Cupcakes Galore

I haven't been posting very regularly lately because, I've been busy making a gazillion cupcakes for my little one's 6th birthday to send to school, for the party at home, for the official party for her friends... Whew!!

The good part about vegan cupcakes are that they taste as good if not, better than the egg & dairy ones. Since they cater to most allergies if I leave the nuts out, the cupcakes literally went off like........... hot cakes.

White Vegan Cupcakes, we need


2 cups Self Raising Flour

2/3 cup Raw Sugar - powdered

1.5 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 cup Lukewarm Water

1/2 cup Soy/ Rice Milk, at room temperature (not cold)

2 Tablespoons Nuttelex - softened

3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste

To mix,

1.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and, set paper cups in the baking tray.

2. Sift together the flour, sugar & baking powder into a large mixing bowl.

3. Make a well in the center and add in, the melted Nuttelex, vegetable oil & vanilla bean paste.

4. Mix thoroughly. I used the whisk attachment on my Kitchen Aid mixer & mixed for 4 minutes.

5.  Slowly ladle out measured spoons into the prepared paper cups.

6. Bake at 180 degrees C for the first 7 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 160 degrees C for the next 12 to 15 minutes. Check with a skewer inserted in the center to check if done.

7. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack. Do not add icing or any toppings before 2 hours.

I used sugar decorations and a simple vegan fondant recipe for the smaller cupcakes and fluffy white icing for the larger cupcakes.

Enjoy!!

Hot Plum Chutney

Plums again!! We went plum and apple picking on the weekend. The girls in their enthusiasm collected raw, bird bitten and every other kind of unedible plums. Now looking at all the damaged plums, chutney making seemed to be the only way out. With Autumn setting in good and proper I decided to make a spicy plum chutney.

We need,

25 - 30 Damaged Plums (that is what I had :)), soaked for 30 minutes in hot water with salt dissolved
Dry the plums thoroughly and chop into rough quarters.

8 Tablespoons Raw Sugar

4 teaspoons Rock Salt

1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika, more if you want it really fiery

1 teaspoon Dry Ginger Powder

1 teaspoon Cloves roasted and powdered

1 teaspoon Nutmeg

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Coriander Powder

1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds, roasted and powdered

1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

To make,

Combine the plums, sugar, spices and salt into a large, thick bottomed pan on low heat. 

Cook away, mixing every now and then. 

Add the Apple Cider Vinegar towards the end.

Turn the heat off when it reaches sauce consistency, i.e. can be poured and goes splat!!

I prefer to let the pieces remain if, desired use a potato masher to blend everything.

Cool before bottling. 

It is a luscious chutney that goes excellently with fritters, wedges, plain tortillas, flatbreads, in sandwiches as a spread and.... just plain to lick off the spoon when the kids aren't looking :))

Vegetable Chowmein with Peanut Tofu Curry

Chowmein is supposed to be a way of cooking noodles separately and then, topping them with your choice of vegetables, sauces and the rest.

I boiled thick noodles separately for my Chowmein, but vegan, egg free prepackaged ones from the supermarket are good too.

We need,

2 cups Boiled Noodles

1 Large Brown Onion, cut into crescent shape

1 cup Cabbage, shred finely

1 Carrot, peeled and cut into long strips

1 Green Capsicum, cut into strips

1/2 cup Mushrooms, finely sliced

1/2 cup Green Peas,  frozen or fresh peeled

4 Tablespoons Peanut Oil

2 teaspoons Chinese 5 Spice Powder

To make,

Heat oil in a wok and toss the onions in.

Cook till they lose their raw smell and chuck the cabbage, carrot, capsicum, mushrooms and peas in.

Saute lightly till the vegetable wilt a little.

Season with salt and spice powder.

Add the noodles and cook till well coated. Sprinkle with Chillie Vinegar just before serving.

The Peanut Tofu Curry was made out of leftover tofu and vegetables. I used,

1/2 packet Firm Tofu, cut into cubes

2/3 cups Peanut Powder

1 Tablespoon Corn Flour + 1/2 glass water

1 teaspoon Sweet Chillie Sauce

1/2 Carrot, cut into rounds

3 Banana Peppers, sliced finely.

1 Tablespoon Oil

Salt, to taste

To make,

Heat the oil and add the banana pepper and carrots in.

Mix salt, corn flour, water in a cup and add to the vegetables.

Add the tofu and slowly coat with the vegetable mixture.

Add the sweet chillie sauce when the mixture starts to thicken.

Garnish with Shallots, if desired. Serve hot.

April Recipe Swap

The lovely Christianna, from the Burwell General Store organises absolutely awesome recipe swaps every single month. I have long lurked on her site before I decided to join in. This month's recipe is "Ozarkian Taffy Apples".

When I looked through the recipe wondering what on earth I was going to make, I suddenly remembered an Apple Cinnamon cake I had made last month. It was terribly plain but with beautiful flavours. I wondered how I could jazz that recipe and turn out something good enough to send to the recipe swap. So my experiments started, layered apple cake... not the best!!
Vegan Apple Pie - very everyday!!

Finally.... (drumroll please) I give you  Apple Bundt Cake.

We need,

2 cups Apple Puree

10 Tablespoons Nuttelex, non dairy spread - softened

1 cup Finely Chopped Apples

2 teaspoons powdered Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean paste

2 cups packed Unbleached Self Raising Flour

1 1/4 cups Raw Sugar

8 - 10 Tablespoons Warm Water, to use as required.

To make

Mix the apple puree, Nuttelex, vanilla bean paste and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat till fluffy.

Add the chopped apple pieces, cinnamon and mix well. Set aside for the flavours to mix.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees C and line a muffin pan with paper liners.

Now slowly fold in the flour and mix very lightly.

If  the  batter seems lumpy add the warm water by the spoon and mix every time. I used up almost 4 tablespoons to get a smooth looking batter.

Measure into the muffin pans and bake at 200 degrees C at fan forced setting for 20 - 25 minutes.

Keep checking them after 15 minutes to make sure they do not over cook.

Cool thoroughly before topping.

I ended up with little delicate bits of apple inside every mouthful.