Vegan Carrot Cake w Coconut Chantilly Cream Icing

My beautiful best friend Tess came down and stayed with me for a week recently, and that's how this cake came about. NYE 2015 leading into 2016, almost a week after my birthday, and it came out that I hadn't had a birthday cake. Well this was simply no good, and we had just been pondering what to make and bring to a NYE party, so cake it was! Carrot cake to be exact, no explanation needed. Vegan, gluten free, delicious, complete with a creamy coconut icing, demolished by a whole party of people; this cake ticks all the boxes.

What you need:

For the cake:

2 and a quarter cups of buckwheat flour
4 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
4 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg
Pinch of sea salt

1 cup of mylk of choice (we used Nutty Bruce Almond Coconut Milk)
1 cup of coconut sugar
2 cups of grated carrot
1 fresh vanilla bean, scraped out (alternatively, 2 tsp of vanilla extract)
1 cup of mashed banana (about 2-3 bananas worth)
1 tablespoon of chia seeds

For the coconut chantilly cream icing:

2 tins of full fat coconut cream
1 vanilla bean, scraped out (or 2 tsp of vanilla extract)

What you need to do:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius, and grease your baking pan (we used coconut oil spray).
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, mylk, chia seeds, vanilla and coconut sugar.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry, fold through, then add the grated carrot and fold until just combined.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the icing, don't shake the coconut cream cans up before you open them; simply open them up, and scrape out the top layer of cream. The coconut cream and the water separates in the can, and you only want to keep that top layer of cream and ditch the water. In a bowl, whip the coconut cream with the vanilla using a whisk or an old fashioned egg beater. Refrigerate for 2 or so hours, or until it has set. Wait until the cake is completely cool before icing, or you'll end up with a (delicious) puddle of coconut around your cake (speaking from experience here!)

2 comments

Middle-Eastern inspired brown rice, quinoa & chickpea salad

I took this super fresh salad along to Christmas lunch (along with a mean vegan potato salad, but that's for another post) and was then requested to make it again a few days later for a dinner with some family friends. Both times it went down a treat. It's the perfect side dish, but also so satisfying as a main. The currants add bites of sweetness, the brown rice and quinoa combination is foolproof, the herbs provide so much bite and flavour, and the dressing is super simple and light; get amongst it pals. Also, I got a lot of my ingredients in bulk from The Source (they have multiple stores all around Australia) which is a great way of saving money, time and packaging!

What you need:

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 cup uncooked tri-coloured quinoa (or any coloured quinoa tbh)
1 tin of chickpeas
1/2 to 2/3 of a cup of currants
1 carrot, peeled and grated
A big handful (or two) of chopped up shallots/spring onions
Parsley
Coriander
Mint
(I also used a little bit of dill because we had some in the fridge which added a nice flavour kick, but don't use too much of it bc it's quite an overwhelming flavour)

Freshly squeezed juice of 1 orange
Freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

What you need to do:

Cook up your rice according to the instructions on the packet (rice + water + boil + drain etc)
Cook up your quinoa according to the instructions
Drain your rice + quinoa
Mix them together in your salad bowl with the chickpeas, currants, grated carrot, shallots, and all your herbs.
Add your orange juice, lemon juice and vinegar, and mix it all together. Simples!

1 comments

Super Easy Vegan Banana Bread

When I was in high school, I absolutely loved the banana bread they sold at the canteen. At least a few times a week I'd be down there buying a slice as a post-lunch snack. So over-the-top sweet and moist, and usually eaten straight from its wrapping. And it had banana in it, that had to count for something… right? Right?! Maybe not.

Well my love of banana bread has not faded, but since discovering the more wholesome, nourishing, plant-based side of life, the type of banana bread my tastebuds sing for has definitely changed. Banana bread is quite a regular go-to for whenever I feel like baking; I just love how versatile it is, how many different delicious extras you can add into the mix, and how cosy comforting it is when you have a cup of tea in one hand and a slice of warm bread in the other.

