Just Desserts: Chocolate Burgers

Yes, you read that right. This is a CHOCOLATE BURGER!! Imagine a sweet chocolate bun, with a chocolate and nut pattie, fresh sliced strawberries, chocolate mint leaves( this IS a variety of mint, not actual chocolate) vegan cream cheese, and chocolate sauce. For dessert. These would be great for a party done in a mini version, and served with a strawberry or chocolate shake in a mini bottle and a cute paper straw. Make them and console yourself that MoFo is over for another year :)

The Buns

2 1/2 cups of bakers flour

1/2 cup dutch cocoa powder

approx 500 mls warm water

2 tablespoons dry yeast

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

approx 4 tablespoons olive oil

Method

I'm going to give you a bit of a 101 for making a good bread dough, even though I already did it here. Not kneading for a pizza dough is fine. Not kneading for a bun or a loaf is not!

Whisk together yeast, sugar, salt, oil and water. Set aside until bubbly and frothy - if it doesn't bubble your yeast is dead! Add the cocoa and half the flour, and stir with a wooden spoon until all incorporated. Gradually add remaining flour until you have a nice soft dough, easily indented with a finger.Turn the dough out onto a floured bench top or board and knead, knead, knead for about 10 minutes. The best way to knead is to fold over the dough on itself, and use your weight to push forward and squash the dough - which is less tiring than using only your arm muscles. give it a quarter turn and repeat. Pop on your favourite few songs, I usually knead to three or four tracks rather than timing it. There are recipes out there that claim to be "no knead." I am here to tell you, they will not be as good, will probably be quite crumbly (like a scone) and in my opinion, suggests a certain amount of laziness. Kneading is not hard!! It's 10 minutes - consider it part of a workout! If you really can't knead, and you have a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead for about 7 minutes, and finish it off by hand. This way you will 'feel' the dough has changed and know it is ready. Kneading activates the gluten in the flour, which gives the dough the elasticity it needs to capture gases created by the yeast creating air pockets and giving structure to your buns, and  a chewy texture. Properly kneaded dough rises quickly and well. When it is ready the dough will be silky soft, and elastic - ie if you try to pull a bit off, it won't tear easily.


Put your dough into a greased bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave in a warm place for about 3/4 an hour, or until doubled in size.
Punch down your dough, knead for a minute, and then portion into the bun size you would like (remembering the dough is going to get a bit bigger still). 1/4 cup pieces gave me a good size, not too big.
Preheat your oven to 180C and bake until bread sounds hollow when tapped. If the top is browning too quickly, just put some foil over the top. 40 minutes does the trick in my gas oven, but may take less or longer in yours. Turn out when done, and allow to cool.

The Chocolate Patties
1/2 cup cacao powder
1/2 cup pitted dates, soaked and drained
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup hazelnut meal

Method
Combine all ingredients in a bowl until you have a nice firm texture. Add a little water if too crumbly, if too wet, add a little more hazelnut meal. Shape into patties to fit the buns.

To assemble, cut your bun in half, spread with cream cheese on the bottom. Place the chocolate mint leaves, then the pattie, then sliced strawberries, some more cream cheese if you like, and some chocolate sauce, gently replacing the top of the bun. Voila!

Superhero Snacks: Beer Dough Pretzels

I have to admit, I'm having fun coming up with hero related snacks, but probably not as much fun as  Phil and John have had coming up with some pretty awesome add ons like t-shirts (sweat shop free - woot!), a playmat, activity book, badge, and of course the amazing action figures. To check them out head on over to their Kickstarter campaign, but they only have two weeks left so if you think these two are as awesome as I do for their creation please consider a pledge!

Enough of the shameless plug...on to business!

