Lemon poppy pancakes

It must be the weekend! Pancakes for a weekend breakfast is pretty much the only time I have them, you know the drill by now!

These lemony delights soak up the remains of summer time and were a twist on  the norm as I often opt for spelt flour, as with GF flours I often find the pancakes have more trouble holding together. This time I was determined that things should be a little different. These worked a treat, however I would still recommend making small pancakes as they will be so much easier to flip, regardless of what flours used I often find myself making the mistake of spooning a large blog of batter into the pan which is much more tricky to handle.

I’m having a bit of a lemony kick at the moment, must be the sunshine these last few weeks... and maybe also a little wishful thinking that summer wasn't over already! Since I also had some poppy seeds to use up, I figured this would be the perfect combo.

Served up with some vegan yoghurt, a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of coconut sugar and you’re good to go. Breakfast? These are more like dessert!

Recipe: Lemon poppy pancakes

Makes approx. 4-5 pancakes

Ingredients:

½ cup GF flour mix (I used Doves)

¾ tsp baking powder
Tiny pinch salt
1 tbs poppy seeds
3 tbs apple puree

1 tbs lemon juice and zest

1 tbs agave

1/3 cup soy milk with 1 tsp chia seeds mixed in

1 tbs melted coconut butter (or omit for fat free)

Method:

Mix the wet ingredients together in a small bowl. Combine with the dry ingredients and mix well but lightly.

Spoon smallish dollops on a lightly oiled hot frying pan and fry till golden for a minute or so each side. Serve with soy yoghurt, a squeeze of fresh lemon and coconut sugar as desired.

* for further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Lemon polenta cake

Lemons! The world is a brighter place with lemons!

The cake was inspired by my friend who had invited me round round for a girlie evening complete with food and cake. She informed me that she planned on making a polenta cake but that because it contained eggs in the recipe, it wouldn’t be vegan. Oooo, so that got me thinking and  a plan formed…could pull off a successful healthy vegan lemon polenta cake to take to the party?

So I did just that.

It tasted pretty good actually, a slightly different texture to the regular version due to the omission of eggs, but polenta cake is a heavy cake anyway by its nature so that was fine by me.  I also made a lemon drizzle which really makes the flavours pop. The drizzle uses unrefined sugars but still I couldn’t claim it to be ‘healthy’…the cake still tasted good without the dressing so it's up to you!

This cake was also the first attempt at baking with my bundt tin that I bought a few months back but simply hadn’t got round to using. It looks so pretty here. You could by all means opt for a loaf tin instead.

Recipe: Lemon polenta cake

Approx. 1 medium loaf or bundt tin

Ingredients

1/3 cup coconut oil- melted (150g)

¼ cup apple puree (50g)

½ cup coconut sugar (100g) plus ¼ tsp stevia

4 lemons plus 1 tbs zest

½ tsp almond extract

1tbs chia and ¼ cup water

¾ cup polenta (110g)

1/3 cup buckwheat (50g)

1/3 cup ground almonds (50g)

3tbs tapioca flour (10g)

Pinch salt

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1/3 cup soy milk

Lemon drizzle:

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup soy yoghurt

¼ cup coconut sugar

Method

Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix wet in a separate bowl and then add to the dry.

Spoon into a greased and lined loaf tin or bundt tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for approx. 40 mins until lightly golden.

For the lemon drizzle, stir the ingredients together in a small pan over the stove on low to medium heat. Once the coconut sugar has dissolved, whisk the mixture and bring to a simmer for a couple of minutes before removing from the heat. Set aside to drizzle over the cake.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Easter Bunny’s

My Easter Bunny’s were supposed to look cute….but instead they look more like scary robo-bunny’s with crazy gnashy teeth…Oops!  Oh well, I think they still look kinda goofy cute in their own little way.

I’m getting in my Easter themed recipes in good time, organisation-love it! I have a couple more up my sleeve in coming days so keep your eyes peeled. Easter is typically a time for chocolate I know….don’t worry I have that sussed too!

It’s the principle that is the main thing here, little Easter themed cupcakes that are simple to dress up however you like with your favourite cupcake and frosting combo, or feel free to use  recipes below. I bet yours will look better than mine!  These cupcakes are made using spelt flour, but you could use a GF cupcake recipe instead. In this recipe I trialed both spelt and GF to good effect, but I cant testify this for a larger batch of cupcakes.

So back to the robo-bunny’s.

It’s all pretty simply really. Bake your cupcake in the usual way and then using a very sharp knife (to get as clean edges as possible) cut an oval out of the top of the cupcake- I say oval instead of circle so that the ears are a little longer than they are wide. Fill the ‘hole’ with frosting of your choice (mine was lemony although now I wish I’d added a drop of food colouring too), you could go crazy and go for the chocolate frosting. Once filled, press the ears in and add a couple of dried blueberries or currants for the eyes…and, er maybe avoid coconut flakes for the teeth unless you can do a better job than me!

Simple…and cute (ish)

My cupcakes were basic vanilla cupcakes with a lemony frosting. The frosting will be firmer if it is fresh from the fridge, mine was a slightly runnier than I would have liked but I think that was due to the cupcakes still being ever so slightly warm- note to self: allow cupcakes to cool fully.

I’d love to see your Easter themed successes (or disasters!) whether they be bunny’s or not, feel free to link in the comments below.

Recipe: Lemon frosting

Makes approx. ¾ cup

Ingredients:

½ cup silken tofu

1/3 cup cashew butter

5 tbs agave syrup (or part stevia)

Zest of one lemon plus ½ tsp lemon extract

(note: if you use stevia to sweeten you could use a little real lemon juice to help flavour as this will replace the liquid that the agave would have provided and still not make it too runny)

Method:

Blend everything together well and chill before use.

Recipe: vanilla cupcake

Makes approx. 12 cupcakes.

Based on this recipe

Ingredients 

200g white spelt flour

75g potato starch

1tsp flax seed mixed with 1tbs hot water

3tsp baking powder 

1tbs bicarbonate of soda

50g agave

70g granulated sugar

¼ tsp stevia

100ml melted coconut butter

50ml apple puree

50ml soy yoghurt

150ml orange juice

150ml soy milk

2tsp vanilla extract

Method

Blend all liquids in food processor and melt coconut oil separately then mix in. Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl then pour into the wet ingredients and beat well to get a smooth mixture. Pour into cupcake cased and bake at 180C  for 10-15 mins. I found these needed turning round every 5 minutes to ensure an even rise.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.