Vegan

Vegan Marzipan

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Vegan Marzipan by Sara Kidd

Marzipan is underrated. It’s had a bad rap for a while. I think this is because the store brought marzipan is actually quite horrible. Where as fresh homemade marzipan is seriously addictive. It’s soft, melts in the mouth without being gluey and tastes like real almonds and powdered sugar. This recipe is perfect for the following uses

  • covering cakes as an alternative to fondant
  • filling chocolates
  • covering cookies
  • eating by itself (I know what I said!)

This recipe is very user friendly. The only advice I have is to make sure you’re using a fine almond flour (not almond meal) and allow the marzipan to set in the fridge before rolling or using. It also helps to heat the glucose syrup in the microwave to make it easier to distribute.  

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Vegan Marzipan by Sara Kidd

Vegan Marzipan

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Sara Kidd
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
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Description

Make your own delicious marzipan

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 240 g blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
  • 160 g icing sugar (plus additional for dusting)
  • 1/4 cup glucose syrup
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp rosewater
  • 1 tsp almond extract

Instructions

  1. Place almond flour and icing sugar in the food processor and pulse until combined.
  2. Add glucose syrup, water, rosewater, and almond extract. Pulse ingredients until they begin sticking together.
  3. Turn the mixture out onto a pastry mat and knead together until smooth. Roll into a fat cylinder shape. Wrap in baking paper and place in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours.
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Category: Cake Frosting

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I use this recipe for my Battenberg Cake recipe that is part of my “Vegan Around The World” series. Watch me whip up the marzipan below.

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Simple Vegan Raspberry Muffins

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Raspberry Muffins Hero 2 1

It’s berry season here. So I’ve created a very quick and easy vegan raspberry muffin recipe that you can bake in about 16 or so minutes. Great for breakfast or lunches. You can swap out any berries for the raspberries. 

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Raspberry Muffins Hero 2 1

Quick Vegan Raspberry Muffins

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Sara Kidd
  • Total Time: 33 minutes
  • Yield: 12 muffins 1x
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Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 210 g plain all-purpose flour (1 1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 25 g fine desiccated coconut (1/4 cup)
  • 115 g caster sugar (1/2 cup)
  • 300 ml plain soy milk (1 cup + 3 tablespoons)
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 65 ml vegetable oil (1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon essence or flavouring
  • 1 cup raspberries (frozen and thawed or fresh)
  • 3 tablespoon melted apricot jam

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/360F and grease or line with muffin cases 2 x 6 hole muffin tins.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Add sugar and coconut and mix together well.
  3. In a large jug or bowl pour soy milk and vinegar in together and mix until it becomes thick. Add oil, vanilla, lemon flavour and mix together well.
  4. Make a well in your flour and in thirds, gently pour in your milk mixture. Gentle fold liquids into the flour with a whisk until just combined. Sprinkle half of your raspberries into the mix and gently fold in. Don't over mix. Don't worry if it's a little lumpy.
  5. Pour batter into muffin holes, filling 3/4 full. Add remaining berries to the top of your muffins.
  6. Bake in the oven on the top rack for 16-18 minutes or until a skewer comes out almost clean when poked into the middle of a muffin. The tops should bounce back when touched. If your muffins are really large, they may need 2 extra minutes to bake.
  7. Leave muffins in their pans for 10 minutes before removing them. Then move to a cooling rack so the bottoms don't become soggy.
  8. Brush tops with your melted jam to add shine.
  9. Store in an airtight container or freeze
 straight after they have cooled.
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 18 minutes
  • Category: Berries
  • Cuisine: Breakfast

Keywords: vegan muffin

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WANT MORE MUFFIN RECIPES? Check out these muffins….

VeganMudChocMiniCakes
vegan blueberry muffin, muffin, baking, vegan recipe
Easy Vegan Blueberry Muffins

Vegan Chocolate Christmas Cake With Spiced Ganache

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This festive and delicious cake is the perfect addition to any holiday party!

It’s the holiday season, and we all know what that means….. eating until our comfy pants no longer fit. I can’t tell you the number of requests I get for a vegan version of the traditional Christmas fruit cake. Unfortunately, if there is one thing I hate more than coriander and brussel sprouts, it’s a dense fruit cake. So I came up with an alternative that satisfies the needs of those of us who still want a warm hug in the flavor of a cake.

This Vegan Chocolate Christmas Cake with Spiced Ganache has all the beautiful things we love about the holidays — chocolate, warming spices, chocolate again, and pure decadence. It’s rich, moist and melts in your mouth with pockets of dates and melted chocolate, followed by the gentle kick of mixed spices and a hint of chilli. It’s one you won’t be able to stop eating, and it’s insanely simple to make.

You only need a whisk, a blender and a large bowl. This cake pairs well with mulled wine, hot tea or vegan egg nog.

Let’s start with your shopping list….