I've made pretzels quite a few times, but I wanted something a bit different for Herr Pretzel from Pack of Heroes. Pretzels are an obvious choice, but what could make them more pretzelly (is that even a word? it is now!) than making them with beer dough using a German beer! I'll be honest, I was just going to use whatever beer I could find in the Beloved's homebrew, but spied the German bottle sitting on the shelf. Perfect! (As a side note the Beloved says the beer pictured is rubbish, even if it is gluten free). It did make a cracking good dough however, the texture was quite light when they were baked. I will probably make more of them using a different beer next time to give a different flavour.

Ingredients

3 1/2 - 4 cups bakers flour

1 tsp yeast

1 bottle beer

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup warm water

2 tsp fine salt for the dough, plus rock salt or flakes for the top

1/4 cup bicarb soda

Method

1. Heat the water until lukewarm. Add the oil, salt, and yeast, stir, and leave aside until mixture bubbles. Add beer.

2. Make a well in the centre of 3 1/2 cups of the flour, pour in the yeast mixture, and with a wooden spoon, bring in flour to centre and mix. 

3. Turn out onto floured surface, and oil your hands (this prevents the dough sticking to you, plus drying out your skin!)

4. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic. You may need to add a bit more flour if it is too sticky - I used nearly 4 cups this time, humidity was high as per usual when I make these!

5. Put into an oiled bowl, cover, and set aside until doubled in size. This may take 1-2 hours depending on the temperature. I set mine next to our fire. (You can put the oven on for five minutes, turn off, and then leave the door ajar with the dough inside to speed things up).

6. Punch down and knead for a couple of minutes. Divide dough into 12 portions and roll into long sausages , about 40cm long. Loop into a pretzel shape. Place on a lined tray, and allow to rise again until double. 

7. Turn on oven to 190C to preheat, and set a large saucepan of water on the stove to boil. Fill the saucepan about 2/3 full.

8. When water is boiling, drop in salt and bicarb - watch out it froths!

9. Carefully drop the prerzels in one at a time to poach, about a minute and a half on each side. Remove carefully and set on greaseproof lined baking trays, a few centimetres apart. 

10. Sprinkle the top with salt crystals or flakes.

11. Place in the oven to bake for approximately 20 minutes, until dark brown, and set on a wire rack to cool.

Go Ahead, Bake My Day: Vegan ANZAC Biscuits

For any of you readers not in our hemisphere, Anzac biscuits are more Aussie than Vegemite, and we take these very seriously. Like, protected by law seriously. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and was first used during WWI. The story goes, the biscuits were made by soldiers wives and shipped overseas as they contained ingredients that would store for a long period and not spoil. The beautiful thing about these is, they already contain no eggs, so I just had to sub the butter to make them. Due to the scarcity of eggs during the war, eggs were left out and golden syrup or treacle was used as the binder. They are very popular in Australia, and with ANZAC Day coming up on Wednesday I thought this would be a good time to make them. Let me make one thing clear: these are a biscuit, not a cookie, as these are Australian and cookie is an American term (in any case I always think of cookies as softer and heaped, whereas biscuits are thinner, hard, and crisp - but I digress). The official recipe is actually controlled by the Retired Serviceman's League and the term ANZAC is protected under Australian law - the only exception to use the term is for these biscuits! To call these Anzac biscuits they must conform to the original recipe.  (Subway learned all this the hard way a couple of years ago and were forced to remove the biscuit from the menu). Any kind of commercial venture must be approved by the RSL - there are only a couple of companies allowed to use the name officially.

Anyhoo, these beautifully crisp biscuits  are well worthy of being veganised and I hope you make a batch! Unfortunately, my Aussie grandparents are no longer with us, but making a batch of these for yours, or perhaps a serviceman (or woman) and giving to them on Anzac Day would make a lovely pressie.

