INDIVIDUAL VEGAN CHRISTMAS CAKES

This is my normal vegan Xmas cake recipe with some minor adjustments. Pluses: these take less cooking time and are nicely two-mouthful sized. We have scoffed our big cake already and I needed something nice to bring to an Xmas tea party so I decided to try my normal recipe as individual cakes, for a change. I'm so glad that these worked.

INGREDIENTS

350 gr wholegrain spelt flour
175gr vegan marg
175gr light muscovado sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
150gr sultanas
200gr raisins
150gr dates
50 gr flaked almonds
1 tblsp treacle
100gr glacé cherries, halved
grated zest of an orange
2 tblsps ground almonds
120ml soya milk
2 tblsps red wine vinegar
¾ tsp of bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)
6 tblsps (90ml) brandy

• Preheat the oven to 160˚C
• Line a shallow bun tin with paper cases
• Sieve the flour and spice
• Rub in the marg until the mix is like breadcrumbs
• Stir in the flaked almonds and treacle
• Add the sugar, dried fruit, cherries, orange zest and ground almonds and mix
• Warm half the soya milk in a small pot and add the vinegar
• Dissolve the bread soda in the rest of the soya milk, then add
this to the milk and vinegar mix
• Stir this into flour and fruit mix until well combined
• Spoon mix into the bun cases and smooth the top
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a skewer/cocktail stick comes out clean
• Brush the tops of the cakes with the brandy
• Cool on a wire rack

FOR THE ICING

500g icing sugar
60ml water
15ml lemon juice (1 tblsp)

• Sieve the icing sugar
• Mix in the water and lemon juice to from a paste
• Microwave on high for 30 seconds until runny
• Pour one dessertspoon of icing onto each cake
• Top with an almond or a glacé cherry or a sweetie - whatever you like!

VEGAN CARROT BUNS / MUFFINS

VEGAN CARROT MUFFINS/BUNS

Muffins to me are really large, greasy, shop-bought buns. In Ireland buns are small muffins, kind of. Anyway these are healthy and tasty and hit the right note for this time of year: spice and raisins. A real Hallowe'en combination.

5oz wholemeal self-raising flour
2oz light muscovado sugar
2oz walnuts
4 oz carrots grated (about 3 small carrots)
2 oz sultanas
2 oz chopped walnuts
½ lidful vanilla essence
2½ oz melted vegan marg
1tsp NoEgg mixed with 2tblsps water (or 1 egg beaten for non-vegans)
1 tsp nutmeg
1tsp cinnamon
60ml soya milk

pre heat oven to 200c

• grate the carrots
• mix the dry ingredients in a bowl
• add the sultanas and walnuts
• make the No Egg mix (or beat the egg) in a jug, with the milk and vanilla essence
• mix in the grated carrots
• mix in the melted marg
• add this mix to the dry ingredients
• divide into the 12 bun cases
• bake for 25 minutes


JUNO AS A WITCH ON HALLOWEE'EN

VEGAN CHRISTMAS CAKE

I've made my Xmas cake. Yes, last night I made it and we all had a stir and a wish. My wish from last year came true - a healthy baby girl - so I have high hopes for this year's wish!

I fancied a change, so I trawled through all my books and the net for a new vegan Xmas cake recipe but, in the end, I decided to use the same one I've used the last few years. The cake is so utterly delicious, I just knew it'd be better than all the recipes I studied over the last week.

Go here for the recipe I posted last year, which comes courtesy of the fabulous Rose Elliott - with some adaptation.

Calling this an Xmas cake in this house is laughable really, because we tend to eat it from the start of November until it runs out. It calls to us from the tin...and anyway, Christmas is so goody-packed, you don't really need a cake, do you??!!

VEGAN OAT APPLE CAKE

This cake screams good health and a slice makes a great snack. It's sugar free too! Mine turned out a tad crumbly (again!) but is still delish.

Preheat the oven to 190 C

3 apples, peeled & chopped finely
1 carrot, peeled & grated
60g chopped walnuts
120ml veg oil (rape or sunflower)
100g raisins
150g plain flour
80g porridge oats
1 tsp vanilla essence
30ml soya milk

Lightly grease a 2lb loaf tin
Sieve the flour into a large bowl
Mix in the porridge oats
Mix in the apples, walnuts, carrot & raisins
Add the soya milk and vanilla essence and stir
Mix in the veg oil
Spoon into the tin and bake for one hour
Cool in the tin before turning out

This is lovely plain or with a blob of soya dessert.

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.

VEGAN CARROT CAKE

I needed a nice cake to bake for my Da's 75th birthday and I know he loves carrot cake, so I've adapted this recipe to suit. Da's not a vegan but he is a healthy eater. This is an insanely simple cake (though it’s a bit of work) and it’s low in sugar and fat per slice; it hits a few food groups too, what with the carrots, walnuts and flour. It’s positively healthy, I think!
(I know some vegans object to honey but Mr Vegan doesn’t, so I use it in this recipe.)
This cake is 'low-sized' - a euphemism for squat-looking - so if you really wanted to scrape and grate six carrots, you could make two, and sandwich them with vegan cream or butter cream.


