vegan pancakes

So somehow another year has flown by and it's Fat Tuesday again tomorrow. Traditionally the day to use up all the eggs and milk in the form of a pancake before Lent starts. But what if you don't eat eggs and milk?

Well fear not, you can still join in the fun! This is posted with Mary in mind - she's doing a vegan experiment right now!

Ingredients
150g (5oz) plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
half teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons of rapeseed/sunflower/vegetable oil
5 tablespoons of water
300ml (half pint) of plain soy or rice or hemp milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional)

Method
Simple really!

Sift the flour, baking powder salt and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl.

Mix the oil, water and milk together with the vanilla extract into a jug.

Slowly pour the wet mix into the dry, stirring as you go until you get the consistency you like for pancake batter (I like it quite thick but a lot of people like a thin batter to make crepes). Don't overmix though or the pancakes will be tough.

Cook exactly like you'd cook a normal pancake.

Enjoy!!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

We had a little "Leaving London" party at the weekend. A house-cooling if you will! We had a lot of fun, but best of all I tried a new cupcake recipe and it made the nicest cupcakes I've tried yet! So I thought I'd share the recipe.

Ingredients
10oz/275g self raising flour
2oz/50g Cocoa powder
1teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda
8oz/225g caster sugar
8floz/250ml olive oil
5floz/150ml orange juice
5floz/150ml cold water

Method
So simple!

Seive and mix the first four ingredients into a bowl.

Mix the last three ingredients together and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix up (preferably with an electric mixer) and put into cup cake cases.

Bake at 160 degrees C/325 degrees F/Gas Mark 3 for about 25 minutes.

Let them cool overnight before you put the frosting on. I just mixed 2oz/50g vegan margerine, 2oz/50g cocoa powder and 40z/100g of icing sugar together with a little water with an electric whisk until the consistency was right and then piped it on.

So yummy!!

Parkin

I'm a little late posting this seeing as both Bonfire Night and indeed November have been and gone, but I know a couple of people were interested in this recipe. This is traditional Lancashire parkin, a Bonfire Night treat, and an old family recipe (not sure how happy my dad will be if he finds out I've gone and put it on line!)

Rachel's Dad's Bonfire Night Parkin :)

Ingredients
100g butter or margarine
100g black treacle
200g golden syrup
100g dark brown sugar
200g self raising flour
2tsp ginger
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g oatmeal or rolled oats
1 egg
half a cup of milk

Method
Put the oven 15o degrees C and grease and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
Heat the butter in a saucepan with the treacle, syrup and sugar until they are all melted together, then take off the heat.
Sieve together the flour, cinnamon and bicarb and then stir in oatmeal. Gradually add the cooled syrup mixture, stirring all the time and don't let it get lumpy.
Beat the egg and milk together and add that, stirring until you get a thick batter.
Pour into the baking tray and cook for about an hour. Cool and cut into squares and store in an airtight containers for about 3 days (it tastes much better if you wait). Keep in a cool dark place but NOT the fridge.

Enjoy x

It's Halloween....

So here's a recipe for pumpkin and caramelised onion tart...

Ingredients

Pastry (either a pre-prepared pastry tart case or make one yourself with either ready pastry or your own recipe - have it baked and ready to go)
25g butter (or margarine)
3 sliced onions
500g pumpkin (peeled and chopped)
3 eggs
300ml milk (or soy milk)
50g grated cheese

Method

1. Heat the butter in a frying pan and add the onions and a seasoning of your choice. Cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes until golden brown and caramelised.
2. Steam or boil the pumpking for 7 minutes until soft. Drain well and mash.
3. Beat the eggs and milk together and stir in half of the cheese, the onions and the pumpkin. Pour the mixture into your pastry case and then scatter the remaining cheese over the top.
4. Bake on 180C (Gas Mark 4) for 20-25 minutes

Apple Porridge Pancakes

So Autumn is here - my favourite season. I love the crisp sunny mornings, the colours of the leaves and of course I love the food that is around right now. So as a little break from all the pumpkin recipes floating around in the internet at the moment, let's use up some apples! I'm afraid this recipe isn't completely vegan as I really haven't found a good substitute for eggs in the UK. If you know of one, use it instead. The yoghurt can, obviously, be non-diary.

Ingredients
30g wholewheat flour
50g rolled oats
1.5 tsp of baking powder
1 egg
Ground cinnamon
Half an apple, cored and grated
60ml fresh apple juice
50g natural yoghurt

Method
Grind the oats in a food processor until they resemble coarse ground flour. Mix with the flour, baking powder and a couple of pinches of cinnamon in a bowl.

Whisk egg and add it to the flour mix

Whisk the yoghurt and apple juice together until you get a smooth batter about the consistency of double cream

Add the grated apple

Cook like fritters in a frying pan. Make sure the oil is really hot before you start.

They make the yummiest breakfast - served hot with some honey (or syrup for vegans!)

Rachel's Vegan Banana Date Muffins

Ingredients

60z/175g of wholemeal self raising flour
1.5oz/40g organic caster sugar or demerara sugar
2oz/50g vegan margarine
4fl.oz/125ml soya milk mixed with about three tablespoons of water
1 mashed banana
2oz/50g chopped dates

Method

Mix flour and sugar together in a bowl.

Melt the margarine in the microwave and add to the flour/sugar mix along with the soya milk/water mix and stir it all up.

Add the banana and dates - mix it up!

Divide the mixture into paper muffin cases in a muffin tin (should make between 6 and 9 depending how big you like your muffins!) and bake at 180 degrees C/350 degrees F/Gas Mark 4 for 25 minutes.

Will take you about 5 minutes to whip up a batch of these -- they are low fat and great for breakfast.