Vegan, gluten free cashew cheesecake (no-bake!)

I have been meaning to try this recipe for a while. I absolutely love cheesecake and it's always my dessert of choice when I'm out for a meal. So I was a bit apprehensive about how this would turn out, and boy was I shocked at how good it tastes!! Simply delicious! And my whole family loved it too! I am definitely going to experiment with flavours in the future, so watch this space. In the meantime, I urge you to try this recipe, it's really worth it. Just bear in mind it does need at least 4 hours of cashew nut soaking beforehand and about 2 hours after for it to set.

Ingredients
For the crust
1/2 cup walnuts (or pecan, or almond, or other nut of preference) - no soaking required
1/2 cup soft pitted dated, soaked for 5 minutes
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
pinch of salt
For the filling
2 1/4 cups raw cashews (soaked for at least 4 hours or overnight, then drained)
1/2 cup agave nectar or honey
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (this is what helps hold it together so don't substitute it for anything else)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Prepare the crust first. In a food processor, chop the dates, nuts, desiccated coconut and salt. Process until it holds together when you press it between 2 of your fingers. I didn't soak the dates beforehand so I needed to add a little bit of water. Set aside.
2. Add the cashews, agave nectar/ honey, coconut oil, lemon juice and vanilla into a blender and blend well. Make sure it's completely smooth - blend more to be on the safe side.
3. Press the crust into the bottom of an 8 inch spring form cake tin. Pour the filling on top and freeze for at least 2 hours. To serve, let it thaw for about 30 minutes and cut into slices - I did 12 because it is quite heavy and filling, but do 8 if you prefer bigger ones :)

Original recipe: Raw cashew cheesecake
Store any leftovers in the fridge if it's not eaten straight away.

Week 6 Dish 2: Vegan tear-and-share apple scones

Had such a good day today, started off with a bit of a lie in, went for a run in the morning and then watched the new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Elementary! I followed this with some cardio and gastro revision, and ended the day with some baking of course. Relaxing, fun and productive - what more can you ask for! This time I baked scones with a twist - tear-and-share. They are apple ones thanks to yet another bag full of cooking apples that my mum got as a gift. I added more apple than the original recipe asked for so I was a bit worried that they would turn out a bit soggy but they haven't. They are crunchy on the outside with a moist, soft inside and not too sweet which is perfect. Here's the recipe.

Makes 12
Ingredients
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp demerera sugar (or brown sugar)
2 cups wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon (I double this from the original recipe but if you're a big cinnamon fan it could probably do with 3!)
1/3 cup softened coconut oil (from VB)
2 cups apples, peeled and shredded with a bit of the juice squeezed out and discarded to prevent soggy-ness
1/2 cup soya milk
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix the brown sugar, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and cinnamon until well combined. Add the coconut oil and use your finger tips to combine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Stir in the apple and milk. It should be a little crumbly but fairly easy to handle (not very sticky). If too sticky add a little flour and if too dry add a little milk. Form into two balls.
4. Gently flatten the two balls of dough into disks on the baking trays until roughly 1-1.5 inches thick. Sprinkle them with the demerera sugar.
5. Cut or score the disks into 6 triangles (they look like little pizzas as you can see from the photo above) and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the scones are nicely golden brown. Keep the scones touching as they bake for a pull-apart effect and moist centre. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the tray then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.

Original recipe: Apple cinnamon vegan scones

Week 6 Dish 1: Vegan carrot raisin walnut muffins

It's my last week at my current placement. I'm quite sad because it's so close and convenient, and I feel like I've gotten to know the team so well! But I must move on...to surgery, with early mornings and a longer commute. Ah well!

This week I've started with more muffins! I love my muffins, fairly healthy, easy to take to work and quite filling too. I've been wanting to make these for a while but I keep buying exotic summery fruits that I have to use before they go rotten! Now that there's nothing exotic left (or not for a reasonable price anyway - I'm a student after all) I thought it's the perfect time for carrots to make an appearance. Again, an easy recipe with yummy results!

