Vegan red velvet brownies

For my last recipe of the baking-filled week, I tried another red velvet recipe. Like the red velvet cupcakes I made earlier, these are also made with beetroot as well as kidney beans to give the red colour. Unfortunately they haven't come out red (the eternal red velvet problem) - but they do taste nice, albeit quite bean-y. As a bonus, they are pretty healthy.

Ingredients
1 cup red kidney beans
1/2 cup chopped cooked beetroot (roughly 1 small beetroot)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup ground flax/ linseed
4 tbsp apple sauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease an 8x8 inch tin with soya margarine.
2. In a food processor, puree the kidney beans and beetroot - it takes a while so be patient. Add the apple sauce and vanilla and pulse a few times to mix.
3. In a large bowl combine the cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, sugar and linseed. Add the bean and beetroot mixture and fold until well mixed.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 35 minutes, turning halfway through. When removing from the oven, test with a toothpick - some batter should cling to the toothpick.
5. Allow to cool completely and refrigerate for an hour before cutting.

Original recipe: Healthy vegan red velvet brownies

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 12 Dish 1: Vegan red velvet cake with cashew cream cheese frosting

It was my sister's birthday yesterday!! Happy belated birthday Sis!! Unfortunately I'm away in Somerset at the moment, but I did go home last weekend so we celebrated her birthday on Sunday. I baked a cake (of course) and we went out for a yummy meal (cake first, then the meal - this is the way it should always be :p). The cake I baked for her was a vegan red velvet. The original recipe was for a two-tier cake but I knew that it would be too much for my family to finish especially with all the Diwali sweets I made, so I only made half the recipe, and as you can see below I made it in a skull cake tin - so cool!! I also left out the food colouring because I didn't have the right type, and didn't put on any frosting because it would just be too sweet for us. But the recipe below is for a two-tier cake with frosting. Enjoy!!

Ingredients
For the cake
440 g plain flour
300 g sugar
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
4 tsp cocoa powder
470 ml soya milk
155 ml vegetable oil
3 tbsp red food colouring - this should be a non-natural type for the colour to stay red. Apparently beetroot juice works too but I haven't tried it!
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
For the cashew frosting
2 cups cashews, soaked for 4 hours
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp liquid coconut oil
1/3-2/3 cup maple syrup/ honey/ golden syrup
Water as needed
Decorations as preferred e.g. nuts, raisins, chocolate etc
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees C. Line two 8 inch cake tins with grease proof paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cocoa powder. Create a well in the centre and add the milk, oil, food colouring, vinegar and vanilla. Mix until combined.
3. Divide the cake batter evenly between the two cake tins and place in the oven spaced evenly apart. Bake for 35-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the cakes pull away from the sides of the pan.
4. Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.
5. While the cakes are baking and cooling, make the frosting. Blend all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add as little water as possible. Set aside.
6. Once the cakes are cool, you can frost them. Place one cake upside down (slice off the rounded bit of the cake if it doesn't stand straight). Using a palette knife, spread some of the frosting, about 1/4-1/3, over the top of the cake. Carefully set the other cake on top, again upside down and with some of the rounded bit sliced off to help it sit straight if necessary. Cover the cake with the remaining frosting and decorate however you like!!

Original recipes: Red velvet cake, cashew cream cheese frosting

(NOT VEGAN) Brown velvet cupcakes

Yep, 4th dish in one week! And just because I love you all so much, I've got a fifth one on the way. I made these earlier in the week but didn't have time to post up the recipe. But just to warn you, this one is NOT VEGAN. It's a classic - Brown velvet cupcakes. Yes it should be red velvet, but you have to use (good quality) non-natural food colouring in order to make them come out red (otherwise they comes out brown anyway) and I would rather not use that. Of course they taste just as scrumptious especially when fresh. I can't take all the credit for these, I had a girly baking session with two of my best friends and so we baked them together - thanks guys :D .

Makes 18-20 cupcakes
Ingredients
225 g unsalted butter
4 tbsp water
55 g cocoa powder
3 eggs
250 ml buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp non-natural red food colouring (if you want - though why not go for another colour :p)
280 g plain flour
55 g cornflour
1.5 tsp baking powder
280g caster sugar
Frosting
250 g light soft cheese (the original recipe calls for full-fat, but we went for the lighter option - just as yummy but not as rich so it's your choice!)
40 g unsalted butter
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C and get the cupcake cups ready
2. Heat the butter, water and cocoa powder gently in a small saucepan, stirring until melted and smooth without boiling. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly
3. Beat together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract and food colouring (optional) until frothy. Beat in the butter mixture. Sift together the flour, cornflour and baking powder and stir into the mixture with the sugar
4. Ladle the mixture into the cupcake cups and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until risen and firm to the touch. 
5. For the frosting, beat together all the ingredients until smooth and spread on the cupcakes when they have cooled - we also decorated them, this is definitely the fun part!

Vegan red velvet recipe coming soon - watch this space!