Week 20 Dish 1: Vegan yule log

Happy New Year everyone (for tomorrow)!! It's New Year's eve, and I'm sure everyone is getting ready to go out and party!! Or, as I'm doing, have a house party. Frankly in this weather, I feel that a house party is the way to go. It should be a brilliant night - with good friends, good food, and lots of alcohol!

Of course as is the norm these days at my house, when I have people over I plan a yummy dessert. Today is no exception as I have made a completely vegan yule log!! I may be a bit late for Christmas, but it's the perfect way to end the year before everyone begins their new year healthy eating resolutions :D Let's see how fast it gets eaten :p.....

Ingredients
For the cake
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup soya milk
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cider vinegar
Icing sugar for dusting
For the filling
225g extra firm tofu, patted dry
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup non-dairy dark chocolate chips
2-3 TBSP warm soya milk
For the ganache topping
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup soya margarine, softened
1/4 cup soya milk
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line a baking tray (with raised edges) with grease proof paper.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl.
3. In another bowl combine the oil, milk, orange juice and vanilla extract. Add to the dry ingredients and combine.
4. Stir in the vinegar, pour into the tray and put into the oven as fast as possible. Bake for 25 minutes.
5. Place a piece of grease proof paper bigger than the tray on the work surface and dust generously with icing sugar. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, carefully invert onto the prepared paper and remove the bottom lining paper.
6. Roll up the cake with the paper inside (all while still hot) and then allow to cool completely. Don't worry about any cracks.
7. For the filling, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pot with simmering water.
8. Add the tofu and vanilla extract to a food processor and puree till smooth. Add as little warm milk as necessary to help the food processor if it's having trouble. Pour in the melted chocolate and blend until well combined. Put into a container and cool in the fridge but don't let it solidify!
9. Next, prepare the topping. In a large bowl, use an electric beater to cream the sugar and margarine until thick but well combined. Add the milk, cocoa powder and vanilla and continue to mix until smooth.
10. Once the cake has cooled completely, unroll carefully. Cover with the filling and then roll up once more, this time without the paper. Place onto the serving plate.
11. Finally, cover with the chocolate topping and use a fork/ toothpick/ chopstick to create the bark-like pattern. Decorate with powdered sugar and anything else you feel like using. YUM!!!

Original recipe: Yule log cake, chocolate ganache topping, tofu chocolate frosting filling (I used different bits from different recipes because those are the ones I found easiest)

Week 19 Dish 2: Vegan Christmas cupcakes

I know that Christmas is over but I have a few more Christmassy recipes planned - keeps the festive feeling alive :D. I wanted to make a classic Christmas cake but my family said that they can't handle more big desserts after all the eating we have done this past week so I decided to make cupcakes instead. They are still made from about the same amount of batter as a cake, but much less daunting to eat. I was a bit worried because the recipe I found had the milk measurement missing, but they turned out brilliantly!

Makes 12
Ingredients
1/2 cup mixed peel
1/2 cup glace cherries
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup sultanas
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
1/2 cup brandy
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup soya milk
1 tbsp ground flaxseeds/ linseeds (or 2 tsp egg replacer)
4 tbsp water
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
Method

1. Mix the dried fruit, peel and nuts in a bowl with the brandy and leave overnight.
2. Preheat the over to 180 degrees C and line a muffing tray with muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl mix the ground flaxseeds/ linseeds (or 2 tsp egg replacer) with water and leave to one side.
4. In a large bowl, mix the sugar, flour and spices. Then add the fruit mixture, oil, milk, and the flaxseeds/linseeds and water mixture and combine.
5. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Once cool, feel free to decorate with chrsitmassy icing and decorations - perfect for the kids!!

