1-2 hours to rise so keep that in mind.)

4 1/2 tsp egg replacer (5 tsp ground flaxseed)

6 tbsp water

5 cups flour

2 1/4 tsp (7g sachet) active dry yeast

1 cup soya milk

1/3 cup vegan butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Whisk egg replacer/flaxseed together with water until thick and creamy.

Using your electric mixer with the normal paddle/mixing attachment mix 2 1/4 cups of the flour with the yeast. 

In a small saucepan heat the milk, butter, sugar and salt until butter is almost melted. Stir constantly. Pour into flour mixture in electric mixer and mix on low speed. Add the egg replacer mixer and turn to high/beat for 3 minutes.

Switch attachments to the hook-looking one. Put the mixer on low and mix in remaining flour gradually for 3-5 minutes until you have a moderately soft, smooth and elastic dough. You might end up with 1/2 a cup of flour left over. If you don't need it, don't use it. Your dough should be tacky but not sticky to touch.

Shape the dough into a ball and place in greased bowl. Let it rise for 1-2 hours in a warm place or until the dough has doubled in size. 

Once the dough has doubled, punch it down, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover with a clean tea towel and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then roll it out.

  

Cinnamon Scrolls

advanced prep required: scrolls needs about 1 hour to rise (this is in addition to the 1-2 hours above)

soya milk for brushing

Filling: 

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup vegan butter, softened

1/2 raisins

3/4 cup chopped walnuts (or other)

Icing:

1 cup icing/confectioners' sugar

2 tbsp vegan butter, melted

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp soya milk

Prepare your dough as above.

Mix all the filling ingredients together.

Roll the dough into a 30cm square (12-inches for those of you still living in my grandma's era).

Spread the filling out over the dough. Do this evenly.

Roll the dough into a log (so that you can see the spirals at the ends). Pinch at the end to seal.

Slice the log into 8 equal slices (you should havd little flat cylinders with sprials of yummy filling showing). Place the slices on a greased tray or baking paper.* Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes-1 hour in a warm place until they double in size (keep this in mind when placing).

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F) and (uncover and) brush the scrolls with the soya milk. Bake for 25-30 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

To make icing combine all the icing ingredients in a bowl. After the scrolls have cooled for 5 minutes drizzle the icing over them. Serve warm. Best eaten day of baking (or next day at the latest).

*You can actually do all of this the day before and then put them in the fridge and carry on with the instructions from here.

(Healthier) Donuts

Prepare your dough as above.

Cut out donut shapes. I do this by using a wide glass for the outside circle and a small, sample-size jam jar for the inner circle. I'm sure you can also buy donut cutters or you could do it free-hand. You should end up with a bunch of donuts and holes. Keep both.

Place the donuts + holes on a greased or baking paper lined tray. Cover with cling wrap/film and let rise for 45min-1 hour. Donuts and holes should double in size.

Preheat oven to 190C (375F). Uncover the donuts and brush with soya milk. Baked for 10-15 minutes until the bottoms start to turn golden brown.

Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.

If you want to ice your donuts then let them cool completely and ice with whatever your favourite glaze is (the icing for the scrolls will do with a bit of cocoa if you like chocolate). If you want the traditional cinnamon donut then let them cool a little (a few minutes will do) then give them a quick spray with oil and roll them in a cinnamon-sugar mix (1 tsp cinnamon to 1/2 cup sugar).

Best eaten day of baking (or next day at the latest).

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

While we are on the subject of beetroot I would highly recommend this Can't Be Beet Chocolate Cake. It is super moist and has a delicious earthy chocolate taste. And it's low fat! The Forest in Brisbane used to have a cake that was similar (which was gluten free but not low fat) so it made me a little homesick.

I made it without the sauce simply because it is so delicious I didn't think it needed it. But I'm sure it would taste great with maybe a beetroot glaze or a berry frosting.

EDIT: Since first posting this I've had a lot of people contact me about how weird they think chocolate beetroot cake is. It's very much not weird! If you are in Brisbane you all need to go to The Forest in West End and try some! Or cook this one! It really is just delicious.

Peach Bluba

So I have absolutely no idea if bluberries are in season or not. Since this is the UK I'm going to guess... not. But these little dudes were in my freezer and spring is pretty much here so I felt I needed some fruit dessert to celebrate. So this is my take on the classic Peach Melba which I have called Peach Bluba. Because of the blueberries. Also because I'm very clever and funny.

