Baking - Good Vegetarian

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Vimu Subscription

Maybe I have an obsession with sugar, or suuuugggaaar. At any rate, I seem to be suffering from sweet-tooth cravings at the moment and discovered these apricot and coconut balls. Bless 'em, you can also shape the mix into a log and cut into little pieces, which can be kept in a container in the fridge for sweet-afternoon-treats. Or so I've heard.

Apricots will also give you a health boost - with dietary fibre, vitamin A, beta-carotene and antioxidants!

Apricot and Coconut Balls

What you need:

1 1/2 cups dried apricots
1 cup orange juice
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1 1/2 cups flaked or dessicated coconut
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts or almonds...)
raw sugar

What to do:

Put apricots and orange juice in a small pot and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and cover, then leave for ten minutes so that apricots absorb the juice. Drain, then place apricots in blender with coconut and nuts. Pulse blend until mixture is fine. Add zest and lemon juice. Remove from blender and shape into balls or log. Roll lightly in sugar and a little dessicated coconut. If mixture seems dry, add more OJ.

Image from Flickr.com

Vote

Shared on

Good Vegetarian

Greta Simpson Friends

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Greta Simpson - Category: Snacks, Baking

Email this Post to a Friend

Chocolate Brownie, Oh Yeah!

April 12th 2008 12:00

The thing about many of us vegetarians and vegans is that we're health conscious, but that doesn't mean we're averse to the odd chocolate treat. This chocolate brownies recipe is 100% vegan too!

Chocolate Brownies

What you need:

170g self-raising flour
salt
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
170g caster sugar
5 Tbsp sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing the tin
230ml sweetened soya milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

What to do:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Grease and flour a 20cm square cake tin with some of the sunflower oil. In a bowl, sift together the flour, salt, cocoa powder and sugar. Then add the oil, soya milk and vanilla extract, and mix carefully together. Pour this mixture into the tin, and bake for about 25 minutes, until the brownies spring back when gently pressed. Leave to cool for five minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Serve with yoghurt or whipped cream, if you dare.

Image from Flickr.com

Vote

Shared on

Good Vegetarian

Greta Simpson Friends

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Greta Simpson - Category: Baking

Email this Post to a Friend

Spicy Vegan Pumpkin Bread

March 28th 2008 05:40

This fantastic pumpkin bread recipe is so easy to bake and delicious eaten fresh from the oven.

Spicy Vegan Pumpkin Bread (makes one loaf)

What you need:

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground mixed spice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 cups cooked pumpkin, mashed
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup cooked apple
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup raisins, soaked and dried

What to do:

Preheat oven to 180C and grease a bread loaf tin. In a mixing bowl, sift and combine all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients and whisk together. Make a well in the dry ingredient mix, then pour the wet mix in until fully combined. Fold raisins into the mixture then spoon batter into the loaf pan, distributing evenly along the length of the pan (it will spread to the edges while cooking). Bake for 50-60 minutes. Test the loaf with a knife - it should come out clean. Remove bread from oven, turn loaf out on to cooling rack.

Image from Flickr.com

Vote

Comments (2)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Greta Simpson - Category: Baking

Email this Post to a Friend

Lemon and Poppyseed Cookies

March 27th 2008 05:35

As I've mentioned before, vegans often miss out on delights of the sweet variety (though not if they're in the know about delish treats like this Vegan Orange Cake). And here's another way for vegans to make some sweet treats. Be careful not to eat all the mix before it gets into the oven!

Lemon & Poppyseed Cookies

What you need:

1 cup flour
1 1/2 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 1/2 Tbsp cornflour
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
5 Tbsp dairy-free spread
1/3 cup brown sugar
juice of one lemon
zest of one lemon
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 Tbsp water

What to do:

Preheat oven to 180C. Mix flour, poppy seeds, cornflour, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, mix dairy-free spread, sugar, lemon juice, zest and vanilla essence. Add dry mix to this and combine (don't mix too much). Add one Tbsp of water at a time, kneading the mixture until dough holds together. Don't add too much water. Grease a baking tray, then place Tbsp size pieces of dough (shaped into balls) on the tray and press down a little. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.

Mm mmm.

Image from Flickr.com

Vote

Comments (1)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Greta Simpson - Category: Baking

Email this Post to a Friend

An Easy Blackberry and Apple Tart

March 24th 2008 04:25

If you were to look up tart in the dictionary, you'd find that it comes from the slang jam tart, to rhyme with sweetheart.

Well, this here's no sickly-sweet romance; this is a true tart - that is, agreeably sharp or acid to the taste, thanks to the tastes of apples (choose 'em green) and blackberries (fresh picked are best).