Original recipe: Christmas cupcakes

Week 19 Dish 1: Vegan festive roast with gravy

Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope everyone had a brilliant day, I definitely did; full of family time, TV and good food and alcohol - what more could you want? And of course today was filled with SALE shopping!! Ahh so many bargains, so many new things....pweeettyyyy...I'm not materialistic at all, honest! (But still, just have a look at my haul :p)

I have baked a lot of sweet dishes, which thankfully have mostly been very successful. But, it's Christmas and the Christmas meal is not just about the desserts (though they are definitely very important) - it's about a full meal including a yummy roast. So, I found and made a delicious vegan roast, which even my dad loved (and he didn't like my nut roast last year). I definitely can't take all the credit for this, my mum, sister and I all pitched in and made our Christmas feast together - so much fun! It's full of veggies but very filling and of course tastes amazing. I know it's a bit late for Christmas this year but give it a go when you get the chance!! :D

Serves 6-8
Ingredients
For the roast
230 g chopped mixed nuts
110 g red lentils
1 large carrot
2 celery sticks
1 large onion
1/2 large courgette
1 aubergine
125 g mushrooms
4 tbsp vegan margarine
2 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
4 tbsp chopped parsley
10 g chopped dried apricots
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
2 tbsp corn flour
1/4 pint water
Vegan pesto
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
For the gravy
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onions
5 crushed garlic cloves
1-2 tbsp plain flour (depending on how thick you like it)
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Method

1. Gently boil the lentils for 20 minutes. About halfway through the lentils' cooking timre, pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees C and grease a large bread tin or line with grease proof paper.
2. Chop the aubergine and courgette into small chunks. 
3. Roughly chop the carrot, celery, onion and mushrooms into small chunks and use a food processor to process until finely chopped.
4. Melt the margarine in a wok/ large pan and fry the vegetables for 5 minutes, stirring in the curry powder.
5. In a large bowl mix the mixed nuts, cooked lentils, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, parsley, apricots, corn flour and water, and mix well. 
6. Add the fried vegetables and combine. Press 4 heaped tbsps of the mixture into the tin and spread a layer of pesto on top to taste. Spoon in the rest of the mixture and smooth over.
7. Bake for about an hour or until just firm, covering with top with foil if it starts to darken too much.
8. Carefully turn the roast out into a serving plate. Allow to cool and to finish, sprinkle with pine nuts and serve with gravy.
9. For the gravy, heat the olive oil over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent.
10. Add the flour and soy sauce and mix to make a thick paste, then slowly add the stock while stirring with a whisk to avoid clumps.
11. Season with  basil, salt and pepper, then bring to the boil and simmer while whisking continuously for 8-10 minutes. It is then ready to serve with the festive roast!

Original recipe: Luxury festive roast

Week 18 Dish 2: Vegan mince pies

OH MY GOD homemade mince pies are amazing! I really don't know why I never made them before. As you saw in the previous post, vegan mincemeat is so so very easy to make. Once that's done you just make this really simple vegan pastry, and voila!! Vegan mince pies! This recipe does not make a sweet pastry, just a simple shortcrust pastry. Once you have a taste of these you really won't want to go back to shop-bought ones!

Makes 12-15

You will need half of my vegan mincemeat recipe

Ingredients

200 g plain flour

100 g vegan margarine

3 tbsp ice-cold water

1/2 tsp salt

Method

1. Add the salt to the flour and mix. Then add the margarine and rub into the flour using your fingertips until it resembles bread crumbs.
2. Pour in the cold water and press the mixture together to form a dough.
3. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and grease a muffin tin.
4. On a clean, floured surface, roll the dough out fairly thin. Cut out large (~12cm - which I didn't have so I used a large flower instead!) circles and either smaller circles of funky shapes for the lids.
5. Carefully press the large circles into the muffin tin. Fill each with a generous dollop of mincemeat (I still had a bit left over at the end) and top with the smaller circles/ funky-shaped lids.
6. If you used circular lids, carefully pinch the edges of each pie closed and stab a fork in the middle of the pie to allow steam to escape. If you used funky shapes then no need for this!
7. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until a nice golden brown.

Original recipe: Mince pie pastry

Week 18 Dish 1: Vegan Christmas mincemeat crumble bars

Christmas is just around the corner, and I'm feeling really festive! We finally managed to put up the Christmas tree and of course I made a yummy Christmas bake. So now the house smells and looks as festive as I feel :D. The bake required mincemeat so I made homemade mincemeat, and lots of it! I've used half of it in my yummy recipe today - vegan Christmas mincemeat bars inspired by Mary Berry's mincemeat streusel. I'm sure you can guess what I'm going to make with the rest of the mincemeat! I used the same crumble recipe as in one of my very first recipes - vegan blackberry crumble bars and it turned out perfect. Can I say, homemade mincemeat is just so much better than the shop bought jars and it's so so simple - definitely worth it.

