Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

After only a few years pause, here's my first post returning to the blogging world. Haha, yaaaay!:)

This vegan cake recipe was one of those - educated guess experiments - that turned out really good. I wanted to make a really moist serious chocolate cake, but I was missing a couple of go to ingredients, so I substituted with whatever I had at hand. The pumpkin puree is the secret moisture ingredient in this cake, and the best part is - you can't taste it - it just makes the chocolate flavor taste more deeply velvety in your mouth. 

As my dear Kunti said, it is quite healthy as far as cakes go, although it tastes decadently chocolatey...it is really more-ish, but not very sweet, so if you like your cakes on the sweeter side you will need to up the sugar content, or drizzle in chocolate fudge sauce and ice cream (which would be yummy), or whatever tickles your fancy! 

Ingredients:

Mix:

2 cups Arrowhead Mills sprouted pancake and waffle mix

1 cup buckwheat flour

1 cup almond meal

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

1 TBSP baking powder

3/4 TBSP baking soda

1.5 TBSP allspice

2 TBSP cinnamon powder

Whisk together:

1.5 cup Costa Rican cocoa powder (THE BEST EVER)

1/2 cup oil

1 cup pumpkin puree

1.5 cup maple syrup

2 TSP Mexican Vanilla extract (OMG, awesome flavor, wish I'd brought more back!)

3 cups hot water

Combine both mixtures adding approx 2 more cups of room temperature water - enough to get a fairly thick batter.

Pour into a lightly oiled and floured baking dish - I used a rectangular glass baking flan.

Sprinkle generously with semi sweet choc chips (I pushed them in a little so they stick when its done), a sachet of crystallized ginger, a little cinnamon and brown sugar. 

Bake at 365 degrees Fahrenheit for approx 45 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool. Delicious served as is, or with vanilla ice cream, or as you like. Have fun! :)

Cinnamon Cranberry Log

This delicious cinnamon log is a great hit in our house! :-) I made it with extra pizza dough we had after we had no toppings left to make more pizza!

Ingredients

A ball of yeast dough approx as much as you can comfortably hold in your cupped hands

Approx 1 TBSP fresh Lemon rind - or fresh orange rind would be good too

Approx 1 TBSP fresh lemon juice - or fresh orange juice

Approx 1 cup brown sugar

Cinnamon
Cranberries
Carob chips
Melted butter

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Just make a regular yeast dough.When dough is ready to use roll it out on a floured surface to about a millimeter thick.

Brush butter over the dough.

Mix brown sugar, lemon rind, and lemon juice together. Spread onto the dough evenly. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon powder. Then with cranberries and carob chips. Roll it up tightly -- like you would a carpet -- and seal the edges. Brush with butter and place into a greased bread tin which has been sprinkled with poppy seeds.

Bake til golden brown. Remove from tin and cover with a wet paper towel and a dish cloth to keep crust soft. Remove when cool.

Icing

Approx 3 TBSP soft butter
1 tbsp alcohol free vanilla essence
Approx 1 cup icing sugar

Whisk together til smooth and drizzle over the cooled cinnamon log.

Cut into slices and serve with a hot drink e.g. malted barley cup. :-)

Gopi's Pesto Potatoes

This has got to be one of my favorite dishes of all time! :-) Home made pesto is great with pasta of course, but in my opinion its almost better with baked potatoes and cheese!

Ingredients

8 - 10 medium sized golden potatoes, washed and cubed into bite size chunks
2 tsp Old bay spice
1 tsp Smoked Spanish paprika powder
1 tsp Asafoetida
2 Tbsp Italian herbs
1 Tbsp Sea salt
Vegetarian mozzarella or Monterrey jack cheddar cheese, as needed

Method

Preheat oven to 380 degrees fahrenheit.
Place potatoes onto an oiled baking dish. Add 1/2 cup water. Sprinkle with the spices, herbs and salt. Bake til tender and crispy on edges.

Home-made fresh Pesto

3 cups of fresh basil leaves washed and patted dry
1 cup of extra virgin organic olive oil
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (or walnuts)
1/2 cup shredded vegetarian Parmesan cheese
2 tsp asafoetida (or to taste)
sea salt to taste

Method

Blend all ingredients til smooth. You will only need 1/3 of the pesto. Store the rest in the refrigerator in a sealed glass jar til you need it next. Guaranteed this magic green sauce wont last long!! :-)

Use a spatula to loosen the potatoes in the baking dish. Pour 1/3 of the pesto over potatoes and mix well. Sprinkle mozzarella or cheddar on top and baked til cheese is melted.

Serves approx 6. Serve hot with a salad. Finger-licking delicious!!! :-)

Linguine Pesto Delight

If you have extra left over home made pesto, here's a quick, easy and tasty lunch - great for when you are in a hurry.

Ingredients

1 pk linguine pasta
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Sea salt
3 Tbsp home-made Pesto
2 TBSP chopped jalepeno stuffed olives (optional)

Method 

Boil linguine with sea salt and a drop of olive oil til al dente. Drain and place into a mixing bowl. Add pesto and mix thoroughly. Garnish with a baked tomatoe slice sprinkled with salt and parmesan.

Great served hot on a bed of sauteed kale with a spring greens herb salad on the side. Serves approx 6.

Gopi's Bean Burgers

These nutritious bean burgers are one of my most recent experiments in the kitchen. . .they are healthy and tasty, so its all good! ;-) They are baked, vegan and also soy free. Makes approx 14 big burgers.

Ingredients 

Approx 4 cups brown rice- ready cooked

3 cups red lentils - ready cooked

2 cups cannelloni beans - ready cooked

1 cup sunflower seeds

Approx 2 cups wheatgerm

3-4 cups quick oats

1 cup nutritional yeast

2-3 Tbsp asafoetida to taste

4 Tbsp sea salt or to taste

1/2 tsp pimento powder

2 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper

3 stalks celery chopped fine

1 red bell pepper chopped small

3 Tbsp Italian herbs

2 Tbsp cumin powder

2 Tbsp smoke flavor

1/4 cup safflower oil

Method

Remember that a little goes a long way with long grain brown rice, you only need 1 cup to yield approx 4 when cooked. Cook it til its mushy and drain water off.
Red lentils also expand - 1 cup yields approx 3 cups when cooked.

Stir-fry the celery and red peppers for 10 mins with a little asafoetida.

Mash and mix everything together thoroughly in a big mixing bowl. The texture is a little on the wet side and sticky enough to form - that's what we want to have burgers that are crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

Have 2 flat baking trays at hand, and oil with approx 2 Tbsp safflower oil (yes, you need enough oil to roast the burgers and prevent sticking).

Oil your hands and form mixture into patties and place on tray approx 3-5 cm apart. Bake in a reheated oven at 450 degrees for approx 20 mins til golden brown, turn over and bake 10 - 15 mins more (add more oil as you turn if  tray is dry).

Serve hot with a homemade ketchup, barbecue sauce, mayo or Vegenaise as part of a meal, or in a bread roll with salad greens as lunch! :-)