Sunday Bake - Peach & Plum Crumble

Its getting to that time of year when lots of local fruit stalls are selling off over ripe fruits cheap as they come to the end of their season, or that they just don't keep as long due to the hot weather. Instead of throwing them out add a little sugar and cook em' up! This summery crumble was an accidental bake yet delicious and made with 4 over ripe plums and a squashed peach.

You will need:

4-5 over ripe plums

1-2 over ripe peach

2 tbsp dairy free butter spread

100g plain flour

3 tbsp caster sugar

De-stone fruit and chop into quarters place into a Pyrex dish and sprinkle over 2 tbsp of your sugar. In a mixing bowl rub together spread and flour til its like bread crumbs and stir in last sugar. Put your crumble crumbs on top of your fruits and pat down. Bake on 170oC for 15/20 mins til golden on top and the fruit is bubbling!

I am greedy so ate it straight from the dish when it was still a little too hot... You could serve it with vanilla ice cream like the delicious one Swedish Glace do!

Sunday Bake - Very Squishy Vegan Lemon Cake

This super juicy vegan lemon cake is part bake part pudding (warning its very gooey and delicious you'll need a fork to tackle it) and perfect as a Sunday afternoon treat.

You will need:

100g golden caster sugar

100g diary free margarine spread

220g self raising flour

2 tsp egg replacement powder such as Orgran

the rind of 2 lemons

100ml almond milk

the juice of 3 lemons

2 tblsp caster sugar for syrup

Pre heat your oven at 175oC. Whisk together butter and sugar and then add lemon rind. Sift flour and egg re placement powder in slowly mixing as you go. As the mixture thickens up pour in a little almond milk to make stirring easier. You don't have to use all the milk but just enough to get your batter to a thick pouring consistency. Grease and line a medium sized loaf tin and pour all of mixture in. Bake for 30 mins until cracked and dark brown on top. Once out of the oven pour over your syrup which is simply made by mixing 2 tblsp of sugar with the juice of 2 lemons (minus pips!) If you add the syrup whilst the cake is still hot the sugary goodness seeps through making a deliciously zingy and juicy top!

You'll need a fork to eat this one and a nice pot of Darjeeling tea. x

Sunday Bake - Banana Cake with Blueberry's (vegan)

Possibly the fluffiest banana cake I have ever made.. all the extra mixing with my stick blender balloon whisk attachment has really made all the difference!

You will need:

300g self raising flour
200g golden caster sugar
200g dairy free spread such as Vitalite or Pure
2 tsp Argan egg free powder
3 very ripe/brown bananas
A handful of fresh blueberry's
Hand whisk


Pre heat your oven at 175oC. Mix the butter and sugar together in your bowl for a good few minutes to get it all light and creamy! Next add your egg free powder and bananas and mix them in thoroughly. Lastly add flour at intervals whilst whizzing with your hand mixer. Pour into a lined and greased cake tin and push your berrys onto the surface of the batter. Bake for 20 mins until golden on top.

Sunday Bake - Blueberry Tea Cake (gluten free)

A great store cupboard cake which is like a fruit scone in texture but with lots of hot juicy blueberries squishing out with every bite!

2 cups gluten free self raising flour
1/2 cup free from butter spread
2 cup icing sugar
1 tsp xanthem gum
1 tsp Argen no egg
110 ml Koko milk
1/2 tsp baking powder

Heat your oven at 170oC. Thoroughly mix together your sugar and dairy free spread and then sift in together all the dry ingredients a little at a time with a splash of the coconut milk. Continue like this until all your ingredients are combined and then beat for a few minutes to make sure you've got lots of air in as the nature of gluten free flour is to be heavy. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and set aside to cool a little.

I would serve this one hot with a jasmine tea.

Sunday Bake - Gluten Free Chocolate Brownie

I haven't posted a Sunday bake for a while so to make up for my lack of cakey goodness here is a brownie recipe that quite frankly might change your life... I also used my new cup measures set  that I picked up for £1 from our local thrift store for the first time so we are working in 'cups' today.

You will need:

1 cup 70% cocoa chocolate (melted)

1/2 cup sweet potato purée

1/2 cup icing sugar

1/3 cup gram (chickpea) flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup flax seed

1 cup frozen raspberries

1/2 cup cashew nuts

Start by heating the oven at 180oC. Peel, chop and boil your sweet potato for 10 mins and then drain and blend with a stick blender. Melt chocolate and set to one side. Now in a large mixing bowl combine, gram flour, choc, purée, flax seed, icing sugar and baking powder and blitz with stick blender until smooth. Stir in raspberry's and nuts... spoon mixture into a shallow square lined baking tin. Bake for 30 minutes.