Makes 8-10 bars

Ingredients

For the mincemeat (this makes DOUBLE the mince necessary for this recipe. I used half (~500 g) for the bars and half for the next recipe which is coming soon)

450 g mixed dried fruit (or make your own with a mixture of raisins, currants, sultanas and dried cranberries)

50 g mixed peel

75 g dried apricots, chopped

50 g glace cherries, chopped

75 g candied mixed peel

1 large cooking apple, peeled and diced

50 g chopped nuts of choice (I used a mixture of wholenuts and walnuts)

100 g soft brown sugar

1 tsp grated lemon rind

1 tsp grated orange rind

1 tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp cinnamon

100 g melted vegan margarine

4 tbsp vegan brandy, rum or sherry (I used Kingston black apple aperitif because that's all I had in the house)

For the crumble

2 cups oats
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed (I bought this from VB, too expensive in health food shops)

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients for the mincemeat together except the brandy in a large pan. Cook over a low heat for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, then stir in the brandy.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 9-inch square baking dish with grease proof paper.
3. In a large bowl mix together the oats, flour, brown sugar, orange zest, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Pour in the coconut oil and mix to blend well. Reserve 3/4 cup of oat mixture for the topping.
4. Transfer the remaining oat mixture to the prepared baking dish, pressing firmly to the bottom to form an even layer.
5. Spoon the mincemeat in an even layer on top and then sprinkle with the remaining oat mixture.
6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in the dish on a wire rack for 30 to 40 minutes before cutting into bars. Christmas in a bar and perfect for tea time!

Original recipes: Mincemeat streusel and vegetarian mincemeat

Week 17 Dish 2: Vegan mulled wine chocolate cupcakes

I was inspired to make this recipe after a friend made a non-vegan version. I tried them yesterday and they were really delicious! Hope you enjoy them...

Makes 12
Ingredients
175 g plain flour
20 g cocoa powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
150 g soft brown sugar
1/2 tsp mixed spice
50 ml oil
175 ml mulled wine
Juice and zest of one orange
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 decrees C and line a muffin tray with cupcake liners (I used silicon cupcake cups).
2. Sift all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then all the rest of the ingredients and gently fold together until smooth.
3. Divide the batter between 12 cupcake cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tray before removing and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Original recipe: Vegan mulled wine chocolate cupcakes
More Christmas themed recipes to come, hope you're excited! (Hint: pies and logs)

Week 17 Dish 1: Vegan mini gingerbread men

Christmas is almost here! This week I have had a few christmassy things going on, including netball Christmas dinner and Christmas bop (Christmas party at the union - we call them bops). They have really gotten me in the festive mood! That's why this week I decided to bake some Christmas themed treats :D. I made these gingerbread men for a secret santa gift for one of the girls on my netball team - she really loved them so I hope you all do too. I used a little cookie cutter but you can use whatever size/ shapes you like, and good fun for kids to cut as well as decorate so perfect for a family project!

I got 60 (!!) mini gingerbread men out of this recipe, but of course it depends on your cookie cutter size
Ingredients
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup treacle
1/4 cup soya milk
1 cup plain flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each ground nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
Method

1. In a large bowl whisk together the oil and sugar. Add the treacle and soyamilk and blend well.
2. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Add this to the wet ingredients and mix until a stiff dough is formed. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.
3. If the dough is in the fridge for more than 1 hour, let sit for 10 minutes for 10 minutes to warm up first. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line two baking trays with grease proof paper.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out the shapes with your cookie cutters and place on the baking trays. Bake for 7-8 minutes (it took 7 minutes in my fan oven but may take a little longer in a conventional oven - they should be soft even after cooling). Cool for a couple of minutes on the tray then move to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

Original recipe: Gingerbread cut out cookies

Week 16 Dish 2: Vegan spiced pear bread

SJT done!!!!!!!!!! It is such a relief! For those of you who don't know, it's the situational judgement test that all medical students have to take in their final year. It's not really an exam that can be revised for, it's more common sense questions. We get points out of 50 for the test, and this is added to the points out of 50 that we get for our degree/ educational achievements. We are then ranked alongside all other medical students who are applying for a junior doctor position base on our total points. And where in the UK we work as junior doctors depends on our rank - the people with the highest rank get their top choice etc. So basically, the exam I had yesterday decides the next two years of my life. Scary right? That's why I'm just glad that it's over - more time would not have given me a better score.

