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! :)

Almond Spice Muffins

Hi folks! 

Happy Holidays! :-)

This is my latest gluten-free, vegan and Ekadasi-friendly muffin recipe, specially posted for my friend Loka as a thanksgiving gift. :-)  She loved these so much it made my day! Makes approx 20 delicious moist fluffy muffins.

Ingredients:

3 cups ground almonds

1 cup buckwheat flour (not considered a true grain)

1 heaped TBSP baking soda

4 TBSP cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ginger powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup chopped candied ginger (Trader Joe's)

1 cup orange flavor cranberries (Trader Joe's)

Mix all dry ingredients. Add in cranberries and candied ginger. 

Blend together the following til smooth:

2 banana's

1 TBSP vanilla essence (optional)

1 1/2 cup maple syrup

3/4 cup safflower/sunflower oil

 Approx 1 cup of water

Pour this into the dry ingredients and mix evenly. Fill into paper muffin cases in a muffin tray. Sprinkle tops with a dash of brown sugar.

Make sure you lightly oil the muffin tray to avoid burning the muffin cases and muffins while baking. Bake for approx 35 mins in a pre-heated oven at 380 degrees Fahrenheit.

Remove from oven and allow to cool. Offer with love and serve with tea, or however you desire. Very more-ish!! :-)

Creamy Mango Strawberry Vegan Cheesecake

Hey Im back! :-)

This awesome vegan cheesecake is soooo creamy and delicious and you would never know its vegan! :-) This is the approx recipe because I eyeballed it for the most part.

 Serves 8 very generous slices - it is very more-ish - so watch out! :-)

Mango layer - blend all of it til creamy smooth:
4 cups frozen mangos
21/2 -3 cups organic raw cashews, soaked overnight and drained
3/4 - 1 cup pure organic maple syrup 
8 TBSP organic virgin cold pressed coconut oil (melted)
2 TBSP fresh lemon or lime juice
11/2 tsp pure organic vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt

 Strawberry layer - blend all of it til creamy smooth:
4 cups strawberries
21/2 -3 cups organic raw cashews, soaked overnight and drained
1 cup pure organic maple syrup 
8 TBSP organic virgin cold pressed coconut oil (melted)
2 TBSP fresh lemon or lime juice
11/2 tsp pure organic vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt

 Base - tastes like larabar - really yummy as is:
1 cup organic toasted walnuts or pecans crushed
1/2 cup organic toasted almonds crushed
11/4 cup organic mejool dates, pits removed
1 tsp organic vanilla essence
A pinch of sea salt

Mash base ingredients into a nice bar like consistency and spread out in a spring form pan base.

 Pour on Strawberry layer, freeze til firm. Then pour on mango layer and swirl on some maple syrup on top. Freeze overnight. 

Remove from freezer approx an hr before serving to allow to thaw abit. Open spring form pan and cut into slices. I put waxed paper on the base of my spring form pan because I dont like to scratch the non stick coating. Keep in fridge or return to freezer if there is extra after serving because it will melt just like ice cream.

Offer with love! Yummmmmmmy! :-)

Blueberry Ginger Choc 'n' Lemon Muffins

OK, I just invented my own favorite muffin recipe of all time! :-) The decadent combination of juicy blueberries with melting chocolate, candied ginger and tart fresh lemon zest is dangerously addictive! Oh yummmmmmmmmmy!! 

This a perfect consolation dessert in the cold wet weather, when you just want to snuggle up with a book in a cosy corner somewhere. And the rich welcome aroma of warm cinnamon and chocolate fills the house while these are baking - good for chasing away the pre-winter blues methinks! :-)

Makes 14 medium sized muffins. Vegan.

Moist, fluffy and bursting with goodies and sweet spice flavors. . .

Ingredients:

Approx 2 1/4 cups sprouted wheat pancake and waffle mix (Arrowhead Mills)

Approx 1 cup sprouted wheat flour (Arrowhead Mills)

1 heaped tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg powder

A pinch of clove powder

A pinch of sea salt

2 TBSP lemon zest

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped candied ginger (Trader Joe's)

1 cup frozen organic blueberries

Mix all dry ingredients. Add lemon zest, choc chips and candied ginger. Mix, then add frozen blueberries and mix again.

Blend together the following til smooth:

I banana

1 1/4 cup maple syrup

3/4 cup safflower oil

1 TBSP vanilla essence

 Approx 1/2 cup of water

Pour this into the dry ingredients and mix evenly. Fill into paper muffin cases in a muffin tray. Allow to sit for 20 mins or more before baking. 

Make sure you lightly oil the muffin tray to avoid burning the muffin cases and muffins while baking. Bake for approx 35 mins in a pre-heated oven at 380 degrees Fahrenheit.

