Leek & Corn Quiches

Ingredients

1 & 1/2 sheets of puff pastry (I use Borg's Extra Flakey which is vegan)
2 leeks (white parts only, thinly sliced)
1 large onion (thinly sliced)
1/2 cup corn kernels
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp vegetable stock powder
3/4 cup cooked chickpeas
3/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup besan (chickpea) flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 small tomatoes (optional)

Method

1. Heat a non stick frypan and sautee the onion and leeks with the olive oil until wilted.
2. Add corn, stir and set aside.
3. Line the holes in a 6 hole muffin pan with puff pastry. Set aside
4. Place the chickpeas, milk, onion powder, besan, stock powder, and baking powder, in a blender and blitz until smooth.
5. Divide the onion/corn mix between the six muffin holes, then add the besan flour mix.
6. Top with a slice of tomato if desired.
7. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

I served these with sweet potato chips and rocket salad. I loved them, the texture is not like egg at all, but it keeps all the ingredients together, and it really tastes gooooood.

Enjoy, would love some feedback if you make them :)

Waffles, not the prettiest but very yummy!!!

Every year my team at work has an "Evil Santa" gift exchange instead of Kris Kringle. I bought an animal shaped waffle maker. I figured that if no one wanted it, I would be happy to take it home with me.
Alas! It was very popular and several people stole it off each other. I decided to buy another for myself, as the holidays were coming and I thought my daughter would like some waffles.

It was the first time in my life to make and eat waffles. I made them with eggs and milk, as I was vegetarian at the time.

This morning my daughter asked me to make her waffles. I had read in the Vegan Meringue Hits & Misses facebook group that people had successfully  made waffles with Aqua Faba (water from a can of chickpeas.

So vaguely remembering the omni recipe, I started with my conversion.

The mishap that I had with these was that I forgot to oil the waffle maker until it was hot, and then it was too hard to get the oil into the grooves, and the waffles stuck a little. Yet they were crispy and delicious. I highly recommend them being made in a regular waffle maker which has been properly oiled before heating.

Ingredients

90gms aqua faba
90gms spelt flour
90gms oat milk
1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder
Pinch of salt
20gms maple syrup

Method

1. Oil and heat your waffle maker.
2. Place the aqua faba in a bowl or in a jar so that you can beat it to stiff peaks. I have a stick blender with a whisk attachment, so I had my aqua faba in a tall plastic cup.
3. In a bowl mix all the other ingredients to form a thick batter.
4. Add two tablespoons of the stiff aqua faba to the flour mix, to loosen it a little.
5. Add two more tablespoons but be a lot gentler this time, continue two tablespoons at a time until it has all been incorporated. The mix will be light and bubbly.
6. Cook on your waffle maker as per instructions.
7. Serve with syrup, fruit or chocolate sauce.

Mushroom Wellington

Ingredients

4-6 Sheets of Borg's Extra Flakey Puff Sheets
1 small onion finely chopped
8 Swiss Brown or Large flat mushrooms
2 tbs olive oil
200gms cashew cheese*

 Method

1. Cut off the stalks from the mushrooms and set aside.
2. Brush the tops and bottoms of the mushrooms with a little olive oil and grill on each side. I use a sandwich press which has grooves on it, and they come out beautifully.
3. Chop the mushroom stalks and sautee with the onion until the onion is translucent. Allow to cool. Mix with cashew cheese. Set aside
4. Once the grilled mushrooms are cool, you can start assembling.
5. Cut large circles, (larger than the mushroom) out of the pastry, each sheet should give you 4 circles. You will need 16 circles for the 8 mushrooms.
6. Place a tablespoon of the cheese mix in the middle, press down with the grilled mushroom, and put another lid of pastry on top of the mushroom. Seal the sides.
7. Brush the tops with your preferred vegan "egg" wash. I used 2 tablespoons of aqua faba (chickpea water), 1/2 tsp tapioca starch and a pinch of tumeric.
8. Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are golden and crispy.
9. These can be frozen. There is three of us at home, so I make them, freeze them and take them out and re-heat as needed.

I served these with sweet potato chips and grilled asparagus. To make the asparagus you cut the woody part of the asparagus off, put a pinch of salt, three or four tablespoons of nutritional yeast on top, and a splash of olive oil. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. This is a family favorite :)

In regards to the cashew cheese, I make mine by boiling some cashews, drain and rise. Then blend them with oat milk, then add a bit of salt, some citric acid, and nutritional yeast.

The lattice is time consuming but worth while if you like making pretty things. I have also made these with plain tops. You can decorate them with pastry hearts cut out from the pastry offcuts :)

Enjoy

Pasta Frola de Chocolate y avellanas - Chocolate & Hazelnut Tart

Pasta frola is a tart made in Uruguay and Argentina, traditionally filled with softened quince paste. I have been making this tart all my life, and I have now converted the recipe to be vegan.

The original recipe came in a little pamphlet that was distributed with Royal baking powder in Uruguay. This is the original recipe in Spanish.

I used spelt flour instead of regular wheat flour, subbed the eggs for a thick aqua faba and used Nuttelex Buttery to replace the butter. I also filled it with a hazelnut paste that I made yesterday.

Here is my updated recipe.