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Vegan Chocolate Christmas Cake With Spiced Ganache

  • Author: Sara Kidd
  • Yield: 10 1x
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Description

This festive and delicious cake is the perfect addition to any holiday party

Ingredients

Units Scale

Vegan Egg Replacer

  • 1 1/2 tbsp ground golden flax seeds
  • 3 3/4 tbsp boiling water

Dry Ingredients

  • 140 g all-purpose plain flour
  • 30 g cornstarch or cornflour
  • 60 g unsweetened dutch cocoa powder + extra
  • 85 g brown sugar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp allspice
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 100 g vegan semi-sweet chocolate (coarsely chopped)
  • 60 g pitted dates (chopped (I use Medjool))

Wet Ingredients

  • 185 ml hot black espresso coffee
  • 100 g dates (pitted (I use Medjool))
  • 250 ml water
  • 120 ml vegetable oil
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 tablespoon vanilla bean extract

Spiced Ganache Topping

  • 200 g high-quality vegan dark chocolate
  • 100 ml coconut milk
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp chilli powder (more if you like it hot!)
  • Walnuts to decorate

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 320F/160C and if your oven bakes unevenly, add a heatproof bowl of water to the bottom of your oven.
  2. Grease a shallow 10-inch bundt cake tin (this is a pretty standard size) with vegetable oil. Make sure you completely cover all the grooves. Dust lightly with cocoa powder and set aside. You can also use a large ring cake tin if you don’t have a bundt tin. I use a silicone version as it releases easier.
  3. In a small bowl, mix your ground flaxseed with boiling water and set aside.
  4. In a large mixing bowl sieve flours, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices. Stir together with a whisk.
  5. Add chopped dates and chocolate pieces and stir through and set aside.
  6. In a small bowl pour hot coffee over dates and allow to soak for 5 minutes.
  7. Add dates, coffee and remaining wet ingredients to a blender and blend until completely smooth. Check your oven has reached the correct temperature. If it has, move onto the next step otherwise wait until it’s at the right temperature.
  8. Make a well in your dry ingredients and pour your wet ingredients over the top. Using your whisk, gently fold through the ingredients until just combined. Don’t over mix. It’s going to be lumpy from the dates and chocolate pieces.
  9. Pour evenly into your cake tin and gently tap on the bench to release any air bubbles.
  10. Place in the centre of your oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. You will know it’s ready when the top bounces back when pressed. If you poke a skewer to test it will still be slightly moist.
  11. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 10 mins. Gently tap on the bench to help release the cake and turn onto a cooling rack and allow to completely cool.

TO MAKE GANACHE

  1. Heat coconut milk in a large, heavy-bottom pot on low heat until small bubbles appear around the edge right before it’s about to start simmering, don’t boil. You can also heat in the microwave.
  2. Remove from stove/microwave and add chocolate, making sure it is covered by the milk, cover and let sit for 10 mins.
  3. Stir through chocolate using a whisk. Add spices and taste. If you want to make it extra spicy add more. Just remember it will get spicier the more you eat as it develops in the mouth.
  4. If there are any lumps, put pot back onto stove on very low heat and stir until lumps have melted and the ganache is shiny.
  5. Transfer to a microwave-friendly bowl and let the ganache thicken enough so it can be used to ice your cake.
  6. If it sets too hard, you can put into the microwave on a low heat until soft enough to use.
  7. Gently pour over the top of your cake. You can save any leftover to serve with the cake by re-melting it.
  8. Decorate with walnuts while the icing is still soft. Your cake will keep for around ten days in the fridge. Best served slightly warmed with vegan icecream and fresh raspberries.
  • Category: Cake
  • Cuisine: Dessert

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5 Tips To Stop Your Oven Baking Unevenly

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3 choco cake 3

My cakes were constantly coming out of the oven unevenly baked. It happened to me whenever I was baking in a gas oven – which is virtually all of the time. So, to combat this here are all my tips and tricks that I learnt to stop it from happening.

  1. Add a heat proof bowl to the bottom of your oven filled with water. The steam from the bowl helps the heat to circulate more evenly around the oven, creating a more even bake.
  2. Where possible use baking strips. Baking strips (or cake strips) provide insulation around the outside of the entire cake pan, helping the cake bake evenly on all sides. It also helps to create a flatter cake with fewer cracks on the top. Here is how I make my own https://youtu.be/gdg_FIZYS18
  3. Rotate your cakes 90 degrees 2/3 of the way through to help even each side. If it’s cookies or smaller bakes, you can rotate half way through.
  4. Understand where your oven’s hot and cold spots are so you can choose a better placement for your bake. A super simple way to do this is arrange slices of bread on a rack and see where the toast is darker and lighter to determined your hot and cold spots.
  5. Use 2 oven thermometers at either side of your oven. This allows you to know if your oven has completely pre-heated to the correct temperature and the best placement for your bakes.
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A QUICK GUIDE TO MIXING

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Chocolate Cake Step6 2

Vegan baking is definitely a skill we develop with practice. We may not realise but it’s science. Your ingredients and instructions are your formula. Just like a scientific experiment, every variable matters including how we bring our ingredients together. Here is a quick guide to the different methods bakers use.

