Coffee and Date Loaf

Mmmmmmm. I was making a starter for my Jim Lahey bread with rye (on the left of the picture. To make it rye I add 1/2 cup of rye flour/meal and only 2 1/2 cups white flour. I also use the rye as the dusting flour), I added sunflower seeds and remembered my bakery days and the delicious coffee and date loaf. So I went searching and found this recipe. The only changes needed to make it vegan was to use dairy-free margerine and I replaced the egg with a heaped teaspoon of egg replacer. I also added a little extra baking soda.
This is a delicious bread/cake. Super moist and fairy simple. Definitely one to make for when friends come around. (On the right in the picture).

Vegan carrot cake

Most vegan carrot cakes call for pineapple, of which I had none. This one makes use of a syrup to add moisture and sweetness to the cake. Here is the recipe.

I also put on top a halved amount of this cream cheese frosting (and added some choc chips as decoration).

Pecan slice

This recipe is so delicious. Especially the icing. It is very sweet, but the maple syrup creates a very exciting new flavour.

Chewy chocolate chip cookies

Another delicious recipe from the PPK. I addes some chopped hazelnuts and glace cherries (a case of not enough choc chips and wanting to use up other things). The result is a choc nutty cherry delight.

Lentil loaf

Sounds a little boring, but this was awesome. DH loved it too!
It has a delicious potato filling, but I think you could swap it and put the lentil part inside some jacket potatoes and bake them.

I used red lentils, which take much less time to cook. Also, I did not use the dairy-free cheese. Just sprinkled liberally with nutritional yeast. You could use this as a roast alternative or cold in lunchboxes the next day.

Here's the recipe.

Ice cream

I made vegan dads vanilla ice cream (cheaper version) with a chocolate topping (like ice magic. You melt some chocolate and add shortening or coconut oil, so it goes solid on the cold ice cream) and they were delicious. Simple to make. Thanks vegan dad. You are loved at my house.

Bean Bruschetta

I love toast and beans on tops. So I combined the two with some amazing recipies.

The first being the toast.

This is made with a lovely and so simple long rise bread. It involves no kneading and only 1/4 tsp of yeast, but about 24 hours to rise. It is worth the wait. I start my next days bread just before I go to bake last nights risen dough. So it really makes it effortless. Similar in time to using a bread machine. Very tasty straight from the oven with some dairy-free margerine or toasted with wholegrain mustard.

The other is for a Three Bean Salad. I omitted the carrot and added chopped celery. I also swapped the green beans for brown lentils. I think any beans/peas work fine. The key is differing colours, sizes and textures. You could heat it up for a warm bruchetta, but cold it is delicious too.

Either of these recipes can be used separately, but for something easy and delicious for any meal, together they are devine.

Eggplant

I have to call it aubergine as my darling 3 year old daughter won't eat it because "we don't eat eggs. It's not nice to the chickens".

Anyhow, I had one in the fridge, still pondering what to do with it as I have only tried them once, and it was awful.

I discovered I forgot to do one simple thing - salting.

After slicing the aubergine (I did simple circles) it is vital to sprinkle some salt over the top of each piece and let them sit for about 1/2 an hour. This helps to remove the bitterness.

After doing this give them a good rinse to remove all the salt.

So what next? I kept the water on the slices and coated them in some seasoned flour then popped them into so hot oil and shallow fried them until golden on both sides. The result was amazing. Crunchy outsides soft melt in your mouth insides, and my girls loved them too. Always a bonus when kids eat something new. These would make a great change for a burger too.

Some craft

These were made using acrylic yarn. It's great as it's easy to use and very washing machine friendly. The stuffing is poly. It's also washable.

Birthday cakes

For my girls birthdays I made two simple recipes.

Vanilla cupcakes with heavenly frosting

and Vegan Brownies (which I always make as a cake). My non vegan relatives loved them. So did the girls!

Christmas Trees

I finally have time to put a few pics up from my holiday cooking.

Firstly is these beautiful gingerbread xmas trees. The recipe was fantastic from the Post Punk Kitchen (PPK). I used this recipe for the gingerbread men previously.

I used some start cutters of gradually diminishing size to form the tree. Then iced away. Super easy and they made great presents. I also made one from my recipe for xmas cookies.

Linny's Xmas cookies:

Ingredients

3/4 cup almonds. Use chopped, slivered flaked. Whatever you have. I always have whole ones so chopped it is.

125g non-dairy margarine
1/4 cup castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup custard powder
1/4 cup chopped glace cherries
handful of dried cranberries


Method

Beat marge, suger and vanilla with electric mixer until fluffy
sift in flour and custard powder. Add fruit and nuts and mix well.
Give a quick knead to ensure everything is well incorporated.
Cover and put in the fridge for 1/2 hour
Roll out to about 7mm thick and cut out as desired.
Bake at 190C for 15mins
Let cool for 5 mins on the tray before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely
Ice or dust with icing sugar.

YUM!