Eat warm with a glass of cava outside in the sunshine.

Sunday Bake - Gluten Free Chapatti

This weekends sunday bake is a savoury side dish thats a simple yet staple part of our weekly menu. Though its not strictly baked but dry fried in a hot non stick pan its creamy and spongy texture could fool anyone

You will need:

140g Gram (chickpea) flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground nut oil
65 ml boiling water
1 tsp coriander seeds

Start by seiving the flour into a mixing bowl and then adding the salt and coriander seeds followed by the oil. Give it a stir. Now pour in your hot water and mix well until it comes together into a smooth yellow dough. Flour your work surface and roll out a ball of dough roughly the size of a small egg. Roll it very thin!

Now in a hot pan fry the chapatti until you see bubbles rising on the surface, roughly 30 seconds, and then flip and repeat on the other side. They are done when the surface is covered with brown speckles. Enjoy with soups, curry or a juicy salad as an alternative to wheaty bread or crackers.

Sunday Bake - Banoffee Pie Recipe (vegan)

This weekend's Sunday Bake is my first attempt at a Banoffee Pie Recipe the vegan way. I have wanted to try something like this for some time but it wasn't until my best pal Claire set me the challenge as she handed over a bunch of over ripened and unwanted bananas...

You will need:

3 ripe bananas

2 tins full fat cocnut milk

3 oz muscovardo sugar

1 packet vegan friendly Digestive biscuits

6 tbsp vegan margarine

1/2 tsp salt

Dark chocolate

This recipe works in 3 parts...

crunchy biscuit base

creme de leche - caramel filling

cocnut whipped 'cream' topping

Start by making the base - Blend 18 vegan digestive biscuits together and then mix well with 6 tablespoons of vegan margarine. press this mixture into a lined and greased flan tin and bake on 190 oC for 10 minutes and then leave to cool completely.

Creme de leche - I made the night before and refrigerated. Separate the fat from a tin of coconut milk and place in a pan with 3 oz muscavardo suger, and 1/2 tsp salt. Melt and then simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk for a few minutes until the mixture thickens up. Place in a glass jar and leave to set.

Whipped 'cream' - Seperate the fat from second tin of coconut milk and place in a bowl. whisk for 5 minutes (or 2 if you have an electric mixer) and then add 3 tbsp icing sugar. Whish this in for a further 3 mins util yo achieve peaks in your mixture. set aside! Try and make this when all the other parts are complete and cooled.

Layer your banana slices onto the biscuit base and cover with caramel mixture.

over this evenly with whipped cream and grate over lots of dark chocolate!

 Refrigerate until you are ready to serve...

Sunday Bake - Cashew Nut and Peach Cake

For this weekends Sunday bake I wanted to try making something different to my usual style bake with a bunch of nuts and a heap of old school juicy fruit! So on spotting peaches and cashew nuts nestled next to each other on a shelf in the local shop I thought why not! I can never understand why ground almond are quite as expensive as they are but I love using them when I bake all the same. 

You will need:
150g ground almonds
300g self raising flour
3 ripe bananas
100g golden caster suger
1 tin of peach slices
100ml sunflower oil
100g cashew nuts
1 tsp baking powder

Pre heat your oven at 175oC. Blend together bananas, oil and sugar til well combined. now add the dry ingredients and beat well to get as much air in as possible... often this style of vegan cake can be quite dense so the more beating the better!

Stir in your peach slices and cashew nuts and transfer the maixture into a well greased/floured tin. I found this beauty of a bunt cake tin at the car boot sale a few weeks back for 50p!

Bake for 40 minutes and stab with a knife to check the center is cooked.

Once cooled drizzle with peach juice from the can mixed with 3 tablespoons of icing sugar. Mmm sugary sweet!

Sunday Bake - Coconut Oat and Banana Breakfast Cake

This weekends Sunday bake is a versotile recipe suitable for breakfast and afternoon tea alike!

You will need:

210g oat flour

50g shredded cocnut

112ml coconut oil

85g brown suger

2 ripe bananas

75ml cocnut/soya milk

100g chopped walnuts

2 tsp chia seeds

Icing:

2 tblsp peanut butter (I like crunchy best)

100g icing sugar 

Pre heat your oven at 175 degrees oC. Start by blending porridge oats in a food processor to make the oat flour. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and stir to combine evenly.