I wanted to create a vegan banana bread recipe which was super uncomplicated, because often a lot of the recipes I see for it have a million and one ingredients and I don't know about you guys, but my head explodes. I made this loaf a week ago and a friend and I demolished almost all of it over afternoon tea, so I knew it was a winner and I'd have to make it again. And now I'm currently nibbling on my third slice of this freshly baked loaf. I'd call it a success. The bread uses only a handful of ingredients, and you could very easily play around with that basic recipe; I've used a lovely organic wholemeal spelt flour in this recipe, but I'm sure you could pretty much use any flour you have on hand. Also if you don't have coconut sugar on hand (you should buy some…) you could sub it with any other type of sugar. You could add in walnuts (which I plan to next time, yum), cacao nibs, coconut, berries, pepitas, sunflower seeds, chia seeds - the world is pretty much your oyster here.

What you need:

1.5 cups of spelt flour (or buckwheat flour for a gf version)
1/2 cup of coconut sugar or raw sugar
4-5 overripe bananas (should be around 2 cups worth)
1/4 cup of mylk of choice (I used oat)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract or powder
2 tsp baking powder

What you need to do:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and grease a loaf tin. Mash up your bananas until they're super creamy (I use a potato masher) and add in the vanilla and mylk. Sift your flour and baking powder into the banana mixture, add the sugar and cinnamon, and mix until just combined. Transfer into your loaf tin, and pop into the oven for 45 minutes (and enjoy the smell of baking banana bread permeating the air, uh huh honey).

7 comments

Banana Cinnamon Chia Oatmeal

Most mornings of the week I'll make my parents breakfast (number one daughter award wha whaaat), and this is my go-to porridge that I create for them. The first time I made this, mum proclaimed it one of, if not the, best porridge she'd ever had. Maybe a slightly big claim, but I was pretty happy with that reaction!

What you need:
(serves two!)

1 cup of oats
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ripe banana, chopped into pieces
Pinch of salt
2 big teaspoons of honey (or your liquid sweetener of choice! Or you can omit if you don't have much of a sweet tooth)

Toppings:
(these are just the toppings that we usually have on hand in our house, but feel free to use whatever you fancy)

Frozen mixed berries, defrosted (pop them in the microwave for about 90-120 seconds)
Banana
Buckwheat
Coconut flakes
Granola of your choice - I used @mywholesomekitchen coconut crunch granola in the picture above

What you need to do:

In a small saucepan, cover the oats in water (not too much! You want them with maybe a centimetre of water above them). I often leave the oats to soak in the water for half an hour which makes a noticeable difference on their creaminess.
Add the salt and the banana, turn your stove on, and get cookin'! Once the oats look like they're starting to heat up, add the chia seeds, salt and cinnamon, and mix in well.
Keep stirring regularly until your porridge is looking thick and creamy. Turn off the stove, stir in the honey, and transfer to bowls. Top with all the good stuff, and enjoy.

1 comments

Banana Beetroot 'Ice Cream' Smoothie (Bowl)

Would you just look at the colour of this baby! Serve this up to someone who suffers from the age-old misconception that all healthy food is dull and I think you'll change their minds. Remembering to bake up some beetroot the night before is definitely the hardest part of this breakfast bowl, but it's so worth it every now and then when enthusiasm strikes! In saying that, I have made a banana beet smoothie bowl using grated raw beetroot before, and it turned out wonderfully and a gorgeous bright lighter pink colour (see the final photo on this post). Also, it's totally up to you how much liquid you add to the mix. Depending on how much you add you'll end up with either banana beet ice cream or a banana beet smoothie - both delicious and super beautiful.

What you need:

5 frozen bananas
Half of a small baked beetroot (I cut my beet in half, wrapped it in foil, and baked it at 200 degrees celcius for about 45 minutes)
1 tsp cinnamon
Liquid of choice - water, almond mylk, coconut water etc - in the amount of your choice (for ice cream, just a splash)

What you need to do:

Blend the banana until they start to turn creamy, add in the cinnamon, the beetroot and the liquid, and blend until fully combined! Transfer to your bowl/glass/jar, top with whatever you please, and consume! Easy peasy.

4 comments

Banana Berry Smoothie Bowl

This smoothie bowl is quite the regular on my breakfast menu, and for good reason. It's completely delicious, and of course completely good for you. Are you surprised? Nope, good. I just want all the self-lovin' up in here! It's super easy to make and also super versatile, so feel free to add or subtract anything you please. Sometimes I'll add a big handful of greens into the mix, which is a great way of sneaking in some extra nutrition to your morning!

