Mint, chocolate and almond Pryaniki/Пряники

Mint, chocolate and almond Pryaniki/Пряники

 

 Usually we wouldn’t put up variations on our recipes, mostly because this blog is really meant to be new things we try and we consider variations not to be a ‘new type of thing’ to make. However, it being Christmassy time and these being yummy, we thought we should! This is of course a variation of Пряники/Pryaniki, which I feel are such a Christmassy thing too with all the spices! 

Also, we proudly found out that if you google ‘vegan pryaniki’ this blog is the first search result! :) We felt we should surely add up this version so. This recipe is along the same lines, but we made half the amount (as we were baking other things too!)

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cups self raising flour

- 1/3 cup sugar

- 1/4 cup golden syrup

- 1/4 cup dairy free butter (or oil even)

- 1/6 cup soya milk (or other milk, or water)

- 2 tbsp treacle

- 2 tbsp cocoa powder

- 1/2 cup ground almonds

- 1 tsp peppermint essence

- Spices: 4-5 tsp cinnamon, 4-5 tsp mixed spice, 1-2 tsp ginger

- A little icing sugar (for glaze)

1. Mix the flour, spices, cocoa powder and ground almonds in a bowl.

2. Put sugar, butter, treacle, golden syrup and essence (the rest of the ingredients) in a pot and cook on a low heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.

3. Add the mixture in the pot to the flour mix and mix until a mouldable dough.

3. At this point take hand chunks out and roll them into balls, or roll out the dough and cut out shapes, or press on it for designs.

5. Place on a greased tray and glaze with a little soya milk. Cook at 180⁰ for about 12-15mins

5. Once done, mix some icing sugar with water to make a watery but white glaze and spread over the pryaniki. Dust with some icing sugar as well if you like.

Lovely to sit down and eat with some chai tea… (and yummy for dipping)

Lentil Cashew Nut Loaf

Lentil Cashew Nut Loaf

Just a loaf recipe, roughly a bit similar to kotlety with the mushrooms and buckwheat, that I did for Christmas eve. Never made a loaf myself before so this was a fun Christmas time experiment.

Ingredients:

-1 pack of mushrooms

-1 pack cashew nuts

-3/4 cup buckwheat

-1 can/cup green lentils

-1/2 onion

-1/2 cup flour

-Spices/herbs, to taste: black pepper, garam masala, rosemary, thyme, paprika

Preheat oven to 180°

1. Boil buckwheat until cooked.

2. In the meanwhile, chop the onion and mushrooms, and soak the cashews in hot water.

3. Drain the lentils and put all ingredients together in a bowl. Blend using a hand blender or using a blender to slightly mush it but keeping it well chunky.

4. Pour the mixture into a greased loaf tin (with tinfoil/baking paper in first, unless using silicone) and cook in the oven for about an hour.

Enjoy!

We had it with roast vegetables and homemade paprika spiced wedges nom nom nom....

Spiced Rum Cake

Spiced Rum Cake

Just a simple little variation on a basic cake, (like the Coconut Coffee cake, Carrot cake, or the cake part of Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Pie) but thought at this time of the year when all is happy and bubbley I’d just post it up! 

Ingredients:

1.5 cups flour (self raising)

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup soya milk (or other, or water. Coconut milk tastes amazing in it!)

1/2 cup oil

1-2 tsp rum essence (or use real rum and decrease milk/water used)

1-2tsp mixed spice

Preheat oven to 180°

1. Mix the wet ingredients (milk, oil, essence/rum). Add the sugar.

2. Add the mixed spice, then the flour. Mix.

3. Put in oven for 15-20minutes or until cooked through.

For a topping we mixed icing sugar, two tablespoons or so of water, one teaspoon rum essence and some mixed spice. Then topped it with dairy free chocolate sprinkles (which most chocolate sprinkles you’d buy commercially are!)

 This was a nice dessert to finish off our Maynooth Christmas dinner, which included a lovely Green curry potato bake

Savoury Winter nutty port crumble

Savoury Winter nutty port crumble

Finally since the college year began we got a chance to make something nice. Now that I’m on a rotation where I can feel full of Christmassy delight it’s all fluffy socks and slippers and cups upon cups of tea from here. And what nicer to finally make than something filling, warm and wintery with the sudden bone chilling weather that’s come about recently? 

Ingredients:

- 1.5 cups flour +3tbsp

- 2/3 cup dairy free butter + 1tbsp

- 1/2 cup oats

- 1 onion

- 5 sweet potatoes

- Pack of mushrooms

- 1 pepper

- 1/2 a broccoli

- 2 carrots

- 1 can mixed beans

- 3/4 cup soya milk

- 1 pack cashew nuts

- 2 tbsp port

- 3-4 cloves garlic, or to taste

- Spices/Herbs, to taste: thyme, pepper, rosemary, ginger

1. Put the cashews in enough soya milk to cover them and leave to soften.

2. Chop up all the vegetables, leaving half an onion, 5-6 mushrooms and the gloves of garlic to the side. Boil the sweet potatoes or cook by instructions on pack. Put the rest of the vegetables into a pan/wok to cook them with a little oil. Add mixed beans (or beans of your choice) and heat.

2. Make the sauce:  fry the onion, mushrooms and garlic lightly in a pot with 1tbsp butter. Add the cashew nuts and the rest of the soya milk and bring to medium/high heat.

Once cashews are softer (but still biteable) blend the mixture with a blender (hand held is easiest). Add the flour and spices/herbs and mix well. Mixture should not be as liquidy as soya milk, so boil off if needed. Add port.

3. Make the crumble topping: mix butter and flour together, first with a knife then with your fingertips, until a breadcrumb consistency. Add the oats and some rosemary.

4. Add chopped sweet potatoes to vegetable mix and then add in the sauce.

Put the mix into an oven dish and cover with the crumble mixture. Cook at ~200° for 20mins or until crumble top is browned.

 

Enjoy!