Saturday 12 December 2015

CAKE POPS FROM CHOCOLATE CAKE / XMAS SWEET | ALTERNATIVE VEGAN RECIPE INCLUDED

 

WIKI NOTE: A cake pop is a form of cake styled as a lollipop. Cake pops can be a way of using up leftover cake or cake crumbs. The cake pop increased in popularity between 2009 and 2011. Cake pops can be found in many bakeries and grocery stores.

CAKE POPS FROM CHOCOLATE CAKE
  • CHOCOLATE CAKE | VEGAN RECIPE
YOU WILL NEED:
DRY INGREDIENTS:
1 and  ½ cups wheat flour (plain or all-purpose)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup panela sugar or unrefined cane sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips or cacao nibs (optional)
WET INGREDIENTS:
1 cup almond milk
¼ cup strawberry jam
6 tablespoons sunflower oil (any neutral flavored)
1 tsp vanilla extract

NOTE: Homemade measurement units



LET´S BAKE!
1. Preheat the oven to 180 º C. Grease a bread pan with margarine or veggie oil.
NOTE: Standard dimensions for bread and loaf pans start at 8 ½ by 4 ½ inches. It´s the perfect size for that amount of ingredients. If you multiply the amount by the number of times that you want,  you will get a bigger cake. You have tons of different sizes of baking pans depending on the final amount.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl: unrefined cane sugar/brown sugar, flour, baking powder, unsweetened cocoa powder and salt. Mix them well with a wooden spoon.
3. Combine wet ingredients in a bowl: red wine, strawberry jam, veggie oil, and vanilla extract until well-mixed.
4. Pour the wet mix into the dry bowl. Mix everything slowly with a wooden spoon.
5. Pour the mix into the bread pan. Sprinkle brown sugar on the top.
6. Bake for around 40 minutes, until browned.
NOTE: Don´t open the oven, you can always leave the cake in the oven for a few more minutes.
7.  Remove from the oven. Leave to cool.

  •  LET´S MAKE CAKE POPS!
YOU WILL NEED:*vegan recipe
A bunch of lollipop sticks or wooden skewers
1/2 cup of  margarine /*vegan margarine
1 cup of dark chocolate/*vegan dark chocolate,  to dip 
1 cup of  white chocolate /*dairy-free white chocolate to dip 
Pastel rainbow sprinkles and/or tiny sprinkles, to sprinkle


STEP BY STEP
1. Once the cake is cool.  Crumble it into pieces.
2.   Melt the margarine in a small saucepan. Add it to the bowl and mix everything well until the mix is a bit sticky.
NOTE: Add more margarine if you need to, to make the mixture sticky enough. The mixture has to be clumped easily to make the little balls.
3. Shaped the resulting mixture into balls. Simple shapes such as spheres can be molded by hands.
4. Cut wide strips of cling film. Then cut the strips in half to make them square shapes.
5. The result should be a cake ball wrapped in a cling film. Make as many cake balls as you want.
6. Put them in a tray. Leave it in the freezer for a while, 30 minutes approx.
NOTE: The cake balls can be frozen to speed up the solidification process.
7. Take the tray out from the freezer, and wait for a while. 
8. Put the chocolate chunks in a saucepan and warm gently. Stirring until it's all melted (the consistency of a soup).
NOTE: Chilling the cake balls and using this chocolate ensures that a cake ball never falls off the stick.
9. Dip your lollipop stick into the melted chocolate about one inch. Push the chocolate-covered end of the stick into the middle of the cake ball.
NOTE: Dip half of the cake balls into hot dark chocolate and half into hot white chocolate.
10. Dip each cake pop straight down into the chocolate until it is submerged and the melted chocolate touches the stick. Hold it sideways over the bowl and rotate it slowly as it drips until covered.
11. Dip and rotate each cake pop into a pastel rainbow sprinkles bowl until covered.
12. Pre-drill a guide hole with your skewer before placing each pop into your foam block to dry.  Let it dry like this for a few moments.
13. Display them in a vase filled with decorative origami stars (optional).

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Monday 2 November 2015

RED WINE CHOCOLATE CAKE | VEGAN RECIPE


WIKI NOTE: Archaeological evidence has established the earliest-known production of wine from fermenting grapes during the late Neolithic site of Hajji Firuz in the northern Zagros Mountains or early Chalcolithic in the northern edge of the Middle East.

