Vegan Kit Kat fingers.......

I have been intending on making Kit Kats for a long time. I bought the wafers months ago, and just never got around to doing it.

Yesterday I finally decided to do a bit of research as to what the filling in Kit Kats actually is.
Lo and behold, the filling is more Kit Kats.

Apparently Kit Kats that don't make it, as in they are not perfect, get ground up and used in the filling. So I started with the clue, that the filling has to have wafers in it.

I used these wafers (Altimate Natural Ice Cream Wafers). Please note that these are the natural and not the extra thick. The extra thick will not be as nice when you assemble the Kit Kat finger as they are too hard.
This recipe makes 8 Vegan Kit Kat fingers.

Filling Ingredients

12 wafers
50gms of icing mixture
50gms nuttelex
50gms vegan chocolate melted(I used Callebaut)

For the Assembly

16 wafers
200gms of melted callebaut chocolate

Method

1. Place your chocolate in a double boiler to melt. Keep it melted until you're ready to dip the wafers.
2. To make the filling, put the wafers in the bowl of a small food processor, or the processor that comes with a stick blender. Process until they turn to a powder.
3. Add sugar, nuttelex and chocolate and process until all combined and a uniform paste is formed.
4. Each wafer has a large pattern on one side and a small pattern on the other. Spread the filling on the large pattern. Do two at a time and then stick them together. Gently press them so that any excess filling comes out of the side. Gently scrap off the excess with a butter knife.
5. Once the 16 wafers are done,  you will have 8 sandwiched wafers. 
6. Spread filling on the top of 4 of the sandwiched wafers, and cover with the remaining ones. You will be left with 4 sandwiched wafers, each having 4 layers.
7. Cut each of these in half lengthwise.
8. Dip half the fingers in chocolate, and place on a tray to set. You can put them in the freezer to speed up the process.
9. Once that side is set, you can grab the finger and dip the other end.
10. Allow to set and voila, you're done

Snowballs

Yesterday after I got home from work I decided to make two dinners. One for that day, and one for tonight.

So I made a stew with dumplings for last night's dinner, and an eggplant, chickpea and sweet potato curry for tonight.

That left me with the juice from one can of chickpeas. Of course, it could not be thrown out. I had to do some experimenting. Although I have used aquafaba for so many things in the past, I have only made meringues once. I have not tried marshmallow, or macarons.

I decided to just start with the meringue, not sure at the time what I was going to make. I then decided to add some xanthan gum to see what would happen, and then one thing lead to another, and voila!!! Vegan snowballs :)

I had been thinking about making snowballs for a long time, but these were really not planned.

Please note that I have never worked with xantham gum before, so I have no idea if they really need baking or they would set on their own. To err on the side of caution, I would make them again, exactly the same way :)

I must say, I never imagined that they'd be so easy. It takes long because of the waiting for them to cool, but if you know how to work with xanthan you may find that you don't need to do all the waiting or baking. Let me know please :)

Ingredients

2/3 cup aqua faba ( I used the juice from one can of Macro Organic Chickpeas from Woolworths)
1 cup caster sugar
1 pinch of cream of tartar
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1-2 tbs strawberry flavouring (I used Queens, but any flavour you want to use is fine, just as long as there is no oil in it)

1 block of vegan chocolate (I used Whittakers Dark Ghana, however found it a bit too bitter, I would prefer the Coles Dark Chocolate or another brand)

