Vegan Pear Cake

What could be a better way to rekindle my old love for pears than making a Vegan Pear Cake? I honestly can’t remember the last time I had pears before last week. It could have been six months or even a whole year. They had kinda fallen off my radar until I started painting a few months ago.

Did I tell you I started painting again? It’s been quite a learning process! I will write a post about it one day. Maybe next week.

I actually bought the pears just to use as a model for my still-life painting. But after finishing the painting, I took a bite of the halved pear and, boy oh boy, I had forgotten how heavenly pears taste!

It was tender, juicy and sweet. It almost feels like meeting an old friend again. All the memories of wonderful moments together start to resurface and you wonder ‘how could we ever have lost touch?’

Pear and banana cake

That’s it. For the rest of the season I’m putting pears on my weekly shopping list. It’s a lovely, versatile and easy-to-use fruit and I want to use it more. Be prepared to see some expearimentation on the blog in the near future.

I’m looking forward to it already.

As for this Pear Cake, its very easy to make (you know me… I like easy). Just slice the pears and lay them on the base of the cake tin (I use a bundt tin but a normal tin would be easier to work with). Mix the dry ingredients, blend the wet ingredients, combined the two together, bake and voila, you have yourself a lovely Vegan Pear Cake.

Pear Cake

A cake for all pear lovers out there.

Pears

  • 4 pears

Dry

  • 1 1/2 cup wholemeal flour*
  • 1/2 cup oat flour**
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt

Wet

  • 1 1/2 cup soy milk
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp <a href="http://www.beyondlatte.com.au">Beyond Latte</a> (or replaced with 1 tsp ground ginger)
  1. Preheat oven to 180°C fan, and grease the sides and base of a 24 cm cake tin.
  2. Slice one pear thinly and arrange it in the base of the cake tin. Slice or chop the remaining pears into about 1 cm chunks and set aside.
  3. Add almond meal into a large bow. Sift remaining dry ingredients on top and stir to combine.
  4. Blend wet ingredients in the blender. Pour onto dry ingredients and gently stir until just combined.
  5. Fold through pears gently (careful not to over mix), then spoon the mixture into the tin carefully so you (don’t disturb your pear arrangement). Spread the top out flat with a spatula.
  6. Bake for 35-45 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  7. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn upside down onto a wire rack and carefully remove the base. Leave to cool before slicing
  8. Serve sprinkled with almond meal and icing sugar if desired. I like to have mine with a dollop of vegan lemon cream cheese.

*You can replace the different flour with plain flour or gluten free flour to make it gluten-free
**You can make oat flours by blending rolled oats in a blender for a few minutes until fine crumb

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Also, do you have any ideas what I should make with my weekly pear haul? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Keren x

Pear Cake

Vegan Apple Pie

Friend, my wedding is now due in less than two months and I still haven’t finished organising it.

Instead, I’ve been procrastibaking. And made this really yummy Vegan Apple Pie.

Because pies make me happy.

Vegan Apple Pie

Don’t be intimidated by the look. At first glance this vegan apple pie looks like a lot of effort. But actually, it is pretty easy to make. The only time consuming part is the slicing and layering the apple slices, which I must say, I’m not very good at. But hey, if I can do it, you can do it too.

The pie crust is also a lot simpler to make than the traditional recipe. There’s no rolling required and because it’s made completely from oatmeal, it also healthier and gluten-free. Doesn’t it look impressive?

Vegan Apple Pie

I think it would taste amazing with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice-cream. But, according to the dressmaker, I need to lose one or two kilos to make the dress looks perfect. So no ice-cream for me tonight. At least I can have my pie and eat it too :)

Vegan Apple Pie

Oat Flour Pie Crust

  • 1 1/2 cup oat flour*
  • 2 teaspoon coconut sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
  • 5 tbsp cold water

Apple Pie Filling

  • 4-5 Granny Smith apples (peeled and cut into thin slices)
  • 1/3 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbs melted coconut oil

For the pie crust

  1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and salt.
  2. Stir in the melted coconut oil and mix until crumbly.
  3. Add in the cold water to moisten the mixture to form a dough.
  4. Press the dough into a pie pan using your fingers, including the side edges.

