Chocolate Cake

This is an awesome chocolate cake recipe, it is really moist, stays together and super chocolatey. I took this recipe from La Dolce Vegan!

1 1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup cold water

Preheat oven to 175 C. Oil an 8 inch cake pan.

In a bowl stir together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add oil, vinegar, vanilla, and water and stir til just combined.

Pour into the cake tin and bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Put a knife in the middle it should come out clean if it’s done. Let it cool completely before putting on the frosting.

Chocolate frosting

2 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup vegan margarine

1/4 cup cocoa

2 tbsp soy milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

pinch of salt

In a bowl mix all the ingredients together til smooth. Add to the cake when it is completely cool or it will drip off. x

Christmas Cheezecake

I love egg nog and I love cheesecake, so this cake pretty much just became my new boyfriend.

EGG NOG CHEEZECAKE

Crust

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup sunflower oil

1 3/4 cups plain flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Filling

1 350g package extra firm light silken tofu
8-ounce Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 teaspoons rum essence
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 180 C.Grease a 9-inch springform pan.

Add all crust ingredients into a bowl and mix into a dough. Press into the bottom of the greased pan and place in the oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile add the cream cheese and drained tofu into a food processor until creamy. Add sugar and the soymilk, blend again for a couple of minutes. Add all the remaining products and blend.

Once the crust is done, turn the oven down to 170 C.

Pour the filling into the pan on top of the crust and place back in the oven for 55 minutes. Turn off the oven after the 55 minutes and allow the cake to cool in the oven. Once the cake has cooled place in the fridge for 8 hours or til set. Serve.

VEGANS TAKE OVER THE WORLD!

World Vegan Day is coming up again on the 1st November. It is an amazing day with lots of food, information, beauty products and lots of cruelty free goodness. For more info check out www.wvd.org.au

<3

Sugar Dumpling!

I veganised my aunts dumplings for dessert tonight because they are one of the best and easiest things to make when you have a sweet tooth! I have become quite slack with blogging well pretty much since I got this, strange really since I am only ever either in the kitchen or at uni so this blog should be full!

Anyway here it is-

Golden Syrup Dumplings

Dumplings:

1 1/4 cups of Self Raising flour

2 TBSP nuttelex or any vegan margarine

1/3 cup soy milk

1/3 golden syrup

Sauce:

2 TBSP nuttelex

3/4 brown sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 golden syrup

Sauce -

1. Place all ingredients into a saucepan

2. mix together and let it all come to the boil, then turn it down to simmer – everything should be dissolved.

Dumplings -

3.  Put the flour into a bowl and rub butter into it with your fingers (hate this part)

4. Pour in golden syrup and milk and mix in til it forms a moist dough

5. Now take TBSPs of mix and roll them into balls and place into the sauce, once they’re all in put the lid on and allow to simmer for about 25 mins or until golden and puffy!

xx

Why not?

Animal Liberation Victoria are doing a 30 day, go vegan challenge. They will send you a full 30 day menu made by their chefs for free! Infact just by entering you could win $1000!

If you have been thinking about going vegetarian or vegan but dont really know what to eat, and are worried about being able to maintain a balanced diet, then this is the challenge for you!

Even if you are not successful in converting into a vegan or vege, you can still get a good handful of recipes you can cook that are animal friendly, and the more meat-free days you can achieve the happier our fellow animals will be!

here’s the link:

http://www.alv.org.au/veganchallenge.php

Give it a go and do something postive for our planet!

Rhianna xx

Soy Vanilla Slices!

Vanilla slices take me back to being a kid on holidays with my family up at Port Elliot, a beach town a few hours outside of Adelaide. They remind me of long days at the beach, camping by the water and the daily visit to the famous bakery in Port Elliot, where of course I’d get a vanilla slice! I found this recipe for soy vanilla slice at – http://www.ivu.org/recipes/desserts/soy-j.html.

They turned out really well, If you like them as much as me, then you should check out that website and give them a try!

chocolate peanut butter cheesecake

Preheat oven to 190 degrees celcius

Grease a 9 inch spring form pan

Crust:

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 canola oil

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla essence

1  cup plain flour

Filling:

4 x 8-ounce containers of tofutti better than cream cheese

1 x 12-ounce box silken tofu

1 1/4 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1/3 cup plain flour

Chocolate topping:

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

Crust:

Combine in a bowl all crust ingredients til it forms a dough, you can add a little more flour or water til you reach the right consistency, you dont want it to be too dry or too sticky.

Press dough into the greased spring form pan and prick it with a fork. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. remove from oven and turn oven down to 175 C

Filling:

Combine cream cheese, and tofu in a food processor until smooth. Add peanut butter and process til smooth. Then add sugar, blend til smooth. Add flour and vanilla, blend and scrape down sides as necessary. Pour filling into the prepared pan. Place on top rack of the oven and also place a pan of water on the lower rack of the oven. Bake cake for 60 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in for an additional hour. Once the hour is up remove from the oven and allow it to completely cool.