2-3 TBS of desiccated coconut

Method

1. Pre heat your oven to 100C (212 F).
2. Prepare two cookie trays by lining them with non stick paper.
3. Place aquafaba in your stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment. Add cream of tartar and set to whisk on high until light and fluffy. Start adding the sugar one tablespoon at a time until it is all incorporated. Keep whisking.
4. Add flavourings, and mix well. Then add xanthan gum, and whisk for a couple of more minutes. The mixture will start to pull away from the sides.
5. Let it sit for about 10 minutes then, place it in a piping bag with a large piping tube. Preferably round, however I only had a star tip (Loyal No 17) so that is what I used.
6. Squeeze the bag, until you get the size you want, then twist the bag around, pulling up, until you are able to detach the tip from the marshmallow. Repeat until all the mix is used up. You do not need to space them more than two or so cms as they do not expand.
7. Place them in the oven for 30 minutes, or until they feel dry to the touch, they should not stick to your fingers. You do not want them to be crunchy or to have any color. If they start to color then your oven is too hot. Leave the door ajar and leave them until the oven is completely cool. I left mine overnight.
8. Using a double boiler, melt your chocolate. One block is able to cover most of the marshmallow. I used a plastic glove to grab the marshmallow and dip it in the chocolate, making sure all sides were covered, then placed on a piece of non stick baking paper. Once you have one tray done, sprinkle lightly with coconut.

Try not to eat them all at once. They're really good!!!!!

Almond & Spelt Cookies

A few months ago, I made my first batch of almond milk. It was a revelation, after years of hating the stuff, I realised, that I only hate the store bought almond milk. The homemade version, is absolutely heaven!!!

However, after making almond milk, you are left with an almond sludge. Some people use it as almond meal. I haven't made anything with almond meal for a long time, so the stuff just goes into the freezer waiting for me to get inspired to make something, anything with it.

Last weekend, I made two batches of almond milk. It was delicious. Also, it's all gone. I had quite a bit of almond sludge left over. It stared at me sadly from a bowl ont he counter, knowing that soon it would join it's brethren in the depths of my freezer, soon to be forgotten.

I couldn't take it, and in about half an hour or so, I had a batch of almond cookies made up.

Warning, these are a little bit too sweet. I will give you the recipe as I made them, however, the next time I make them, I will reduce the sugar but at least 50gms.

Nevertheless, they are awesome with a cup of chilled almond milk. These are soft cookies.

Nom noms, enjoy!!!

Ingredients

285 gms of almond sludge (leftover meal from making almond milk)
150 gms coconut nuttlex
200 gms raw organic sugar
100 gms spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder

Method

1. Break up the almond sludge, until it's crumbly.
2. Sift flour and baking powder together.
3. Cream sugar and nuttlex until light and fluffy.
4. Add almond and flour mix to the nuttlex mix. Fold in gently, to form a dough. You want to keep as much of the air beaten in as possible.
5. When thoroughly  mixed, either place the mix into a piping bag with a large star tip (Loyal No 17 has approximately 2.5cm wide star) and pipe stars or roll into 2.5 cms balls and slightly flatten.
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes, do not allow to brown too much.
7. Cool on a rack and store in an air tight container.

Polenta con tuco - Polenta bolognese

I belong to a "Vegan Foodies" group on Facebook. Each week a theme is set,and members are invited to post foods within that theme. It is just a bit of fun, and completely optional.

This week's theme is Mushrooms. Probably the easiest theme we've had since I've been a member, given that I put mushrooms in so many things :)

So here is my Polenta Bolognese. This is how we eat it in Uruguay, well except that this is my vegan version.

My whole family adores this!
The sauce below can be used for polenta or with pasta. I make a big batch and freeze leftovers.

Ingredients

1 large onion chopped
10 button mushrooms chopped finely (mine were the size of a 50c piece)
1 red capsicum (pureed or chopped)
1 small zucchini, finely chopped or grated
1 and 2/3 cup of TVP
1 large garlic clove, crushed
2 tablespoons of oil
2 cups of tomato puree or passata
3 cups of water
1 TBS mixed Italian herbs (thyme & oregano are great with this, however I use this this. )
Salt to taste
2 TBS chopped parsley

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan, and add onion, sauté until translucent.
2. Add mushrooms and stir for two minutes.
3. Add garlic, zucchini, capsicum and cook for two minutes.
4. Add TVP, passata, water and herbs. Add salt to taste.
5. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
6. Serve on top of polenta.
7. Garnish with chopped parsley.

NOTE: Cook the polenta as per packet instructions, if the polenta is too firmed when cooked, add a little water, you want it to spread out on the plate when served.