This dessert is ridiculously easy to make but very tasty and has some heat to take away the chill on these early spring nights but enough fruit to remind you that warmer days are on their way!

Peach Bluba

2 x peach halves*

1/2 cup frozen blueberries**

3 tbsp sugar***

1 scoop vegan ice cream

Place the sugar and blueberries in a saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly until the blueberries are heated throughout and they've release some of their purple juices so you have a nice, warm, viscous sauce. Remove from heat and let stand for a couple of minutes.

Place peach halves in a bowl with the ice cream. Spoon the berries over the peaches and ice cream and drizzle the blueberry sauce over as well.

* If you live in England they'll have to come out of a can because the fresh ones are just terrible at the moment.

** You could use fresh ones if you live somewhere closer to the equator.

*** I actually used fructose sugar because my agave nectar phase died out but I'm still not a big cane sugar fan.

Chocolate Sauce

My new year's resolution was to eat healthy on week days and eat whatever I like on weekends. I also promised myself to exercise more and have been going to pilates twice a week (and have consquently been in constant pain). I've been pretty good at sticking to my resolution and so on Saturday night I had no problem at all with eating this lucious bowl of fruit with chocolate sauce.

I've never made chocolate sauce before (and couldn't be bothered looking up a recipe) so I broke up a couple of blocks of vegan cooking chocolate, stuck them in the microwave for a minute or so (checking every now and again to make sure it wasn't burning) then added a few teaspoons of agave nectar and a tablespoon or so of soy milk. And it was delicious!

Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding

I have fond memories of the magic that is self-saucing chocolate pudding from when I was a kid. However, my memories consist of me helping mum empty the packet mix into a microwavable bowl and cooking the pudding in the microwave.

I actually have nightmares about baking in the microwave.

Despite this I was always amazed at how the pudding rose above the sauce and it was always delicious (cf to the rest of Mum's cooking) despite its shocking origins.

I've been wanting to make one for a while but it just never happens. However, my friend Maree was visiting me on her 12 month world tour and I decided to make it for dessert (since I don't have any cake tins yet and it was the only thing I could think of to cook in a Pyrex dish with the ingredients I had). So here it is!

 Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding

Pudding:

1 cup of flour

3 tsp baking soda

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 cup brown sugar

80g butter melted

1/2 cup soy milk

1 tbsp ground flax seed w/ 3 tbsp water*

Sauce: 

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/4 cup boiling water

For the pudding mix the dry ingredients together. Mix the flaxseed with the water until it is thick and creamy and add the rest of the wet ingredients. Then very slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients stirring as you add. Pour into an oven safe dish (I used a round Pyrex dish) and smooth the top.

For the sauce mix the two dry ingredients together and then sprinkle over the top of the pudding mix in the dish. Then very slowly pour the boiling water on top of the pudding as well. It's best to use a spoon to do this so that the sugar mixture isn't too disturbed and you get an even sauce.

Put the Pyrex dish onto a tray (to collecting spilling liquids in the oven).

Bake for 40 minutes and serve immediately with soy ice cream!

* Or other 1 egg equivalent.

Brownies

So I've posted the recipe to these delicious goodies on this blog before (see Chocolate Brownies post) but I wanted to talk about it again because a) it's Vegan MoFo and the other thing I cooked last night is being saved up for an extra special post sometime in the future and b) I think these ones look better than the last I made. These were delicious and gooey and oh so yummy.

I have heard a lot of people talk about if they are in the cakey or the fudgey brownie camp. I like this recipe because you can use the same recipe to please people in both camps depending on how long you leave it in the oven. I have also found that the less chocolate chips I use the less gooey it is.

  

BTW Happy Bonfire Night to those in the UK. I did not partake of the activities because I decided to go to a maths lecture instead. However, except for the fact that I lost my phone in the rain somewhere between home and the CMS, it was well worth it. If you know any maths and ever get the opportunity to see Bela Bollobas speak you should definitely go if only to boggle at the things that he finds "trivial" (such as, oh let's say, this trivial little thing).