For the apple filling

  1. Preheat oven to 180C.
  2. Place apple slices and all the ingredients in a large bowl and gently toss the apples to coat. Let sit for 10 minutes.
  3. Drain the apples through a sieve, reserving the liquid from the marinade.
  4. Simmer the liquid in a small pan until it’s reduced to at least half and becomes somewhat thicker.
  5. Arrange the apple slices in the pie pan, starting from the outside edge of the pan and spiraling towards the center. Insert apple slices into any gaps that you see.
  6. Pour the reduced liquid onto the apple pie leaving 1-2 tablespoons for glazing.
  7. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the apples are tender and the pie crust is golden brown.
  8. Glaze the pie with the remainder liquid. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

*To make oat flour, blend rolled oat in a blend until it turn into fine crumbs.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

Vegan Apple Pie

Vegan Passionfruit Ice Cream Cups

Today I’m sharing my latest kitchen creation – Vegan Passionfruit Ice Cream Cups. Make this when you need some icy treats, yesterday. 

And yes it’s currently very cold in Sydney and I have no business making ice treats. However, I’m one of those weirdos who love eating ice cream when it’s freezing colds. Why not? The ice cream melts slower and it reminds me of summertime :)

The recipe for this dessert is very simple. You don’t need to cook or churn the batter, just blend and chill. Also, the great thing about making them in little cups is that they defrost a lot quicker and you can just bite straight into them rather than messing around with a scooper. You don’t even need to make the base but it gives a lovely flavour and texture to the ice-cream.

Note: Since the recipe uses coconut cream, you’ll need to do a bit of preparation the night before. Leave one or two cans (use two cans) of coconut milk in the fridge at least overnight. The cooling process will allow for the ‘cream’ to float to the top, which is what we need. You can use the liquid part for smoothies or mix it with coffee to make a nice cold coffee drink.

In this recipe I’m using Norbu – a sweetener made of monk fruit extract. It’s tastes just like sugar but with 96% less calories and none of the bitterness of other sweeteners. I’ve been experimenting with it and I’ve used it in this desert. I love it.

Monk fruit or known by Chinese as ‘luo han guo’ has been around for century and is commonly used by Chinese as medicinal herb for treating cough and sore throat. I still remember my mum making me a cup of this luo han guo tea, whenever I have a sore throat. You can other sweetener if you like such as maple syrup, agave nectar, stevia or even sugar. If you’re using stevia, make sure that you adjust the amount to achieve the sweetness of 2 tablespoons sugar, which is what we need.

Vegan Passionfruit Ice Cream Cups

Bite-size, no churn ice cream recipe perfect for entertaining. Just blend and chill!

  • Base
  • 1/2 cup raw almond
  • 5 pitted medjool dates
  • 1 tbsp coconut flakes (or shredded coconut)
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • a pinch of salt
  • Filling:
  • 1 cup coconut cream (the thick creamy bits from a can of coconut milk left in the fridge overnight)
  • 2 tbsp of your favourite sweetener (I use Norbu)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (about half a lemon)
  • 2 tbsp Passionfruit pulp (plus extras for serving)
  1. Add all the ingredients for the crust into a food processor or a small power blender until a dough forms.
  2. Place about a teaspoon into a mini muffin silicon tray and press down with your fingers to flatten and cover the base. Place in the freezer while you make your ice cream filling.
  3. Blend all the ingredients until is well-combined and smooth. Pour over the base, cover with foil and place back into the freezer for at least 3 hours.
  4. Take out of the freezer and allow to slightly defrost for about 5-10 minutes before eating.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

Vegan Carrot Cake

Well hello, I have a delicious vegan carrot cake recipe for you. It’s simple, easy to make, and most importantly, it’s yum.

 

Vegan baking can be a bit of a hit and miss. When it’s a miss (a.k.a #fail) it can be devastating. Especially when you use expensive organic ingredients which I often do.

Luckily, I have been having more luck than misfortune at baking this year. This cake is certainly one of my successes. I’ve made them three times in a row now and as I look at these photos, I feel like making them again.

Gosh, wedding is in eight weeks and it doesn’t look like I will lose the one to two kilograms needed to make my dress looks ‘perfect’ (said the seamstress…). Thank God for Sphanx!

