Desserts
Raspberry chocolate cake
Pure decadence
Serves 12
Ingredients
Vegan margarine, for greasing
300g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
300g granulated sugar
375ml soya milk
125ml rapeseed oil
7 tbsp seedless raspberry jam
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the icing
40ml soya milk
85g vegan dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
1 tbsp maple syrup
Fresh raspberries, to decorate
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.
Grease a 23cm/9 inch cake tin and line with baking paper.
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl and stir in the salt and sugar.
Pour the soya milk into a medium saucepan and add the oil, raspberry jam and vanilla extract.
Place over a medium heat and whisk to combine.
Stir into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Transfer to the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
To make the icing, heat the soya milk in a small saucepan until boiling, then stir in the chocolate until melted.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the icing sugar and maple syrup.
Set aside to cool before icing the cake. Top with a few fresh raspberries.
Spiced apple and date pie (raw)
Delicious
Ingredients
For the crust
150g dried apples, roughly chopped
480ml apple juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
8 dates, soaked
½ tsp cinnamon
Large pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp maple syrup
Small pinch of sea salt
For the topping
90g pecans or walnuts, finely chopped
4 big fat dates, finely chopped
½ tsp vanilla extract
Large pinch of ground cinnamon
Method
Soak the dried apples in the apple juice for an hour.
To make the crust, pulse all the ingredients in a blender until a rough, sticky crumble is formed.
Gently press the crust down into a shallow pie dish or plate roughly 23cm in diameter.
Pop it into the fridge for 1 hour to firm up.
Drain the dried apples, which should now be soft and plump. Core and chop the fresh apples, leaving the peel on, and put them in the lemon juice.
Put half the fresh apples into a blender with the dates, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, maple syrup and salt, and pulse until well combined.
Pour in a little of the apple juice from the dried apples if the filling is too thick.
Add the rest of the fresh and dried apples, then spoon on to the pie crust and smooth out.
To make the topping, mix together the pecans, dates and vanilla in a bowl and spread over the top of the pie to form a crust.
Sprinkle with the cinnamon.
Cover and place in the fridge for an hour to chill.
Serve at room temperature.
Berry muffins
Simply divine
Serves 12
Ingredients
160g hard coconut oil
3/4 cup (175ml) medjool date paste (make it here)
1 tsp ground vanilla beans
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp flaxseed meal + 5 tbsp warm water)
1 3/4 cups (231g) self-raising flour
2/3 cup (150ml) soy milk
1 cup (175g) mixed berries
Method
Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius and prepare a cupcake tin with 12 medium cupcake wrappers.
In a medium sized bowl using electric beaters, beat coconut oil until smooth.
Add date paste and beat for 2 minutes or until well combined.
Add vanilla beans and flax eggs and mix until smooth.
Add flour and soy milk and fold into mixture.
Pour batter into prepared cupcake cases.
Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until the cupcakes are firm and well risen.
Ice if desired, and enjoy!