Anyway, on to the yummy stuff. Today was the first time since I begun this baking challenge that I really found it difficult to bake. I was out all day (went to an Anthony Horowitz event for his new Alex Rider book, followed by a Crisis at Christmas induction, and finally to see my 10-day-old baby nephew who is just too cute) and I just wanted to sit and do nothing. But, I did get my butt into the kitchen, and as usual ended with a yummy bake. Definitely worth it!! Another easy recipe that anyone can try :D

Makes one loaf
Ingredients
2 ripe medium-size pears
2 tbsp ground linseed
6 tbsp soya milk
1 cup wholemeal flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 heaped tsp cinnamon
1 heaped tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar
Method

1. Chop the pears into 1/2 inch pieces. In a small bowl, mix the linseed and soya milk and let sit for five minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line an 8x4 inch loaf tin with grease proof paper.
3. In a large bowl, combine the oil, vanilla, pear, sugar and linseed-milk mixture. The pears will get a bit smooshed but that's fine.
4. In another bowl mix the flour, spices, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Carefully fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. The mix will be very thick and seem a bit dry but when it starts baking all the pear juices will make the loaf nice and moist, so don't worry!
5. Spoon the batter into the loaf tin and bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Just like the pear muffins I made last week, the pear juices seep into the whole bread and make it moist, sweet and delicious. Let it cool a bit before slicing otherwise it will crumble, though not when completely cold - nothing like warm fresh bread!

Original recipe: Seasonal spiced pear bread

Week 16 Dish 1: Vegan baked mini apple donuts

Happy Hanukkah!! I have never really thought about Hannukah as I don't know anyone who observes it, but on my ENT placement last week one of the doctors was Jewish. So I thought, why not bake something to celebrate this festival? During Hannukah, there is a custom of eating food fried in oil to commemorate the miracle of a small bottle of oil keeping the flame in the temple alight for eight days. In the modern day, donuts have become of the foods that are eaten during Hannukah. I couldn't quite bring myself to make deep fried donuts so instead I ordered a mini donut tray and found a baked recipe. The original recipe was for large donuts but I adapted it slightly for mini donuts.

Just to warn you, I have an exam tomorrow (the SJT) that counts for 50% of the points in my application for a junior doctor position - so it's safe to say that that though these are baked and not fried, they are by no means healthy. Indulge with me! ;)

Makes 40 mini donuts
Ingredients
For the donuts
1 cup plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup maple syrup/ agave/ honey
1/4 cup apple juice/ cider (this was apple cider in the original recipe but my mum isn't a big fan of alcohol in general so I substituted it with juice - but of course you can use either!)
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 tbsp canola/ rapeseed oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the apple cider glaze
1 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp apple juice/ cider
For the cinnamon sugar topping
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Brush a mini donut tray with oil (I have a 20-donut tray, so I did it in two batches).
2. In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, apple juice/ cider, apple sauce, canola oil and vanilla extract. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and combine.
4. Spoon or pipe batter into the donut tray. Don't fill more than 3/4 full - this is quite tedious but persevere, it's worth it!
5. Bake for 6-8 minutes and allow to cool in the tray for a few minutes. Then, carefully remove from the tray and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.
6. In the mean time make the glaze and sugar. In a shallow bowl whisk together the icing sugar and apple juice/ cider. In another bowl mix the ingredients for the cinnamon sugar topping.
7. Once the donuts are cool, dip them into the glaze and immediately sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Let the glaze harden and enjoy (or do what I did and eat 7. Talk about comfort eating)

Original recipe: Baked apple cider donuts

Very mini