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Posts from the ‘Meatless/Vegetarian’ Category

May 15

71 Comments

Semolina Yeast Herb Pancakes With Eggplant And Garbanzo Stew

 

pancakes

pancakes

A little different spin on the yeast and herb challenge for Fiesta Friday’s Challenge #1. These pancakes are Moroccan in origin, are so simple to make and really delicious. They are the perfect vehicle for whatever you would like to dip or scoop. I chose a roasted tomato,garbanzo and eggplant stew served with a cold yogurt, cucumber and mint salad. The pancakes only need one rise for an hour, the texture is different from your standard pancake because they are made predominantly with semolina. The basic recipe does not contain herbs but for this challenge I gathered some fresh herbs from the garden and added a little dried marjoram.

This very special edition of Fiesta Friday’s is hosted by the always wonderful Angie from The Novice Gardener and  co- host Catherine@Catherine Cuisine, Angie and Catherine will not only host, they will also judge, yes, there will be a winner and a gift. So exciting.

Pancakes:

Serves 4-6depending on serving size

3 cups warm whey or water

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp instant yeast

1 3/4 cup semolina

1/3 cup flour

1 tsp honey

1 tsp salt

1 cup fresh herbs chopped (I used parsley, mint and chives) I used more parsley and chives than mint.

1 tsp dried marjoram

In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the warm whey or water with the baking powder. In a food processor, combine the semolina with the flour, yeast, honey and the remaining 2 3/4 cups of warm water; process for 30 seconds, until smooth. Add the salt and baking powder mixture and process for 30 seconds longer.  Pour the batter into a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. I made this in the morning and let it rise for an hour then refrigerated until ready to make. Be sure to let it come to room temperature before making the pancakes.

Heat a crepe pan or skillet coated with olive oil until its hot, a drop of water should dance on the surface. Add the chopped herbs and marjoram and stir to combine.  Ladle some of the batter, it’s fairly thin,into  the pan and quickly spread so it makes a thin layer. Let it cook until bubbles appear then flip and brown on the other side. Keep in the oven on warm until ready to serve.

Stew

Stew

Eggplant and garbanzo stew

1 large eggplant skin removed and cut into approximately 1 inch cubes

1 small onion or 2 shallot minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup cooked garbanzo beans (I used canned)

2 cups tomato sauce ( I made my own from roasted cherry tomatoes pureed in the blender)

1/2 tsp turmeric

pinch saffron

juice of half a lemon or a dried lime (if using dried lime make sure to use a knife and make slits)

1 tsp harissa or add to taste and heat tolerance.

Salt and pepper to taste

A generous handful of parsley and a few mint leaves chopped

Toss the eggplant in olive oil and bake in 375 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes or until browned. In saucepan sweat the onion and garlic in some olive oil, add the garbanzo’s and saute briefly just to warm and coat with the oil, now add the tomato sauce, turmeric, saffron,harissa and lemon and let simmer for 30 minutes, watch carefully and add liquid if necessary, you don’t want it too dry.
Add the eggplant and simmer for another 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and mint right before serving.

Yogurt,cucumber mint salad

2 cups plain greek yogurt ( I like full or reduced fat not non fat)

1 cucumber peeled and cut into small pieces

1- 1 1/2 tsp dried mint

salt and pepper to taste

Delicious meal

Delicious meal

 

Fiesta Friday Challenge

Fiesta Friday Challenge

 

 

Apr 29

85 Comments

Small Plates- Tapas

Cheese, wine and bread

Cheese, wine,olives and bread

Tapas anyone?

Tapas anyone?

I was recently inspired to make tapas after reading a post on the very beautiful blog Laura’s Mess. She and friends/fellow bloggers get together and prepare a feast frequently and it’s like a culinary tour of the world. I decided since I love the food of Spain and I am particularly fond of small portions that I would make tapas. You can eat a variety of foods and variety is the spice of life!!

For this meal I made some of my favorite Spanish dishes, they are simple and very tasty and I find that when you set out platters of a variety of food for friends it’s fun, add some good wine to the mix and it’s a great party. You can also make some of the food in advance. The meatballs and tomato sauce and the polenta keep very well for a day or two, I also boiled the potatoes for the patatas bravas a day ahead and fried them the day of, you can also make that yummy sauce ahead.

