Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake (LF) (GF)

Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake is just yum! I made it for my birthday cake this year and of course it's dairy-free and lactose-free so my awesome partner could help me devour it. As a bonus it's also gluten-free! Here I served it with dairy-free creme patissiere, berry coulis, strawberries and a sprig of mint. Amazingly simple and quick to make, it even kept moist for 3 days. I can't wait for an excuse to make another.

Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake

 

INGREDIENTS:

190g rice flour
145g maize cornflour
60g almond meal
1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
380g sugar
80g cocoa powder
3 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
500ml cold water
150ml coconut oil, melted
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

METHOD:

Turn on oven to bake at 180 degrees celcius.

Line two 24cm x 15 cm loaf tins with non-stick cooking paper.

In a bowl mix together rice flour, cornflour, almond meal, xanthan gum, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the vanilla essence, water, coconut oil and vinegar. Mix well.

Pour mixture evenly into loaf tins.

Bake for 30 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Serve with Creme patissiere, strawberries and berry coulis.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Raspberry Tarts (LF)

Chocolate Raspberry Tarts are little morsels of awesomeness! Topped with epic vegan raspberry jelly and filled with dairy free chocolate mousse you just have to go back for one more. Substitute the sweet short crust pastry (base) with a vegan alternative such as the base from my Chocolate Mousse Cake Recipe to make this an amazing vegan dessert.

Chocolate Raspberry Tarts

INGREDIENTS:

For Base:
1 2/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
10 tbsp dairy-free margarine
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp water
2 egg yolks

For Filling:
350g silken tofu
350g vegan chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla essence

For Raspberry Jelly:
1 cup raspberries
1/4 cup water
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp agar agar powder

METHOD:

Turn on oven to bake at 180 degrees celcius

For Base:
Put flour, salt and sugar into a bowl.
Add margarine and rub until mixture is like breadcrumbs.
Add vanilla, water and egg yolks.
Mix together and knead into a soft smooth ball of dough.
Place in fridge for at least 15 minutes.
Roll out pastry to about 2-3mm thickness.
Cut circles out of the pastry to line the holes in a mini-muffin tray.
Bake blind for 8 minutes. Remove baking blind material and bake for 1 minute.
Remove from oven tray and set aside to cool.
Continue to bake pastry cups until pastry is used up.

For Filling:
Place tofu and vanilla essence into a blender or food processor.
Over a double boiler, melt chocolate.
Add melted chocolate to blender and quickly start whizzing the mixture until smooth.
Spoon into the cooled bases.

Place into fridge for at least 2 hours or until set.

For the Jelly:
Put raspberries and water into a small saucepan.
Mash the raspberries into the water with a fork.
Add the sugar and bring to the boil.
Add agar agar powder and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Place a non-stick silicon mat into a large flat bottomed tray (such as a swiss roll tin).
Pour raspberry jelly mixture onto mat and refrigerate overnight or until set.
Cut small shapes from the jelly and layer over the set chocolate tarts - I used a square cutter and two jelly layers to give the tarts some height.

Makes 48 bite-sized tarts.

Quick Tips:
- I don't have a double boiler so to melt the chocolate I use a glass or metal bowl on top of a saucepan of boiling water - just need to be careful of the steam, I often wear an oven glove on the hand holding the bowl.
 - You can also use a microwave to melt the chocolate by microwaving in stints of no more than 20 seconds at a time (often much less once heated through), stirring in between each stint.
 - Make sure you start whizzing the filling mixture as soon as the melted chocolate has been added because the chocolate will start cooling and solidifying as soon as you add it.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Mousse Cake Recipe (GF) (LF)

Chocolate Mousse Cake is yummy but a bit different. Similar in texture to cheesecake, you'll love this one if you're lactose-intolerant. Again, amazingly it's also gluten-free and vegan - no animal products here. I used 4 mini-springform pans here but a single 20-24cm springform pan can be used. 

Chocolate Mousse Cake

INGREDIENTS:

For Base:
2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup ground toasted pecans
1/2 cup almond meal
4 tbsp melted margarine
1/2 tsp baking soda

For Filling:
1 pkt (~320g) silken tofu
2 cups (~340g) vegan chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla essence

For Garnish:
Berries such as blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries etc

METHOD:

For Base:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Lightly oil 4 mini-springform pans [or a single 20-24cm springform pan]
Combine almond and pecan ingredients into a bowl.
Mix in baking soda.
Stir in melted margarine.
Press into springform pan(s) using the back of a spoon.