Makes 12
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup soya milk
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line a muffin tin.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon.
3. Make a well in the centre and add the milk, applesauce and vanilla. Mix until just combined.
4. Add the carrots, raisins and nuts, and fold until uniform.
5. Put the batter equally in the 12 muffin cups and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Again these are really moist so store in the fridge after a couple of days if they haven't been eaten :D

Week 5 Dish 2: Vegan cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies

It's official, my Final Year Dinner (FYD) outfit is now complete! FYD this year is at the beginning of November and I really hate leaving things to the last minute so I bought an amazing dress last week and managed to find the perfect shoes over the weekend. Now I have the accessories too so I'm all set! The only thing I have to do now is make sure I don't put on any weight till then - a difficult task considering what I've just baked today!

So far most of my main dishes (the ones I count as my two per week) have been relatively healthy, but this one definitely isn't (though I did reduce the sugar, but they are still sweeet). I couldn't help myself, they just sounded so scrumptious and the reviews made it even harder to resist - so I did the only thing I could and baked them :D I can still smell the cinnamon-y goodness in the air...

Makes 24
Ingredients
1 cup vegan margarine
2/3 cup sugar (reduce to 1/2 if you want them less sweet)
2/3 cup brown sugar (again reduce to 1/2 if you want them less sweet)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp soya milk
6 tbsp applesauce
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
4 tsp cinnamon (2 if you're not a huge cinnamon fan)
2 cups oats
1 cup raisins
Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line three trays with grease proof paper.
2. Beat together the sugar and margarine until creamy.
3. Add in the vanilla, soya milk, and apple sauce, and beat more until well combined.
4. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and cinnamon until evenly blended.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix together well. Finally mix in the oats and raisins.
6. Drop heaped tablespoons of batter onto the trays 1 inch apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes (longer if they are slightly bigger - I had 21 in total so they were bigger and needed about 18 minutes). Cool for 5 minutes on the trays and then place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Original recipe: Vegan cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies

Like I said, these are pretty sweet so use less sugar if you want. I'm sure the flour can be substituted with wholemeal too to make it slightly healthier. If anyone does try that, let me know how they turn out! I'm going to take these to the hospital tomorrow to share with my team, hope they like them.....:)

Vegan peanut butter fudge (Easy peasy)

Ever since I went to New York last year I have become addicted to peanut butter flavoured things thanks to Reese's peanut butter cups (also sold in St Mary's hospital shop, yum). So when I saw this recipe I just had to give it a go. This is another quick, busy-schedule recipe. Like the vegan chocolate, it takes no time at all so anyone can do it. I took some fudge in with me to my placement and shared it with my team - they all loved it which made me very happy! Extremely yummy but also equally calorific so you have been warned ;)

Ingredients
3/4 cup vegan margarine
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups icing sugar
Method

1. Melt the margarine in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth.
2. Stir in the icing sugar a little at a time until well blended (it will look a bit lumpy at first but keep adding more sugar and it will be fine).
3. Scoop into a 9x9 inch baking dish and pat down. Chill until firm and then cut into squares for eating. Store in the fridge of course otherwise it will go all mushy!

I reduced the sugar down to 2 cups from 3 2/3 cups in the original recipe and I think it's just the right amount of sweet, hope you think so too :)

Week 5 Dish 1: Vegan apple cookies

It's now been officially over a month since I began my blog, and I'm very happy with how it's going so far. I think I can definitely keep it going for another 5, can't I? Here's hoping! It's been a pretty exciting week actually, I've just had vaccines for my elective which really isn't that far away - April next year. But it really brought home the fact that it means finals aren't far away either (eeek!) so I've started reading a bit more.

My mum has gotten another bag of apples this week soooo it's time for another apple recipe. I made this recipe on Sunday but haven't had a chance to put it up until now - I decided to do cookies since I haven't done any yet. These cookies are really moist and filling and just so very scrumptious, if I do say so myself. Give them a go!