RED WINE CHOCOLATE CAKE

YOU WILL NEED:
DRY INGREDIENTS:
1 and  ½ cups wheat flour (plain or all-purpose)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup panela sugar or unrefined cane sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips or cacao nibs (optional)
WET INGREDIENTS:
1 cup red wine
¼ cup strawberry jam
5 tablespoons sunflower oil (or veggie oil, any neutral flavored)

NOTE: Homemade measurement units



LET´S BAKE!
1. Preheat the oven to 180 º C. Grease a bread pan with margarine or veggie oil.
NOTE: Standard dimensions for bread and loaf pans start at 8 ½ by 4 ½ inches. It´s the perfect size for that amount of ingredients. If you multiply the amount by the number of times that you want,  you will get a bigger cake. You have tons of different sizes of baking pans depending on the final amount.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl: unrefined cane sugar/brown sugar, flour, baking powder, unsweetened cocoa powder and salt. Mix them well with a wooden spoon.
NOTE: Sift the flour for cakes. Sifting helps to remove any lumps and/or unwanted debris from the flour and also helps to combine the flour with any dry ingredients. If you don't have a strainer handy, you can also mix flour with a wire whisk or a fork.
3. Combine wet ingredients in a bowl: red wine, strawberry jam, veggie oil, and vanilla extract until well-mixed.
4. Pour the wet mix into the dry bowl. Mix everything slowly with a wooden spoon.
5. Pour the mix into the bread pan. Sprinkle brown sugar on the top.
6. Bake for around 40 minutes, until browned.
NOTE: Don´t open the oven, you can always leave the cake in the oven for a few more minutes.
7.  Remove from the oven. Leave to cool. Serve as is or with a scoop of vegan ice cream (flavor up to you) or vegan custard.

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    Saturday 10 October 2015

    2 SCARY TAPAS / HALLOWEEN SPECIAL | VEGAN RECIPES

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    • BLOODY FINGERS


    YOU WILL NEED:
    3 or 4 carrots
    Almonds, flaked
    Ketchup sauce

    LET´S COOK!
    1. Wash the carrots and cut them in different sizes.
    2. Put Ketchup sauce on the plate like bloodstream.
    3. Place the carrots on the plate with Ketchup as fingers.
    4. Make a cut on the top of each carrot and place the almonds as nails.
    5. Put as much Ketchup sauce as you want!!!

    • TERRIFYING FIELD OF SKULLS AND PUMPKINS 

    YOU WILL NEED:
    1 or 2 courgettes/zucchini (medium size)
    1 or 2 big carrots

    LET´S COOK!

    Pumpkins:
    1. Peel the carrots. Cut carrots into slices not too thin.
    2. Cut the stem shape of the pumpkin in each carrot slice. Here you are the tiny pumpkins ready to plant.
    Skulls:
    1. Preheat the oven to 180 º C. Cover a baking tray with baking paper.
    2. Wash well the courgettes. Cut them into slices not too thin.
    3. Cut the skull shape and make eyes and mouth holes with a knife.
    4. Place the courgette skulls in the tray, and sprinkle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
    5. Keep them in the oven until brown. Remove from the oven. Leave to cool.

    ¡LET'S PLANT A FIELD OF KULLS AND PUMPKINS!

    1. Place them on a big plate/tray like a big terrifying field.
    2. Cover the plate with pumpkins along the edge and put them in the center of the skulls (photo).
    3. Serve as is or with small bowls of hummus and/or soy sauce to dip (optional).

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      Sunday 2 August 2015

      PINEAPPLE COCONUT CAKE | VEGAN RECIPE



      WIKI NOTE: To prevent scurvy during the 19th century, British sailors were issued a daily allowance of citrus, such as lemon, and later switched to lime. The use of citrus was initially a closely guarded military secret, as scurvy was a common scourge of various national navies, and the ability to remain at sea for lengthy periods without contracting the disorder was a huge benefit for the military. The British sailor thus acquired the nickname, "Limey" because of their usage of limes.

      PINEAPPLE COCONUT CAKE

      YOU WILL NEED:
      DRY INGREDIENTS:
      1 and 1/2 cups wheat flour (plain or all-purpose)
      2 tsp baking powder
      1 tsp baking soda
      A pinch of salt
      1 cup panela sugar or unrefined cane sugar
      1 cup roughly chopped pineapple (natural pineapple or dried pineapple slices in juice)
      1/2 cup of shredded coconut
      WET INGREDIENTS:
      1/4 cup pineapple puree or pineapple jam
      NOTE: Homemade pineapple puree or homemade pineapple jam are taste ingredients. If you want to buy them, it tastes delicious too.
      1/3 cup sunflower oil (or veggie oil, any neutral flavored)
      1/4 cup coconut milk
      Zest of one lime, grated

