MR VEGAN'S BIRTHDAY CARROT CAKE

RASPBERRY VEGAN LOAF

Raspberries are in season and I’ve been craving them in a cake for a few weeks. I wanted a simple recipe, so I’ve made one up based on several different fruity cake recipes. I’ve used one of my cool new paper loaf tin liners as I’m fed up greasing tins.

As you can see, the fruit fell to the bottom. It's still very tasty but it means the mixture may have been too liquidy, too slack. Solution? I will have to be more rigorous measuring the soya milk next time - maybe use a bit less to make a thicker batter that will suspend the fruit properly. I could also dust the raspberries in flour to hold them in place.


Raspberry Vegan Loaf

50ml veg oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2tsp NoEgg mixed with 2tblsps water or 2 eggs, lightly beaten, for non vegans
100ml soya milk
175g spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
75g light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
125g raspberries

• Preheat oven to 180˚C
• Grease a 2lb loaf tin (or use a snazzy paper loaf tin liner!)
• Combine the oil, lemon juice, NoEgg mix and milk in a jug
• Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
• Add the milky mix to the flour mix and stir
• Fold in the raspberries.
• Empty batter into loaf tin and bake for an hour
• Test with a skewer
• Let it cool in the tin on a wire rack

JUNO'S CHRISTENING 'CAKE' PICS

SWEET VEGAN BUNS

Good old Nigella - she can always be relied upon for simple, sweet cakes and so it was that I turned to her for a bun/fairycake recipe. I haven't made these since I was a kid but want to make & decorate them for my new baby's Christening, instead of a cake. (I'm not sure the kids in attendance would appreciate my healthy spelt ones...) So we had a practice run this morning - making a vegan version of Nigella's buns - and oh, yum yum!

I'm not sure how Nigella would feel about the veganising of her recipe - she is notoriously disapproving of vegetarians - but these buns are perfectly sweet little mouthfuls. I use Pure's new sunflower spread with Omega 3 & 6 where Nigey uses butter but I doubt if this alters the scrumminess of these buns.

I don't think I'll get to ice them today - my boys are grabbing them from the rack while they are still hot. I'll post the iced ones from Juno's Christening after the 2nd August.

125g caster sugar
125g self-raising flour
125g vegan merg, melted a little (softened)
½ tsp vanilla essence
2tsp NoEgg mixed with 2tblsps water (or 2 eggs for non vegans)
2 tblsps soya milk

Preheat oven to 200˚C
Line a 12-space bun tin
Throw all the ingredients into a bowl, except the milk; beat well with a wooden spoon
Add the milk slowly and beat in gently
Plop the (quite runny) mixture into the bun cases
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden on top
Cool on a wire rack

VEGAN BANANA BREAD

I’ve adapted this recipe (beyond recognition really) from a Nigella recipe in the wonderful How to be a Domestic Goddess. Nigella, of course, uses booze and extra sugar, but I wanted a more modest cake. Not that there’s anything wrong with rum or sugar but I am attempting to eat healthily, post baby. Therefore, homemade cake. Ahem. Even with less sugar the cake is gorgeously sweet and moist thanks to the bananas and dates.

175gr of plain flour
2 tsps baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
2tsp NoEgg mixed with 2tblsps water (or 2 beaten eggs for non vegans)
100gr of light brown sugar
125g vegan margarine, melted
100g whole seedless, soft dates
3 or 4 smallish ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla essence

o Preheat the oven to 170˚C
o Grease a 2lb loaf tin
o Mash the bananas
o Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda in one bowl
o In another larger bowl mix the melted sugar with the marg and beat until blended together
o Beat in NoEgg mix (or the eggs, one at a time), then the mashed bananas
o Stir in the dates and vanilla essence
o Add the flour mixture, one third at a time, mixing each portion well in
o Pour into the loaf tin and shake the tin to settle the mixture
o Bake for an hour in the middle of the oven.
o Test with a cocktail stick or skewer to see if it is baked through
o Let it cool in the tin on a wire rack

LIGHT WALNUT & RAISIN CAKE

This is a lighter, less sugar- and fruit-heavy version of a previous cake I posted here. It uses golden syrup instead of treacle and gives a nice light-coloured, sweet loaf. Spread with vegan marg - the way we Irish eat brack - or eat plain with a hot cup of tea. Lovely!


INGREDIENTS:

225gr of self raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1tsp NoEgg mixed with 2tblsps water (or 1 beaten egg for non vegans)
1½ tablespoons of golden syrup
200mls of soya milk
50gr of light brown sugar
200gr of raisins or dates and raisins
100gr walnuts
30gr flaked almonds

METHOD:


o Preheat the oven to 160˚C
o Grease a 2lb loaf tin
o Sieve the flour and spice, mix in sugar, dried fruits and walnuts
o Heat the soya milk and the golden syrup gently until they are thoroughly combined, but be careful not to over heat.
o Mix the NoEgg mix (or beaten egg) into the treacle and milk. Then mix this mixture into the dry ingredients
o Put the mixture into the loaf tin. Gently shake to flatten the top
o Sprinkle with the flaked almonds
o Bake for an hour and ten minutes in the top of the oven.

Vegan Rhubarb Cake

This is a satisfyingly big, sweet and moist cake using the first Irish-grown seasonal fruit. We got some rhubarb in our organic veg basket and I wanted to find a tasty recipe (this has turned into a cake blog somehow!) to use it in. I adapted this to my own purposes from a recipe I found online from Marian McCormack. It has way more sugar than I’d normally use in baking, but what the hell. It smells gorgeous when it's baking too.

Ingredients:

150g rhubarb (about 4 fat stalks)
160g self raising flour
1 level tsp baking powder
150g wholegrain spelt flour
200g light muscovado sugar
125g pot strawberry soya yoghurt
2 tsps vanilla essence
2tsps NoEgg mixed with 4tblsps water (OR 2 eggs, lightly beaten)
125g vegan margarine, melted

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180˚C
• Lightly grease an 8 in round cake tin and line base with baking paper
• Finely slice the rhubarb
• Sieve the flour and baking powder then combine with the rhubarb and sugar in a bowl
• Add vanilla essence, NoEgg mixture or eggs, soya yoghurt and melted marg, stirring until mixture is combined
• Spoon mixture into cake tin and bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake

Serve hot or cold with soya yogurt or soya cream.