Stuffed Seitan Roast

I made a sort-of roast dinner recently, centring around a homemade chicken-style seitan roast, stuffed with sage & onion stuffing.
If you're stuck for a main protein in a vegan roast, whether it's a gathering of friends or a christmas dinner, I'd really recommend this.
You'll need gluten flour, which can be hard to find. In the UK, you can order online this from Flourbin. Or if you're in London, you can buy it at Vx, a vegan boutique in Kings Cross.

Here's the recipe.

Mix these dry ingredients with a large bowl, using a fork.

• 5 heaped tablespoons (tbp) gluten flour
• 1/4 teaspoon (tsp) garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp mild curry powder
• 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp vegan bouillon powder (or powdered vegetable stock)

Then, combine with the following wet ingredients. Use your hands to mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tsp soya sauce

Then add 100-120ml of cold water, using your hands to form a stretchy dough.

Stretch it, and roll as best you can with a rolling pin, into a rectangle. This will be the hardest part as this is a really strong dough that springs back into shape quickly.

Line it with stuffing mix and roll into a tube. Try and squish the ends together to get it to stay closed, adding a little flour and water between the edges. Baste with oil all over the outside. Then wrap the whole roll with kitchen foil and either bake it or steam it. I prefer steaming as it turns out softer. Either way, it will take 30-45 minutes. Just check on it regularly and it's done when it's a light golden colour on the outside and has a firm spring to it.

Leave it to rest on a chopping board for about 5 minutes, then slice and serve with vegetable gravy.

Jen x

Chocolate peanut butter cup-cakes

I made these today. They're like a cupcake version of Chocolate peanut butter cups and are as delicious as they sound!

I started by making my usual chocolate cupcakes, as follows...

Mix the following in a bowl:

• 6oz plain flour
• 6oz non-dairy margarine
• 6oz white sugar
• 2 teaspoons (tsps) white sugar
• 1 heaped tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 level tsps egg replacer
• 1.5 heaped tsps baking powder.
• 1.5 cups unsweetened soya milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp chocolate extract (if you can find it!)

Stir/whisk thoroughly with a fork until it becomes a custard-like texture. Or, if you're feeling lazy, just throw it in a blender.

Fill cupcake cases 3/4 full and bake for approx. 25 minutes at 180°C.

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Use a melon baller to scoop out a little bowl shape in each cupcake. Then fill this bowl with peanut butter. I used a mix of smooth and crunchy as I couldn't decide which would be best!

 

Cover with melted chocolate (I used plain) and refrigerate.
Try to resist them until they're set. Then devour!

Jen x

Raw(ish) chocolates with puffed spelt and red fruits.

These were inspired by this recipe on This Rawsome Vegan Life. (<--I highly recommend this site, by the way. It's a blog of awesome and inspired raw vegan recipes. Mmmm...)

I was rather low on food, so threw together some of the few things I did have. And it made these delicious, mostly raw, chocolate and puffed spelt discs. I then topped them with red fruits from the garden...

These were so quick to make, and taste amazing, yet are surprisingly healthy. Seriously, try them!

Recipe:
Throw the following in a blender:

• Approx. 40ml melted coconut oil
• 5-10g melted raw cacao butter
• 1.5 heaped tablespoons (tbsp.) cocoa powder
• 1 heaped tbsp. golden syrup (or agave nectar)
• Handful of dates (i.e. 8-10)
• 2 tbsp. mixed seeds (e.g. sunflower, pumpkin, sesame)
• 2 tbsp. barley milk (or any other milk substitute)
• Pinch cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon (tsp.) vanilla extract

Tip: To melt your coconut oil or cacao butter without burning or boiling it, try putting the jar/bottle in a bowl of boiling water for a few minutes.

Remove it from the blender once it reaches a consistency somewhere between melted chocolate and PVA glue (mmm.. :P), with coarse bits in. Pour it into a bowl and stir-in:

• 3 heaped tbsp. of puffed spelt (e.g. these, or any other puffed grain)

Press into the mould of your choice with a teaspoon. Use your fingers to form a dip on the surface, then refrigerate until set. Finally, remove from the moulds and fill with red fruits. EAT!

Jen x

Ginger Loaf Cake

A while ago, I saw a huge amount of ginger for a ridiculously cheap price. So I bought it and spent the next couple of weeks gorging on ginger-based goodness!

Here's the first of what I made:

Ginger Loaf Cake

I roughly used this recipe for proportions, but changed the butter for non-dairy margarine, the milk for unsweetened soya milk, and the egg for "No Egg". Of course, I also changed the dried ginger for about 3 tablespoons of fresh, peeled (and finely-chopped) ginger.
I also added a generous sprinkle of cinnamon and a pinch of ground nutmeg, and used golden syrup instead of treacle.
I also suggest cooking it for a little less than the recipe indicates.

This was so good that it only lasted a few hours in my house! So I made another...which didn't last much longer.

Jen x