As a vegetarian, one of the most frustrating things in life has to be the search for pastry without animal fat. I mean, The Search For Pastry Without Animal Fat - it really is a quest of epic proportions. For this recipe, you can continue the quest (there are some brands available) or use this recipe for vegetarian pastry. I promise it's 100% vegetarian and can even be vegan-friendly by substituting dairy-free spread for butter!

Blackberry and Apple Tart

What you need:

500g cooking apples, peeled
fresh lemon juice
250g blackberries
caster sugar
250g sweetcrust pastry

What to do:

Slice apples, sprinkling them with lemon juice. Mix apples with blackberries and put them into a pie dish, making a pile that rises a little in the centre. Sprinkle with sugar as you add fruit. Roll out pastry to fit a 28cm pie dish. Moisten edge with water and lay pastry on top. Crimp edges with your fingers, trim, then sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake at 200C for 45 minutes, then turn heat down to 180C for 25 minutes or until light brown. Cool for 10 minutes.

Image from Flickr.com

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Greta Simpson - Category: Desserts, Baking

Email this Post to a Friend

Easter Just Isn't Easter Without Hot Cross Buns

March 23rd 2008 06:25

Everyone's looking for a recipe for hot cross buns at this time of year (well, anyone who knows that homemade beats store-bought every time). In my opinion, these hotties beat chocolate Easter eggs too!

Hot Cross Buns (makes 12)

What you need:

4 cups flour
15g fresh yeast
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 tsp mixed spice
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups currants
40g butter
300ml milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten

For crosses - 1/2 cup flour, 4-5 Tbsp water

For glaze - 1/3 cup water, 2 Tbsp caster sugar

What to do:

1. Mix flour, yeast, sugar, mixed spice, salt and currants in a bowl. Melt butter over medium heat, then add milk and heat for a further minute or until lukewarm. Add milk and egg mix to mixing bowl. Combine to form a soft dough.
2. Place dough on a floured surface and knead for ten minutes, or until dough is smooth. Place into a greased bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until dough has doubled in size.
3. Line or grease a baking tray. Knead douhg until smooth and divide into 12 portions. Shape each into a ball, place on the tray about 1cm apart. Cover and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes until buns have doubled in size. Preheat oven to 190C.
4. Mix flour and water together for crosses and spoon into a snaplock bag. Snip one corner off the bag and pipe mix onto buns to form crosses. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
5. To make glaze, mix water and sugar over a low heat until sugar dissolves. Boil for five minutes then brush glaze over warm hot cross buns.

Serve with tea and lashings of butter.

Vote

Comments (1)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Greta Simpson - Category: Baking

Email this Post to a Friend

Three Cheers For Orange and Sultana Cake

March 23rd 2008 04:56

If there's any cake that deserves a round of applause, it's this little vegan cake.

I discovered this eggless orange and sultana cake at an event recently. It's tasty to anyone, but especially appealing to vegans - who sometimes miss out on sweet-stuffs. Give this vegan cake recipe a whirl!

Orange and Sultana Cake

What you need:

1 1/4 cups white self-raising flour
1 1/4 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup soft brown sugar
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate
1 cup sultanas, soaked and dried
zest of one orange

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 180C then grease and line a 20cm round cake tin. Sift both lots of flour into a mixing bow, adding bran husks back into the mix. In a separate bowl, whisk oil, soy milk, orange juice and sugar until sugar has dissolved. Fold flour, sultanas and orange zest into this mixture. Mix well, then spoon cake mix into the tin and level the surface. Bake for 1 hour or until the top of the cake springs back when pressed gently down. Leave to stand for 10 minutes then turn onto a cooling tray. Store in an airtight container.

Vote

Comments (1)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Greta Simpson - Category: Baking

Email this Post to a Friend

Vegetarian Sweetcrust Pastry

March 21st 2008 05:25

As mentioned earlier, vegetarians are often banging their heads against brick walls (or supermarket freezers) in frustration over animal fats which seem to be in almost all mainstream brands of pastry.

This recipe is vegetarian, and can be vegan if you use dairy free spread instead of butter.

Sweetcrust pastry (makes 525g)

What you need:

350g flour
1 Tbsp sugar
175g butter (or dairy free spread)
3 Tbsp cold water

What to do:

Sift flour into large bowl, then stir in sugar, rub in spread, add water and mix to dough. Knead lightly then roll out.

Great for this homemade apple tart...

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Greta Simpson - Category: Desserts, Baking

Email this Post to a Friend

[ Good Vegetarian Home ] [ Create A New Post ]

Moderated by Greta Simpson

Orble

Orble Homepage

Start an Orble Blog

Subscribe to DailyOrble

Receive a daily e-mail of Orble's most popular posts