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup
100gr copha
40gr nuttelex
2 tablespoons boiling water
1 tsp bicarb soda

Method
Mix in a large bowl flour sugar and rolled oats.
In a large saucepan melt copha with golden syrup and nuttelex ( I found the two different fats best substituted butter when the biscuits were cooled).
In a separate bowl or small jug, mix boiling water and bicarb.
Add to hot copha mixture - watch out it will foam (hence there need for a large saucepan)!
Pour into dry mixture and stir rapidly to combine.
Drop small teaspoonfuls on a baking tray well apart - these guys really spread during baking which I absolutely forgot when I made the first batch and ended up with one giant biscuit, but that's OK, Mr Sprout will eat them.
Bake in a 170C oven for about 12 minutes until golden brown.
Leave on the tray for a few minutes before you slide them off onto a rack to cool. They won't come off until the fat and sugar cool and solidify so don't even attempt it until they have cooled somewhat!

There are lots of variations, including adding coconut, or macadamias, but I wanted to make these to the original, because remembering our ANZAC soldiers is what the day is all about. And since it's all about Aussies, dip your biccie in a cuppa of Twinings limited edition Australian Afternoon Tea, a blend by former PM Kevin Rudd. And while I'm giving it a plug, can I also add that 10c from every pack of this sold goes to Kev's charity of choice, which happens to be the RSPCA! See Kev's plug here for the comp held last year for the winning blend, which involves his own animals "trying" the tea :)

Go Ahead, Bake My Day: Vegan Strawberry Scones Forever

I dehydrated a batch of strawberries, but it wasn't quite what I was after. So rather than wasting them, I put them into a scone. Have these with a dollop of sweetened vegan cream cheese. Listening to "Strawberry Fields Forever" doesn't make them taste any better, but having a scone is certainly British enough to warrant having a splendid afternoon tea in a nice frock. Maybe make a cucumber sandwich or two to go with them?

Ingredients

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

100gr dairy free margarine

2 tablespoons golden syrup

50 gr dried strawberries

approx 1/2 cup soymilk, water, or ricemilk

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Sift together flour and baking powder.

Rub in margarine, to the consistency of coarse breadcrumbs.

Add chopped dried strawberries, and mix through.

Add soymilk, just enough to draw the mixture together to a soft dough, you don't want it runny, and form the scones quickly, not handling the dough more than necessary. I get 10 smaller scones from this.

Put in a greased tin with sides, not on a tray, just touching.

Bake for approx  20 minutes.

Go Ahead, Bake My Day: Bread Basket

I love baking bread. The tactile sensation of silky dough, the smell of the yeast and the bread baking fill the house, the taste of new bread straight from the oven smothered in butter...and the satisfaction of making it myself.  Once upon a time I used a bread machine, but it died, and I didn't want to buy another one. So I taught myself how to make bread from scratch. There is a huge difference between machine made bread and handmade bread. I find machine bread too airy and crumbly. This I think is largely due to not testing the dough during the kneading process. When you have made bread for a while, you will get a real feel for the dough, you will throw away your measures, and concentrate only on how it rolls under your fingers. It depends on the flour and yeast you use, the humidity of the day, and the temperature. In warmer months, the dough rises quickly; in winter, I often have to warm the oven for 10 minutes, turn it off, and leave the dough in there with the door open (it really works!). Today I made basic bread dough, then divided it into 4 and added different flavours - rosemary and garlic, olive and paprika, cheese and chive, and pickled onion and caraway. 

Basic Bread Dough

3 cups of bakers flour

approx 500 mls warm water

2 tablespoons dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tsp salt

approx 4 tablespoons olive oil

Method

Whisk together yeast, sugar, salt, oil and water. Set aside until bubbly and frothy - if it doesn't bubble your yeast is dead! Some people will tell you not to put sugar in your bread -certainly you can do without it. But -  sugar feeds the yeast, and you will get a better rise, particularly if you use dry rather than fresh yeast. The salt in turn, balances the sugar out. It also gives the bread some flavour.

Activated yeast - alive and kicking!

Add 2 cups of flour and stir with a wooden spoon, gradually adding remaining flour, and adding more if required. You want a nice soft dough, easily indented with a finger. If it appears tough you have put too much flour in. 

