Vegan chocolate orange cake

This is cheating mildly, as it's a slightly modified recipe from a little book of vegan cakes called the 'Cake Scoffer'. I had to put it up here though, because it's ridiculously rich and yummy and has been a hit with a lot of friends and colleagues!

For the cake:

100ml oil (vegetable or sunflower
180ml water (or orange juice)
170g sugar
280g self raising flour
30g cocoa
2 tsp baking powder

1. Warm the oil, water and sugar gently in a pan until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool for a few minutes

2. Sift the dry ingredients then gradually add the water / oil / sugar mixture. Mix well

3. Divide into two lined sandwich tins. The mixture is fairly stiff and cooks pretty much however you put it into the tins, so it's probably best to smooth it down with the back of a spoon before putting it into the oven to avoid ending up with very wonky cakes!

4. Bake at 180C for 20-25 mins

5. Leave to cool, then ice as below.


For the icing:

60g margarine
3 tbsp orange juice
200g icing sugar
60g cocoa
1tsp orange essence

1. Melt margarine over a very low heat

2. Mix in other ingredients with a wooden spoon and leave to cool

3. Once cool, beat until stiff with an electric mixer or whisk

4. Use to fill the middle and cover the top of the cake

Spicy Biscuits

These are particularly well-suited to Christmas, but good all year round. Especially if you have fun shaped biscuit cutters!

110g soya margarine

140g caster sugar

1 tbsp soy milk (water would do too if you don't have soy milk handy)

250g plain flour (a gluten-free blend works just as well)

1 level tbsp soy flour

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp cinnamon

1. Cream margarine and sugar together

2. Beat in the soy milk or water

3. Sift together the plain flour, soy flour, cinnamon and mixed spice and gradually stir in to the margarine and sugar mixture

4.Knead the dough well

5. Roll out onto a floured surface, cut into shapes with biscuit cutters, lay out on a greased baking tray and bake at 180°C for about 15 minutes until golden

Chocolate Muffins

(makes 6)

These are vegan (although be careful about what margarine and chocolate you use), and I reckon wheat-free would work too, although I've not yet had time to try. Will hopefully be able to update soon on that score...

125g plain chocolate
50g light brown sugar
25g margarine
125ml soy milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp soy flour
150g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

1. Separate out 50g of the plain chocolate and melt in a large glass bowl, over a saucepan of boiling water

2. Add the margarine to the melting chocolate and stir until all melted and combined

3. Stir in the sugar, then gradually mix in the soy milk and vanilla essence

4. Sift in the self-raising flour, soy flour, baking powder and salt, and fold together

5. Chop the remaining 75g plain chocolate and fold in

6. Separate into 6 muffin cases and bake at 200°C for 20-25 minutes

Lemon and White Chocolate Cookies

This is a variation on the cookies in the last post using... wait for it... lemon and white chocolate! They're fairly lemony, but got the stamp of approval from my colleagues today :-)

(makes 16)

110g soya margarine
85g caster sugar
85g demerara sugar
grated rind of 2 lemons

2 tbsp lemon juice

225g unsifted plain flour
1 heaped tbsp soy flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
150g chopped white chocolate

1. Cream together the margarine, two types of sugar and lemon rind

2. Beat in the lemon juice

3. Combine the two flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt in another bowl, then gradually beat into the margarine and sugar mixture

4. Stir in the chocolate

5. Split the dough into 16 pieces (it can be helpful to roll into a sausage shape and chop up to ensure even-ish distribution), then roll each piece into a ball and flatten

6. Bake on greased baking trays in a preheated oven at 190°C for about 10 mins. Leave to cool on the trays

WHEAT FREE OPTION:
These can easily be made with a plain, wheat-free flour blend, although when I tried it, I had to use a fair bit more flour (probably 50-100g more). As a guide, by the end of stage 3, the dough should be soft, but not sticky enough to leave bits clinging to your hands when touched.

Orange Choc Chunk Cookies

(makes 16)

110g soya margarine
85g caster sugar
85g demerara sugar
grated rind of 2 oranges

1/2 tsp orange essence
2 tbsp orange juice

200g unsifted plain flour
1 heaped tbsp soy flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
150g chopped dark chocolate

1. Cream together the margarine, two types of sugar and orange rind

2. Beat in the orange essence and juice

3. Combine the two flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt in another bowl, then gradually beat into the margarine and sugar mixture

4. Stir in the chocolate

5. Split the dough into 16 pieces (it can be helpful to roll into a sausage shape and chop up to ensure even-ish distribution), then roll each piece into a ball and flatten

6. Bake on greased baking trays in a preheated oven at 190°C for about 10 mins. Leave to cool on the trays

WHEAT FREE OPTION:
These can easily be made with a plain, wheat-free flour blend, although when I tried it, I had to use a fair bit more flour (probably 50-100g more). As a guide, by the end of stage 3, the dough should be soft, but not sticky enough to leave bits clinging to your hands when touched.

Lentil Bolognese

This recipe makes enough bolognese for about 6 portions... But it keeps well in the fridge and freezes fine too. It's also very versatile... The basic recipe works as spaghetti bolognese, as a filler in lasagne, or with rice / mashed potatoes etc...

1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
3 medium sized carrots
200g red lentils
500ml vegetable stock
2 tins chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp marjoram
couple of bay leaves

1. Chop the onion, crush the garlic and fry gently in a little oil for about 5 mins

2. Grate the carrots, add to the onion and garlic and fry for a few more mins until soft.

3. Add the lentils (remember to soak first if necessary, depending on the instructions on the packet) and the vegetable stock. Cover and boil rapidly for 10 mins.

4. Add the remaining ingredients (tomatoes, tomato puree and herbs) and simmer for about half an hour, until the bolognese is at the right consistency.

And it's as easy as that :)

Pancakes

This recipe is for Scotch pancakes, which are smaller and thicker... like American-style pancakes rather than crepes. I do have a recipe for crepes somewhere too, so I'll post that at some point.

For about 8 pancakes:

125g plain flour
1tbsp soy flour
1tbsp caster sugar
1 ½tsp baking powder
250ml soy milk

1. Sift the flour, soy flour and baking powder together in a large bowl

2. Stir in the sugar

3. Make a well in the middle and gradually beat in the milk. Whisk all ingredients together for a few minutes until they are well mixed. The batter should be thick enough not to spread too much when dropped in the pan, as this way the pancakes will stay thicker and rise nicely.

4. Leave the batter to stand for about 10 mins (some people swear this works, others say it doesn't make a blind bit of difference, so depending on your opinion, this stage is optional!)

5. Grease a small, non-stick frying pan with a little vegan margarine or vegetable oil and heat over a low heat until smoking slightly.

6. Using a ladle, gently pour a small amount of batter into the pan. Once the pancake has bubbled and set, flip so that the other side cooks.

7. Serve with whatever takes your fancy. I've had these with raspberries and maple syrup, which is lovely. Bananas also work well, and vegan ice cream could be added for a bit of a treat :)