For the cake

100 gr wholemeal flour
100 gr plain flour
100 gr light muscovado sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
100 gr vegan margarine
6 tblsps honey
225 gr (2 medium/3small) carrots, grated

For the lemon icing (optional)

Royal icing – I used 175gr
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
15ml water
2 tsp (10 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
50 gr chopped walnuts to decorate

Method:

• Preheat oven to 160°C
• Grease and line an 8 inch cake tin
• Peel and grate the carrots
• Mix together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking powder
• Melt the marg with the honey and sugar, then mix into the flour
• Stir in the grated carrot and combine well
• Spoon into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, turn onto a wire rack to cool
• Make up the Royal Icing as per pack, mixing the lemon juice, lemon zest and water where the pack just says water
• When it’s cooled, ice the cake with a small spatula and dot with the walnuts before the icing sets

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY VEGAN BUNS!

Finn decorating the buns



Citrusy tricolour buns for Paddy's Day


Happy Saint Patrick's Day, everyone!!

And here are some festive buns to celebrate our national saint. At home we always called these buns, others called them fairy cakes or queen cakes, and nowadays they are called muffins or cupcakes. Whatever you choose to call them, they are a zesty treat and kids LOVE helping with the decorating, as you can see.

Makes 12 small buns.

Preheat oven to 180˚C

FOR THE BUNS
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 small orange, zested and juiced
250 gr (9oz) wholegrain spelt flour
50gr (2oz) light muscovado sugar
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
150ml soya milk (or ordinary milk for non-vegans)
1 tsp NoEgg mixed with 2tblsps water (non vegans can use one beaten egg)
2 tblsps vegetable oil
12 muffin or bun cases

FOR THE TRICOLOUR DECORATIONS
I used a mix-with-water Royal icing. Vegan versions available.
Greeen and orange jelly tots!! (Or any suitably festive sweeties...)

• Put cases into bun tray
• Zest the orange and lemon, then half them and squeeze them. Strain the juice and put to one side
• Mix the citrus zest, flour, spice, sugar and baking powder in a bowl
• Make up the NoEgg as per pack (or beat your egg)
• In a jug, mix together the soya milk, oil and NoEgg mixture
• Make a well in the flour and beat in the milky mixture
• Mix in the lemon and orange juice until combined
• Divide the mixture between the muffin cases
• Bake for 30 minutes
• Leave the buns to cool, then make up the icing (as per pack) and decorate. Leave to set for about half an hour (not in the fridge) and eat!

Vegan Apple and Cinnamon Cake

I've been searching for the perfect Apple and Cinnamon Cake recipe to satisfy a craving for a cake my Ma used to make. She remembers the cake but not the recipe. I've tried a few and this one comes close, I think. Though it still doesn't have the dark and bready quality that I'm longing for. I've adapted it from a recipe I found in the Kilkenny Cookbook. It is a 'work' cake and I am a lazy, impatient baker, so this is one for when I have the inclination to be more fiddly - and the time.

Excuse the blurry photo; I don't know why but lots of the photos we take lately seem to be blurred. Getting old?! It's just to give an idea of what it might look like.

Here goes anyway:

Juice of one large orange
75 grs raisins
250 gr wholemeal self-raising flour
125 gr vegan marg
125 gr light brown sugar
2 tsps ground cinnamon
2 large eating apples
2 tsps NoEgg mixed with 4tblsps water (or 2 beaten eggs for non vegans)

Preheat the oven to 180˚C
Line an 8" round cake tin with baking paper
Soak the raisins in the orange juice
Sift the flour and rub in the marg, until it's like breadcrumbs
Mix in the cinnamon and sugar
Peel the apples, cut into small chunks and mix in
Add the soaked fruit and NoEgg mixture, and mix thoroughly
Spoon the mixture into the tin and flatten the top
Bake for 30 to 35 mins and test with a skewer
Cool in the tin on a wire rack for ten minutes, then take it out and carefully peel off the paper.

Delicious hot or cold, with soy cream, ice-cream or custard. Or on its own with a cuppa!

POST PUNK KITCHEN

Thanks to artist/blogger/baker Sarah Gostrangely for pointing me in the direction of a great vegan/veggie cookery website: Post Punk Kitchen. Below is just one of the many gems from its archives:

Flax Seeds as an Egg Substitute in Baking:

How to use it:

1 Tablespoon flax seeds plus 3 Tablespoons water replaces one egg. Finely grind 1 tablespoon whole flaxseeds in a blender or coffee grinder, or use 2 1/2 tablespoons pre-ground flaxseeds. Transfer to a bowl and beat in 3 tablespoons of water using a whisk or fork. It will become very gooey and gelatinous, much like an egg white. In some recipes, you can leave the ground flax in the blender and add the other wet ingredients to it, thus saving you the extra step of the bowl.

When it works best:
Flax seeds have a distinct earthy granola taste. It tastes best and works very well in things like pancakes, and whole grain items, such as bran muffins and corn muffins. It is perfect for oatmeal cookies, and the texture works for cookies in general, although the taste may be too pronounced for some. Chocolate cake-y recipes have mixed results, I would recommend only using one portion flax-egg in those, because the taste can be overpowering.

Tips:
Always store ground flaxseeds in the freezer because they are highly perishable. This mixture is not only an excellent replacement for eggs, it also contributes vital omega-3 fatty acids.

THE LAZY HUNGRY VEGAN BLOGGER APOLOGISES

I've been so lazy about posting here - SORRY!. I'm still catching up after Xmas and all the lazing about and lovely food. We had coriander potato cakes and all the trimmings for our Xmas day dinner. Yum. We got the recipe from one of those BBC veggie Xmas mags. I buy one each year and then cut out the recipes I like. I couldn't say what issue the recipe was from, but I can post it here when I have more time.

We also got some lovely new veggie cook books which I will review in a small way very soon.

Happy New Year!