Easy Crunchy Nectarine Bake

When I finally did get around to going to the markets on Saturday I was not at all prepared and only ended up with some very large nectarines and some very large field mushrooms. The nectarines, however, were already going bad before I even walked in the door and so last night I had to save what was left of them in this crunchy nectarine bake.

You could, of course, use peaches in this recipe. In fact, you could use it for pretty much any juicy fruit (apples, berries, pears, plums...). I used nectarines because I had them. I also like baking with them because you can leave the skin on and it doesn't ruin the texture.

Easy Crunchy Nectarine Bake

4 large* nectarines (or several smaller ones), deseeded & sliced

1 banana

1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup vegan butter

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Lightly grease or oil an ovenproof dish (like the Pyrex one in the photo below). Mash the banana in the bottom of the dish. Add the nectarine slices and mix through so that the banana is evenly spread throughout.**

In a separate bowl mix all of the dry ingredients together and then add the butter, using your fingertips to make an even crumble. Then sprinkle over the top of the nectarine slices and pat it down lightly with the back of a wooden spoon.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the fruit is nice and juicy and the crumble nice and crunchy.

Serve with vegan ice cream.***

* And I mean large. If they aren't bigger than your fist you'll need more than 4.

** If you don't like banana and are bitterly disappointed with the inclusion of it in this dish then I would suggest just throwing a little sugar and flour over the nectarines and mixing it through. This should caramelise and hold together the nectarine pieces without the banana.

***  I am obsessed by the amazing taste of Swedish Glace and am considering permanent residence in the UK because of it.

Dessert? Um... sure, I made dessert...

I cooked a delicious, creamy pasta the other night (the basil was dying on our kitchen window (I have a theory it's because the sun never appears in England) and I had to use it up) but we only had our camping saucepan and our small frypan we bought from Sainsbury's so the portion size was a little smaller than usual. So Geoff was still hungry after the pasta and asked for dessert; a dessert that I had not prepared.

I used to make a banana split at home with bananas, soy ice cream, soy cream, Cointreau and nuts. We didn't have any Cointreau, though, and often that dessert is a little rich for me. So I threw together this delicious dessert with some items that everyone should have lying around.

No-Bake Tropical Custard Crunch

Serves 2

1 cup custard

1 peach

1 banana

2 tbsp honey*

1 ginger biscuit**

1 tsp cinnamon

vegan ice cream***

Halve the custard and pour 1/2 cup into the bottom of two dessert bowls (i.e 1/4 cup in each). Halve the banana length ways and place one half in each bowl. Slice the peach into sections, removing the seed, and arrange in bowls evenly.

Scoop out some ice cream into each bowl (I put two scoops in each but do whatever you like!) and then drizle the remaining custard and honey over the dish.

Crush the biscuit up (I normally do this with the back of a spoon on a dry chopping board) and sprinkle it and the cinnamon on top. Enjoy!

Notes:

• You could heat the custard so that you get a lovely contrast between the hot custard and cold ice cream (think warm apple crumble and ice cream... mmm!)
• The peach and banana could easily be replace by other fruits. I fully promote the use of seasonal fruits.

* I remain okay with eating honey. I can't seem to find any evidence that insects feel pain and the extraction of honey, as long as it is done responsibly, does not appear to have any serious effects on the bees. However, I still completely understand other people's apprehensions and the honey in this recipe can easily be replace with maple syrup, rice honey, agave nectar or any other viscous, sweet substance.

** The ginger biscuits here in the UK are vegan. That's not so in Australia. You could just replace it with any sweet biscuit but the ginger adds a nice flavour.

*** We didn't actually use soy ice cream. We used Tofutti's Mango and Passionfruit ice cream which tastes nothing like a sorbet or an ice cream but I still like it (it's almost like bad supermarket gelato). Since then we have discovered the absolutely amazing Swedish Glace which tastes like really well made real ice cream! But if you are in Australia you might be stuck with So Good. Sorry!

Pears with Ginger and Star Anise
from Vegan Cooking (Eating for Health)

6 tbsp caster sugar

1 1/4 cups white dessert wine

thinly pared rind and juice of 1 lemon

7.4cm piece of fresh root ginger, bruised

5 star anise

10 cloves

2 1/2 cups water

6 slightly unripe pears

Put first six ingredients in a saucepan (big enough to hold all the pears in upright position). Don't put the pears in yet but bring liquid to boil. 

