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!

VEGAN FRUIT & WALNUT LOAF

Here's my December cake. Well, one of them. There may be one more before the month is out. I'm gone cake mad!


VEGAN FRUIT AND WALNUT LOAF

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 treacle
200mls of soya milk
100gr of light brown sugar
225gr of raisins
100gr walnuts
30gr flaked almonds


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 treacle gently until they are thoroughly combined, but be careful not to over heat.
o Mix the NoEgg mix 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.
o Test with a skewer to see if it is baked through