Week 21 Dish 2: Vegan spiced pumpkin cake with vegan tofu frosting

It was a good friend's birthday last week and I wanted to surprise her with cake at her birthday dinner. I thought about making banana cake initially (good thing I didn't choose this as another friend made an amazing banoffee cake) but then I found some pumpkin puree in the freezer which I completely forgot about. So I decided to go for a spiced pumpkin cake, and it was a big hit! It's the spice that makes it really irresistible in my opinion. The birthday girl loved it (yay) and everyone at the dinner gobbled it up! There is definitely no complement like a clean plate :D

Serves 12 (though we managed to get 18 respectably-sized slices!)
Ingredients
For the cake
2 1/4 cups sifted plain flour
1/2 cup + 2-4 tbsp sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (you can replace this with any type of squash puree, or sweet potato puree - though bear in mind that sweet potato is sweeter than pumpkin so you can reduce the amount of sugar)
1 cup soya milk
1/4 cup honey/ maple syrup/ agave nectar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Optional: 1/2 cup raisins and 1/2 cup walnut pieces
For the tofu frosting
350 g extra firm tofu
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp soya milk if needed
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degress C and line two 8-inch cake tins with grease proof paper - I don't have two round tins so I used rectangular ones and it worked just as well. 
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and mixed spice.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, milk, honey, vanilla, oil and lemon juice. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients (add in the raisins and walnuts now if you want) and stir gently until just combined. 
4. Pour half the batter into each tin and bake for 24-27 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in pans before removing.
5. In the mean time make the frosting. Add all the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. It's easier if you mash the tofu up before. Add soya milk to help blend but only if necessary and as less as possible. Put in a container and in the fridge to set a bit while the cakes cool. 
6. Once the cakes have cooled completely, place the first cake upside down on the serving plate, remove the grease proof paper and cover the base with a layer of frosting. This isn't a very thick frosting so don't make it too thick or it will ooze out the sides. Remove the grease proof paper from the second cake and gently place the right way up onto the frosting layer. Cover the top with the remaining frosting (I had some left over). Keep in the fridge until ready to serve!

Original recipe: Vegan pumpkin cake

Week 11 Dish 2: Vegan pumpkin muffins (ghosts and pumpkins)

Happy Halloween!!!! Yes, I know I'm a day late but I just completely forgot yesterday.... I blame the excitement of going clay pigeon shooting!!! That's right, the GP took me clay pigeon shooting - it was so much fun (even though I was pretty rubbish haha). I definitely want to go again - who wants to take me next time? :p

The recipe for today is pumpkin muffins! 'More pumpkin?! Why!?' I hear you say....trust me, these are too good not to make (and I still have enough pumpkin left for one more recipe - I know you're excited :p). I made them for the GPs that I'm staying with on Tuesday and thought I would post them on Halloween (I'm sure you can understand why from the picture below) but it's a bit late now, oh well! I hope you appreciate the ghosts and pumpkin shapes, I bought the silicone moulds from aldi (cheap but fantastic).

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp mixed spice
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup soya milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup apple sauce
2 tbsp treacle
Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C and prepare a muffin tray with muffin cups.
2. Mix the flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, soya milk, oil and treacle. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until well combined.
4. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Original recipe: The best pumpkin muffins

This weekend is Diwali, so I hope to make some vegan Indian sweets - I'm quite excited!

Week 11 Dish 1: Vegan pumpkin pie

My surgery attachment is finally over! Not that I didn't enjoy it, on the contrary I feel like I learned a lot. Though watching surgeries got a bit boring, the medicine was very interesting! I think gastro medicine is definitely something to keep in mind (I was doing lower GI surgery). I've now moved onto my GP attachment which is in Somerset! A bit of an adventure for me since I've never experienced medicine out of London. I'm really enjoying it so far and hopefully will learn a lot too. 

Unfortunately this is making it quite difficult to do my baking but I baked a bit before I left home and I'm going to try and do a few bakes over this coming weekend since I'm back in London...for my final year dinner!!!! So so excited and really can't wait :D

The first bake for this week (which I did on Sunday and just haven't had time to put up) is a delicious spiced pumpkin pie! Really easy (like most of my recipes) and a huge hit with my family! 

Ingredients

For the crust

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 cup oil

2 tbsp soya milk

For the filling

3 cups pumpkin puree

1/2 cup maple syrup/ honey

1/2 cup soya milk

4 tsp canola oil

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp corn flour

1 tsp agar powder (aka faluda powder, which you can buy from VB or other Indian food shop. This really is essential otherwise it won't set)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and grease a 9 inch pie dish with vegan margarine.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients for the crust in a bowl.
3. Add the soya milk and oil, and combine with a fork until dough-like (but quite crumbly).
4. Press into the pie dish until the base and sides are evenly covered (it's too crumbly to roll out).
5. For the filling, use a blender to pulse together all the ingredients.
6. Pour into the pie crust and bake for 60-65 minutes until the centre looks semi-firm not liquidy.
7. Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack for 30 minutes, then chill for at least 4 hours before slicing and serving - simply divine!! Keep refrigerated until eaten (though I doubt it will last long...)