I cut the cake into halves and frost them with this Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting, which although optional, I highly recommend because it takes the cake to a whole new dimension. I only used about a third of the batch for frosting the cake so you don’t need to make the whole batch. However, because it’s so good (and very light) I ended up serving it with the cake as a side as well.

I also use a teaspoon of Beyond Latte – Ginger Latte Mix for a bit of a ‘ginger kick’. The mix also have turmeric which gives the cake a lovely golden colour. You can replace it with 1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder if you want.

Try this vegan carrot cake you must. It’s delicious.

Vegan Carrot Cake

Easy and delicious vegan carrot cake for everyone!

Wet Ingredients:

  • 2 large carrots (grated (about 277 gram))
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup raw sugar
  • 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Beyond Latte <a href="http://www.beyondlatte.com.au">Ginger Latte Mix</a> (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground clove
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnut
  • 1/2 cup of <a href="https://www.passionatelykeren.com.au/vegan-lemon-cream-cheese-frosting/">Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting</a>
  1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 34 x 24 cm baking pan
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
  4. Mix the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
  5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then carefully remove them from pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

If you’re a super lazy person (like me at times) you can put all the ingredients and pulse them in a blender. You want to be careful though, not to overblend so you still get some texture from the carrots of the nuts.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

The Ultimate Vegan Crepes

Oh crepes! Yummy vegan crepes! I call this Ultimate Vegan Crepes recipe because it is very simple and takes little time to prepare and so it’s perfect for when you’re craving something sweet (or savoury) but can’t be bothered with baking a cake.

It’s very similar to making a pancake batter, but with more liquid. I added allspice to the batter to give it a nice spice flavour and a lovely aroma. If you don’t have it you can skip it or replace it with cinnamon powder. For this recipe I use normal plain flour but you can use gluten-free flour to make it to be gluten free. I also use coconut sugar which you can replace with normal sugar or your favourite sweetener.

You can be creative with the filling. I love to use fresh fruits like sliced banana and strawberries with a generous drizzle of chocolate spread (I’m a big fan of Pure Harvest COCO² coconut and cacao spread). Yum!

The Ultimate Vegan Crepes

Quick and easy vegan crepes that everyone will love.

  • 1 ½ cups plain or GF flour
  • 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 cups soy milk (of your favourite dairy milk)
  • 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
  • 1 tsp allspice ground
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Filling

  • Sliced banana
  • Sliced strawberries
  • Chocolate spread
  • Sesame seeds
  1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. If the batter is too thick, add a little more soy milk until you get the perfect consistency.
  2. Lightly oil a non-stick pan using an oil spray (I like using this coconut spray) over medium high heat. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter, then twirl the batter around to cover the bottom of the pan as much as you can.
  3. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes and then flip the crepe.
  4. Cook the other side for another minute.
  5. Add filling and serve.

f you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

Air-Fried Vegan Polenta Chips (or you can use the oven)

Well hello! Fancy something tasty tonight? How about some Crispy Air-fried Vegan Polenta Chips?

You do watch Netflix while having dinner right?

Beside, these stuff are healthy. They’re made of corn. Full of fibre, beta-carotene and carbs. We love carbs.

They’re very easy to make and once you learn how make them, I guarantee you will be making them again, and again..

Most polenta chips uses parmesan and so for this vegan version I use my vegan parmesan, which you can replace with nutritional yeast.

I love making this using an air fryer. I use Philips Air Fryer which I can’t recommend enough. It’s easy to use and makes everything crispy and crunchy with very little oil. That said, you can also use the oven. In face, until I bought an air fryer, I’ve been using the oven to make this. The good thing with oven is that it’s has more space so you can cook more chips than the oven, but it also takes about twice as long. With the air fryer it cooks really quickly but I would need to make two batches. At the end it’s the same, but I personally like using the air fryer more because I don’t have to flip the chips halfway through, which I need to do with the oven.

Crispy, delicious, vegan polenta chips. Give it a go!

Air Fried Vegan Polenta Chips (or you can use the oven)

Crunchy, air-fried, healthier, polenta chips that are super easy to make, but just as addictive.