Folding: Folding is by far my most common method as I make loads of soft textured bakes.  It’s always done by hand. You generally use a spatula to fold dry ingredients or airy foams into batters or to combine airy foams into other ingredients. Sometimes I even use a whisk to fold and stir at the same time.

Folding your ingredients protects any air bubbles that were created in the foam or batter to maintain volume. This is what helps our baked goods be light and fluffy.

When folding your ingredients, hold your spatula vertically and cut down through the middle of your batter. Lift the spatula to scoop the ingredients from the bottom up and bring the contents from the bottom to the surface of the batter. Turn your bowl a quarter way around and then repeat this action until the ingredients are just combined. Always do this gently as you don’t want to over mix your batter and release the air.

Stirring: Stirring is the most obvious technique and is done by hand. Depending on the recipe you can use a spoon, spatula or whisk to mix the ingredients together. If you’re baking goods where you require a soft texture, like a cake or cupcake, don’t over stir otherwise you will overdevelop the gluten and it will become tough. 

step 3 Almond Blueberry Cake

Blending: This method can be done with a blender or handheld tools like a fork depending on the amount of blending and texture required. This method is great for creating smooth sauces, creams or fillings we use in baking. 

Vegan Victoria Sponge Cake Step 5

Creaming: Creaming generally means you’re using a mixmaster to cream your vegan butter and sugar together before you add any other ingredients. Creaming helps the sugar dissolve into the butter and be distributed more evenly through the batter. It also adds air to the butter, helping to create a lighter texture in your baked goods.

Dairy-free, vegan mix

Reverse Creaming: This method is when you mix all your dry ingredients together first and then add the butter. The fat coats the flour and delays the development of gluten giving you a more delicate cake crumb. Then you add your remaining wet ingredients.

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Vegan Curried Pumpkin Pastry Parcels

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Vegan Curried Pumpkin Pastry Parcels

I know savoury isn’t really my thing but these Vegan Curried Pumpkin Pastry Parcels are so yummy. This vegan recipe is very easy to bake and fancy without the fuss. You can serve these as a main with salad and dips or as an entree. Great for a vegan Thanksgiving snack or just to have stocked up in the freezer. 

How To Make Your Own Pumpkin Puree

Pumpkin puree in a bowl with a tea towel

It’s insanely easy. You can use any type of pumpkin you like. There are 2 methods to make puree – roasting or boiling. Roasting does give a better flavour but I’m lazy so I boil as it’s quicker.

Boiling Method

  1. Clean and wash your pumpkin. Cut the skin from the outside of the pumpkin and then chop into one inch pieces and place into a large pot. Fill with water, covering the pumpkins and place onto a high heat. Boil until your pumpkin until it’s soft. I test this with a fork to make sure it pierces all the way through a pumpkin piece without force. It should take around 20 minutes.
  2. Remove the pot from the heat and carefully drain your pumpkin into a strainer. I use a fry pan flipper and use it to press down the pumpkin to push out any excess water. Pour into a blender and blend until smooth.

Roasting Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 200C / 390F.
  2. Clean and wash your pumpkin. Cut the skin from the outside of the pumpkin and chop into one inch pieces and place onto a baking paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes or until your pumpkin is soft.
  3. Pour into a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer into an airtight container and keep in the fridge.

Love pumpkin? Check out these pumpkin recipes…

Vegan Curried Pumpkin Pastry Parcels

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Vegan Curried Pumpkin Pastry Parcels

Vegan Curried Pumpkin Pastry Parcels

  • Author: Sara Kidd
  • Total Time: 37 minutes
  • Yield: 10 Parcels 1x
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

Easy vegan parcels filled with curried pumpkin. A quick fun recipe. 

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter (melted)
  • 1 tbsp vegan butter or margarine (melted)
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
  • 1 tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
  • 2 cups mashed pumpkin
  • 10 sheets vegan filo pastry (most filo pastries are vegan)
  • Vegetable oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven 347F / 175C and line two baking tray with greaseproof paper.
  2. Mix together melted butter and peanut butter, add yeast flakes, curry powder, sugar, salt and chilli. Mix into pumpkin and set aside.
  3. Roll out one piece of your pastry flat on your bench. Using a pastry brush, very lightly brush with vegetable oil.
  4. Fold into thirds, so you have one long rectangle, lightly brush with oil and then fold this in half so you have a smaller rectangle almost square.
  5. Gently brush with oil and then place 1.5 tablespoons of pumpkin mixture into the centre.
  6. Fold each corner into the centre. You may need to dab a tiny bit of oil between the layers, so it sticks and becomes a neat little parcel.
  7. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the pastry’s edges are golden brown.
  8. Serve straight away with hummus or vegan sour cream and chilli sauce for an extra kick.
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 17
  • Category: Savoury
  • Method: wrapping pastry
  • Cuisine: Snack

Keywords: pastry, pumpkin, vegan

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