cake Archives - Feast of Plants

Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (Vegan & Gluten Free)

Feast of Plants — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 16:00:04 +0000

I do like a good muffin. They remain one of my few really positive memories from school dinners as my high school sold great bakery style muffins. Massive, the size of my hand with crisp, crunchy tops, they have been my model for all my muffin attempts since. These gluten free muffins are delightfully fully and moist. Perfectly risen with a crunchy top and a delicious lemon curd filling. I promised you in my last post I’d show you my favourite thing to do with my lemon curd and this is it! Bright and zesty with the crunch of poppy seeds. Makes: 12 Muffins Ingredients For the Muffins: 300g Sugar 3 Lemons, zested 210g Butter 90g Ground Almonds 345g Gluten Free Flour* 70g Chickpea Flour 1.5 Tbsp Baking Powder 1 tsp Salt 145g Plant Based Yoghurt 60ml Lemon Juice 240ml Plant Based Milk 3 Tbsp Poppy Seeds For the Topping: Poppy Seeds Demerara Sugar Vegan Lemon Curd Directions Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (180 Fan/ 400 F) and prepare your muffin tin by spraying the top with oil and lining with paper liners. Stir together the milk, yoghurt and lemon juice, put to one side before mixing together the flours. salt, and powder in a separate bowl. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the butter into the sugar until light and fluffy. Sift in the flour and mix well. Pour in the wet ingredients and poppy seeds and stir until only just combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin liners right to the top. Coat each muffin with a generous layer of demerara sugar and a light sprinkle of poppy seeds before placing into the oven and baking for 25 – 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and place into a cooling rack. Before they can cool, quickly cut a small slit in the top, about halfway down and pipe in a generous serving of lemon curd. Allow to cool for 2 – 3 minutes and enjoy while still warm. Notes If you don’t have any lemon curd then I’d strongly suggest adding 1/2 tsp of lemon oil to the mix. Without the lemon curd these won’t be as flavourful so the lemon oil is needed. *if your gluten free flour mix doesn’t contain xanthan gun then add 1 tsp with the flour mix. Allergy Notes; This recipe is gluten free, vegan and soy free. If nuts are an issue then you can substitute in the same weight of gluten free flour but the muffins won’t be quite as moist.

The post Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (Vegan & Gluten Free) appeared first on Feast of Plants.

Tropical Carrot Cake (Vegan & Gluten Free)

Feast of Plants — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 16:25:00 +0000

Just before the first lockdown was announced last year, we decided to try a free trail of a veg box. We had no idea the lockdown was coming but it turned out to be one of the better decisions we’ve made. I’ve loved the seasonal veg, plus the security of knowing that we don’t have to fight through a busy supermarket to get fresh food at the moment is always welcome. BUT the side effect at winter can be a lot of the same vegetables (I might be running out of ideas for beetroot at this stage…). We had a pile up of carrots this week and I just knew carrot cake would be the perfect solution. While standard carrot cake is good, I like to take mine up a notch with a little tropical twist. Using crushed pineapple, a touch of coconut, along with grapefruit zest brings a totally fresh take to this old fashioned classic. I’ve topped this off with it’s favourite partner – cream cheese icing. This is a vegan icing but lets be honest, the recipe isn’t that different from the standard cream cheese icing – just use your favourite vegan cream cheese. So if you have a favourite cream cheese icing that you prefer, use it! The steps are exactly the same. Hope this brightens your weekend, let me know if you enjoy this recipe as much as we did! Makes: Two 8inch round cakes with icing Ingredients For the Carrot Cake: 225g Gluten Free Flour* 230g Brown Sugar 70g Chickpea Flour 2 tsp Baking Powder 1 tsp Bicarbonate Soda 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon 1/2 tsp Ginger 1/4 tsp Nutmeg Zest from 1/2 a Grapefruit 80g Crushed Pineapple** 180ml Almond Milk 290g Carrots, grated 75g Walnuts, roughly chopped 50g Desiccated Coconut For the Vegan Cream Cheese Icing: 215g Vegan Cream Cheese 60g Vegan Block butter, room temperature) 60g Vegetable Shortening 550g Icing Sugar, sifted 3 tsp Lemon Juice 2 tsp Vanilla essence Plant Based milk, as needed Directions Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (160 Fan/350 F). Grease two 8 inch, loose-bottomed round cake tins and line the bases with baking paper. Toss the walnuts with a tablespoon or so of the flour before mixing the cake. Shift the flours, raising agents, and spices into a large bowl. Add in the sugar and grapefruit zest and stir, making sure there are no lumps in the sugar. Add in the milk, oil, and pineapple and beat until fully combined. Finally, fold in the carrot, walnuts, and coconut until everything is evenly mixed. Pour into the prepares tins and smooth over. Bake for between 45 minute to an hour, or skewer comes out clean and the cake has pulled away from the sides. Move to a cooling rack and allow the cakes to cool completely before icing. While the cake cools, mix together the icing. Beat together the cream cheese, shortening, butter, lemon juice, and vanilla until smooth. Beat in the icing sugar gradually, until fluffy and no longer gritty. If the icing is a little thick for your plans then add a little almond milk, nor more than a tablespoon at a time, until your preferred texture is reached. Store in the fridge till needed. Spread half the icing in between cake layers and top with the extra icing. I also like to decorate my cake with toasted coconut chips and chopped walnuts but it works equally well with just the icing. Cut into slices, serve and enjoy! Notes * Check your gluten free flour blend – if xanthan gum has not been included then add 1/4 tsp. ** If you can’t find crushed pineapple, or would rather make your own, then simply put an equal amount of chopped pineapple into a food processor and blend – easy! Allergy Notes; This cake is vegan, gluten free, and soy free. If nuts are an allergen for you then just skip the walnuts – it’ll work just as well!