Pasta Frola

Ingredients

240gms Spelt Flour
10gms baking powder
125gms Nuttelex Buttery
100gms raw organic sugar
 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
4tbs (60gms) aqua faba (Chickpea brine, must be thick)

Method

Step 7

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Prepare a 23cm tart tin or pan by greasing with nuttlex. Set aside.
3. Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.
4. Cream the nuttelex with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
5. Start adding sugar to the nuttelex whilst mixing, ensuring that it stays light and creamy.
6. Add the aqua faba,  one tablespoon at a time, whilst you continue to mix. Ensure that each tablespoon is fully incorporated before adding the next. This will ensure that the nuttelex/sugar/aquafaba mix stays light and fluffy and doesn't separate.
7. Add lemon rind and mix till incorporated.
8. Using a spoon add all the flour to the mix and then gently fold in.
9. Scrape all the contents of your bowl onto a well floured bench.
10. Lightly knead, until the dough comes together. Do not over knead of the dough will become tough.
11. Roll out 2/3s of your dough and place on the bottom of your tart tray. Trim so that the sides are nicely even. (See images)
12. Spread the hazelnut chocolate mix and use the remaining dough to decorate with strips.
13. Bake for approximately 30 minutes. The tart should not brown.
14. Remove from oven and allow to cool, sprinkle lightly with icing sugar and serve cold.
15. Love as a dessert or with a cup of tea :)

Step 12

Hazelnut Paste

Ingredients

3/4 cup (100gms) raw hazelnuts

1/3 cup of maple syrup

1/3 cup of oat milk

1/3 cup of cacao powder

Method

1. Boil hazelnuts in water for 30 minutes or until softened.
2. Remove as much of the skins as possible.
3. Blend hazelnuts with remaining ingredients until a smooth paste is formed. 
4. Use as desired, on pancakes or on a tart.

Pizza Scrolls - Lunchbox Special

This is a recipe from kidspot, which I changed a little as the recipe on that page did not work for me, as it was too much moisture from the yoghurt for the small amount of flour. So I tweaked it.

Before becoming vegan, I made this many times. I used to make these for my daughter to take to kinder, and today I made them so she can take them to school for her lunch. The original recipe uses Greek yoghurt. I made it with Coyo which is vegan.

They are super easy to make. I have often used this dough as a pizza base, and also add 1 heaped tablespoon of nutritional yeast. Yum!

Ingredients

1 cup of white spelt flour (plus 1/4 - 1/2 cup for kneading)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup of Coyo (Coconut yoghurt)

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup of passata or pasta sauce

A pinch of oregano and thyme

2 tbs Bio Vegan Cheese (Grated)

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.
2. Prepare a cookie sheet by covering with non stick baking paper
3. Put flour and salt in a bowl. Whisk to combine. 
4. Add yoghurt and form a dough.
5. Empty bowl contents onto a well floured bench, and knead for a couple of minutes.The dough will be quite sticky and will keep absorbing more flour from the bench.
   
6. When the dough has come together. Roll it out into a large rectangle, about 3 mm thick.
7. Spread the passata on the dough, and leave a 5 cm edge on the long side without sauce. Sprinkle with herbs and cheese. 
8. Roll up into a long sausage and cut into scrolls.
9. Place on the cookie tray and bake for 15-20 minutes.

These can be frozen in an airtight container.

Lemon Cupcakes (Egg & Dairy Free)

This vegan recipe is a tweak on a cake I made about 5 years ago. I made these as cupcakes with regular sugar in order to get a nicer coloured cupcake.

This was the original recipe
Lemon coconut buttercake

Here is the tweaked recipe. Also, I used a bit of self raising flour, because I ran out of plain flour.

Lemon Cupcakes Ingredients

230 gms self raising flour 150 gms caster sugar 4 gms grated lemon rind (this is about half the rind of a medium to small lemon) 60 gms sunflower oil 20 gms white vinegar 250 gms soy milk 1/8 tsp vanilla powder or 1 tsp vanilla essence Method Prepare a 12 hole cupcake tray with cupcake cases, and set aside. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients, wisk and set aside. In a glass jar, mix together the wet ingredients, whisk. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and gently whisk together until combined. Divide the mix into the 12 cupcake cases, and bake for 25 minutes or until done when tested with a wooden toothpick.

The lemon icing really needs a lot more work, so I won't post it just yet. But it's coming :)

Chocolate Cupcakes! (Egg & Dairy Free)

At the end of January, it was my husband's birthday. It was time to make my very first decorated vegan cake. I decided to convert a non vegan recipe that I had been using for a long time (prior to becoming vegan). Although the cake turned out nice, the cake base was not great, and I would not use that recipe again without some tweaks.

I then realised, that in 2011 I made a dairy free cake for my nephew. When I went to check on the recipe in my old blog I realised that the cake was in fact vegan. The reason I had dismissed that cake previously was because it was then filled with non vegan filling and iced with non vegan icing.

I decided to try the recipe again for cupcakes, and with the tweaks I had recommended in my old blog.

Chocolate Cupcakes Ingredients

200 gms plain flour 150 gms raw organic sugar 20 gms organic cacao powder (you can also use cocoa) 7 gms baking powder 60 gms sunflower oil 30 gms organic apple cider vinegar 250 gms oat milk 1/8 tsp vanilla powder or 1 tsp vanilla essence Method Prepare a 12 hole cupcake tray with cupcake cases, and set aside. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients, wisk and set aside. In a glass jar, mix together the wet ingredients, whisk. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and gently whisk together until combined. Divide the mix into the 12 cupcake cases, and bake for 25 minutes or until done when tested with a wooden toothpick. Chocolate Icing Ingredients 100 gms Nuttelex 150 gms icing sugar 10 gms organic cacao powder (you can also use cocoa) Method Using a hand mixer, mix the nuttelex until it is creamy and light. Add the cocoa and keep mixing, then add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, until all combined.  Ice cupcakes as desired.