Vegan Chocolate Mousse

It’s been a while! But this recipe is very much worth the wait. This vegan chocolate mousse uses chickpea brine (the juice in a can of chickpeas) which sounds weird but it’s becoming a very popular egg white substitute, and the flavour disappears in the final product. The brine from just about any canned beans will do the job if you’re not a chickpea fan.

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpea brine
• 140g dark (vegan) chocolate
• Pinch of icing sugar and vanilla

Method:

• Whisk the brine for five minutes.
• Melt chocolate over a double boiler.
• Whisk the chocolate into the brine, and add the icing sugar and vanilla.
• Leave to cool then refrigerate.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

You can make these with any chocolate cupcake recipe, and add peanut butter frosting on top. This recipe uses my favourite cupcake base, but check out my cupcake page for other chocolate cupcake options.

Gluten-free vegan option: Make these GF/V by combining the basic GF/V chocolate cupcake recipe with the vegan peanut butter frosting listed on my buttercream post. 

Ingredients – cupcakes:

• 3 eggs
• 180g sugar
• 250g peeled and finely grated carrot
• 2 tablespoons strong coffee
• 120g rice flour
• 50g almond flour
• 40g cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 100g chocolate chips

Ingredients – icing:

• 100g butter, softened
• 65g smooth peanut butter
• 3 cups / 360g icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons 45ml milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 100g dark chocolate, melted

Method – cupcakes:

• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar for five minutes until the mixture is quadrupled in volume and extremely fluffy.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
• Whisk the carrot and coffee into the mixture.
• When they are fully incorporated, add the flour, ground almonds, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Beat with an electric whisk or fold with a wooden spoon until well combined.
• Fold in the chocolate chips.
• Spoon into prepared muffin trays lined with paper cases, so the mixture reaches four fifths of the way up the sides.
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• Leave to cool in the tin for ten minutes, then at room temperature for at least half an hour before icing. Make the icing while you wait.

Method – icing:

• Using an electric beater, whisk the butter until pale and softened.
• Add the icing sugar, milk and vanilla, and beat until smooth.

• Pipe melted chocolate into shapes onto a tray lined with baking paper. Leave to set, then garnish the cupcakes. Alternative options include drizzling melted chocolate over the icing, or sprinkling with dark chocolate chips.

Pita Croutons

Make or buy pita pockets (GF vegan recipe here). Cut in half horizontally, then cut each half into six triangles. Brush with olive oil, and bake for ten minutes at 200°/400°F. Flip over and bake for another five minutes.

Let cool, then serve with your favourite dip (I like hummus!) and veggie sticks.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Easter Cupcakes (GF/V)

I made vanilla Easter cupcakes a couple of years ago, and this year I followed the same theory to create these gluten-free vegan Easter cupcakes.

Base = GF/V chocolate cupcakes

Icing = Vegan peanut butter frosting:

• ½ cup / 112g vegan butter, softened
• ¼ cup / 65g smooth peanut butter
• 3 cups / 360g icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons / 45ml non-dairy milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bake the cupcakes according to the recipe, leave to cool, then ice with a thick layer of the frosting (just use a knife to smooth it over).
Then dip the cupcake in grated dark chocolate, and top with a mini-egg and a chick (found in craft stores like Spotlight). You can use melted dark chocolate or peanut butter to get the decorations to stay on.

Basic Gluten-Free/Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Another winner from Cara Reed, this is just the chocolate cupcake base. I’ll be referring to it in future recipes for various GF/V cupcake creations, or you can combine it with your own choice of toppings and decorations. This recipe makes a dozen cupcakes.

DRY:

• 1 ½ C / 250g gluten-free flour blend
• ¾ C / 66g cocoa powder
• ½ / 73g brown sugar
• ½ c / 100g granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons / 7.5g baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon xantham gum
• ½ teaspoon salt

WET:

• 1 C / 240 ml non-dairy milk
• ½ C / 120ml hot water
• ½ C / 120ml vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons / 14g flaxseed meal plus 6 tablespoons / 90ml water – thickened for 5 minutes
• 1 tablespoon / 15ml apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla essence

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F. Grease or line a muffin pan.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
• In a medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients together until well mixed.
• Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
• Pour in the muffin tin and bake for 17-20 minutes.
• Allow to cool, then decorate as desired.

Moroccan Cashews

• Cashews
• Sugar
• Honey
• Salt
• Cumin
• Tumeric
• Coriander
• Vegetable Powder

I kinda stole this from the ingredient list of store-bought nuts, so I don’t have a proper recipe. I used a teaspoon of sugar and honey with maybe half a teaspoon of each other ingredient, for about two cups of cashews.

I tossed the cashews in a frying pan on medium heat with the sugar and honey until the sugar dissolved. I then combined the other ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkled them over the nuts. I kept frying for another couple of minutes on medium heat, then let the cashews cool on baking paper.

Lemon Cupcakes (gluten-free, vegan)

From the ever-wonderful Cara Reed, author of “Decadent Gluten-free and Vegan Baking” and creator of Fork and Beans. These cupcakes are ridiculously moist and delicious, and also super-easy!

Ingredients:

DRY:

• 2 ½ cups / 200g gluten-free flour mix (make sure you get one with guar gum)
• 1 cup / 200g granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoon / 7.5g baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt

WET:

• 1 ½ cups / 398ml canned coconut milk
• 6 tablespoons / 90g applesauce
• ¼ cup / 60ml hot water
• 1 tablespoon / 15ml lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon / 13g lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

VEGAN LEMON FROSTING:

• 1 cup / 24g vegan butter, softened (I used Olivani)
• 3 cup / 360g powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoon / 10ml lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence
• 3 teaspoons / 9.5g lemon zest

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine the wet until well mixed. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and then stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
• Pour into a muffin pan and bake for 17-20 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and allow to cool on a wire rack. As you wait, make the frosting.
• With an electric mixer, cream the vegan butter on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually add in the powered sugar and then beat in the lemon juice, vanilla and zest until light and fluffy.
• Pipe the frosting over the cooled cupcakes.