Turn the dough out onto a floured bench top or board and knead, knead, knead for about 10 minutes. The best way to knead is to fold over the dough on itself, and use your weight to push forward and squash the dough - which is less tiring than using only your arm muscles. give it a quarter turn and repeat. Pop on your favourite few songs, I usually knead to three or four tracks rather than timing it. There are recipes out there that claim to be "no knead." I am here to tell you, they will not be as good, will probably be quite crumbly (like a scone) and in my opinion, suggests a certain amount of laziness. Kneading is not hard!! It's 10 minutes - consider it part of a workout! Kneading activates the gluten in the flour, which gives the dough the elasticity it needs to capture gases created by the yeast creating air pockets and giving structure to your loaf, and  a chewy texture. Properly kneaded dough rises quickly and well. when it is ready the dough will be silky soft, and elastic - ie if you try to pull a bit off, it won't tear easily.

This is what the dough should look like, nice and smooth

Put your dough into a greased bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave in a warm place for about 3/4 an hour, or until doubled in size.

And 45 minutes later, doubled in size

Punch down your dough. At this point I divided into four and added herbs, spices, chopped onion etc, and kneaded for about a minute until incorporate.

Next, shape into the loaf you would like and put on a baking tray, or use a bread tin. I have an assortment of sizes for various breads. Just make sure there is plenty of room so your bread doesn't explode over the side and all over your oven.

Leave aside covered, for at least an hour, slashing the top after about 15 minutes (if you like). I often leave mine for even longer, an hour and a half. 

Preheat your oven to 180C and bake until bread sounds hollow when tapped. If the top is browning too quickly, just put some foil over the top. 40 minutes does the trick in my gas oven, but may take less or longer in yours. Turn out when done, and allow to cool.

Voila! You have bread!

Go Ahead, Bake My Day: Vegan Hot Cross Buns

I'm going to be doing a baking theme for April, so this is the first one. The days are warm but cool quickly, daylight saving has come to a close, and the harvest of summer fruits means really good quality ingredients are readily available. I hope you enjoy this months posts and get creative in the kitchen!

Easter is just around the corner! I don't eat a lot of chocolate but I can't say no to a really good hot cross bun. And I mean the real buns, not those stupid chocolate chip cookies posing as a bun. And not the ones that have a cross but are just sweet buns. I mean the ones with spices and fruit, that fill an autumn kitchen with deliciousness and just cry out for some butter (or butter substitute) to ooze through them while warm from the oven. The cup of tea to go with it is absolutely compulsory - the teapot is optional.

Ingredients

3 cups bakers flour 

250ml warm water

250ml warm milk ( I use soy)

2 Tablespoons dry yeast

½ cup caster sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

2 tsp mixed spice

1 cup currants

½ cup mixed peel

Method

Put water, milk yeast, sugar oil and salt into a large bowl,and whisk. Leave aside in a warm place for about 5-10 minutes to let the yeast activate (you should see it bubbly at the top).

Put into an other bowl the flour, spice, and peel, and combine thoroughly. Make a well in the centre and add ¾ of your liquid mixture, slowly drawing in from around the sides. Keep going with the liquid, if it feels too dry add more water, if it is too sticky add more flour. It should be a nice soft dough. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about ten minutes, it should become smooth and elastic. Place into a greased bowl, cover, and set aside. Leave in a warm place for about an hour and a half. ( If it’s really cold and I don’t have the fire on, I turn the oven on for 15 minutes to about 150C, turn off, leave the door open half way, and stick the bowl inside). 

Line a large baking tray with greaseproof. Punch dough down, knead for a minute r two, then divide into equal portions ( I get about 10- 12 but it depends how big you make them). Let them rise again, about 30-45minutes.

If you want to do the crosses…

½ cup flour 

5 tablespoons of water

Mix to a smooth paste, and put into a piping bag. Pipe crosses onto tops of buns, and put into 180C preheated oven for approx 30 minutes. 