What you need:

4 frozen bananas (or 2 or 3 or 5 or 6 or however many you please)
1 cup of frozen mixed berries
1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of maca powder
A splash of almond mylk/water/coconut water

What you need to do:

Blend. It. Up. Real good. That's it! Transfer it into a bowl, and top it with whatever you please. My usual toppings are:

Loving Earth Caramelised Buckinis (activated raw buckwheat)
Coconut flakes
More fruit, such as banana, plum, peach, berries
Cacao nibs
Goji berries
Chia seeds

2 comments

Raw Chocolate Coconut Truffles (vegan, raw, gluten free, sugar free, nut free)

I arrived home from work yesterday in one of those give-me-all-the-snacks moods. You know the mood I'm talking about, right? I'm not the only one? Considering Easter is this weekend, I have chocolate on my mind, and I had been wanting to give raw vegan truffles a go so these proved to be the perfect opportunity. Chocolate + snacks + raw vegan goodies = yes please! I know most raw vegan truffles have dates as their base, but we didn't have any dates in the house, and lordy they're so expensive here! So I made do with what I had on hand, and they turned out fabulously delicious, naughty-tasting but definitely not bad for you in the slightest. You could very easily add anything you want into these babies; the buckwheat is optional, as are the chia seeds, but both add a delicious bit of crunch. You could try adding in almonds or walnuts, or basically any nut or seed, if you so desire.

Hope you all have a wonderful, chocolate-filled Easter!

What you need:

1 tablespoon of raw cacao powder (I use Loving Earth)
1.5 tablespoons of raw coconut oil, room-temperature
1.5 tablespoons of liquid sweetener of choice (maple, honey, rice malt, etc)
Half an avocado
1/2 of a cup of desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
A pinch of sea salt

1 teaspoon of maca (optional)
2 teaspoons of chia seeds (optional)
1 tablespoon of raw buckwheat (I used Loving Earth's caramelised buckinis) (optional)

What you need to do:

Mix together the cacao powder, coconut oil and liquid sweetener, until it's a delicious chocolate-y mess.
Add in the avocado, and mash it up well until everything is mixed together nicely.
Add the coconut, cinnamon, sea salt, maca, chia, and buckwheat, and mix everything together.
In a small muffin tin lined with small patty pans, dollop a couple of teaspoons of the mixture into each patty pan. Pop into the freezer for 15-20 minutes, to allow the coconut oil to re-solidify.
This is where it gets fun and messy. Making sure your hands are nice and clean, roll the mixture from each patty pan into a ball (it'll be a little sticky!). Roll the balls in your choice of more coconut, or cacao powder, or both.
Pop back into the freezer, and eat whenever you can't wait any longer! The longer they spend in the freezer, the more truffle-y they become, but I totally understand if you don't hold out for that ;)

0 comments

Dark Fudgy Chocolate Avocado Cookies (gf, vegan)

If you like your chocolate nice and dark, then I promise you will love these cookies. They're rich and fudgy, chunky (almost brownie-like), and verging on bittersweet. They also just happen to be, you know… Really good for you. I know, I'm pretty happy about it too.

You know those times where you just really. want. chocolate? One of those times is the reason these cookies came about. I just really wanted chocolate. Rich, dark, sinful-tasting chocolate. And boy did they do the trick. They may have even done the trick a bit too well - I was a whirl of energy for the rest of the afternoon and well into the night. Maybe eating like, half of the batter (yes I licked the spoon, and ran my fingers around the bowl, and I expect the same from you) and then two cookies straight from the cooling rack, and then another one once they'd cooled down was a bit excessive… Just a friendly reminder that cacao does have a bit of caffeine in it, so these bad boys aren't great for a pre-bed snack! I speak from experience. No regrets.

