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Posts tagged ‘vegan’

Apr 1

18 Comments

Happy Easter, A Chocolate Banana Vegan Tart

Happy Holidays to everyone, Easter, Passover or just celebrate that Spring is finally here.  Honestly, it has not really felt like Spring with blustery cold and snow and unfortunately more in the forecast for this week. I see signs of the change of seasons everywhere, flowers popping up, longer daylight, warmer weather trying to take hold.

I often make pie dough and will line a tart pan and freeze, this tart is delicious, no animal products were used in making it but you can easily adapt using cream for the ganache and whipped cream to top it. The ganache was made with dark chocolate, sweetened condensed coconut milk and coconut milk. The whipped topping is made by simply refrigerating a can of coconut milk, the cream will rise to the top and become solid. All you have to do is scoop it out and whip it with sweetener and flavoring.

Chocolate Tart (Vegan)

Pie crust ( use your favorite recipe or commercially prepared)

4 oz dark chocolate (I used vegan chocolate)

1/4 cup sweetened condensed coconut milk

1/4 cup coconut milk (Note: for non vegan or regular ganache use 1/2 cup heavy cream)

1 banana sliced

coconut or regular whipped cream

Toasted coconut (optional)

Place a can of coconut milk in the refrigerator before you begin or even better the night before. The coconut cream will separate from the liquid and you will use that (saving the liquid for another recipe)

Heat oven to 400 degree’s. Place pie dough in 8 or 9 inch tart pan. You are going to blind bake the pie crust, place a sheet of parchment on top and fill the pan with pie weights or beans or whatever you like to use. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, remove parchment and weights and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Note: the oven should be quite hot, I baked the first tart shell at 375 and even with pie weights it shrunk down the sides.

Ganache

Heat the coconut milk or heavy cream to scalding. Place the chocolate in a small bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate, let sit for 5 minutes and stir until the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth and shiny. Pour into the cooled tart shell and refrigerate until set, approximately 1-2 hours or overnight.

To serve

Place sliced banana on top of the chocolate. Scoop the coconut cream from the cold can of coconut milk. Whip with electric mixer adding sugar to taste and flavoring of your choice (vanilla)  or you can add 2 tbs of the sweetened condensed coconut milk that is left from making the ganache. Heat oven to 350 and toast flaked coconut until golden brown, watch it closely it will burn and only takes a few minutes. Spread some of the whipped cream (coconut or other) on top of the banana’s and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Happy Easter from Percy and Jenna Rose!

Sep 29

37 Comments

Basic Hummus And A Vegan Apple Tart

This recipe is from Ottolenghi’s cookbook “Jerusalem” it calls for dried chickpeas rather than canned. I always stayed away from recipes where you have to cook the beans/peas and rather opt for canned because it’s easy and I guess I am a bit lazy. Well, have to say there is a difference, a big difference in flavor and texture when you use freshly made chick peas. I love just about anything from any of the cookbooks by Ottolenghi or the team of Ottolenghi and Tamimi. The books are beautiful to look at, the ingredients they use are always fresh and the recipes are simple but creative and everything so far that I have made has been absolutely delicious. Like chocolate chip cookies there are thousands of recipes out there for hummus. It’s not rocket science and is made easily and quickly and has always been welcome as an appetizer or part of the main meal. It’s a wonderful recipe and if you are hesitant to use dried chickpeas, it takes a little more time and effort but the results are well worth the effort. The only change I made when making this recipe is that I use half the garlic indicated, I am not a big fan of raw garlic, the garlic is flavor is definitely there but is more subtle with 2 cloves, of course if your garlic cloves are very small use more.

I am bringing the hummus and tart to Fiesta Friday #191, this week, the co cohosts are Judi @ cookingwithauntjuju.com and Antonia@ Zoale.com thank you ladies for co hosting and as always a big thank you to Angie for putting this party together every week!

Basic Hummus

Serves 6 or more

1 1/4 cup dried chickpeas

1 tsp baking soda

6 1/2 cups water

1 cup plus 2 tbs light tahini

4 tbs lemon juice freshly squeezed

4 cloves garlic crushed (I used 2 cloves)

6 1/2 tbs ice cold water

The night before put the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with cold water at least twice their volume. Leave to soak overnight.

The next day, drain the chickpeas. Place a medium saucepan over high heat and add the chickpeas and baking soda, cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cook, skimming off foam and any skins that float to the surface. The chickpeas will need to cook between 20-40 minutes, depending on the type and freshness, sometimes even longer. Once done, they should be very tender, breaking up easily when pressed between your thumb and finger, almost but not quite mushy.