Ingredients
2 cups oats
1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp brown sugar
1 cup soya milk
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup melted coconut oil (cheapest to buy from VB)
1 1/2 cups grated apple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional, or other nut of your choice/ optional)
1/3 cup raisins (or other dried fruits/ optional)
Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line 2 baking trays with grease proof paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl stir together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and brown sugar.
3. In smaller bowl whisk together the milk, applesauce and coconut oil. Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients and stir in the apples, walnuts and raisins until just combined.
4. Spoon out serving spoonfuls of dough and drop onto the tray, 2 inches apart. Flatten them slightly for easier baking. Bake for 15-17 minutes and cool on the tray for 2 minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Original recipe: Vegan apple breakfast cookies
As these cookies are really moist, best to store in the fridge if they aren't eaten within a couple of days.

Vegan kiwi smoothie

I've had an exciting week so far, seen quite a few patients with signs. For those of you who are't medics, we have real patients in our exams this year with real disease signs on examination that we have to find and diagnose. Therefore patients with good signs are like gold! I saw a patient with Graves' disease, one with Parkinson's, and performed a synacthen test on another patient. Very interesting stuff!

Even more exciting - I found my dress for Final Year Dinner which is coming up soon, I'm so excited!!! Ordered it online and was quite worried about the look/ fit but it arrived yesterday and looks gorgeous!

To celebrate I made another smoothie this week (as you do) - Kiwi smoothie. Lovely pale green colour. It's the same recipe as before again (why try to fix something that isn't broken) and tasted very delicious!

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup rolled oats

3 cups soya milk

4 cups kiwi (about 8)

1 banana

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp honey (or agave nectar/ maple syrup)

Method

1. Add the soya milk to the oats and allow to soak in the fridge overnight.
2. Put all the ingredients in a blender and pulse until mostly smooth, and it's ready to serve!

Don't forget to let me know if you try any other combinations!

Week 4 Dish 2: Vegan Pineapple Pie

You know what I've learned so far from all this baking? The best bit (other than the end product and the general joy of baking) is licking the bowl when you've put the goodies in the oven. Oh so good!!! I don't think anyone can disagree...And the worst bit is cleaning up after, though I'm getting better at being tidier (my mum is very happy about this - though of course I always clean up after myself). 

Last week I managed to buy 2 pineapples with my mum for £1 - I think it's the last of the Summer wine really, I doubt we will continue to have many more tropical fruits available now! So, as inspired by this week's Great British Bake Off episode, I decided to make a pie! It's one that should be eaten cold, and turned out really well. Hope you think so too!!

Ingredients

For the cream

450 g fresh pineapple, peeled and chopped

250 g soya yogurt

100 g corn flour

100 g sugar

For the base

250 g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

100 g sugar

80 ml pineapple juice

80 ml canola/ rapeseed oil

Method

1. First make the cream. Mix the chopped pineapple, yogurt, sugar and cornflour and blend.
2. Once it's creamy, transfer to a deep saucepan and heat over a medium heat, stirring constantly until it's well thickened (about 5-7 minutes). Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
4. In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder and sugar. Make a well in the centre and add the juice and oil. Knead with your hands to form a soft dough.
5. Take out 1/3 of the dough and set aside. Place the remaining dough onto a piece of greaseproof paper and roll into a 1/2cm thin circle. Place into a 9 inch pie dish and cover the base and sides. Pit with a fork.
6. Roll the remaining dough to a circle large enough to cover the pie.
7. Fill the pie with the pineapple cream and cover with the rolled out dough. Cut four long lines on the top of the pie and brush lightly with 1 tbsp of soya yogurt.
8. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until well browned on top.
9. Allow to cool completely, then slice and serve!

Original recipe: Low-fat vegan pineapple pie

Week 4 Dish 1: Vegan blackberry scones

Yep, more blackberry! Still have lots left in my garden so I thought I better use them to make yummy treats. There will be another jug of Pretty in Purple vegan smoothie for my family today too. Looking back at all my recipes, I've made a lot of muffins and cupcakes so I thought I need to branch out a bit. I don't really like making big cakes because smaller things are much easier to grab and go or take for lunch, which is perfect when you're quite busy. So that's why I decided to go for scones this time, though they didn't turn out exactly like scones....