Chocolate topping:

Combine all ingredients and stir til smooth. spread it evenly over the cheesecake and then refrigerate for at least 8 hours or over night!

and voila!

peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

This is for anyone who loves the peanut butter chop chip combo! If you dont like peanut butter you can just add more margarine in place of it.

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup brown sugar (heaped)

1/4 cup of melted nuttelex

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon molasses or golden syrup

Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. Combine all dry ingredients. then add margarine, peanut butter and molasses.  Add choc chips. Mix into a dough.

separate the dough into small balls, the mix should make about 12 of them. Then using a fork flatten the dough so it’s about 1cm thick. put them in the oven and cook for about 10 mins or until slightly golden, they will harden once cool.

cheesecake yuuuum

So i have been extremely slack at updating my blog! but i have holidays coming up so maybe i will be more frequent with entries but its pretty unlikely. I made vegan cheesecake and after testing a few recipe’s i finally found one that i think is veganlicious! I got it from Aduki mag!

so here it is, give it a try!

Ingredients

Crust

500g McVitie’s Digestive or HobNob biscuits, crushed

1–2 tablespoons unrefined sugar

1/4 cup melted Nuttelex (or another vegan margarine)

Cheesecake Batter

300g packet silken tofu

2 tubs vegan cream cheese, I like toffuti

1/4 cup lemon or lime juice

1/2 cup apple sauce

1/3 to 1/2 cup unrefined sugar

3 tablespoons custard powder

Berry Topping

200g frozen berries

1–2 tablespoons agave nectar

1 cup mix of lemon and orange juice and water

3 tablespoons cornflour

Method

Crust

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

In a food processor, grind the biscuits to form crumbs. Slowly add the sugar and the melted Nuttelex to form a crumbly mix that stays together when pressed between the fingers.

Press this mix into a greased springform pan to form a crust along the bottom and up the sides. Put into the oven and bake for about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Cheesecake Batter

Put the vegan cream cheese and the tofu into the food processor, and blend together. Add the juice, applesauce, and sugar, and blend until combined. Finally, add the custard powder and blend until smooth.

Pour the batter into the cooled crust, and put in the preheated oven. Bake for about 45 to 60 minutes – make sure to turn it at least once to allow for even cooking. Turn off oven when the cheesecake is done, and leave the cheesecake in for another 30 minutes.   When done, the top will crack, and the batter will pull away from the sides. The centre will still be a little wobbly, but this will firm up when the cheesecake is cooled.

Berry Topping

Whisk the cornflour and the 1 cup mix of liquid together and pour into a saucepan. Put the saucepan on a medium high heat and stir the mix constantly until it begins to thicken. Add the agave nectar and a quarter of the berries. Stir constantly until completely thickened. Add the remaining berries, stir through thoroughly, and then cool a little.

Once the berry topping has cooled to a medium heat, pour over the top of the cheesecake still in the springform pan.  Allow the cheesecake to cool for about an hour at room temperature, and then refrigerate for at least three hours. Keep refrigerated.

Enjoy!

Brownie points

My good friend Canadian Rich, introduced me to this brownie recipe a few years ago now, I believe it was handed down to him by a friend back home (or perhaps a saint I cant be too sure). They are by far my favourite chocolate treat of all time and they make the house smell of chocolaty heaven.

Canadian Rich’s Heavenly Vegan Brownies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup hot water with a heaped tablespoon of coffee disolved in it
3/4 cup soymilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup walnuts (I generally don’t add these because I have fussy walnut hating friends, but they do give the brownies a lovely texture)
1/2 cup choc chips (please use tropical source if you can get them, they make the world of difference)

glaze:
7 oz (210 g) dark, chocolate chips (once again tropical source if you can)
5 oz (150 g) vegan margarine

Directions:
1) Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees celcius.  Prepare a 9×9 pan by greasing it and then lining it with parchment paper.

2) Sift together the flour, cocoa, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In a separate bowl, stir together the coffee, soy milk and vegetable oil.  Combine the wet and dry and mix well.  Stir walnuts into the batter (if you use them).  Pour the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle
the top with choc chips, and bake for 25 – 35 mins depending on your oven, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool the cake on a wire rack.

3) When the cake is cool, prepare the glaze.  In a double boiler melt the chocolate and vegan margarine.  Whisk together very thoroughly to get a smooth, rather than a streaky finish.  Pout the warm glaze over the cake, smoothing it out over the surface.  Place the pan in the fridge to set.
Divide the pan of brownies into 12 squares and enjoy!

Tip* to get a smooth, clean cut when slicing a cake, run a large knife blade
under very hot water, pat dry with a clean cloth and slice.

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