Drain the chickpeas. You should have roughly 3 2/3 cups. Place the chickpeas in the food processor and process until you get a stiff paste. Then with the machine still running, add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and 1 1/2 tsp salt. Finally, slowly drizzle in the ice water and allow it to process for 5 minutes until you get a very smooth and creamy paste.

Transfer to a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes before serving, you can also refrigerate until needed. Make sure to take it out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving. I drizzle the hummus with olive oil and sprinkle some sumac.

Delicious with fresh veggies and pita

I recently heard from friend I used to work with, it had been years since we have seen each other and I invited him over the other day to catch up, he is vegan and specifically requested pastry.  This tart is vegan,  has very little sugar, only about 2 tbs and is drizzled with apple cider cinnamon reduction. It couldn’t be simpler and it’s so beautiful. The pie crust is from the Crisco package and is one my Mother used for her pies, she didn’t even know her pie crust was vegan, I sliced the apples hasselback style, sprinkled with a little sugar, flour, cinnamon mixture, dotted a little earth balance and baked.

Simple, beautiful and delicious and it’s vegan

Flaky Pie Crust (Vegan)

Recipe on Crisco Shortening- makes single 9 inch pie crust

1 1/3 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

6-8 tbs ice cold water

Whisk flour and salt together, add the shortening and with a pastry cutter combine until it resembles moist crumbs. Add water and stir with a fork. Gather together into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and flatten into a disk and refrigerate for at least an hour. Roll the dough on floured work surface and line your tart pan. Refrigerate.

While dough is chilling, cut the apples in half, skin on, core and slice thinly keeping each half together, it’s easier to lift the sliced apples and place in pie shell. Heat oven to 400 degree’s. Mix 2 tbs sugar, 1 tbs flour, 1/4 tsp cinnamon in a small ramekin and set aside. Arrange the apples in the cold pie shell and sprinkle with the sugar, flour, cinnamon mixture. Dot with butter or vegan butter. Line a baking sheet with parchment and bake the tart until golden brown approximately 40-45 minutes.

Apple Cider Reduction

1 cup apple cider

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbs sugar

Place everything in a non reactive heavy bottom saucepan and boil on medium high until it reduces to a syrup. Approximately 30-40 minutes.

Served with Vegan salted caramel ice cream.

 

Sep 3

36 Comments

Wild Yeast, Fruit Water Yeast Bread

 

I follow Elaine@foodbod’  both her blog and other social media outlets like Instagram, lately she has been cultivating her own wild yeast and making the most amazing bread, I have been so intrigued and inspired to try her recipe. You make wild yeast simply by putting fruit, in water and let it sit until it ferments it only takes a week sometimes less.  My first attempt I used raisins which for some reason didn’t work so I tried apple and that worked perfectly.

The bread did not have a tremendous rise, it was modest. When making the semolina bread I did add a very small amount 1/4 tsp of instant yeast, I did that because I felt the semolina is pretty heavy and it might need a little bit of a boost, I’m sure it would be fine without it, so that is optional of course. Elaine’s bread is beautiful and the crust is amazing, I’ve made this a number of times and my crust just doesn’t have the same look as hers, it’s still good mind you, but her crust is crusty looking for lack of a better word and meant in a really good way! I have asked her about this and she thinks it could be the difference in flour or some other factor, she is in England and I must say has this down pat. Check Elaine out both on her blog and Instagram.

The first loaf turned out beautifully and you can find the recipe on her blog by clicking on the link in the first paragraph, I was so pleased at the rise and the flavor was delicious.

fruit water bread

The second loaf I made was from date water, I saw Elaine’s beautiful loaves on Instagram and wanted to give that a go. I deviated a bit on the bread recipe using semolina and adapting a recipe I found on King Arthur Flour site. The biga/preferment or poolish is Elaine’s recipe.

Dates after a week see the bubbles

Date water semolina bread

adapted from a recipe by Elaine at Food Bod and King Arthur Flour

Biga or Poolish

10 oz fermented date water (150 grams)

1 1/2 cup bread flour (150 grams) (add more if the dough is too wet, by the spoonful) It should be soft but not runny. Use equal parts flour and water pretty much.

Mix together and let sit overnight covered in plastic wrap and a tea towel. In the morning it should be bubbly.

Bubbly biga

The Bread

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup semolina flour

1/4 tsp instant yeast

1 scant tbs salt

1 cup cool water

Put all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed for about 5 minutes, it will become a cohesive dough. Turn the mixer off, cover with plastic and let sit for 30 minutes. Turn the mixer back on medium speed and knead for another 5 minutes. Remove dough to a clean lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and put in the refrigerator overnight.

The following morning take it out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. Shape into desired shape (I made a boule), place on parchment lined baking sheet.nCover with oiled plastic wrap loosely and a tea towel and let rise for approximately one hour. When you press your finger in the dough it should leave an indent.