Glaze with a sugar glaze while still warm…

1/3 cup water

3 T caster sugar

Dissolve sugar in hot water, and brush tops of buns while still warm.

I find the flour and liquid ratios are approximate. Some days I need more flour, others I need more liquid. Just combine slowly and judge by feel. 

Australia Day: Vegemite Damper Scrolls

G'Day mates, throw another vegie snag on the barbie, it's Aussie Day! (we don't all talk like that you know, except for maybe Paul Bogan  Hogan. Australia Day, for those of you not on our island continent, is our national day celebrated on the 26th January, which marks the arrival of the first fleet at Port Jackson (Sydney Cove) in 1788. It isn't the anniversary (claimed by my friend Josh to an unsuspecting American friend) " of the day in which a young Bushranger by the name of Ned Kelly, implemented his plan of concealing dynamite within the pouch's of Red Kangaroos and sent them hopping into the enemy camp, a plan which ultimately proved to be the decisive tipping point in ending the 6 year Australian-American war." LOL!!! BTW Josh, if you read this, I hope you don't mind me posting it, it was too good not to share!

So in honour of our day, I'm making some twists on traditional Aussie food. There will be a few posts, so keep your eyes peeled.

Damper, for those of you not in the know, is a colonial Australian unleavened bread. Traditionally, it was made with flour, salt, and water, and cooked in the coals of a "dampened" fire in a cooking pot.  Alternatively (and this was my favourite as a kid) it was twisted around a stick and cooked over the fire. We loved to smother ours with golden syrup when it was cooked. It has evolved to include baking soda, butter, and a little sugar, which I much prefer!

So, I've decided to add the other Australian icon, Vegemite - food of the gods! Not that other rubbish, Marmite (New Zealand version has sugar in it! Erk!), or Dick Smith's Aussiemite, or any number of other versions of yeast extract paste. You have to use the real deal (even if an American company owns it ha ha).

Ingredients

2 cups of plain flour 

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sugar

3 heaped tablespoons dairy free margarine, plus extra to spread

approx 1/2 cup soymilk

Vegemite

Method

Preheat oven to 180C

In a bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and sugar

Rub through margarine until dough resembles breadcrumbs

Add soymilk, and form into a ball, kneading for a couple of minutes until smooth. If it's bit too sticky, just add a dusting of flour.

Roll out into an oblong shape.

Spread with margarine, and lots of Vegemite, covering well. You can also at this point add some shredded dairy free cheese on the top.

Cut into strips about 3cm cm wide, and about 8cm long and roll each one up to form a scroll.

Place scroll cut end up in a greased baking dish (I used my cast iron pot), and continue until pan is full or dough is finished. they should be packed closely together.

Bake for about 15 -20 minutes until top sound hollow when tapped. Eat warm straight out of the oven with some billy tea of course!

Beetroot Crust Caramelised Onion & White Carrot Tart

I've been dreaming of this little tart for a few weeks now. I made a carrot pastry for an onion and beetroot tart as part of Christmas festivities, and it got me thinking about other vegetables that would work in a pastry. The colour the beetroot gives to this tart makes me give a little gasp (the photo doesn't do it justice). It's gorgeous, and gives a lovely backdrop for a filling. I made a couple of smaller ones for later use as well because they were just so darned cute. So what to put in this brightly hued case? I have an abundance of white carrots growing at present, and what better way to use some up with some caramelised onion. And no, I'm not confused with parsnips - we have been growing an heirloom variety that dates back to the 1500s called White Belgian. While my favourite carrot is Purple Dragons, the white caramelise beautifully with the onion. I used some eggs laid by our hens, but if you don't eat them, tofu will work just as well. Wilted spinach and almond fetta would go beautifully in this, or some goats cheese and spinach if you eat dairy.