Pressing in the base...

Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and leave to cool.

For Filling:
Place tofu and vanilla essence into a blender (or food processor with an 's' blade).
Over a double boiler, melt chocolate.
Add melted chocolate to blender and quickly start whizzing the mixture until smooth.
Spoon into cooled bases in the springform pans and level off with a spatula.

Adding the Filling

Place into fridge for at least 2 hours or until set.

All filled, levelled off and now in the fridge to set

To remove, gently warm the outside of the tin before removing outer ring of the pan.
Serve with a mixture of berries.

Quick Tips:
- I don't have a double boiler so to melt the chocolate I use a glass or metal bowl on top of a saucepan of boiling water - just need to be careful of the steam, I often wear an oven glove on the hand holding the bowl.
 - You can also use a microwave to melt the chocolate by microwaving in stints of no more than 20 seconds at a time (often much less once heated through), stirring in between each stint.
 - Make sure you start whizzing the filling mixture as soon as the melted chocolate has been added because the chocolate will start cooling and solidifying as soon as you add it.
- If you don't have berries, fresh oranges can be used; this is more than just garnish, it helps to cut through the richness of the chocolate filling by giving a refreshing fruity burst.

Enjoy!

Lime Meringue Pie Recipe (LF)

Lime Meringue Pie is a tangy take on my most commonly baked dessert, lemon meringue pie. This time it's not just lactose-free....with the help of  Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero's "Vegan Pie in the Sky" pg 100 it's vegan too. Even the whipping on the top is vegan! This is essentially Isa and Terry's recipe with a few tweaks to suit my fancy.

Lime Meringue Pie with Vegan Whipping!

INGREDIENTS:

For Crust:
1 3/4 cup vegan biscuit crumbs
3 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp melted margarine
1 tbsy almond milk

For Filling:
1 1/2 cups almond milk
2 tbsy tapioca flour
1 1/2 tsp agar powder
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup lime juice
1 tbsp grated lime zest
1 tsp vanilla extract

For Garnish:
Vegan Whipping (click here for recipe)

METHOD:


For Crust:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Combine biscuit crumbs and sugar in a bowl. Drizzle in melted margarine.
Use a spoon to mix around then add almond milk and stir to form a crumbly dough.
Press into a 22cm pie plate.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until firm.
Cool before adding filling

For Filling:
Mix together almond milk, tapioca flour and agar powder in a saucepan. Boil and stir constantly for about 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
Very slowly whisk in coconut milk.
Add sugar, lime juice and zest.
Whisk often for about 10 minutes then turn off heat and add vanilla extract.
Pour into pie shell.
Allow to cool for about half an hour then refrigerate for at least 3 hours until set.

Garnish with Vegan Whipping.

Enjoy!

Just desserts here

Vegan Whipping Recipe (LF)

Vegan Whipping is an alternative to cream so those dessert loving vegans or lactose intolerant people can have whipping too. Aside from a few tweaks this is essentially a recipe taken out of Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero's "Vegan Pie in the Sky." I figure this proves that that the recipe is possible - it's quite unusual.

Vegan Whipping - It's Vegan!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup natural cashews, soaked overnight
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup almond milk
3/4 tsp agar powder
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD:
Place a large metal bowl in the freezer.
Drain cashews and blend in food processor or strong blender with the coconut milk and 1/2 cup almond milk until completely smooth, rub the mixture between your fingers to ensure no graininess is left.
Heat the remaining almond milk, agar powder and sugar in a small saucepan.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Make sure blender is ready...
Add the coconut oil to the saucepan and stir to melt.
Stream the warm mixture into the blender or food processor whilst blending.
Blend for about a minute on high then add vanilla extract and pulse to mix.
Transfer mixture to chilled metal bowl.
Place in freezer for about 30 minutes to get it very cold but not frozen.
Remove from freezer - it should be cold all the way through, rubbery looking and firm.
Beat well using a hand mixer until peaks form and the mixture is smooth and fluffy.
Cover tightly with cling film and place in freezer for at least 3 hours - the longer it is left the fliffier it gets so best results achieved if left overnight.
Remove from freezer and beat again with the hand mixer.
Use it to garnish yummy pies like lime meringue pie (which is also vegan!)

Can be kept stored in a tightly sealed container for up to 5 days.

Enjoy!

Just desserts here