Peels the pears but leave the stems. Add the pears to the liquid making sure they are completely immersed. Return to boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until pears are tender. 

Remove the pears with with a slotted spoon and place them in a heatproof dish. Boil the remaining liquid rapidly until it reduces to about half the volume. Pour liquid over the pears and allow to cool. Then chill.

Cut the pears into thick slices and arrange serving with some soy icecream or yoghurt. The recipe also suggests serving with sliced pieces of ginger from ginger in syrup.

I loved this dessert. Geoff was not so impressed. I loved the flavours and how light but delicious it was. I didn't have any dessert wine on hand (well, I did, but it was a rather expensive bottle we had picked up in Tasmania that we were keeping for a special occassion) so used some champagne which gave it a bit of a tang. I also didn't have any of the ginger in syrup and only made this recipe to use up the pears in my fruit bowl and didn't want to have to go out and buy it. I'm sure it would have added to the delicious flavour and wonderful textures but it was tasty without it. I also just used the normal green pears that you get in the supermarket. It would be great for a dinner party as you can prepare it before, leave it in the fridge, and could dish it up on one big plate or on inidividual dishes.

Chocolate Cheesecake

My Dad loves cheesecake. He also has a bit of a cholestrol problem. So I served him up some of my chocolate cheesecake and he loved it. He said he could tell it wasn't real cheesecake, and it's true that it doesn't have the same heavy cheesy taste, but it's light and delicate and delicious. And very easy! The only con about this recipe is that it uses two tubs of vegan cream cheese. My favourite to use if Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese (which my local Coles stocks and I'm pretty sure you can get it at Woolworths too) but it's quite expensive. I also have a lot of trouble getting reasonably priced vegan chocolate cooking chips. So I normally just buy a dark vegan chocolate cooking block and chop it up. Takes time and is a bit messy! Still, it's worth it if you are having a dinner party and want to serve up something yummy!

Chocolate Cheesecake

from The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks' Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets 

Filling:

6 tsp egg replacer

1/2 cup water

1 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips

690g vegan cream cheese

3/4 sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cookie Crust:

1 cup crumbled vegan cookies (I find chocolate ones are yummiest!)

1/2 vegan butter melted

Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Lightly oil a round springform pan. Mix crust ingredients together and press into bottom of the pan. Mix egg replacer and water together in small bowl (best done with electric hand mixer or food processor). Melt chocolate chips in the microwave or double boiler. Beat together cream cheese, sugar and egg replacer mixture in food processor (although I use a blender). Mixture should be smooth and fluffy. Add melted chocolate and vanilla to this and blend again. Pour into prepared crust.

Bake for 50 mins. Be really careful with baking time. The cheesecake centre should barely jiggle when the pan is tapped.

Remove from the oven and let it cool completely in the pan. Then move to a serving plate and cover with cling wrap and put it in the fridge overnight. If you need to serve it straight away you need to chill it for at least 2 hours.

Chocolate Brownies

Chocolate Brownies

from The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks' Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets 

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tbsp water

2 tsp ground flaxseed

1/2 cup water

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips (or just chop a block)

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease 20cm square baking tin with canola oil.

Stir together sugar, applesauce and 2 tbsp water in a bowl.

In a smaller bowl combine flaxseed and 1/2 cup water and add to applesauce mixture with vanilla.

In yet another bowl combine flour, cocoa, bp, salt, choc chips and nuts. Then add to applesauce mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour into pan and bake for 40 minutes. You want the brownies to be moist so the edges should start to come away from the pan as it's ready but it shouldn't be overcooked so that you get a cake-like brownie (unless you want it like that!) so the old clean knife in and out trick won't work. The knife should look like it's gone through moist cake but not doughy batter. Let it cool before cutting and cut with a sharp knife.

Vegfest 2010 Review

It was so awesome!

90% of the stalls were vegan, I ate until I could eat no more and I even snatched up a few free goodies to take home with me. One of the highlights was So Delicious Coconut Milk ice-cream (called Purely Decadent) of which I tasted the Passionate Mango and Cherry Nirvana which were both equally delicious. Another highlight was my first slice of Tofurkey. I will never eat it again (the texture is far too Turkey-like) but it had to be tried. There were also these vegan burgers there and I honestly thought they were meat.