I am not going to post recipes for all,most of the recipes are not mine,  but I will provide the link to the recipe if you want to make. I served the polenta with the meatballs and tomato sauce, the grilled merguez goes beautifully with the patatas bravas.  The shrimp, well they are great on their own and don’t forget  the cheese and olives and bread with some good olive oil for dipping. Wash it all down with wine I chose Rioja. Sangria would also be lovely with this!!

Here is the menu:

Patatas Bravas

Albondigas- Spanish meatballs (Recipe calls for pork, I used pork and beef)

Merguez (grilled)

Roasted Tomato Sauce (No recipe needed see below for instructions)

Gambas Al Ajillo- Spanish Garlic Shrimp

Cheesy Manchego Polenta

Assorted cheese. bread, olives

Lots of wine

Oven roasted tomatoes for sauce

Oven roasted tomatoes and garlic

Sauce-fresh tomato, garlic,thyme and olive oil

Sauce-fresh tomato, garlic,thyme and olive oil

The tomato sauce is very simple, pre heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread cherry tomatoes and at least 3 cloves garlic on sheet pan,  I used assorted heirloom, drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and sprinkle generously with thyme. Bake for approximately 20-30 minutes or until the tomatoes and garlic are softened and caramelized. Crush with fork or masher and add the meatballs, simmer on low heat for approximately 45 minutes to one hour. Serve with polenta.

Manchego Polenta

Manchego Polenta

Polenta ( You can easily half the recipe if doing tapas)

Serves 4-6 depending on serving size

4 cups whey or water

1 cup polenta (corn meal) I used stone ground

pinch of salt

1 cup grated manchego cheese

2 tbs butter

2 tbs heavy cream, creme fraiche or mascarpone

black pepper (2 or 3 turns of the pepper mill)

In saucepan add the whey or water and pinch of salt, bring to a rolling boil. Whisk in the polenta, don’t dump it all in add slowly while you are whisking it thickens very quickly. Lower heat to low and continue whisking until its done. It takes approximately 3-5 minutes for regular cornmeal and 7-10 minutes for stoneground. Remove from heat add the butter, cheese and heavy cream. Stir until its all incorporated. Cover pan and set aside.

Meatballs

Meatballs

I baked the meatballs at 375 degree’s for 30 minutes then finished on stove top simmering in fresh tomato sauce.

 

Jan 8

60 Comments

Ricotta Polenta With Tomato Mushroom Sauce/Ragu

Creamy Polenta with Tomato and Mushrooms

Creamy Polenta with Tomato and Mushrooms

I posted this back in January 2012, it’s really delicious and worth posting again, I am not really doing any cooking because of my injury so I thought it would be fun to go back into the recesses of my blog and re post some of my recipes. This is a wonderful, filling vegetarian dish, you can of course add meat to the sauce but I love it with just vegetables. Tailor to however you like it, adding lots of fresh herbs, different types of mushrooms, I think eggplant would be wonderful. You don’t really have to follow a recipe for this.

Serves 4-6 depending on serving size

4 cups whey or water

1 cup polenta (corn meal) I used stone ground

pinch of salt

1/2 cup ricotta (well drained)

2 tbs butter

black pepper (2 or 3 turns of the pepper mill)

In saucepan add the whey or water and pinch of salt, bring to a rolling boil. Whisk in the polenta, don’t dump it all in add slowly while you are whisking it thickens very quickly. Lower heat to low and continue whisking until its done. It takes approximately 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat add the butter and stir, now add the ricotta. Stir until its all incorporated. Cover pan and set aside while you make the sauce.

8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced or whatever type of mushroom you like

2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes or 1 28 oz can whole or chopped tomatoes

splash of white wine

2 clove garlic peeled and minced

1 whole shallot peeled and chopped

handful italian parsley chopped

olive oil for pan

salt and pepper to taste

Put some olive oil in a saute pan and heat on medium high. Add the shallots and cook until they become soft and translucent. Add the garlic and continue to cook until they start to caramelize. Now add the mushrooms  and cook until the mushrooms lightly browned, add the tomato and wine and cook on med/high until sauce thickens approximately 30 minutes uncovered, I like to cook this in a large skillet. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat. Add the chopped parsley.