Heat oven to 475 degree’s. Slash the dough with a razor, knife or lame, dust with some flour and place in the oven, throw a few ice cubes at the bottom of the oven. Immediately reduce the temperature to 425 degree’s and bake for approximately 35-40 minutes. Bread when tapped will sound hollow and it will be a golden brown. You can also place a parchment round in a dutch oven and bake covered in the pot. You will need to bake a little longer using this method. Elaine gives instructions in her recipe.

King Arthur’s recipe offers a great idea for keeping the bread, place cut side down on counter or cutting board, don’t cover it with anything. The crust will stay pretty crisp and the inside of the bread stays soft. It works.

Stand the bread on a counter cut side down the bread stays soft the crust fairly crisp. This loaf was made with a little more yeast than the one below. You can see the difference.

I did experiment with the semolina bread the first loaf I added a half tsp of instant yeast, the second loaf 1/4 tsp. There is a marked difference in the texture of the bread and I think both are good.

Feb 19

37 Comments

Clean Soups- Magic Mineral Broth and Thai Coconut Broth

img_9743

I’m a cookbook hoarder, well hoarder may be too harsh but I love my cookbooks, collect them and can literally spend hours in the bookstore looking at them and almost always leave the store with at least one if not more. When I received an email from the editors at Food52 asking if I would be interested in reviewing a cookbook for the Piglet Community Picks  there was no pause in my answer, a resounding YES.  I was given a choice of 6 cookbooks and Clean Soups was my first choice. It is not a voluminous cookbook, but offers some fantastic healthful and delicious basic broths used as a base for a variety of different types of soups.

I chose to make the Magic Miracle Broth,  a vegetable broth, and a stepping stone to another recipe Thai Coconut Broth which will  become a pureed soup. One thing I loved about this broth is that the vegetables are used unpeeled, everything, onion, carrot, garlic with the peels and all, it’s so easy to just throw it all in a pot and let it cook. If you love soup and clean eating I really recommend you purchase this cookbook. Part two of this post will be published in a few days, the finished soup.

Magic Mineral Broth

Makes approximately 1 gallon of broth

6 unpeeled carrots cut into thirds

2 unpeeled yellow onions, quartered

1 leek, white and green parts cut into thirds

1 bunch celery including the heart, cut into thirds

4 unpeeled red potatoes

2 unpeeled Japanese or regular sweet potatoes, quartered

1 unpeeled garnet yam, quartered

5 unpeeled garlic cloves, halved

1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley

1 (8 inch strip) kombu

12 black peppercorns

4 whole allspice or juniper berries

2 bay leaves

8 quarts cold filtered water

1 tsp sea salt plus more if needed

Rinse all vegetables well including the Kombu.
In a 12 quart or larger stockpot, combine the carrots, onion, leek, celery, red potatoes, sweet potatoes, yam, garlic, parsley, kombu, pepper, allspice berries and bay leaves. Add the water, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for at least 2 hours or until the full richness of the vegetables can be tasted. As the broth simmers some of the water will evaporate, add more if the vegetables begin to peek out.

Strain the broth through a large course mesh sieve (use a heat resistant container underneath) and discard the solids. Stir in the salt adding more if desired. Let cool at room temperature before refrigerating or freezing. Store in the refrigerator up to 5 days or in the freezer up to 6 months.

img_9732

 

Thai Coconut Broth

Makes approximately 2 1/2 quarts of broth

8 cups Magic Mineral broth

2 13.5 oune cans coconut milk

3 1 inch pieces of fresh ginger

2 shallots peeled and halved

3 kaffir lime leaves or 1 tsp lime zest

1 stalk lemongrass, cut in chunks and bruised

1/4 tsp sea salt, plus more if needed

In a 6 quart pot combine the broth, coconut milk, ginger, shallots, lime leaves or zest, lemongrass and salt, bring to a low boil over medium heat. Cook for about 20 minutes. Decrease to low and simmer for another 30 minutes. Remove the solids, taste and add more salt if desired.

Let cool to room temperature before refrigerating or freezing. Store in refrigerator for up to 5 days and 6 months in the freezer.

 

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

Jan 20

43 Comments

Super Sized Chocolate Chip Cookies

Super Size Chocolate Chip Cookies

Super Sized Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these amazing cookies and I have to share it with you, they are REALLY good. There are no eggs, no processed sugar, no butter or vegetable oil in them, virtuous, definitely, but oh so scrumptious. I follow Brandi’s blog The Healthy Flavor  and am amazed at the fabulous recipes she comes up with. They are healthful, vegan and really really good!