  • Coconut oil spray (I use <a href="http://thecocolife.com.au/">Cocolife</a> – you can use code "passionatelykeren" to get 15% off your online order)
  • 2 cups vegetable stock (or 1 stock cube and 2 cups of water)
  • 250 g polenta flour
  • 1/3 cup
  • vegan parmesan
  • or nutritional yeast
  • Sea salt
  • Optional: 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
  1. Spray a baking pan with oil spray and set aside.
  2. Heat stock saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to boil. Gradually add the polenta in a thin steady stream, stirring constantly until all the polenta is incorporated into the stock.
  3. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast.
  4. Pour the polenta onto the prepared pan and use the back of a large spoon to smooth the surface. Cover with non-stick baking paper and set aside to cool, then place in the fridge for four hours or overnight to set.
  5. Turn polenta onto chopping board. Cut lengthways into 2cm strips then each strip into fingers (about 6-8 cm).
  6. Arrange polenta pieces on the air fryer basket with space in between each pieces, spray with coconut oil. Bake at 200C for 20-25 minutes. Alternately you can use the oven.
  7. To cook polenta chips in the oven, arrange strips on an oiled baking pan, bake for 20 minutes at 190C and then turn the chips around and bake for a further 20 minutes.
  8. Sprinkle with rosemary is using and season with sea salt. Serve immediately.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think. You can also follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Cheers,

Keren x

How to Make Homemade Soy Yogurt (Without A Yogurt Maker)

Friends, this is the best homemade soy yogurt I’ve tasted (and created). Being vegan and dairy-free, finding a good yogurt is bloody hard. Some are ridiculously overpriced, and some are full of sugar and flavourings. Some taste good but way too rich for everyday consumption (and yes I’m looking at you CoYo).  But this…this is perfect.

Homemade soymilk

It’s creamy, tart, and thick (it can be made even thicker if you could be bothered draining the whey, which I don’t). But more importantly, it is super easy to make.

You don’t need even need a special equipment or a yogurt maker or a thermometer. It’s almost foolproof.

The Steps. It’s easier than you think

Here’s my steps to making this homemade soy yogurt.

  1. Get a good non-dairy starter culture. I highly recommend Belle+Bella which you can get from Iherb. You can also get a probiotic capsule from the pharmacy.
  2. Use a good quality soy milk. I used Vitasoy Soy Milky for this recipe. It’s my favourite at the moment.  Bonsoy also work great
  3. Get an insulated lunch bag and a mason jar. The bag will act as your ‘incubator’ and the mason jar filled with hot water will act as your heat pack to keep the temperature inside the bag nice and warm for your culture.

The secret to making Homemade Soy Yogurt without a yogurt maker

When I was making this soy yogurt for a first time, I was worried that I don’t have a yogurt maker to make it. But then I was reminded of my time as a Microbiologist. Bugs grow… even if the temperature is not optimum. The colder or hotter temperature will just make them grow slower or faster (unless it’s too hot in which case, they will die). So as long they in an ‘okay’ temperature, they will be ok. I know a lot of people are nervous about not having everything in perfect condition for these little bugs but trust me… they’re tougher than you think.

Without a yogurt maker to keep the temperature at the optimum level for the bugs to grow, we need to do something in order to get the same result. And that is by doubling the amount of starter required.

That’s it. That’s the secret.

Homemade soymilk

There you go!

Homemade Soy Yogurt (Without A Yogurt Maker)

  • 500 ml soy milk
  • One packet of non-dairy yogurt starter or one probiotic capsule (I use Belle + Bella.)
  • 2 clean mason jars
  • An insulated lunch bag
  1. Heat up 500 ml soy milk in a pan until it almost come to a boil. Set aside to cool to about 35 C (warm to touch).
  2. Add a packet of non-dairy yogurt starter
  3. Pour into one of the jars and place it inside the lunch bag
  4. Pour hot water into the other jar and place it inside the lunch bag
  5. Close the bag and let it sit in a dark warm place for 2 days. Taste and if it’s ready, place in the fridge to cool.
  6. Add your flavourings.
  7. I use a teaspoon Beyond Latte Ginger Latte Mix to give it a nice spicy ginger flavour.

Let me know how you go

If you make this homemade soy yogurt, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think. You can also follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

Vegan Meyer Lemon Cake

A while ago I was given a dozen of Meyer Lemons. I’ve never had them before so I was quite surprised at how mild they are compared to the regular lemons. They’re smaller, sweeter and their skins are softer than regular lemon.