Dec 31

77 Comments

Hoppin John For Good Luck, A Broken Finger And Happy 2014

hoppin john hoppin john

Hoppin John which contains blackeye peas is traditionally served on New Years Eve/ Day. They are supposed to bring good luck. I guess I could use it since I fell the other day, it was my own fault, never, especially on the pot hole laden streets of NYC push a shopping cart in front of you, you should drag it in back. I learned the hard way, I had just come from the food coop, cart full of all sorts of good stuff, it was pretty heavy. Crossing the street walking at a brisk pace, the wheels got stuck in a pothole, I went flying over the cart with my finger in one of the grooves, it completely dislocated my finger. I spent the rest of the day in the ER where they had to put it back together. I was lucky it wasn’t fractured. Unlucky for me it’s my right hand index finger. I will adapt. This was a bit difficult to make not because the recipe is hard but working without my index finger is not easy and painful.Vegetables are not cut in the proper size pieces but the results are the same.

Dislocated finger Dislocated finger

So I thought I better make some blackeye peas for good luck, this is not the way I envisioned starting 2014.

I have not eaten blackeye peas since I was a child. To be perfectly honest, I really disliked them after a very unappetizing school lunch containing the dreaded peas that I was forced to eat. Since then I have tasted them and they were ok, I looked at several hoppin john recipes and decided on one with bacon, because bacon makes everything better!! This recipe is simple to make and so delicious, now why didn’t they serve this at school it could have been spared years of being a blackeye pea hater.

The veggies The veggies

Ingredients

2 cups dried blackeye peas

1 red bell pepper diced

1 yellow bell pepper diced

1 jalapeno peper cut in half lengthwise seeds removed

1 large stalk celery sliced

1 medium onion diced

2 garlic cloves smashed

1 medium size carrot sliced

6 cups stock (vegetable or chicken) or you can use water

4 thick slices of bacon cut into lardons

splash of olive oil

1 bunch collard greens tough stems removed and cut into thin strips

steamed white rice

hot sauce of your choice

splash of apple cider vinegar (optional)

Rinse peas discarding any rocks or peas that don’t look good. Set aside. In dutch oven set on med/high heat saute the bacon to render the fat, remove the bacon leaving about 2 or 3 tbs of bacon fat in the pot my bacon was lean so I had to add a splash of olive oil, set the cooked bacon aside to add later. Still on med/high add onions and saute until they just begin to soften, add the celery, carrot and yellow and red bell pepper. Continue to saute until vegetables soften, add smashed garlic cloves and cook for another minute or two. Add the blackeye peas, reserved bacon, jalapeno pepper, collard greens and liquid, bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium and cook for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally and adding liquid if it looks too dry. Before serving, remove jalapeno pepper and discard (or you can keep it if you like) I just use for flavor.

Serve over steamed rice, brown or white your choice. Add some hot sauce, an optional splash of vinegar and garnish however you like. I really like some cheddar or manchego cheese grated on top.

A Very Happy New Year to all of you. I wish for all a happy, healthy, successful 2014 and I look forward to blog posts from each and every one of you!!

Taken from Pinterest Taken from Pinterest

Dec 26

65 Comments

Red Kuri And Butternut Squash Soup

Prepped squash

Prepped squash

I just love creamy squash soups, butternut is probably the most well known and it’s delicious. I found some red kuri squash and loved the way it looked, I have never had it before but after quickly googling on my i phone (I love that I can find info in a flash on my phone) I decided that I wanted to try it. Now I love making squash soup, but HATE cutting it, I don’t care how sharp your knife is it’s so hard to cut, serious tough skin. I trim the ends, cut in half and bake in the oven until it’s soft. I don’t have the strength or patience to peel squash.

Red Kuri Squash

Red Kuri Squash

Red Kuri squash is great, the flesh is sweet and when baked has a lovely soft consistency. It is not quite as dense as butternut squash, it’s closer to pumpkin.

The soup takes almost no time at all to prepare since the squash is already cooked. I don’t add spice only salt and pepper. It would be good with spice I am sure, it’s just that I am partial to it straight up with only aromatics (I use onion).

Serves 4-6 depending on Serving size

1 butternut squash cut in half, seeds removed

1 red kuri squash cut in half seeds removed

1 onion (I used yellow onion) diced

1 tbs brown sugar(optional)

2-3 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)

1/4 cup heavy cream or full fat coconut milk

2 tbs butter

splash of apple cider

salt and pepper to taste ( I used a blend of 5 peppers)

Heat oven to 375 place squash cut side down on baking sheet and bake until soft it takes approximately 45-60 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool a little and scoop out flesh into food processor or blender. Puree until very smooth and set aside.