But anyway! Let's talk ingredients. I used amaranth flour because it's what I had in the pantry, but I'm 98% sure that coconut flour would work just as well. If anyone tries that out let me know how it goes! If you want to use other flours, just remember that amaranth and coconut flour are very absorbent flours, so you'd have to play around with the liquid/dry ratio. I also used raw cacao powder, which is the unprocessed, unheated, much more nutrient- and mineral-rich, natural form of cocoa powder, and it also tastes much richer than cocoa powder. In saying that, I'm sure cocoa powder would work well, and if you're sensitive to caffeine/prefer not to eat cacao, then try using carob powder instead!

I completely adore the addition of avocado into any desserts. If you haven't ever tried avocado chocolate mousse, then I absolutely recommend giving it a go. I've fed it to friends before who don't normally like ~vegan~ ~healthy~ food and they've loved it! The use of avocado in this recipe is what gives the cookies their delicious fudginess.

Finally! I used Loving Earth's chocolate buckinis in this recipe, which are oh so heavenly, but I am well aware that many of you wouldn't have these in your pantry (especially if you don't live in Australia. If this is the case, I'm so sorry that you miss out on the goodness that is Loving Earth, and I hope they sort out international postage stat). Chocolate buckinis are basically a mix of activated raw buckwheat, coconut flakes, goji berries, raw cacao powder, and coconut sugar. As a substitution, mix together 3/4 of a cup of raw buckwheat, a tablespoon each of coconut flakes and goji berries, and a tablespoon of coconut sugar.

Enough talk. We need cookies.

What you need:

1/2 cup of amaranth flour + an extra tablespoon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup of raw cacao powder
1 cup of Loving Earth Chocolate Buckinis (see above for substitutions)
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
Pinch of salt

1/3 cup of almond milk (I'm sure any milk would work just fine)
1/2 an avocado, mashed
2 tablespoons of maple syrup/agave/coconut nectar (don't skimp on this, when I say tablespoons I mean like… heaped tablespoons) (the cookies aren't ridiculously sweet, which is what I love about them, but if you've got a mega sweet tooth then maybe add extra)

What you need to do:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius, and line a tray with baking paper.
Mix together your flour, baking powder, cacao powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the buckinis and stir in well.
In a separate bowl, mash the avocado. Add the almond milk and your sweetener of choice, and mix together until very well combined.
You should have a nice sticky batter, which holds together well.
Dollop onto your cookie tray. You should have 12 pretty big cookies.
Pop into the oven for 25 minutes. Try not to eat them all at once!

2 comments

Hot Cross Bun Muffins (Vegan and Gluten Free)

I find there's something so nostalgic and cosy about Easter time, and I completely adore it. Maybe it's the shift of the seasons happening at this time of year, the summer warmth giving way to the colder and cosier months. Maybe it's the fond memories that I have of chocolate-fuelled long weekends spent running around my grandparents' home in the mountains (I can't say much has changed…). Maybe it's the understated and easy-going nature of Easter, compared to Christmas, as families come together to spend time with each other, without that seemingly inescapable stress that Christmas time brings. Maybe it's simply that smell of baking hot cross buns, the scent of cinnamon reaching every corner of the house.

As I've grown older, hot cross buns have steadily overtaken chocolate's prime status as my favoured Easter treat (!) and I find myself hanging out for them in the months leading up to Easter. I just can't say no to a freshly-toasted, dried-fruit-studded, cinnamon-spiced, subtly sweet homemade hot cross bun (especially when paired with a cup of tea!). But I think it's their fleeting, transient nature that I love most - with only a few weeks out of every year in which to make the most of their goodness, they take on a somewhat ephemeral quality.

These muffins were very much a trial-and-error experiment. I obviously wanted to bake up some hot cross buns myself, however I've had zero time for bread-making lately, so I thought why not take the whole yeast step out of the mix and see what I end up with? I basically ended up with scones, which were fabulously delicious and hot-cross-bunny (heh) regardless. I then played around with the recipe, remade them, and ended up with these muffins instead. The texture is deliciously soft, and subtly sweet, studded with currants and a hint of citrus, and to top it all off, I made the cross out of raw cacao for extra deliciousness. Plus, they're vegan, gluten free and refined sugar free - much unlike the buns you find in supermarkets.

Hope you enjoy them as much as my family and I did!