So what do you do when life gives you lemons? You make lemon cake of course.

The Secret

The secret to making this vegan meyer lemon cake so soft and moist is that you use the entire lemon (4 of them to be exact). Skin and all. Less waste, more flavour.

It is very easy to make:

  • You cut the lemon
  • You mix the flours and baking soda together
  • You blend the wet ingredients and lemon together
  • You add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients
  • And you bake the thing.

Oh and there’s more

I added slices of fresh lemon on top of the cake to give it extra zing! No mucking around here. This is the ultimate lemon cake for hardcore lemon fan.

What are you waiting for…

This cake uses a total of six whole Meyer lemons (four for the batter and two for the topping). Meyer lemon is smaller, sweeter and less tangy than normal lemon but you can also normal lemon as an alternative (use two instead of four for the batter). And if you worried about it being too bitter, you can peel the skin off before putting them in the blender.

Stay in touch!

If you make this cake, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think. You can also follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Kerenx

Vegan Meyer Lemon Cake

A delicious, soft, and super lemony cake that will take your breath away

  • 4 Meyer lemon (washed and quartered)
  • 2 Meyer lemon (slice thinly)
  • 1 cups all-purpose flour (or glutenfree flour for GF option)
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  1. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
  2. Lightly spray a cake tin. I use a small loaf pan.
  3. In a large bowl, add plain flour, almond flour and baking soda. Mix well
  4. Remove seeds from lemon quartered. Add them to a blender. Blend until smooth.
  5. Add coconut oil, sugar, water, vinegar, vanilla extract and salt into the blender and blend for a few seconds to combine.
  6. Pour the mixture into flour, mix until just combine.
  7. Pour into the prepared tin. Carefully place sliced lemon on the surface of the batter.
  8. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes. Check after 30 minutes by inserting a knife or a skewer in the middle of the cake. If the knife comes out clean, the cake is ready.
  9. Remove from the oven to cool for 5-10 minutes.
  10. Store in an airtight container.

If you don’t have Meyer lemons required for the recipes you can replace them with 2 normal lemons.

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

Roasted chickpeas! These are one of my favourite snacks. If you like crunchy, spicy things like me, you will love these!

They’re very easy to make and will stay crispy for up to two weeks in an air-tight container.

When I first made these, they didn’t become as crispy as I’d wanted them to be. After some trials and error I finally nailed the process that gives me crispy chickpeas every time.

How to make crispy roasted chickpeas 

1. Dry the chickpeas as much as you can

The drier the chickpeas, the crunchier they get. Use a kitchen towel or paper towel to gently pat them dry.

2. Don’t skimp the oil

Rule of thumb is 1 measured tablespoon (30ml) for one can of chickpeas or 1 ½ cup of cooked chickpeas, if you use dried chickpeas. Any less and the chickpeas won’t be as crispy.

Why I love chickpeas (and why you should too)

There are so many great things about chickpeas: They are rich in complex carbohydrates, protein, and dietary fibre. They are low in fat and contain no cholesterol. Chickpeas are also a good source of potassium, vitamin A, calcium, vitamin C, iron, sodium, vitamin B-6 and magnesium.

They help with the management of blood sugar and lipids, promoting bone health, a hearty heart and lowering of blood pressure. They contain selenium, a mineral that is not present in most fruits and vegetables, which helps detoxify some cancer-causing compounds, prevents inflammation and also decreases tumor growth rates.

Canned or Dried

There is little difference in the nutritional value between canned chickpeas and dried chickpeas which you cook yourself. Though I personally like cooking my own chickpeas, as I find the canned ones are too soft for my taste, there’s nothing wrong with canned chickpeas (just make sure they’re BPA free). In fact, I always make sure have a few cans in the pantry so that I’m never too far from a quick, nutritious meal (or make roasted chickpeas for a delicious crisp snack).

 

 

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

Crunchy, healthy, high-protein snack that is as delicious as it is addictive

  • 2 cans chickpeas (drained and rinsed (about 3 cups))
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  1. Heat the oven to 200°C and arrange a rack in the middle.
  2. Pat dry chickpeas with paper towel. Place the chickpeas in a large bowl.
  3. Add all the remaining ingredients. Toss until evenly coated. Taste and add more salt or cayenne pepper to make it more salty or spicy.
  4. Spread the chickpeas in an even layer on a pan lined with baking paper and bake until crunchy, between 40 – 50 minutes, stirring halfway through.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and/or share a picture on Instagram and tag me in the picture.