Remove from oven and allow to cool. Peel off paper cases from the muffins before completely cooled. Offer with love and serve with tea, or however you desire. Very more-ish!! :-)

Raspberry Chocolate Mousse Pie

Good afternoon folks! :-)

Its beginning to look and feel like Autumn outside with leaves falling and a fresh note of coolness in the air. I simply love this time of the year! :-) 

I just got out of the kitchen from cooking lunch, which was brown rice veggie burgers and ketchup, baked pesto pasta using homemade pesto, salad, and a dessert. Today's special experiment was the dessert - a vegan raspberry chocolate mousse pie. Ive been wanting to try making a chocolate mousse with avocado's for a long time, so I'm really pleased I finally tried the idea out. 

My friend Mandali who is staying with me right now told me this recipe is definitely delicious and blog worthy! :-) So happy dessert making to you! 

Makes 1 standard size pie = approx 8-10 servings. Prep time is approx 1/2 an hr.

Pie Crust:
Approx 1 1/2 cups quick oats
Approx 1 cup sprouted pancake and waffle mix flour (Arrowhead Mills)
3-4 TBSP organic coconut oil
Approx 3/4 cup fine raw cane sugar
1 pinch sea salt
1 tsp vanilla essence or powder
water as needed

Add all ingredients except water into a mixing bowl. Rub oil into dry ingredients. Add enough water to make the mixture moist enough to form into a smooth pastry.

Press a thin layer into an oiled glass pie dish. Bake the pie shell at 385 degrees Fahrenheit til golden brown. Set aside to cool. You can form the extra pastry into leaf shapes and bake separately for use as decorations.

Alternative no-bake crust:
1 cup mejool dates, cut into pieces
11/2 cup walnuts or almonds
pinch sea salt
1 tsp vanilla essence

Whiz the nuts up in spice grinder to medium fine powder. In a bowl mix dates, nuts, salt and vanilla. Mash til dates are broken up and you have a nice pastry. Press into a pie dish and chill for an hour or so in the fridge, or if you are in a hurry, flash freeze it in the freezer to your desired firm texture.

Mousse Filling:
3 perfectly ripe avocados, peel, remove stone, and cut avocado's into slices, removing any dark spots/blemishes
Approx 1 1/2 cups maple syrup
Approx 1 1/4 cup of organic cocoa powder
Approx 2-3 TBSP extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil or to taste
Approx 3 tsp vanilla essence
6 mejool dates, pitted

Blend everything together til smooth. Pour into cooled pie shell. 

You can also serve this mousse as is, chilled with raspberries, peaches, sprinkled with nuts etc., or as a frosting, in a trifle, or use as a cream for a cake. 

Pie Decor:
1 cup of fresh raspberries 
Baked pastry leaves 

Decorate with baked leaf shapes and raspberries. Best served chilled.

Walnut Burfi in memory of Nitai

Here is the recipe for a tasty short-cut Burfi, or Indian fudge, which I had the service of making this year at Burning Man in honor of the late Nitai Das (Elisha Drury - pictured above), founder of our Krishna Kitchen. 

The ingredients for this Burfi were sponsored by Carmen Ordonez, Nitai's loving Mom. Thank you! :-) I tweaked a Burfi recipe I'd been given til I liked it e.g. adding more liquid and more flavor.

 The original recipe also called for raisins - which we didnt have - so I made it with sweetened cranberries instead a couple of times.  I would prefer to make this with brown sugar, or an alternative, more healthy sweetener, but for this particular event I had to work with the ingredients I had at hand. It tastes alot like white chocolate! :-)

This recipe makes a very big tray full of Burfi, you would get at least 50-70 pieces out of this depending on what size you cut the squares into. Takes approx 20 minutes to make from beginning to end. So here goes!

Ingredients:

5 cups melted butter

10 cups white sugar (you could reduce the sugar by a cup or so if you prefer it less sweet)

2 3/4 - 3 cups whole milk

Approx 3 TBSP vanilla essence

10 cups whole milk powder

Approx 21/2 cups roughly crushed walnuts

Alternative flavors I made included; 

orange essence, walnut and cranberry

orange essence, lemon zest, walnut and chocolate chip

Method:

Place butter into a heavy bottomed wide pot and turn to medium heat. Beat sugar into butter and bring to a full boil. Boil for approx 4 mins til very lightly golden = so it becomes somewhat caramelized. 

Add in milk and vanilla essence and boil til sugar is dissolved.

Lower heat, and whisk in the milk powder, beating out any lumps. Add in walnuts, and cook for a few more minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn.

Pour onto a buttered baking sheet/tray and smooth out with a spatula. Allow to cool. It is easiest to cut into squares or rectangles before it is fully hardened. You can chill it to speed up the process. Offer to Krishna and serve when fully cooled and set. Delicious! :-)

We wrapped the squares in aluminium foil for distribution, as gifts from our Krishna Kitchen to our fellow Burners, along with a small mantra meditation and ingredient card, designed by our friend Nandi Coupal, wife of our awesome head chef this year - Nate.  

We got plenty of rave reviews and people asking for seconds and thirds of this sweet treat! :-)

Home-made Marzipan Squares

Yummy layered homemade marzipan treats which I made for lunch today! :-)

Banana Buckwheat Bread Pudding

OMG!! I made bread pudding for the first time today and it came out awesome!