Older Posts

2 comments

A summery raw lemon coconut "cheesecake"

Yesterday was a perfectly warm, sunny, cloudless Summer's day here in Sydney, and I spent it by the seaside at Nielsen's Park in Vaucluse, with good friends and good food. I wanted to make a deliciously summery but nutritious dessert, and lemon and coconut are basically a match made in heaven (kind of like banana and PB… mmm that's next on my to-make list). So here is the recipe for the lemon and coconut raw vegan cheesecake that some of you may have seen on instagram. Grab your loved ones and a picnic blanket, this cake is calling you.

Older Posts

2 comments

Vegan carrot, orange and ginger cookies

Grain free, refined sugar free and vegan carrot, orange and ginger cookies with crunchy buckwheat and cacao bits! These cookies. They're addictive. I'm warning you now. But they're also ridiculously good for you, so it's all fine. In fact, I wouldn't judge you if you ate them for breakfast… I might just join you. But aside from that, they're the perfect mid-afternoon snack to tide you over til dinner, the perfect I-need-a-treat-with-my-cup-of-tea snack, the perfect damn-it-it's-only-11:30am-and-I'm-ready-for-lunch snack, or the perfect middle-of-your-shift-at-work snack when you just need SOMETHING to nibble on (which is how these came about…). There are so many wonderful flavours in these cookies - a little bit nutty from the buckwheat, a little bite from the freshly grated ginger, fruity-sweetness from the orange zest and juice, little bites of deep, earthy chocolate from the raw cacao, plus they're a little bit carrot cake-y! They kind of taste like a muesli cookie except minus the muesli… Does that make sense? Just try them, you'll understand.

Ingredients (note: unfortunately I'm a very erratic experimental baker and don't measure my ingredients perfectly, so use your discretion to decide whether to add more or less of anything… eek)

1 and a 1/4 of a cup of buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
A teeny pinch of sea salt
1/3 cup of raw buckwheat groats
1/2 cup of cacao nibs
1 tablespoon of coconut sugar (this is totally optional, depending on how sweet you like your cookies!)
1 grated carrot (about a cup's worth)

1/4 cup of maple syrup/agave syrup/honey if you're not strict vegan
1 tablespoon of soft coconut oil
Juice of half an orange (just eat the other half, nom)
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp cinnamon

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and grease a tray (I use coconut oil to do this) and/or line with baking paper.

Mix the buckwheat flour, salt, baking powder, optional coconut sugar, buckwheat groats and cacao nibs all together in a bowl. Add the carrot and mix.

In a separate bowl, combine the coconut oil, maple syrup/honey/agave, and orange juice, then add the grated ginger and cinnamon. Add this to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Here, I actually added an extra tablespoon or so of buckwheat flour because I thought the mixture was little too wet, but judge it for yourself. The mixture should still be reasonably wet and sticky!

Dollop tablespoons of the mixture onto the tray, shape them a little if you wish, and then pop them into the oven for 15 minutes! Devour, and try not to burn your fingers when they're fresh out of the oven and you juST CAN'T HELp yourself.

0 comments

Caramelly banana mango chia breakfast smoothie

During summer, I crave nothing more than fresh fruit smoothies for breakfast. Aside from being a completely delicious and refreshing brekky option, they're incredibly versatile and they pack a serious nutrition punch. I'm constantly playing around with my smoothie ingredients - so many different fruits, different combinations of fruit, coconut water or almond milk, different powders, greens or no greens… I could go on. But I won't. Instead I'll leave you with this morning's creation, which turned out deliciously caramel-like and super-satisfying.

You'll need:

3 frozen bananas
1 mango

Blend these two up together, so they're nice and creamy (it may be tempting to just eat it all like this… I won't blame you)

1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp maca powder
1 tsp mesquite powder
1 tblsp chia seeds
Coconut water/almond milk/water (entirely up to you, all are delicious)

Add all these tasty, super body-lovin' ingredients and blend it up. Add as much liquid as you want, until you reach your desired consistency - if I'm having a smoothie bowl, I'll use less liquid so it's nice and thick, but otherwise I probably add a cup or so of liquid.

I topped my smoothie with some raw buckwheat groats, which added a tasty crunch, but the possibilities of toppings are also endless (coconut flakes, more chia seeds, berries, cacao nibs… Get experimental!)

Sip away!

1 comments

Older Posts

Search