Keren x

References:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/280244.php

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=58

 

Vegan Carrot Cupcakes

Happy New Year, everybody! It’s good to be back blogging again. Even though I only missed last week’s blogpost schedule, it feels like ages since I shared a recipe. I hope this vegan carrot cupcakes makes up for it, though; as they’re really good!

It’s been rather a crazy few weeks as I moved house during the Christmas/New Year break. I’ve survived the ordeal, much like a survivor of a plane crash (except I now have to make the crash site somewhat livable). It’s getting there… slowly.

Our kitchen is being ripped out next Monday and so I will have to find a temporary place to cook and clean. Between you and me, I think it is going to be the laundry. I really don’t know what to expect during the renovation except that it’s going to be a hectic few weeks and I won’t have a proper kitchen for around four weeks (which is a pretty big deal).

Nevertheless, despite the inconvenience of having my ‘creative space’ being torn asunder, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for me to go through some of my draft posts and recipes from 2015 – 2016 which I had planned on publishing one day. Well… that day has come. I declare this year to be my year of backlog clearing, goal kicking, and extreme productivity. *Fist pump*

And so let’s kick off 2017 with this lovely recipe: delectable vegan carrot cupcakes, which has been adapted from my old and trusted carrot cake recipe I used for a number of years before I became vegan. It was really easy to ‘veganise’ the recipe. Butter was replaced with coconut oil, chicken egg with egg replacer, baking soda and vinegar for instant leavening action, and poof… you get soft and moist cupcakes that will make your mother proud. Isn’t science wonderful?

I’m sharing two methods today: Manual method and the Cuisine Companion method which can be adapted for the Thermomix. I normally use the manual method for most of my cakes, but when it comes to grating carrots and chopping nuts, I can get a little bit lazy. This is where my CC earns its keep – grating, chopping, and mixing my ingredients all in one bowl. You can also use a normal food processor for the chopping and grating if you wish, but there’s also nothing wrong with a bit of elbow grease.

Here’s to an amazing 2017!

Vegan Carrot Cupcakes

Wet Bowl

  • 2 medium sized carrots (200g peeled and finely grated)
  • 1 cup walnuts (finely chopped)
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 4 tsp egg replacer (I use <a href="http://www.orgran.com/products_/">Orgran Egg Replacer</a>)
  • 6 tablespoons of water
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 2/3 cup refined coconut oil (melted)
  • 1/2 cup sugar

Dry Bowl

  • 1 1/3 cups plain flour
  • 1 1/2 tsps baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Coyo Frosting

  • ½ cup coconut yogurt
  • 2 tsps maple syrup

Manual Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line a mini muffin pan with paper cups or spray with oil.
  2. Prepare your wet bowl mixture. Whip together egg replacer with 6 tablespoons of water until it’s thick and creamy. Add oil and blend until combined. Transfer to a big bowl.
  3. Add carrots, walnuts, raisins and sugar. Stir to combine.
  4. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt together in a large bowl.
  5. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until just combined. Don’t overmix.
  6. Pour batter into the prepared mini muffin cups until 2/3’s full.
  7. Bake cupcakes in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean, about 12 minutes.
  8. Set aside to cool completely. Serve with some Coyo frosting if desired.

Cuisine Companion Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line a mini muffin pan with paper cups or spray with oil.
  2. Chop carrots using Superblade using speed 10, 1 minute.
  3. Add 1 cup walnuts, chop at speed 7, 20 seconds.
  4. Add 1 cup mixed fruits, mix at speed 7, 10 seconds.
  5. Add flour, spices and salt.
  6. Whisk together egg replacer and water until it’s thick and creamy.
  7. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix at speed 9, 20 seconds.
  8. Pour batter into the prepared mini muffin cups until 2/3’s full.
  9. Bake cupcakes in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean, about 12 minutes.
  10. Set aside to cool completely. Serve with some Coyo frosting if desired.

Note: If you’re using Cuisine Companion, you don’t have to grate the carrots or chop the walnuts.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and/or share a picture on Instagram and tag me in the picture.

Keren x