In saucepan or soup pot add butter and melt on medium high, add the onion and saute until soft and translucent add the optional tbs of brown sugar and continue to saute for another minute or so. Add the broth or stock and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Add the squash puree, splash of cider and salt and pepper and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the heavy cream and continue to simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve hot.

Soup and Salad

Soup and Salad

Aug 24

54 Comments

Rigatoni With Roasted Mushrooms And Eggplant And Wine Pairing

Rigatoni with mushrooms and eggplant

Rigatoni with mushrooms and eggplant

So here is the dish I decided to make with those beautiful roasted mushrooms and eggplant from the last post. It’s insanely simple, takes only minutes and is very tasty. It looks pretty boring, shades of cream and brown (those beautiful purple eggplant turned a homely brown) but it’s far from boring in the taste department You don’t really need a recipe per se for this, make as much as you need for your meal.  I didn’t really  measure anything estimated the amounts, you can judge by eyeballing it, it will feel right.

Serves 2-4 depending on serving size

Ingredients:

Roasted eggplant, mushrooms, shallot and garlic

1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley (a nice handful)

1/4 cup good white wine or a nice glugg, preferably what you will drink with this dish

olive oil to coat pan

Rigatoni  (1/3-1/2lb)

Goat cheese and mascarpone (use equal amounts of each)

Parmigiano Reggiano grated

Instructions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a tbs of salt and when it’s a vigorous rolling boil add the rigatoni. Stir occasionally and let boil for approximately 10 minutes or follow instructions on the package.

While your rigatoni is boiling, heat a saute pan with a little olive oil on medium/high, add the mushrooms,eggplant, shallot and garlic (remove the sprigs of thyme first) and a splash of white wine (about 1/4 cup). Cook just long enough to heat the vegetables, with strainer or spyder add the rigatoni to the vegetables. toss to combine and cook for a minute or two adding a little of the pasta water if it’s too dry. Add the chopped parsley. I topped this with  grated parm and a heaping spoonful of goat cheese and mascarpone that I whipped I used equal amounts of goat cheese and mascarpone and simply beat with my electric mixer. This will also be used for dessert, refrigerate what remains.  Hey you can never get too much goat cheese and mascarpone, right?  Stay tuned for dessert.

Wine Pairing courtesy of Stefano Crosio

I asked Stefano from Flora’s Table  and Clicks And Corks  to lend his expertise and  to pair wine with this dish. Here are his recommendations, and I would advise to find these wines, Stefano knows whereof he speaks. His recommendations are always spot on:

Given the characteristics of the ingredients of your dish, a proper wine to pair with it would have good acidity, tannins (or fairly robust ABV), intensity of flavors, tastiness and medium body.  A not overly structured Barbera, such as Coppo, L’Avvocata, would be a good wine for your dish at a very interesting price point (~$15). Otherwise, another good option in white would be Donnafugata’s Chiaranda’ (a Sicilian Chardonnay that retails for about $35.

Apr 2

68 Comments

Pizza In A Snap!!

Pizza

Pizza

I felt like pizza today, was really busy and didn’t have time to run to the store for ingredients so decided to use what I had on hand. I made my go to quick pizza dough early this morning, let it rise in the refrigerator, I had some beautiful fresh spinach, a little ricotta that needed to be used, parmigiano and pecorino romano cheese and thats all I needed. The pizza dough is so simple to make, it literally takes 5 minutes, its no knead dough. I sauteed the spinach in garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes, sprinkled on a little sea salt and black pepper, topped the dough with the spinach, some ricotta and grated parm and romano cheese. To gild the lilly I poached an egg and put it on top. Voila, dinner in a snap!!

Quick Pizza Dough

2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/4 tsp instant yeast

1 tsp salt

1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)

2 tbs olive oil

Mix all ingredients, place in oiled zip lock bag and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or longer. If you don’t want to use the refrigerator method just place in oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and let rise for 1 hour in a warm place.

Before making your pizza remove dough from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature. Pre heat your oven to 500 degrees, oil your pizza pan or heat your stone. Take the dough out of the bag or bowl, dust with a little flour and work the dough for a minute or two until its smooth. Stretch onto your  pizza pan or peel. Brush with olive oil, add your toppings, in my case it was sauteed spinach, ricotta and the grated cheese. Bake until browned and bubbly.

