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

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 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.

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!

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!)