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 21 Dish 1: Vegan Raspberry scones

I had an amazing workout today, first one of the new year! Need to regain my fitness after all the laziness and eating during Christmas. I really went full out, with my normal workout plus some interval training. Felt so good afterwards, nothing like an endorphin rush to start the day. I just hope I won't ache tomorrow, especially because I plan on doing the same workout again!

To carry on the trend of healthier bakes (however long that will last) I baked yummy vegan raspberry scones. I was so surprised that I managed to get really cheap fresh raspberries and blueberries (2 punnets for £1.50, and they were really sweet too) last week so I made the most of them! But of course you can use frozen ones too.

Makes 6-8
Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/3 cup honey/ agave nectar/ maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup hot water
1 cup fresh raspberries (or frozen) - you can replace this with other berries e.g. blueberries or blackberries
Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and salt. 
3. Add the oil, agave nectar and vanilla and stir until a thick batter is formed. Pour in the hot water and mix. Finally, gently fold in the raspberries until they are evenly distributed. If you are using frozen ones, let them thaw first.
4. Scoop 1/3 cup of batter onto the tray for each scone. Space them 1 inch apart to allow for spread and bake for 14 minutes, rotating the tray 180 degrees half way through.
5. let the scones stand for 15 minutes before removing from the tray and cooling completely on a wire rack. 

Original recipe: Vegan raspberry scones