(Yep they do look like muffins, explanation below)
Makes 18-24
Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
2 cups wholemeal flour
2 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup oil
1 1/4 cup soya milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups blackberries (fresh or frozen)
2 tbsp agave nectar/ maple syrup/ honey if you're not vegan
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
2. Mix the first five ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir blackberries with the agave in another bowl and leave to one side.
3. In a third bowl, mix the remaining ingredients. Gently fold the wet ingredients into dry. When partially mixed, add the berries and agave and continue folding in until just combined. Try to keep the berries as whole as possible. If you used frozen berries continue to step 3, otherwise jump to step 6.
4. Flour a clean surface, transfer dough onto it and press gently with your hands to flatten it out to 3/4 inch thick.
5. Using a cookie cutter, cut out the shapes you want, place at least an inch apart on a non-stick tray and bake for 15-20 minutes. 
6. If you have fresh berries like I did, when you fold them in they will all get smooshed, making the dough a lot more liquidy. This means that it can't be cut with a cookie cutter. Instead I spooned the mixture into about 20 small muffin cups almost to the top and baked for 25-30 minutes. But remember when you eat them, they aren't muffins, they are scones so you may want to cut them in half and use a bit of margarine. 

I don't want to leave things as late as I did last week so recipe two should be coming soon! I also updated all my past posts with where you can buy the more unusual ingredients from (in the UK), so if you were struggling it should be easy now :)

Baked tomato, courgette and aubergine (vegan)

I think it's about time I make a bakes dish that isn't sweet. I'm not including this as one of my two a week because its just too easy, albeit a dish that requires a long baking time. It's extremely healthy and I used it as a main dish for dinner, but you may want to use it as a side dish.

Ingredients
1/2 cup oil
1 onion, peeled and sliced
5 small tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 small aubergine, thinly sliced lengthwise
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C
2. Pour some of the oil to cover the bottom of a 9/13 inch rectangular baking dish.
3. Layer in half of the onion slices and one third of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and half of the garlic. Add a layer of aubergine and sprinkle more salt and pepper. Add another layer of tomatoes, the courgette, the remaining garlic and the rest of the onion. Top with the remaining tomatoes.
4. Press down on the mixture with your hand. Pour over the remaining oil and season with salt and pepper. The veggies will be piled really high but don't worry, it will collapse as it bakes.
5. Bake uncovered for 1.5 hours. After 45 minutes, press the mixture down firmly with a spatula and return to the oven. Let it cool for at least 10 minutes, then cut and serve.

Original recipe: Char-baked tomato, zucchini and eggplant

Simple and healthy :)

Week 3 Dish 2: Vegan apple bread

I've really cut it close this week, haven't I? Two and a half hours before week 4 starts and I've finally finished dish 2! But I still made it, that's what counts. My only excuse is that I've had a pretty busy week, though not because of university but because I've been out having a bit too much fun. Ah well :p So this was a difficult dish, I tried a different apple bread recipe first and it just didn't come out right - it wasn't cooked at all inside but burned on top. It was raw (but still tasty - couldn't throw it away without trying a bit) and I was pretty disappointed. Of course, I had no choice but to try another recipe to reach my two-recipe goal. Thankfully this one turned out fine, yay! The saying 'if at first you don't succeed...' comes to mind. One other thing I learned is that peeling things, like apples, is just so tedious. Good thing that the rest of the recipe was much faster to complete.

Ingredients
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup apples, peeled and grated
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1/4 cup ground linseeds (aka flaxseeds. I bought whole linseeds fron asda and ground them myself. Also available from health food shops)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
Method

1. Preheat oven to 150°C. Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Combine the oil, applesauce, apples, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl sift the plain flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add the wholemeal flour and ground linseed.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients gradually until just combined. Finally add the walnuts.
5. Bake in loaf tin for 1.5 - 1.75 hours until a skewer come out clean and the top in a nice golden brown.
6. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minute before removing (so hard to wait!!)