The smell of this cooking in my kitchen was a lovely way to spend the afternoon...although it got somewhat marred by the Beloved who decided it was a good time to use some spray paint in the mudroom and the smell wound its way into the kitchen. Sigh. I had a good wedge of the tart for dinner with some greens,  potatoes, and peas straight from the garden. The crust was crisp, and slightly sweet from the beetroot, so I was right to add a little salt to back it off. I would definitely make this again.

Ingredients

For the Crust

3/4 cup plain flour either white or wholemeal

3/4 rolled oats

1 medium grated beetroot (about 1 loose cup)

200gr margarine

pinch salt and pepper to taste

For the Filling

3 large onions

3 large carrots

fresh dill chopped finely

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 tsp salt 

pepper to taste

If you eat eggs, use 3 beaten with 1/2 cup milk of your choice- if you don't, use the equivalent in egg re placer, or 1 cup firm tofu pureed with a splash of soy milk or almond milk.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C

You can either use your fingers to rub the margarine through the flour and oats as if making scone dough,  into coarse crumbs, or use a food processor to pulse )I used the latter method because as per usual I was making a few things at the same time). Add the beetroot and gently press together, distributing it evenly. Your pastry should turn a very bright pink!

Grease a quiche or tart tin and press pastry into the tin. You can roll it out, but I have found it easier to press it in as it is quite a rustic dough. Prick the bottom randomly with a skewer or fork.

Par bake with or without weights (it doesn't puff up much) for about 15 minutes, until the crust feels a bit dry.

While the case is baking saute onions and grated carrot in some olive oil with sugar, salt, and pepper until caramelised (takes 20 -30 minutes) and cool  a little. Add the dill, and eggs (or tofu), and pour into the pastry case. Bake for a further 15 -20 minutes or until set.

Rugelach - Crescent Cookies

These adorable little morsels of sweet goodness (which mean crescent in Yiddish) are all thanks to Jewish mummas. Traditionally these are not vegan, but I have made them so and was pleased with the result. Perfect for a bite sized sugar fix with a cup of tea, although I believe the Americans would consider this sacrilege if it were not served with coffee. Anyhoo, whatever the beverage I'm sure you'll love making them!

Ingredients

Dough
2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
250g vegan margarine (I used nuttelex)
250g vegan cream cheese ( I used tofutti)

Filling
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup hazelnut meal
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Method
In a mixing bowl cream margarine and cream cheese together.
Add lemon juice, sugar, and salt.
Add flour and rub through margarine mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Press together to form the dough. ( Pulsing in a food processor makes this a quick job)
Wrap in plastic and put in fridge for about half an hour.
Preheat oven to 150C
In another bowl combine filling ingredients.
Divide dough into four balls.
On greaseproof paper, press ball down and roll out until approx 3mm thick

Sprinkle filling all over rolled dough and press lightly
Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into wedges as shown ( I found it easiest to cut in strokes straight across)

Gently peel a wedge from the greaseproof.
Starting at the widest edge, roll towards the point to crease a crescent. Place cookie seam side down on a lined baking tray. Repeat with remaining dough until tray is full.

Bake in oven for approximately 20 -25 minutes .

Vegan Orange and Cranberry Spiced Muffins

These moist cafe style muffins are instensely orange flavoured, so if you don't like orange, don't make these! The cooked orange is the secret to this, using orange juice by itself, or just zest doesn't give the same nice deep flavour. They are perfect for a winter's afternoon, and best eaten when still warm with a good cup of tea (I make the muffins, Murray makes the tea). I made these in the Bakers Secret loose bottom mini cake pan the Beloved got me for Christmas, which makes 12 x 110g  muffins. You can still make them in ordinary muffin tins.

Ingredients
2 cups soymilk
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups plain flour
2 oranges
1 cup cranberries
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Method

In a medium saucepan, put in oranges and fill with water until it just covers the fruit. Bring to the boil on the stove, and then reduce heat to a simmer, cooking for an hour. Regularly check the water and top up if necessary. Take off heat and allow to cool completely. Tip: If you do this the night before, or while doing something else, they will be ready to go when you start the next day. They will keep for a couple of days in the fridge in a sealed container.