The fat in these cookies comes from roasted pecan butter, it’s super simple to whip up, and is in my opinion is what makes them so wonderful. The list of ingredients is minimal, whole wheat pastry flour,cornstarch, maple syrup as the sweetener, chocolate, baking soda and powder, sea salt and vanilla. Thats it, simple, healthful and they come together in a flash. Full disclosure, I didn’t have whole wheat pastry flour so I used whole wheat flour with 2 tbs of AP flour, I also decided to use some of the chocolate in my pantry that really needed to be used so I combined, dark chocolate, dark chocolate with peanut butter and milk chocolate.  To make this vegan don’t do as I did just use vegan dark chocolate. Enjoy these cookies with a nice cold glass of milk (I had almond milk) and they are especially good slightly warm. Visit Brandi’s blog and try her recipes, you will love them as much as I do. Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful recipe and allowing me to post it on my blog.

Recipe courtesy of Brandi, The Healthy Flavor:

Ingredients:

1 cup roasted pecan butter. Pecan butter is creamier and oilier than other nut butters, so I wouldn’t recommend subbing anything. I made them with peanut butter and the taste was good, but they were more dry and didn’t hold together as well)

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (depending on how much you added when you make the pecan butter, this may need to be adjusted)

1/2-3/4 cup vegan dark chocolate chips plus extra to stick on the top if desired

Tip: The key to getting these as chunky and thick is to follow the exact steps. You must chill the dough first and also only divide the dough into 12 cookies. If you make more than that, they won’t be as fluffy.

Directions:

After making the roasted pecan butter, make sure to measure 1 cup in case you made more than that in the food processor. Add it to a bowl with the syrup and vanilla. Stir until well combined. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk very well. Make sure there are no lumps. Stir the chocolate chips into the flour mixture. Now add the flour into the wet ingredients a small amount at a time, stirring until just combined. Put the bowl into the fridge for 20 minutes to chill only.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Depending on how creamy you pulsed your pecan butter, your batter may be a bit crumbly. If so, just press the dough together roughly with your hands by large spoonfuls. Divide the dough into 12-14 cookies only, if you want them thick and fluffy. I added a few extra chocolate chips on top of the cookies too. :) Do NOT flatten or spread out the dough, leave it piled high. They should bake high and fluffy as in the pictures. I made 3 batches and they all turned out fabulously fluffy. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes or until just starting to turn golden brown around the edges. Mine was perfect just after 11 minutes. Do not over bake!

Cool 10 minutes and transfer to cool completely on a cooling rack before handling…if you can contain yourself! :)After they have cooled, place them on a papertowel to drain any extra pecan butter.

Jan 14

25 Comments

DIY Almond Milk

Almond Milk

Almond Milk

I know this is probably nothing new to many of you but for me if was a revelation, making your own almond milk is easy and yields (IMHO) a product so superior to the commercially prepared milk, I honestly was blown away. It’s my new obsession and I use it everyday in shakes or on cereal or as a snack. I researched several websites to see how it is done and tried a few different methods, I made a few changes to the recipes I saw online. You need raw almonds, bottled or filtered water, a sweetener is optional, as is flavoring and salt (preferably sea salt). I decided that I like it with just a touch of sweetener and vanilla. I probably use a little less water to make it than other recipes because I like it rich and creamy. It is delicious, nutritious and a real treat. I always used soy milk in my morning shakes but not anymore. This morning I had a banana, date shake made with the almond milk and it was heavenly. I used the leftover pulp to make some granola this weekend and it was great I have to try to think of ways to use it right now it is sitting in my freezer in ziplock bags. If any of you have any ideas on what to make with the pulp please let me know. You will need raw almonds of course, filtered or bottled water, cheesecloth or a nut milk bag and thats it. There is no real formula you can add or subtract from the amounts in this recipe. This is how I like to make it.

Preparation:

3 cups raw almonds

6 cups filtered water

Place almonds and water in a lidded container and refrigerate for 24-48 hours.

Making the Milk:

drained almonds

5 cups water

sweetener (Optional)

Flavoring (Optional)

pinch of sea salt

Drain the almonds in a strainer, add to vitamix or food processor, add 5 cups bottled or filtered water, sweetener (I used 1 1/2 tsp organic cane sugar) optional flavoring (I added a tsp of vanilla), and sea salt, blend or process, If using a vitamix 2 minutes will do and if using a food processor 3-4 minutes.

Have doubled cheese cloth or nut milk bag ready over a large bowl, pour into cloth or bag and squeeze, until it is dry. Pour into container and refrigerate until ready to use.

NOTE: My first batch I used cheese cloth doubled, it worked pretty well but I found it was not completely strained, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to have a few errant pieces of nuts in your milk. The second batch I used a clean cotton tea towel and it worked like a charm, no nut pieces and it was large enough that I was able to really squeeze it and get every drop of milk. I am going to invest in a nut milk bag very soon.

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.