I was a little sad, though, that a city of only 700 00 people (2.7 million in the urban area) could have such a large festival like that with so many people (you could hardly move there were so many people) with such a great range of vegan restaurants when Brisbane has two vegan restaurants and a few vegetarian ones and you tell people you are vegan and they wonder if there is a cure for it. And a lot of the products were local so it's not just about the huge population of the US being able to snap up their share of Tofurkey. I just think Australia is really behind when it comes to changing our lifestyles for someone (or rather somethings) other than ourselves.

There was a stall promoting drinking water (apparently not everyone knew it was good to drink water) and they had free samples of an immune booster drink. I have been a bit flu-ey since I've been here so thought I'd try it. Everyone else trying it was pulling funny faces but not me. I thought it was delicious. Turns out, it's because it's almost exactly like my super secret honey-ginger-garlic-lemon drink. Here's their recipe:

Natural Immune Boosting Drink

2 litres of water

8-10 lemons (juiced)

9-12 cloves of garlic

1 inch of fresh ginger

1/2 cup of honey (try to use non-commercial honey)

1/2 onion (chopped)

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Pour 1/3 of water into blender with juice of lemons. Blend. Add garlic and onions. Blend very well. Add honey and pepper. Blend. Add remaining water. Blend.

I like pie

I've had many, many adventures (gourmet and scenic) recently but have not had time to upload any of the photos. But to make you all aware that I have not abandoned you I will mention my new love of making pastry crusts!

I had book club the other night and made a delicious One-Crust Mediterranean Pie and discovered that making crust is very easy!

Elise's Never-Fail Recipe for Awesome Crust
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
3/4 cup plain flour
6 tbsp vegan margarine

Add the two flours together and then add the margarine. Mix the margarine through with your fingertips until you have a mixture that looks a lot like fine breadcrumbs (you might need to add a little more margarine). Then add cold water (I usually use 1/4 cup but you may need a little more) to make a dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth and elastic. Cover with cling wrap and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes (minimum).

Once you've taken it out of the fridge roll it out onto a lightly floured surface and use it for whatever.

This recipe makes enough pastry for a one-crust pie (a base and partly covered top). If you want to make a pie with a base and a lid use 1 cup of each flour and 8 tbsp of margarine and 1/3 cup of cold water and halve the dough before you refrigerate it.

It was my cousin's 21st on the weekend and I was in charge of making the cake. I also made a delicious blueberry and apple pie. I just made the pastry to the recipe above (with the extra for the top and base) and made a filling. It's very quick and easy and I will post the recipe for the cake and pie soon.

Trifle

I loved trifle when I was a kid. I used to look forward to it every Christmas. So when I saw the Gelatine Free jelly at my local Coles I jumped at the chance to make it.

I just baked a very simple vanilla cake, cut it up, put it in a dish, poured white wine over the cake and let it set and soak in. Then I made up some custard with custard powder and soy milk and poured it over the cake making sure there was enough custard to be completely soaked up by the cake. Then I topped it with jelly, coconut and nuts. I also got the Soy Whipped Cream out later and chucked that on too. Yum! Geoff was away so it last for many delicious days.

Soya Whipped Cream

People often think they are being clever when they inform me that vegan-friendly replacements taste nothing like the original. I have taste buds; I'm aware of this. However, once you have made the moral decision not to rely on other animals to feed you you make sacrifices. This is the same as most things in life. If you really like driving but are trying to reduce your 'carbon footprint' you might catch the bus to work every day but drive on weekends. Or vice versa.

Anyhow, I like the soya whipped cream. I can't remember what real whipped cream tastes like. I just remember the texture and this has the same texture. I also am not much of a fan of whipped cream but like the novelty of being able to have it. So I've been making iced chocolates.

Geoff is quite a fan (he can't really have much dairy).

I bought the cream from Mrs Flannery's in Taringa. I also bought some sour cream and normal cream to try out but both had their seals broken and were already off. I did get replacements but never picked them up. I'm a busy vegan. But I did get vegan parmesan and savoury yeast. So I'm looking forward to perhaps making a potato bake or creamy guacamole.

