Week 26 Dish 2: Vegan red velvet cupcakes

LAST OFFICIAL RECIPE!!

I have completed my baking challenge!! I can't believe that it's been 6 whole months since I began. I am very proud of myself. Of course I plan to continue baking but with exams around the corner I'm sure it won't be as often. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my post and I really hope you have enjoyed drooling at/ baking/ eating them!

For my last official recipe to you all (though I am still going to give you 3 more this week) I have baked vegan red velvet cupcakes which are coloured with beetroot instead of food colouring. Perfect for Valentine's day of course! They turned out really yummy but not as red as I hope - though they are a lovely deep red inside. I do think the recipe needs a bit of tweaking though as they did sink after I took them out of the oven. I didn't top them with frosting but here is a recipe for tofu frosting.

Makes 12
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup pureed cooked beetroots (about 2-3 large beetroots)
1/2 cup honey/ agave/ maple syrup
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line a muffin tray with muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. In a food processor process the beetroot, honey, coconut oil, lemon juice and vanilla until completely smooth. Pour this into the dry ingredients and fold until just combined.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared cup and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting if you are frosting them.

Original recipe: Red velvet cupcakes

Week 25 Dish 2: Vegan savoury courgette muffins

3rd last recipe!!

Ahhh today I revised well in the morning but for the past hour or so I have been very distracted by elective plans. I am going to China for my elective and I'm so excited!! The placement is in Beijing and I plan to travel in China and Japan after. I really can't wait, there are so many amazing things to see! Too bad I have to get through finals first....

Continuing my savoury theme, I decided to make courgette muffins. I baked sweet Courgette date muffins way back in week 2, which turned out yummy so I thought why not savoury ones this time :D These taste yummy as always and in my opinion the flavour come through much more strongly when cold, but of course delicious when hot too.

Makes 12 small muffins or 8-9 large muffins
Ingredients
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup wholemeal flour
7/8 cup plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
200 ml soya milk
2 tsp cider vinegar
100 ml oil
1 3/4 cups grated courgettes - about 1 large courgette
2 tsp dried basil
2 tbsp water, or as needed
Method

1. Heat the oven to 190 degrees C and prepare 12 silicon muffin cups on a baking tray.
2. Combine the pepper, salk, wholemeal flour, plain flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl.
3. Combine the soya milk, vinegar and oil in a small bowl and add to the dry ingredients. Mix until almost combined then add the courgette and basil, and fold in until evenly distributed. Add the water while mixing if it seems dry.
4. Spoon into the prepared cups and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack. These taste delicious hot but the flavour comes through much better when cool. Enjoy!

Original recipe: Savoury zucchini muffins

Next week is the last week of my vegan baking challenge, I almost can't believe it! The time has just gone so fast, with many scrumptious treats to help me along the way. If you enjoy my blog and recipes, don't worry, I do plan to continue baking but I won't stick to two recipes per week. To celebrate my accomplishment I have decided to bake ONE DISH EVERY DAY, starting tomorrow (9th Feb) through to next Saturday (15th Feb). That mean I will have SEVEN recipes for you next week. Two of these recipe will be special vegan Valentine's treats which you can bake for the people you love, be it a significant other, friends and family, or even yourself (I love me very much :p). I hope you're all excited!!

The Challenge

I typed medicine and baking into google and this is what I found: medicine + baking = bicarbonate of soda (aka baking soda). Yep, it’s the white powder that not only works its magic in baked goodies but also has medicinal values. The way I choose to interpret this information is that baking is good for my health!! And it really is – relaxing but challenging and with a yummy reward! Perfect to take me away from the stresses of studying medicine (in my final year now :D). Though I can’t say the consumption of all the end products will be as good for me :p (meh, guess I’ll have to do some extra running to balance it out – worth it).

My name is Chandni and I am in my final year of studying medicine. It's tough and I love it, but I need something to get away from the demands and pressures of the course and career. My two main outlets: exercise/sport and creating things (cooking, drawing, crafts etc). So here is my challenge: To make at least 2 new dishes every week (not necessarily baked but probably vegan since my dad has recently become vegan), for the next 6 months (18^th August 2013 – 17^th February 2014) during my final year studying medicine (which will be no mean feat). That’s 26 weeks and 52 yummy dishes. The only rule I will set for myself is that if I make more than one dish in a week, e.g. 4, it will not cover me for 2 weeks – 2 dishes have to be made within each week. Hmmmm I wonder how long I can keep going before I regret this (at least I knew better than to challenge myself to one per day)...

As I share my creations, please let me know what you think of them if you try them yourself, any improvements I can make and any suggestions of what to make next (vegan recipes please). I will do my best to keep them healthy but no promises. I hope that you can give me your support and help me stay on target! 

LET THE CHALLENGE BEGIN!!!