The post Tropical Carrot Cake (Vegan & Gluten Free) appeared first on Feast of Plants.

Traditional English Scones (Vegan & Gluten Free!)

Feast of Plants — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 12:00:03 +0000

Scones are the centrepiece of the classic English cream tea. Crumbly and just a little sweet, they’re the perfect pairing to jam and even some clotted cream. While the cream is out of the picture for me, these scones are a delight. We last had these as a part of our anniversary celebration. While we couldn’t celebrate outside the house, we made it special by throwing our own afternoon tea. Including some delightful sandwiches, some of my vegan coffee and walnut cake, and starring these scones with jam, it made for wonderful high point to the day. This recipe is so easy, a small child can make this with ease, so perfect for a summer in lockdown to help entertain the kids. But as with all simple recipes the trick to making your perfect scone is to pay attention to the details; Make sure your butter is cold Make sure the plant based milk you use here has a high fat content to produce tender scones. I like to use either coconut milk or a 50:50 blend of coconut milk and almond milk. Handle your dough as little as possible- you don’t even need a rolling pin, just push it into the shape you need. Make sure your dough is nice and thick when you go to cut out the scones. Because this is both gluten free and vegan, the dough needs a thick start to get a good rise. These scones are also incredibly easy to adapt to what you’re craving right now. Want a savoury scone?Just drop the sugar content to about 25g and add in 150g of your favourite vegan cheese and a tablespoon of fresh chives. Want a fruity scone? Simple! Just add a handful of raisins or even frozen fruit, both work so well! I’ve covered additions like this in the recipe notes so you can do what suits you. Makes: 10-12 Scones Ingredients 490g Gluten Free Flour (with extra for dusting) 2 tsp Xantham Gum* 70g Cornflour 4 tsp Baking Powder 1 tsp Salt 80g Sugar 140g Vegan Butter, cold 360g Plant Based Milk** (with a touch extra for brushing) 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice Directions Mix the milk and lemon juice together and put to one side. Preheat the oven to 200C (180C), if you know your oven runs a little hot then make sure you adjust accordingly. Mix together your dry ingredients, making sure everything is well combined with no lumps. Cut up the butter into small chunks and rub into the dry ingredients until it loosely resembles breadcrumbs. Now mix in the milk until just combined and you get a slightly sticky dough. Lightly dust your kitchen counter with flour and place the dough on top. Handle your dough as little as possible here but you want to lightly press it down with your hands to about an inch thick. Cut out your scones and place on a tray, brush the tops with a little milk, and bake in the oven for about 20 mins or until they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Wasn’t that easy? Serve warm with jam and a pot of tea. Notes As mentioned above it’s really very easy to adapt these to suit your mood. If making any additions like fruit or cheese then these should be added just after the butter and lightly tossed through the mix. If you’re adding cheese then reduce the sugar to 25g, add 200g of your favourite, strong vegan cheese with a tablespoon of fresh, chopped chives. If you want to add fruit then add a few handfuls of raisins or frozen berries for something different. Don’t use fresh berries as the water content is too high but frozen berries work really very well as long as they’re still frozen when the scones go in the oven. * Check your gluten free flour – if it automatically contains xantham gum then skip this. ** As mentioned above, you want a high fat plant based milk. If you have it, a 50:50 mix of coconut milk to almond milk works really very well. Allergy Notes; This recipe is another one thats gluten free, vegan, nut free, and soy free (provided you use a soy free milk)!

The post Traditional English Scones (Vegan & Gluten Free!) appeared first on Feast of Plants.