When Tim Comes to Dinner

Geoff and I had Tim for dinner on Saturday night. We decided to make pizza for dinner and Sticky Date Pudding for dessert. It was the first time I'd made the pudding and also the first time I've made my own dough from scratch and both turned out quite well so I was quite proud of myself. The pizza toppings were a little on the odd side (canned corn not such a good idea after all but I liked the turnips which I fried a little in olive oil before putting them in the oven). The recipes are as follows. The pizza dough recipe is based on a recipe from taste.com.au (but it since seems to have disappeared) and the Sticky Date Pudding recipe is one I found somewhere on the internet but, again, altered a little.

Pizza Dough
7g sachet dry yeast
1 tsp caster sugar
2 cups plain flour
2 tbsp olive oil

Combine 3/4 cup warm water, yeast, sugar and salt (what salt?) in jug. Whisk to dissolve. Cover with cling wrap and set aside in a warm place for 5 mins or until you see bubbles on the surface.

Sift flour into a bowl. Add yeast & oil mixture to it. Mix to form a soft dough. Turn onto lightly floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes until elastic. Place in lightly greased bowl & cover with plastic wrap. Stand in warm place for 25-30 minutes or until dough has doubled size.

Use fist to punch dough down. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth. Top with whatever you like and bake for 5-15 minutes.

Sticky Date Pudding
Cake:
250mls soy milk
100mls water
200g dates (chopped in half)
1 tsp bicarb soda
115g margarine
115g brown sugar
200g white SR flour
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Sauce:
100g golden syrup
200g brown sugar
150g margarine
1 tsp vanilla essence

Cake: Preheat oven to 190C. Put dates in saucepan & cover with milk & water & simmer until dates are soft. Make sure they are soft! Take off heat & stir in bicarb soda. This will froth. Leave to cool.

Beat together the margarine & sugar until pale & creamy. Add date mixture & stir. Mix spices with flour. Sieve & fold into date mixture. Put in 20x20 tin and bake for approx. 30 mins. When done prick the pudding all over and pour half the hot toffee sauce over the pudding and serve the rest with the pudding.

Topping: Melt all ingredients in saucepan & simmer for 5 mins without stirring.

Weekend's Cooking... an ode to Timothy

So this is not what we had for dinner on Friday night. This is what my brother, very much a non-vegan, ate. And this is all he ate. So when someone asks me why I am vegan I could quite correctly conjecture that it is the universe's way of balancing out my brother's diet.

We had a Dhal Saag that I tried to make in light of the fact that I can't eat at A Night In India every night. I got the consistency right this time but not the flavour. I can't seem to get the spices right. I stupidly used chopped ginger instead of grated ginger and put ground cardamon in which taste a little funny. So hopefully I can get it right eventually and put the recipe on here.

I also tried to make nicer rice by putting in some saffron threads. Next time I should probably put the threads in some boiling water first and then stir it through the rice with some oil.

Geoff and I trawled through some of my recipe books for a quick and simple dessert idea. Geoff suggested Mango Rice Pudding from Linda Stoner's Now Vegan.

My mum gave me the book for my birthday last year. I really like it because it's Australian and so the ingredients are most likely found at your local supermarket.

Mango Rice Pudding
1 cup aborio rice
2 x 425g sliced mangos, drained with juice reserved
(I used a 800g tin because it was cheaper)
1 dessertspoon of cinnamon sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup water

Put raw rice, mango juice, cinnamon sugar, coconut milk, maple syrup and water on low heat for about 15 minutes. Make sure you are stirring constantly to avoid sticking and that the mixture comes to the boil (but don't let it boil for more than a few seconds). Take off heat, keep covered but stir every now and again until all liquid is absorbed, the rice is soft and it looks like rice pudding. You can re-heat if you want. I place the mango slices on top or you can mix them in as you re-heat. Suggested to be served with soy ice-cream but I did not.

So this was yummy and easy to prepare. It would have been easy to cook had I taken into account that my stove's low heat was too low and that I should have brought the rice to the boil. So I sat in front of Superbad with Geoff and my brother and Dad for a while stirring and waiting for the rice to absorb. It didn't until I put it back on the heat again and brought it to the boil. So make sure you heat it enough!