      NOTE: Homemade measurement units


      LET´S BAKE!
      1. Preheat the oven to 180 º C. Grease a bread pan with margarine or veggie oil.
      NOTE: Standard dimensions for bread and loaf pans start at 8 ½ by 4 ½ inches. It´s the perfect size for that amount of ingredients. If you multiply the amount by the number of times that you want,  you will get a bigger cake. You have tons of different sizes of baking pans depending on the final amount.
      2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl: brown sugar, flour, baking powder, shredded coconut and salt. Mix them well with a wooden spoon.
      NOTE: Sift the flour for cakes. Sifting helps to remove any lumps and/or unwanted debris from the flour and also helps to combine the flour with any dry ingredients. If you don't have a strainer handy, you can also mix flour with a wire whisk or a fork.
      4. Peel and cut the pineapple, roughly chopped. Add it to the dry ingredients and mix it well.
      5. Put a bunch of roughly chopped pineapple into the measuring cup of the blender. Add a splash of Cachaça (optional). Mix it well with the blender, until homogeneous liquid like puree.
      6. Combine wet ingredients in a bowl: homemade pineapple puree, veggie oil, coconut milk, and grated lime zest until well-mixed.
      7. Pour the wet mix into the dry bowl. Mix everything slowly with a wooden spoon.
      8. Pour the mix into the bread pan. Sprinkle brown sugar on the top.
      NOTE: Arrange the thin pineapple slices around the cake decoratively. Drizzle over some syrup if using (optional presentation).
      9. It´s a moist cake. Bake for around 40 minutes, until browned.
      NOTE: Don´t open the oven, you can always leave the cake in the oven for a few more minutes.
      10.  Remove from the oven. Leave to cool. Cut cubes of coconut and slices of lime. Put them on the top. Sprinkle a little bit of shredded coconut and grated lime zest.

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      Tuesday 2 June 2015

      MANGO CARDAMOM CAKE | VEGAN RECIPE


      WIKI NOTE: The mango is native to South and Southeast Asia, from where it has been distributed worldwide to become one of the most cultivated fruits in the tropics. It is the national fruit of India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, and the national tree of Bangladesh. In several cultures, its fruit and leaves are ritually used as floral decorations at weddings, public celebrations, and religious ceremonies.

      MANGO VEGAN CAKE

      YOU WILL NEED:
      DRY INGREDIENTS:
      1 and 1/2 cups wheat flour (plain or all-purpose)
      2 tsp baking powder
      1 tsp baking soda
      A pinch of salt
      1 tsp cardamom powder or 3 cardamom pods (open the pods and use the seeds inside)
      1 cup panela sugar or unrefined cane sugar
      NOTE: add more sugar, depends on how sweet is the mango puree.
      1/4 cup of shredded coconut (optional)
      A bunch of chopped fresh mint leaves (optional)
      WET INGREDIENTS:
      1 and 1/2 cups mango puree or mango chunks in light syrup or 2  ripe mangoes
      1/3 cup sunflower oil (or veggie oil, any neutral flavored)
      1 tsp vanilla extract
      NOTE: You can replace mango puree for peach halves in light syrup (medium size can - 420g)

      NOTE: Homemade measurement units



      LET´S BAKE!
      1. Preheat the oven to 180 º C. Grease a bread pan with margarine or sunflower oil.
      NOTE: Standard dimensions for bread and loaf pans start at 8 ½ by 4 ½ inches. It´s the perfect size for that amount of ingredients. If you multiply the amount by the number of times that you want, you will get a bigger cake. You have tons of different sizes of baking pans depending on the final amount.
      2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl: brown sugar, flour, baking powder, shredded coconut, cardamom powder, chopped fresh mint leaves, and salt until well mixed.
      NOTE: Sift the flour for cakes. Sifting helps to remove any lumps and/or unwanted debris from the flour and also helps to combine the flour with any dry ingredients. If you don't have a strainer handy, you can also mix flour with a wire whisk or a fork.
      3. Peel and cut one or two mangoes. Put a bunch of roughly chopped mango into the measuring cup of the blender. Mix it well with the blender, until homogeneous liquid like puree.
      4. Combine wet ingredients in a bowl:  mango puree, vanilla extract, and veggie oil until well mixed.
      5. Pour the wet mix into the dry bowl. Mix everything just a little bit with a wooden spoon.
      6. Pour the mix into the bread pan. Sprinkle brown sugar on the top.
      7. Bake for around 45-50 minutes, until browned.
      NOTE: Don´t open the oven, you can always leave the cake in the oven for a few more minutes.
      8.  Remove from the oven. Leave to cool. Cut cubes of mango. Put the cubes and fresh mint leaves on the top. Sprinkle a little bit of shredded coconut (optional).
      9. Serve with a scoop of vegan ice cream, vanilla flavor vegan source cream, or vegan custard.