I had seen someone make it before on a cooking show a few months ago, but they used eggs and white bread, so though it gave me an idea of how to make it, the recipe was no good for me.  I never use eggs, and I avoid using white flour or sugar as much as possible. So this was a total experiment with a happy ending! :-)

I used a sweet spice buckwheat bread which I'd made for Ekadashi yesterday, (for recipe see end of this post). I found it a little too dry to eat today and to avoid waste I decided to try out this idea. I'm sure it would work with any bread, though the sweet spices really gave it a delightful flavor.

Im sure this recipe could be made for Ekadashi day's too - just use a substitute for the cornstarch.

You will need:
3 mini loaves of sweet spice buckwheat bread (or bread of your choice), cut into medium thick slices. Arrange in a small glass baking dish.

 Blend til smooth:
2 cups organic whole milk
1 banana
2 TBSP vanilla essence
Approx 1/2 cup maple syrup
1 heaped TBSP non-GMO cornstarch

Pour this mixture over the bread.

Sprinkle on top:
2 big TBSP butter cut into pieces
3- 4 TBSP walnut or pecan pieces
2 TBSP cranberries (optional but it helps absorb the liquid too)
Approx 3 TBSP brown cane sugar

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 370 Fahrenheit or so for approx 40 mins or til liquid is absorbed and top is nicely browned and somewhat caramelized.

Great served hot - would make a fancy breakfast or brunch dish.

If you want to try making it with buckwheat bread like me, then here's how I made the bread:
Ingredients:
Approx 1 1/2 cups buckwheat flour
Approx 1 cup tapioca flour
Approx 2 tsp baking soda
Approx 2 TBSP cinnamon powder
Approx 1 tsp cardamom powder
1 cup orange flavored cranberries (Trader Joe's)

Mix all together evenly and set aside.


Blend til smooth:
1 ripe banana
2 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup sunflower oil
Approx 1/2 cup maple syrup

When mixing into dry ingredients, add:
Fresh whey as needed

Pour the liquid mixture into the bowl with dry ingredients and mix evenly, adding sufficient fresh whey to make a medium runny dough. Fill into oiled mini loaf tins, and bake for approx 30 mins or til lightly browned on top and it springs back up when you make an indent by pressing your finger lightly into it. Allow to cool. Serve at room temperature with butter or reserve for the former recipe.

Mini Ginger Spice Loaf

Here's my latest creation...they disappeared before the day was out, not least because our Madhva loves them! He made my day when he said they are "to die for!" Makes approx 10-12 mini loaves. :-)

Ingredients:
Approx 4 cups of organic sprouted grain pancake and waffle mix (Arrowhead Mills)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
Approx 4 TBSP cinnamon powder (Frontier brand is great)
1/2 TBSP nutmeg powder
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp clove powder

Mix all above ingredients together evenly. Then add in the following:

1/2 cup safflower oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger pieces (MOM's)
3/4 cup orange flavored cranberries (Trader Joes)
3/4 cup vegan carob chips (Sun Sweet)
Enough water and or orange juice to make a thick wet dough, it should drop slowly off a spoon.

Mix dry and wet ingredients evenly. Allow the dough to sit for 30 minutes to bring out the flavors. Spoon into oiled mini loaf pans. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 385 degrees Fahrenheit for approx 25 - 30 minutes.

Slice and serve at room temperature. Lovely as is, or spread with a little butter and served with a cuppa hot milky chai! :-)

Frozen Mango Yoghurt

This is delicious and super quick to make, you just need a heavy duty food processor to blend up the frozen mango.
Serves 3 generous portions.

2 cups frozen mango cubes
350 grams Greek yoghurt
1/4 cup maple syrup or to taste
1 TBSP vanilla essence (optional)

Blend up all ingredients til smooth and creamy. It will be thick and you may need to stop the processor
to stir it. Serve within 20 mins of preparation for best results. :-)

Strawberry Blueberry Crumble

Here's a tasty recipe strawberry-blueberry crumble, it can be made with apples too, but this is a nice variation. If you make it with apples, add cinnamon into the topping and or the apples. Serves six generous helpings!

Filling:

3 cups strawberries washed and halved
3 cups of blueberries washed
1 cup organic cane sugar

Topping:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup dessicated coconut (or porridge oats)
1 cup wheatgerm
1 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup softened butter
Milk/water if required

Deep baking dish

Mix fruits with sugar and place into baking dish.

Mix all the dry ingredients for the topping, then knead in the butter and vanilla essence to make a crumbly texture. If you need add a littel milk or water to moisten, it should be crumbly but hold togther when pressed in your hands.

Place topping over the fruits. Bake in preheated oven at 380 Fahrenheit for approx 20 minutes til its golden brown on top and fruits are soft. Serve warm or cooled as you like, with custard, ice cream or whipped cream, yummy! :-)