(NOT VEGAN) Skull and crossbones baileys and hotchocolate jelly

As promised, here is my 5th dish! Like dish 4, this one is also NOT VEGAN. But as you will see, its a very flexible and adaptable recipe. In fact, it's not really much of a recipe at all, its more of an idea. When I first thought up this blog (only a week ago!) I got very excited and bought a few silicone tray moulds to experiment with. Being a medical student, I actually tried to find ones shaped like organs (LOL) but unfortunately could find any - so I got the next best thing, and it arrived a couple of days ago!!

Skull and crossbones!!
Ingredients
Baileys Irish cream
Hot chocolate
Agar-agar powder (1 g per 100 ml, from VB, really expensive in health food shops)
A funky silicone mould tray
A set of standard silicone muffin cups (or shapes of your choosing, as long as the funky ones fit into these)
(I haven't put any amounts because it depends on your moulds - you can measure how much water goes into them first so that you know how much you will need)
Method

1. Heat the Baileys in a pan. Add in 1 g of agar-agar powder per 100 ml (though I used 2 g per 100 ml of Baileys to make it set firmer and therefore easier to take out of such a tricky mould) and whisk until all the powder has dissolved. Pour into the mould and set in the freezer for 30-40 minutes or until well set.
2. Heat the hot chocolate in a saucepan with 1 g of agar-agar powder per 100 ml and whisk until all the powder has dissolved. Allow to cool until it begins to thicken.
3. Carefully remove the baileys from the mould (tip: pull the tray away from the edges of the jelly before you try to pop it out to reduce mishaps), put face down into the muffin cups and pour the hot chocolate into the gaps. Allow to set in the fridge and enjoy!!

You can easily substitute the Baileys and hot chocolate for two other drinks that go well together, and if you don't have a funky silicone tray, why not just do two layers in the silicone muffin cups instead? And if even that is too much faff for you, just mix the hot chocolate and baileys together!

(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!

Week 1 Dish 2: Ultimate vegan mango and coconut muffins

This recipe is actually one of the MOST DELICIOUS things I have EVER baked. I cannot even describe the heavenly smell in my kitchen right now, let alone the taste of these gorgeous muffins. Please make these before mango season finishes, or you are missing out! Inspiration for this recipe was that I needed something amazing to eat while watching The Great British Bake Off.

 

Makes 10 muffins
Ingredients
250 g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp linseed meal (ground linseeds - I bought whole linseeds from asda and ground them myself. Also know as flaxseed and available from Hollan and Barret too [but more expensive there])
55 g desiccated coconut, plus extra for topping
125 g caster sugar
1/3 tsp ground cardamom
175 ml soya milk
5 tbsp rapeseed oil (you can also use canola oil - I think they are more or less the same thing)
250 g fresh, ripe mango, chopped
Method

1. Preheat oven to 190° and place 10 muffin cases in a muffin tray.
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder.Mix in the linseed meal, coconut, cardamom and sugar.
3. Whisk together the soya milk and oil and stir into the mixture, adding the mango at the same time. Do not over-mix, only mix until just combined.
4. Share the mix equally between the 10 muffin cases and sprinkle each with coconut. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tray.

Original recipe from Vegan 100 everyday recipes by Parragon books.

Vegan watermelon jelly

Now this is the quickest and easiest recipe ever! All you need is agar agar powder (the vegan alternative to gelatine) aka faluda power and hey presto, jiggly jelly!! A bit of a cheat really (so I'm not counting it as one of my two dishes) but the next recipe I've got planned will make up for it, trust me ;) . Inspiration for this was the half eaten watermelon found in the second fridge that had been forgotten about!

Ingredients
Half a medium watermelon
100 g sugar (though I only used about 75g in an attempt to be healthier)
13 g agar agar powder (from VB, also available in health food shops for about 10 times the price and I'm not even exaggerating)
Method

1. Cut the watermelon into large pieces, place in a food processor and puree. 
2. Strain the juice through a fine strainer to remove the pulp and seeds (I ate this, pretty yummy so don't waste it). This made about 1 litre of juice for me. As a rough guide use 10g sugar and 1.3g agar agar powder per 100ml. 
3. In a large pan heat the watermelon juice and add the sugar and agar agar powder while regularly mixing with a whisk for 4-5 minutes. 
4. Remove from heat and pour into containers of your choice - I used silicone muffin cups. It should start to thicken fairly fast and only really takes about 1-2 hours to get to the right wobbliness, but will take longer in a big container!

Original recipe: Watermelon jelly

Like I said, easy peasy! And you can use agar agar to make a jelly out of pretty much anything (see the tips below) - I aim to try some alcoholic ones when my family finishes these ones off. Also have some fun silicone moulds on the way - actually feel excited like a little kid!

Read all about it
Agar is derived from a plant source, sets more firmly than gelatin and is really easy to use. You should use ~1g per 100ml of water or milk, and ~1.3g per 100ml of more acidic liquids such as fruit juices. If it doesn't set properly or sets too hard, you can melt it down again, add more powder or liquid and the problem is solved!

Week 1 Dish 1: Baked banana and nectarine with soya yoghurt (vegan)

A very simple and pretty healthy recipe for my first dish. The inspiration for this was really ripe bananas that would otherwise go to waste and a box of 26 nectarines for £3.99.

Looks yummy right?? Well here's the recipe:

Serves 4: 1/2 banana and 1/2 nectarine each
Ingredients
2 nectarines, pitted and cut into 8ths
2 ripe bananas, cut into chunks
4 tsps honey (agave nectar [available from health food shops like Hollan and Barret] if you're a strict vegan)
Cinnamon to taste
As much soya yogurt as you want
Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Put the nectarines in the middle of a large square of foil, drizzle with 2 tsps honey and fold the foil over to create a packet.
3. Repeat with the bananas, adding cinnamon as well as honey. 
4. Place on a baking dish (preferably not a flat one in case of juice leakage) and bake for 15 minutes until soft (the nectarines may require longer). 
5. Remove from the packets, plate up with soya yogurt, and enjoy the gooey goodness!

Original recipes: baked bananas and baked nectarines

Read all about it
The high potassium content of bananas provide protection to the cardiovascular system - helps guard against high blood pressure, atherosclerosis and stroke[1]
Nectarines contain vitamin C, anti-oxidants and other good stuff[2]