Coffee and Walnut Cake (Vegan & Gluten Free)

Feast of Plants — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 12:00:19 +0000

We’ve all picked up new obsessions during lockdown, mine seems to be the desire to create the ideal, easy, gluten free and vegan cake. I’ve spent a fair amount of time working on these cakes and we’ve had a lot of not-good cake to get through. Both types of cakes have the same issues – structure. Gluten free cakes rely on the protein in the eggs to maintain their structure while vegan cakes typically need the gluten in flour. If you’ve ever tried to make a cake that combines these two aspects and it’s collapsed, this is why. If you don’t want to hear me ramble on about the fundamentals of baking and just want the recipe then scroll down now. In your standard, old fashioned, basic cake there are four main pillars to baking; structure, tenderness, moisture/dryness, and leavening. Remove any one of these pillars and your cake won’t work. Leavening is the process by which a cake lifts, normally by creating air bubbles. This is done with eggs, sugar, and raising agents like baking powder. Structure typically depends on gluten or egg proteins. A cake structure is weakened by sugar and fat. Drying Agents are needed to avoid a soggy cake, this is normally achieved with flour starch, gluten, and egg proteins. This is offset by fat and liquids, in proportion to the amount of sugar used. Tenderness (or softness) is built by fat, liquid, sugar and acid. To make a cake that is both vegan and gluten free, you’ve have to pull out the structure builders, a key leavening ingredient in the eggs, and most of the drying agents. This results in a collapsed, soggy cake. But, I think I’ve finally cracked it for one of my family’s most treasured recipes. Here I’ve replaced the missing structure builders with xantham gum to replace the gluten, and chickpea flour to replace the missing protein. The chickpea flour needs to be countered with extra liquid to avoid a dry cake so I’ve used vegan buttermilk as the liquid here as this isn’t just liquid but adds tenderness, and increases the reaction with the raising agents. Unfortunately, chickpea flour does have a taste to it so I really wouldn’t recommend tasting the raw batter and this amendment will only work with strongly flavoured cakes. The cake I chose to adapt with this recipe is my mother’s coffee and walnut cake. With a light hint of coffee and the crunch of walnuts spread among a gloriously light sponge it’s always insanely popular. Whenever she makes it, it disappears so quickly and everybody loves it. I hope you enjoy this cake as much as we do! Makes: Double layer 9 inch cake Ingredients For the Cake: 270ml Plant based milk (almond milk works best here) 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar 90g Chickpea Flour 200g Caster Sugar 200g Gluten free Flour* 3/4 tsp Xantham Gum** 200g Vegan Margarine, room temperature 2 tsp Baking Powder 2 tsp Bicarbonate soda 1 tsp Vanilla Extract 2½ Tbsp Instant Coffee 100g Walnuts, roughly chopped For the Coffee Buttercream Icing: 200g Vegan Butter, room temperature 4 tsp Instant Coffee 2 Tbsp Hot Water 600g Icing Sugar Plant based Milk, as needed (Oat milk works best here) Walnut Halves, for decoration (optional) Directions Mix together your milk and vinegar and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes. Just before you’re ready to start mixing your batter warm your milk mix till steaming and dissolve in the coffee. Preheat your oven to 180C (165C fan) and prepare either two 9 inch cake tins by greasing them and lining the bases with greaseproof paper, or a cupcake tray with liners if you’re doing cupcakes. If you’re using the walnuts, toss them in no more than a few teaspoons of your flour and put to one side Sieve together the rest of your dry ingredients so there are no lumps and they are fully combined. We’re using the all in method here so add your wet ingredients to the dry and beat until smooth and combined. Carefully gently fold in the walnut pieces so as to not loose any of the air you’ve gathered. Your batter should be very thick. Working quite quickly now, spoon your batter evenly into your prepared tin(s) and lightly smooth over. If you’re baking cupcakes then fill to no more than 2 thirds full. Bake for 40-45 minutes (30 minutes for cupcakes). The ‘toothpick test’ generally doesn’t work with gluten free cakes so you need to look for the cake bouncing back when touched, pulling away from the sides and when you listen to it the ‘singing’ should be almost completely subdued. Remove your cakes from the tins and place on a wire rack till completely cool. For the icing, beat the butter until very smooth, then beat in the coffee and icing sugar. Finally, thin out as needed with the plant milk until you reach your desired consistency. Use half of your icing to sandwich the cake halves together, spread the rest on the top and decorate with the walnut halves. Notes * I tend to make my own blend but shop bought blends work well too for this. If you want to sub in normal flour then a 1:1 substitution should work but drop the cooking time down to 25-30 minutes. **Check your gluten free flour – if it automatically contains xantham gum then skip this. Allergy Notes; This cake is vegan, gluten free, and (depending on your choice of diary free butters and milk) should be soy free. If nuts are an allergen for you then just skip them in this recipe – it’ll still be a great coffee cake!

The post Coffee and Walnut Cake (Vegan & Gluten Free) appeared first on Feast of Plants.