Smokey Breakfast Beans

I made a potato with breakfast beans and lime cashew cream this morning. The whole combination was delicious, but the beans were the stand out. I am sharing the recipe for the beans as they would be absolutely delectable on toast as well, or in a wrap, or on nachos.

This recipe makes enough for four people, and some leftovers. We will be having the remainder for brekkie tomorrow with toast :)

Smokey Breakfast Beans

Ingredients

1 425gm can of cannellini beans

1 425gm can of red kidney beans 

1 onion finely chopped

1 TBS olive oil

1 cup of tomato puree

2 tsp mixed herbs

2 TBS coconut sugar

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

Salt to taste

Method 

1. Heat oil in a pot, add onions and sauttee until tender and see through.
2. Add beans, PLEASE DO NOT DRAIN THE BEANS. You add the whole can, liquid and all.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, and simmer on low until thickened (about 30 minutes).
4. Serve on toast, or a roast/steamed potato. Top with avocado and cashew cream.

Lime Cashew Cream

Ingredients

2/3 cup of raw cashews

1/3 cup of water

Pinch of salt

Juice from half a lime

Method

1. Blend all ingredients until smooth. Adjust amount of lime/salt to make it more savory or tangy.

Chocolate Cupcakes (Take II)

I made these a few weeks ago, but went a bit overboard with the vinegar. I have updated the recipe because I now know it works with less. This is my first attempt.

The changes I made from my previous attempt were, to swap the type of flour used, to change the type of vinegar used (I figured that rice wine vinegar would be a lot milder than apple cider), and the type of oil used. You can really use any type of mild flavoured oil for this.

The other crucial bit that I changed was to use melted chocolate instead of cacao powder. The icing came out so silky and it tasted amazing!!! Enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

300 gms white spelt flour
225 gms raw organic sugar
30 gms organic cacao powder (you can also use cocoa)
11 gms baking powder
90 gms rice bran oil
30 gms rice wine vinegar
375 gms oat milk


Method

1. Prepare 2 x 12 hole cupcake tray with cupcake cases, and set aside (this makes 18-20).
2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
3. In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients, wisk and set aside.
4. In a glass jar, mix together the wet ingredients, whisk.
5. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and gently whisk together until combined.
6. Divide the mix into the 18 cupcake cases, and bake for 20 minutes or until done when tested with a wooden toothpick.

Chocolate Icing Ingredients

100 gms Nuttelex(or other vegan margarine) 150 gms icing sugar 100 gms semi sweet chocolate (vegan) Method Melt the chocolate in a bowl and set aside Using a hand mixer, mix the nuttelex until it is creamy and light. Add the chocolate one tablespoon at a time making sure well incorporated. Add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, until all combined.  Ice cupcakes as desired. I use a No 17 Loyal icing tip.

Zucchini & Corn muffins

Today I took my daughter on a play-date. The girl's mum made these gorgeous zucchini & corn muffins for lunch. She just threw them together and they cooked in no time at all. They were delicious!!!

She didn't use any measurements, just threw things in, but for the purpose of sharing a recipe, I re-made them and measured everything. I also added a few other bits and bobs :)

The girl's mum used a regular sized cupcake pan, but I used a large texan muffin pan. The recipe below makes 6 large muffins, or 10-12 small ones.

Ingredients

1/2 grated zucchini
1/2 a sliced red onion (I cut the onion in half then quarters, and then sliced the quarters thinly)
1 cup of frozen corn kernels
Handful of parsley (chopped)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups of white spelt flour
3 TBS Orgran No-Egg
1 tsp salt
1 cup of oat milk
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 TBS pumpkin seeds
1 TBS sesame seeds

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
2. Prepare a 6 hole (texas) cupcake pan by greasing each hole with vegan butter or a little oil. Set aside.
3. Place all dry ingredients (except seeds) in a bowl including the veggies, mix with a fork to combine.
4. Place milk and oil in a cup/jug and mix well.
5. Pour milk/oil mix over the veggie/flour mix and combine with a fork. (do not over mix)
6. Place in the pan, sprinkle with pumpkin/sesame seeds and bake for half an hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

These are delicious as an afternoon snack or for breakfast.