Feb 19

35 Comments

Hearty Kale Salad With Kabocha Squash,Pomegranate Seeds And Toasted Hazelnut And An Award

Kale Salad

Kale Salad

I love healthful food, I really do but my style of cooking isn’t really super healthy. I try, I really do but unfortunately I fall short most of the time. Incorporating raw foods, salads into my diet is challenging sometimes. A friend and I hosted a dinner party the other night and we wanted to do a low carb, healthful meal. I found this recipe on Food52, Gena Hamshaw is vegan and has some amazing, balanced healthful dishes. I took one look at this salad and knew it would be on the menu that evening. What does it contain? Lots of super foods, Kale, pomegranate, hazelnuts and Kabocha squash. The kale is massaged with a little of the dressing to soften, then you toss with the rest of the light lemon dressing. It’s delicious, honestly, really really good. I had everything for the salad except the squash so I subbed sweet potato which I prepared in exactly the same way as you would the squash.

Serves 4-6

  • 1 Large bunch curly kale, stems removed and discarded, torn into bite sized pieces, washed, and spun dry
  • 1 Small kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin), halved and seeded and cut into 1.5 inch pieces ( I used 1 medium size sweet potato using the same method as described in step 1)
  • 4 tablespoons Olive oil, divided into 1 tbsp and 3 tbsp
  • 3/4 cups Pomegranate seeds
  • 1/2 cup Skinned hazelnuts
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons Lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Maple syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon Sea salt
  • Black pepper to taste
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Toss the squash in 1 tbsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper on a baking sheet. Roast for 30-35 minutes, or until golden, stopping halfway through to stir.
  2. While squash is roasting, place the hazelnuts in a shallow baking dish (or a pie pan) and toast in the oven for 4-6 minutes, or until they are golden. Check them frequently and remove them the moment they start to get brown. Once they’ve cooled a little, chop them roughly and set aside.
  3. Whisk together the remaining olive oil, mustard, lemon, maple syrup, sea salt, and pepper. Pour 3 tbsp over the kale to begin with, and “massage” the kale well with your hands, till it’s coated in the dressing and taking on a soft, almost wilted texture. Add the remaining dressing as needed and according to tastes. Add pomegranate seeds and hazelnuts.
  4. Once the squash has finished cooking and has cooled for 10-15 minutes, add it to the salad and serve.

I am so thankful that Cambios de humor nominated me for the Shine On Award. Thank you so much, I am so honored to have been included in your list of nominee’s. Please visit her blog, you will love the honesty and humor in her posts.  Thank you again!!

shineon1

Jun 13

24 Comments

Stuffed Avocado With Poached Egg

The food52 contest is all about avocado’s. My entry is very simple and makes a fantastic breakfast or brunch but can really be eaten anytime of day. I stuffed the avocado halves with sauteed grape tomatoes and shallots, topped with breadcrumbs and heated in the broiler for about a minute and then topped it with a poached egg. It’s delicious, loaded with flavor and you can make this your own by adding whatever you like.

Serves 2

1 ripe avocado halved

1/2 cup  grape or cherry tomatoes halved

1 lobe of the shallot chopped

1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs

olive oil for pan

salt and pepper to taste

2 large eggs poached or fried

1/2 lime (for the avocado)

  1. Add olive oil to saute pan and add the chopped shallot, when it has softened add the tomatoes and saute just until the tomatoes start to soften and give off a little of their juices, season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and add the bread crumbs.saute until they have absorbed the oil and are lightly browned. Remove from pan
  2. Turn oven to broil, place rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with foil. Cut your avocado in half, squeeze the lime on both halves, sprinkle each with a pinch of sea salt. Fill the cavity with the tomato and shallots, top with bread crumbs and place in oven for approximately a minute just so it’s warmed and the crumbs are golden brown.
  3. Top with a poached or fried egg and enjoy

May 25

10 Comments

Featured Recipe:Vegan Chocolate Cake And Almond Joy Ice Cream (Vegan)

Vegan Chocolate Cake

I have never really attempted vegan baking before, flourless chocolate cake, yes, but never egg or dairy free. I saw this recipe on a wonderful website Go Bake Yourself, Choc Chip Uru, a very talented  young Australian cook and blogger participated in a Virtual Vegan Potluck and adapted this recipe making a few minor changes. Uru provided a link to another beautiful blog Not Quite Nigella also from Australia.The author is Lorraine Elliott, who by the way has a cookbook coming out this year.  I was really impressed with the beauty of her website, she is an amazing photographer and her posts are engrossing and beautifully written, and of course her recipes are amazing. I had to make this dessert, and I was thrilled that a vegan friend of mine happened to be coming over for dinner. I followed her recipe making only one minor change, instead of adding water I used coconut milk. I am in love with this cake, if I didn’t tell you it’s vegan you would never know. The cake is tender, rises beautifully, has a gorgeous crumb. Instead of making a cake I used my mini bundt pan and made individual bundt cakes. Thank you Lorraine for such a great recipe and also to Choc Chip Uru for introducing me to her website through your wonderful blog.