Buttercream

A master-post for my favourite buttercream frosting recipes.

Chocolate Buttercream

• 1 ½ cups salted butter, softened
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 5 cups icing sugar
• ½ cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
• ½ teaspoon espresso powder

Lemon Buttercream

• 1 cup salted butter
• 4 cups icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons cream

Vanilla Buttercream

• 1 cup salted butter, softened
• 3 ½ cups icing sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2-3 tablespoons milk or cream

 

Vegan Vanilla Buttercream

• ½ cup shortening
• ½ cup margarine
• 3 ½ cups icing sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla essence
• ¼ cup plain non-dairy milk (almond, coconut, soy, etc)

Vegan Lemon Buttercream

• 1 cup / 24g vegan butter, softened (I used Olivani)
• 3 cup / 360g powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons / 10ml lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence
• 3 teaspoons / 9.5g lemon zest

Vegan Peanut Butter Buttercream

• ½ cup / 112g vegan butter, softened
• ¼ cup / 65g smooth peanut butter
• 3 cups / 360g icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons / 45ml non-dairy milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Date and Cashew Caramel Slice

My mum sent me this recipe from Nadia Lim’s blog, and I absolutely love it. It’s gluten-free, vegan, and sugar free, and yet it tastes absolutely amazing – I brought some into work recently for a morning tea, and everyone loved it. I’m usually reluctant to promote that a recipe is sugar-free or gluten-free vegan until people have tried it, since “sugar-free”, “gluten-free” and “vegan” can often be equated in the mind with “tastes like splenda-flavoured cardboard”. Please take my word for it that this recipe is delicious – it gets plenty of caramel flavour from the dates and maple syrup – and since you know it’s healthy you can feel free to go for seconds 😀

Base:

• 1 ½ cup fine rolled oats or ground almonds
• 1 ½ cups shredded coconut
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 6 dates, pitted
• 1 cup raw almonds
• Pinch of salt
• 200g melted coconut oil (or butter)

Date and cashew caramel filling:

• 400g dried pitted dates
• ¾ cup boiling water
• 2 cups softened cashews (see note)
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup melted coconut oil (or butter)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Chocolate and walnut topping:

• 150-200g good quality dark chocolate
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1-2 tablespoons shredded coconut
• Optional: 1 teaspoon neutral flavoured oil, e.g. grape seed, walnut, hazelnut, canola, soy (this softens the chocolate so it doesn’t set too hard – do NOT use coconut oil or butter as this will make the chocolate set harder).

 

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180°C/360°F. Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of a square baking tin (20cm x 20cm) with baking paper.
• Place oats/ground almonds, coconut, cocoa, dates, almonds and salt in a food processor and blitz to a fine, crumbly texture. Drizzle in melted coconut oil/butter and pulse until well combined.
• Press mixture into the prepared baking tin, pressing down firmly with the back of a spoon of spatula. Bake for 15 minutes.
• Make the caramel while the base cooks. Place dates and water in a medium-size pot and boil, stirring frequently, until the dates are very soft and mushed up, and all the water has evaporated. Place dates in the food processor along with the softened cashew nuts, maple syrup, coconut oil/butter and vanilla. Blitz until smooth (this will take a few minutes).
• Spread caramel over the base in the baking tin. Return to oven to bake for 10 minutes.
• Melt chocolate and mix in the oil if using. Pour melted chocolate over the filling and sprinkle walnuts and coconut over the top. Leave to cool overnight or for 3-4 hours in the fridge.
• Cut into about 25 pieces (I find it easier to cut upside down since the chocolate is the hardest layer to cut).

> To make softened cashews, either soak in water overnight, or boil in a pot of water for about 15 minutes. Drain well.
make softened cashews, either soak in water overnight, or boil in a pot of water for about 15 minutes. Drain well.

Pita Bread (gluten-free, vegan)

These soft, chewy pita pockets hail from Fork and Beans, a gluten-free vegan cooking blog. The original post is worth checking out because it includes a photo tutorial, and also has information for substituting ingredients if you have further dietary requirements.
This recipe makes 8 pita breads (16 pita pockets).

Wet Ingredients:

• 2 ½ teaspoons dry active yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup or agave
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons psyllium husk powder

Dry Ingredients:

• 3 cups gluten-free flour mix
                     OR
• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1 cup superfine brown rice flour
• ½ cup potato starch
• ½ cup arrowroot powder
• 3 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon salt

Method:

• Mix the warm water, yeast and syrup together. Allow to sit for 10 minutes undisturbed until frothy. If this does not happen you must start again.
• Add the oil and psyllium to the mix and stir.
• In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.
• Add the wet mix into the dry and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Your dough will be slightly sticky; it should remove from the bowl but it shouldn’t stick completely to your fingers either.
• Cover and leave on your counter in a warm, draft-free zone for 45 minutes.
• Preheat your oven to 230°C/450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Divide your dough into 8 equal balls. On a floured surface, take one ball and use your hands to gently create a circle by pushing the dough out from the middle. You don’t want to completely flatten it: leave a little pillow of thickness.
• Transfer to the baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Turn over the pita and bake another 2 minutes until barely browned and puffed up. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Allow to cool completely before you slice.