Blend together the bananas, oil and milk separately

Lastly combine the dry mix with the banana mix and stir in the shredded coconut. Stir well and spoon into a lined loaf tin. Cook for 30-35 mins and take out of the oven to rest and cool a little.

Make the icing by combining nut butter and icing sugar and spread on top of your juicy cake!

I've had 2 slices this morning already... x

Sunday Bake - Banana Cake

A nice simple recipe for using up those bananas that are a little too ripe to make smoothies...

You will need:

3 bruised black bananas

250g self raising flour

150g vegan sunflower spread

100g golden caster sugar

a nice loaf tin

sunflower for greasing the tin and flour to dust the tin.

For chocolate icing:

2 tblsp vegan spread

3 tblsp icing sugar

1 tsp cocoa

 Pre Heat the oven at 180oC. 

Blend the spread, 1 banana and sugar together in a bowl with a stick blender. In a separate bowl roughly mash the other 2 bananas and set to one side. Sift the flour into the wet mixture bit by bit folding in and then beating a ;little. Lastly stir in the mashed banana.

Grease and dust the baking tin or pan with flour and fill with the mixture leaving at least 1 inch at the top. Bake for 30/40 minutes. Prod with a skewer or knife occasionally to check the centre is cooked!

Once out of the oven leave to cool and then tip out and ice!

 (Comedy icing optional)

Sunday Bake - Very Chocolaty Cocoa and Brazil Nut Cakes (vegan)

Don't be put off by the petite portion size of these baked treats a small bite packs a seriously chocolaty punch!

You will need:

250g self raising flour

200g golden caster sugar

6 fl oz rapeseed oil
1oz cocoa powder
2tsp white vinegar
a handful of roughly chopped brazil nuts
100g 70% or 80% or other vegan dark chocolate

Melt your choc in a bowel over a pan of boiling water and set to one side. In a large mixing bowl beat together sugar and oil with a balloon whisk. Stir in vinegar. Next sift together cocoa and flour slowly folding in a little at a time. Once combined add melted chocolate and beat in for a minute. If the mixture is too thick pour in approx 100ml of warm water until you get a slightly thinner consistency. Lastly add chopped nuts.

Pre heat oven at 175oC. Now grease and line a deep muffin tray and spoon in the mixture until just below the top of the tine line. Bake for 20/25 mins and then leave to cool on the side for 5 mins. Using a sharp knife slice around the edges to free each cake from its mould and place on a plate to cool totally. Dust with a little icing sugar and eat. slowly as they are super rich!

Sunday Bake - Fresh Beetroot and Cocoa Cake (Vegan)

For the first of hopefully many vegan recipe posts i'd like to share with you this juicy cake I baked after picking up a hug carrier bag of fresh beets (for £1!) at the veg stall Sunday just gone.

I have always been a fan of free-styling a baking recipe. Actually the same could be said for cooking in general. It usually starts with me finding a lovely recipe online but not having all the right ingredients...

Having become vegan about 6 months ago now I am also still getting to grips with replacing eggs or dairy in my baking and have struggled up until I found a blog that recommended using ripe bananas instead- genius! Unless you hate bananas.

You will need:

1 medium fresh beetroot peeled & grated
100g brown caster sugar
2/3 ripe bananas
150g vegan margarine style spread
250g self raising flour
3tsp (heaped) cocoa or cacao powder

For the 'cream cheese icing'

1 tub Tofutti original
5/6 tblsp icing sugar

Preheat your oven at 170oC. Put marg' bananas and sugar into a big bowl and mix together with a stick blender until fully combined. The mixture may look a little curdley but that just seems to be the way it goes so don't worry. Next sieve together the flour and cocoa a little at a time mixing in well at intervals. Lastly fold in grated beetroot! spoon out half and half into two medium round sandwich tins and bake for 20/30 mins or until no traces are left on a knife when stabbing the sponge.

Whilst these are cooking make the filling/icing...

Place the whole tub of Tofutti into a small ish bowl with the icing sugar and mix well! Cover and keep at room temperature until the cake is cooled and ready to be finished.

Once your cakes are cooled spread the filling mixture generously onto one half of the cake and place the other on top.

A perfect afternoon cake! Or if you are like me also good for a late breakfast...