Original recipe: Vegan apple bread

This is a brilliant recipe to make when there are no exotic fruit around - even apples make amazing bakes goodies!

Vegan chocolate

I've wanted to try this recipe for a while, even bought the ingredients for it but only just got round to it. Now that I've done it, I don't know why I waited so long! It literally took 10 minutes to prepare, and then the solidifying time. So so easy (which is why I'm not counting it as one of my 2-a-week), and not to mention delicious. It's the type of chocolate that literally melts in your mouth, a bit like the centre of a truffle (the best bit in my opinion!). I never want to buy chocolate again - this is just too good.

(I used my new rose moulds - so cool right?)

Ingredients
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (cheapest from VB but you can also get it from health food shops for an extortionate price)
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tbsp agave nectar (from health food shops)/ coconut nectar/ maple syrup/ honey if you're not vegan)
1/4 tsp stevia sweetener (I bought asdas own brand sweetener which is stevia, but I'm sure you can use truvia too!)
Method

1. Melt the coconut over a low heat and remove from the heat as soon as it's melted.
2. Sift in the cocoa powder and whisk until well combined.
3. Add the sweeteners and mix well.
4. Pour into moulds/ tray (and cut into pieces when solid)/ pour over dessert or fruit/ anything else you can think of. I will definitely be experimenting with it!

Original recipe: Homemade, raw, vegan chocolate

Like I said, this chocolate melts very easily so it needs to live in the fridge. SO SO GOOD!!!

Week 3 Dish 1: Vegan apple spice cupcakes

It's week 3 and I'm still going strong! Yay! Though I know I'm a bit later than usual updating the blog this week - sorry guys, it's turning out to be a busy week. Last week was a pretty good one; I gave some of my blackberry bars to those I was on firms with as well as to some relatives, and everyone loved them!! Nothing like a bit of praise, appreciation and an empty plate to make you feel good and know all the scratches from the berry bush were worthwhile! I also finished my cardiology firm and feel pretty confident with murmurs (or at least as confident as I was in 3rd year), and my AF knowledge has definitely increased. And saw patients with marfan syndrome, one of those eponymous syndromes that we seem to remember so well - I'm sure those of you who are medical students will agree. It's very exciting :p. So now on to my endocrinology firm, wish me luck (it's going OK so far).

This week I've decided to do two apple recipes because my mum was given a big bag of cooking apples that need to be used. It makes me miss the two huge apple trees that we used to have in the garden, and of course my mums apple pis and apple curry (sounds weird but soooo delicious). I thought apple recipes would be perfect to give an autumn feel now that September has begun (though the weather is still gorgeous this week). So the first one is vegan apple spice cupcakes, enjoy!

Makes about 18
Ingredients
For the apples
3 apples, peeled and diced (I used cooking apples but if you want a sweeter cupcake then go for eating apples)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp mixed spice
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp canola oil (aka rapeseed oil)/ vegan margarine

For the cupcakes
1 cup soyamilk
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup canola oil (aka rapeseed oil)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Method

1. Toss apples in the spices and flour. 
2. Heat the brown sugar and oil/ margarine until slightly bubbling, add in the apples and cook until caramelised, soft and most of the liquid has been cooked off (~10 minutes). The kitchen will smell sooo divine while you do this - if only we could capture smells in photos!
3. Preheat oven to 180°C and line your muffin tin with cupcake cups.
4. Mix the soyamilk and lemon juice in a large bowl and let it sit for a minute until it curdles. Add the oil, sugar and vanilla extract.
5. Sift together all the spices, flour and baking soda and powder. Gently stir into mil mixture.
6. Fold in the cooled apple and fill cupcake cups almost completely full (these don't rise much so they won't spill over).
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes. These stay very moist inside with a crunchy top so a toothpick put inside may not come out completely clean, but that's fine!

Original recipe: Apple spice cupcakes

These cupcakes are so moreish because they just hit the right spot and aren't overly sweet - try them and you'll see! The next recipe will be either apple bread or apple tart...hmm difficult choice! What would you prefer to see? Let me know! (I used my new triangle silicon cups - so cool!)