Original recipe: Voluptuous Pumpkin Pie

Week 10 Dish 2: Vegan baked pumpkin cheesecake

I'm continuing with the pumpkin theme with a baked pumpkin cheesecake (my huge pumpkin yielded 15 or more cups of pumpkin pure)! This is my first baked vegan cheesecake, made with tofu. Sounds a bit weird right, tofu in cheesecake? That can't be nice...can it? Wrong wrong! It's pretty amazing how yummy it is! If you really think about it, tofu hasn't really got much taste, so it's perfect to make the cake nice and firm, and easily flavoured. So don't knock it till you've tried it...I'm taking it to my friend's for dinner so I hope everyone loves it, fingers crossed (I'm not really worried :p).

Ingredients
For the crust
1 1/4 cups finely ground digestive biscuits (I used Asda's own brand, which seem to be vegan from the ingredient list)
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp metled coconut oil
1 tbsp soya milk
For the filling
1/2 cup whole cashews soaked in water for ~4-5 hours (overnight would be good too but if you've forgotten, roughly chop them and then soak for 2-3 hours to make it easier)
1/4 cup mashed banana (about half a banana)
340-400g pack firm silken tofu, drained
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp melted coconut oil
3 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated orange zest
1/4 tsp salt
1 2/3 cups pumpkin puree
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
For the topping
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp vegan margarine
1 cup pecans. roughly chopped
Method
The crust

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease a 9 inch springform cake tin with vegan margarine.
2. In a bowl mix together the ground biscuits and sugar, then add the coconut oil. Combine with a spoon then add the soya milk and continue to stir until completely mix (should be crumbly but sticky).
3. Pour crumbs into the tin and press firmly into the bottom to form an even base. Bake for 10 minutes until firm and allow to cool. Keep oven at same temperature for the cheesecake.

The Filling

1. Drain the cashews and place in a blender with the banana, tofu, sugar, coconut oil, cornflour, lemon juice, vanilla, orange zest, and salt. Blend until completely smooth.
2. Set aside 1/2 cup of batter. Add pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg to the remaining batter and blend again until smooth. Poor into the cake tin on top of the crust. 
3. Spoon dollops of the reserved batter randomly onto the cheesecake, then poke the end of a chopstick into the dollops and gently swirl to create a marble pattern.
4. Bake the cheesecake for 45-50 minutes. Remove from the oven halfway and sprinkle on the topping (instructions below) before returning to the oven to continue baking. It is done when the top is lightly puffed and the edges of the cake are golden. Allow to cool for 20 minutes, removing the sides of the tin as soon as you can. Transfer to the fridge to complete cooling for at least 3 hours (overnight is better). Slice with a thin sharp knife dipped in cold water to serve! Doesn't it look amazing?? Tastes even better...

The topping

1. In a bowl mix together the margarine and sugar until well combined, then add the chopped nuts and stir to coat with the mixture. This is now ready to use.

Original recipe: Pumpkin cheesecake with pecan crunch topping

I have to say, all the pumpkin recipes (including the bread) are from Post Punk Kitchen - all their recipes just look so amazing! Definitely check out their site if you get the chance!

Week 10 Dish 1: Vegan pumpkin bread

Oh yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! I've made it to week 10, double figures! And guess what is coming up soon? Halloween!!! And so I decided to buy a pumpkin and use it in my bakes. I first made it into pumpkin puree (I will put up instructions soon). It was definitely...educational - but a whole lot of effort. It's worth it if you have the time, but I would definitely buy tinned puree next time. I now have about 10 cups worth of pumpkin puree (it was a MASSIVE pumpkin) in my fridge and freezer ready to be used and I'm really looking to baking a few pumpkin recipes!

For my first recipe I decided to go for pumpkin bread. And oh my god it turned out so well! Moist and delicious, and as long as you've got pumpkin puree on hand it also very very easy. Please do give it a go!

Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients
1 cup chopped walnuts
3 1/2 cups plain flour (can substitute with some/ all whole wheat flour)
2 cups dark brown sugar
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil (can replace with some unsweetened apple sauce)
2/3 cup coconut milk
2/3 cup desiccated coconut
Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line two 8x4 inch loaf tins with grease proof paper.
2. Spread walnuts in a single layer on an ungreased baking tray and toast in the over for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly browned. Leave aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix in the pumpkin puree, oil and coconut milk until combined. Fold in the nuts and desiccated coconut.
4. Divide the batter between the two tins and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes - until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
5. Remove from the oven, cover tightly with foil and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Remove foil and turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Tent loosely with foil and allow to cool completely. (All this foil business keeps the bread so moist, trust me it's worth it!)

Original recipe: Super moist pumpkin bread