The Sunday was baking day. Last week I made Ahmad a Chocolate Cake for his birthday and then he informed me it was Ramadan and couldn't eat it so I cooked another one for him for Monday. And I also cooked a Carrot Cake (Geoff likes carrot cake) and some Mint Choc Cookies.

They tasted okay but I want to perfect the recipes before I share.

P.S. I have no idea why this post was an ode to Timothy. I just know that it was. And why wouldn't it be? Tim's awesome. Just check out his blog!

Vegan Haggis and a Not-So-Cheesy Cheesecake

It was not until I had the haggis fully prepared as per recipe instructions that I realised that perhaps the recipe required prior knowledge of what exactly haggis was and how exactly it is normally prepared that went beyond what was described in the book. And it turns out that no one, including those who scoffed at my claim that I was cooking Vegan Haggis, actually knew what haggis was let alone what utensils it required to be prepared. All I could really get from anyone was that it involved some part of an animal. As my haggis was to be completely animal free this was not so helpful.

This is the recipe from Henderson's Wholefood Cookbook.

Vegan Haggis
75 g mushrooms (finely chopped)
75g brown lentils (soaked for two to three hours)
50g pinhead oatmeal (soaked for one hour)
50g red kidney beans (soaked, cooked and chopped)
25g vegan margarine
150g carrots (grated) [approx. one carrot]
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 tspn garam masala
freshly ground sea salt
150g onions (chopped) [approx. one onion]
1 tbspn soy sauce
1 tpsn vegetable oil
1/2 level tspn freshly ground black pepper

Saute garlic, onion and seasoning with a little oil until soft.

Add brown lentils and carrot and simmer on a low heat until lentils are soft, stirring to prevent sticking. The moisture content of the soaked lentils and carrot should be sufficient but if not add a little water. Add mushrooms and allow to soften. Add kidney beans. Stir in margarine and more black pepper to taste. Finally add oatmeal after (draining and rinsing) and mix well. The oatmeal should retain its texture.

Serve with clapshot - approx. 4 potatoes and one medium turnip boiled and mashed with a little margarine and seasoned to taste. Serves 4.

So I cheated a bit and used canned lentils and beans simply because I hadn't the foresight or time to soak them. Geoff and I were also walking around Woolworths trying to figure out what the hell oatmeal was. We ended up calling Grandma and asking her. She suggested Uncle Toby's Oats. We got Homebrand Quick Oats. I figured it would require less soaking time. And it was cheaper.

So after I finished following these directions I kind of had this brown mushy lump in a saucepan. I wasn't sure what to do with it. So I divided it up into three, wrapped it in baking paper and stuck it in the oven for a little while. I also served it with the red wine gravy recipe I linked to in the previous post.

It turned out well. It was certainly yummy. We only made half the gravy and didn't strain it although I would recommend making all of it and straining off the onion. At any rate it was a tasty dinner and not something I've ever cooked before.

Dessert was also from the same recipe book. It was supposed to be a Banana Tofu Cheesecake but didn't taste at all like cheesecake. It still had some very nice, subtle flavours and wasn't too sweet. The description of the ingredients was a little confusing, though. It called for one and a half blocks of tofu. Exactly how big a block is I don't know. So here is my suggested take on the recipe.

Banana Tofu Cheesecake

1 200g block of soft tofu
1 orange
175g coconut cream (it asks for creamed coconut but I don't know what that is so I just got a can of coconut cream and tried not to shake it and took the thick separated part off the top)
4 bananas + one extra for topping
1 flan case
1 small lemon

Mash tofu and bananas in a bowl with finely grated orange and lemon rind and their juice. Add all other ingredients and mix well and pour in flan case. Bake for approx. 30 minutes (I had it in there for 90 minutes, though) at 150 C until golden brown. Leave to cool. Slice extra banana into some orange juice and arrange over flan. Sprinkle with some coconut. You top it however you like, really.

I didn't even bother trying to find a flan case. I just grounded up some Digestives and mixed it with some melted vegan margarine and baked it for 15 mins in the flan case. I cooled it and then added the filling.

I used a 2006 Shiraz Viognier in the red wine gravy. I think a redder Merlot would have been better. Geoff drank the rest of it with the dinner so not a drop went to waste. Very economical of him.

All in all, despite my shortcuts and shortcomings, I think it was a lovely dinner.