Prehat the oven to 180C

In a large bowl, whisk soymilk and apple cider vinegar together, and leave aside for a few minutes.

Puree the oranges whole - don't remove skin or seeds, just blend the whole lot.

The soymilk should have thickened from the vinegar to a sauce consistency. Add the orange, and oil, and whisk again.

Sift flour and sugar with baking soda and powder, cinnamon, and ginger. Mix into wet ingredients.

Fold in oats, cranberries, and walnuts.

Spoon into greased tins and bake for approximatlely 30 minutes.

If desired, drizzle top with melted dark chocolate.

Vegan Spiced Chocolate Brownies

While the Beloved and I were at the Winter Magic Festival in Katoomba yesterday, we treated ourselves to some vegan brownies. They were soooo good, I was inspired to make my own, but spice it up a bit. And voila! Sunday afternoon tea...

2 cups of plain flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup broken hazelnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Grease and slice tray with baking paper.

In a large bowl sift all the dry ingredients together twice.

Add oil, water and soymilk, and mix thoroughly to a thick batter.

Fold in hazelnuts.

Pour into the greased and lined tray, and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes. If you don't want the brownies to be as gooey, leave them in for another ten minutes. Allow to cool for approximately ten minutes, and then cut into squares.

Creamy Corn and Leek Pies

This may not be the best time of year to start a blog, especially one that involves gardening...but actually, it probably is, because there are always a hundred things to do in my garden, and winter is the best time to prepare for planting. On the food side, winter is a time for indulgence, when a cosy slow combustion fire warms the body, and a decadent treat cheers the soul. So unable to share much in the way of the spade with you while this rain holds out, I'll stick to the spoon.

This June long weekend was just wet wet wet. Having a touch of cabin fever to get outside, I had to keep myself occupied looking for inspiration in cookbooks and magazines...so I baked. Still having plenty of home grown leeks left in the freezer, I decided on a simple vegan leek and corn pie in a creamy sauce, perfect for a winter day. It went down a treat with the Beloved, and I got to try out my new pie tins!

Creamy Leek and Corn Pies

Pastry

90g nuttelex or other dairy free margarine

1 1/4 cups of plain flour

pinch of salt

1 Tablespoon cold water

Sift the flour and salt, and rub in the margarine until it resembles breadcrumbs (or use the food processor if you are impatient like me) add the water and draw together. You may need to add a bit more flour or water depending on the temperature and humidity of the day, you can't use a food processor for this bit! the pastry should hold together without being crumbly, or too sticky. Cover and rest in the fridge for at least 1/2 an hour.

Filling

1 cup chopped leek

1 clove garlic

1 cup corn kernals

1 cup soymilk

2 tablespoons plain flour

2 tablepoons nuttelex

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 teaspoon savoury yeast flakes

ground white pepper

In a small saucepan melt margarine, then add flour and stir quickly to make a roux. Slowly add the soymilk and whisk a bit at a time so as not to get lumps, until you have a thick white sauce. Add the mustard and yeast flakes, and pepper to taste, turn on low and make sure the flour is cooked out properly, about 10 minutes, adding more milk if necessary.

Saute leeks in a separate pan, with garlic until softened. Add corn kernals. Mix into white sauce, and pour into a shallow dish to cool in the fridge.

Turn on oven to 180 C

Assembly

Roll out pastry to 3mm thick and put into greased pie tins. Fill pie cases with cold filling (note, filling must be cold or pastry will sog, not crisp!) and top with pastry, pinching around the edges to seal. Brush tops with soymilk, and cut a couple of slits in the top to prevent the filling erupting all over your oven!

Bake for approximately 25 minutes until pastry is lightly golden.