I also wanted to serve ice cream with the cake and again had never made a vegan ice cream, sorbet yes, but never dairy free ice cream. I used coconut milk both canned and Silk brand in a carton, I added toasted coconut, brown sugar and a generous chocolate swirl. When I tasted it, I was reminded of an Almond Joy candy bar, so thats what I called this ice cream. Since there are no eggs involved I used the method Jeni of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream uses, making a pudding, using  cornstarch as a thickener for the coconut milk. It’s genius and absolutely amazing ice cream.

The dessert was a huge hit, so I asked if I could post the recipe for this amazing cake and Lorraine generously gave me permission. Please visit both websites. These Aussie girls really have wonderful blogs and fantastic recipes.

Chocolately Rich Vegan Chocolate Cake (Egg & Dairy Free)

An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella

  • 1.5 cups plain or all purpose flour
  • 1.5 cups brown sugar
  • 6 tablespoons cocoa, sifted
  • 1.5 teaspoons bi carbonate of soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1.5 cups water
  • 1/2 cup mild flavoured vegetable oil (eg. canola oil)
  • 3 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 75g/2.5oz dark chocolate (dairy free) finely chopped
Chocolate syrup or icing
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup icing or confectioners sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cocoa
  • 100g/3.5ozs dark chocolate, roughly chopped

1. Line a 20cm round baking tin with parchment and preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. In a jug mix the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Stir in chocolate and then pour into the prepared tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

2. While it is baking, prepare the syrup. Heat the water, icing or confectioners sugar and cocoa until boiling and syrup – this may take a few minutes but you do want this syrupy. When thick add the chocolate and then whisk to remove any lumps and melt the chocolate.

3. When the cake is ready, take out of the oven and leaving it in the tin, poke tiny holes with a skewer. While it is still warm, gently pour the syrup over the cake and allow to cool completely before taking it out of the tin. Alternatively, if you allow this to cool and partially set, it takes on the consistency of icing and you can spread it out over the top which is what I did (who knew that inattentiveness would pay off?

Almond Joy Vegan Ice Cream

Almond Joy Ice Cream
1 can full fat unsweetened coconut milk (13.5 oz)
2 cup Coconut milk (I used Silk all natural in a carton)
1/2 cup light brown sugar (lightly packed)
4 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 tbs corn syrup
1/2 cup toasted coconut
1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds
Chocolate Swirl
4 oz dark chocolate chopped
1/4 cup coconut milk
3 tbs corn syrup
Preheat oven to 325, spread coconut on half sheet pan and toast in the oven until the coconut is lightly browned. Move the coconut around occasionally so that it browns evenly. This should take about 15 minutes.
To medium size saucepan add the coconut milk, sugar and cornstarch, whisk until smooth and cook over med/high heat until mixture thickens, it will coat the back of a spoon, swipe your finger making a line that will remain intact, it will be slightly thick. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and toasted coconut. Pour into a heat proof container, let it come to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours, overnight is preferable.
When you are ready to process in your ice cream maker stir in 3 tbs of corn syrup, this will help it to be a bit softer so it’s easy to scoop. (You can also add 2 tbs vodka this also helps it not to be hard when frozen, I added both the corn syrup and vodka) Add to your ice cream maker following manufacturers instructions. Just before ice cream is ready add the chopped nuts.  Remove to freezer container when it’s the consistency of soft serve ice cream.
While ice cream is churning make the chocolate swirl, heat the coconut milk in microwave for 50 seconds, add the chopped chocolate, let sit for a minute or two until chocolate is soft,(if the chocolate is not completely melted put back in microwave for 10 seconds)  stir in the corn syrup and stir until its smooth and silky.
To make the chocolate swirl, drizzle some of the cooled chocolate mixture on top of the ice cream and using a butter knife swirl it around, you can do this adding chocolate until you are satisfied with the amount of chocolate swirled into it.
Place in freezer for several hours until it reaches a scoopable consistency.
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