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      Friday 3 April 2015

      MANGO CARROT EASTER SMOOTHIE | VEGAN RECIPE | EASTER MENU

       

      WIKI NOTE:
      The origin of the tradition of eating eggs at the end of the winter is reminiscent of the Ice Age. After the harsh winter, as soon as they were provisions, with the arrival of spring birds returned from the south (this only applies to the northern hemisphere) and began to lay eggs, which human beings are fed until they can return to hunting with the advent of better temperatures.

      MANGO CARROT SMOOTHIE

      YOU WILL NEED:*vegan recipe
      1 cup mango chunks or 3 peach halves in light syrup (medium size can - 420g)
      2 medium carrots, grated
      2 teaspoons of honey /*agave nectar, to taste
      A splash of milk /*soy milk (optional)
      1 cup cold water
      Ground cinnamon (optional)
      NOTE: The recipe is for one glass. If you want more than one glass, multiply the ingredients accordingly.

      LET´S COOK!
      1. Peel and grate the carrots. Peel and cut the mango. Put the grated carrot and the mango chunks into the measuring cup of the blender.
      NOTE: You can put the mango chunks in the freezer. The mango need not be frozen, but it produces a thicker smoothie.
      2. Add the water, honey/syrup, a splash of milk/soy milk, and a pinch of ground cinnamon. Mix everything with the blender until foaming. Taste the smoothie and add more honey/syrup to sweeten if you wish.
      3. Serve in a glass,  place carrot grated around the glass like a bird nest. Put random milk chocolate eggs in a crisp sugar shell in the carrot nest.

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        TORRIJAS (FRENCH TOAST) | ALTERNATIVE VEGAN RECIPE INCLUDED | EASTER MENU


        WIKI NOTE: Torrija is a typical dessert of Easter time in Spain. However, desserts similar to Torrija exist under different names like French toast, pain perdu, arme ritter, etc in other parts of Europe, where its presence has been documented since the Middle Ages. Emigration has popularized them in South and North America.

        TORRIJAS (FRENCH TOAST)

        YOU WILL NEED:*vegan recipe
        A piece of stale bread (approx. 160g), to slice
        1/4 l milk / *almond milk, to soak
        1 lemon rind
        1 cinnamon stick
        2 eggs / *4 tablespoons of chickpea flour plus 4 tablespoons of water, to dip in batter
        wheat flour (plain or all-purpose), to dip in the batter
        Olive oil or vegetable oil, to taste
        1 or 2 tablespoons of caster sugar /*panela sugar or unrefined cane sugar, to sprinkle
        Ground cinnamon, to sprinkle
        NOTE: Depending on the type of bread, there will be different sizes of torrijas. The most important thing is that the bread has to have a lot of crumbs.

        LET´S COOK!
        1. Cut the bread into thick slices (around 2 or 3 centimeters wide) and place them in a tray/baking pan.
        NOTE: It is important to use thick slices of stale bread, that way the slices rarely break at the step of soaking.
        2. Clean the lemon and cut the rind without the white part. Cut in half the cinnamon stick, if it's too long.
        3. Put the milk, lemon rind, and cinnamon stick in a saucepan over low heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let it warm.
        4. Pour the milk mix over the slices and let them soak until there is no milk in the tray, at least 5 minutes per side (approx. 10 minutes). If there is not milk enough for all the slices, do a little more.
        NOTE: The timing of the soak will depend on the type of bread, just be careful because too many soaked slices will break.
        5.  Put flour on a plate. Beat eggs or mix chickpea flour and water in a bowl.
        6. Drain the milk from bread slices, if it's necessary. First, batter the slices of bread into the flour. Second, dip it into the beaten egg.  It is a double action.
        7. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Fry the slices of bread, one by one depending on the size, until golden brown on each side.
        8. Remove them from the saucepan and drain with kitchen towels
        9. Mix sugar and ground cinnamon in a bowl. Sprinkle each side with the mix and let them cool a little bit.
        10. Serve the torrijas on a tray or by unit placing the torrija in the center of a plate.
        NOTE: You can spread honey or agave nectar over the torrija to make it sweeter.

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