Christmas party time! (and the Christmas pudding recipe!)

Yesterday was a crazy day! 

Thankfully it finished on a high with my work Christmas party...my 8th and final Christmas party with the architects practice since as of next Wednesday I will be leaving the gang to find my own way into this big big world...more on all that another time. After the chaos of the day I was looking forward to eating good food and letting my hair down. 

All the team pitched in to cook a huge Christmas roast... I was chief event co-ordinator and so of prime importance to me was to make sure we had plenty of vegetable dishes! Of course there was lots of meat as well for the rest of the team so I let them get on with that part. I cooked up a chestnut and cranberry nut roast for me...but big enough to share (for anyone who cared for a slice), I also made a little batch of vegan bread sauce- no way was I going to miss out on that regardless of the fact I didn't have turkey to accompany it, it was a perfectly fine match for my nut roast! We also made a variation of this brussel sprout salad without and bacon but with extra shallots and sliced chestnuts too...it was so good!

For dessert we had fruit salad, along with some more of these truffles that i'd whipped up earlier in the day. I also had my 'Christmas pud for one' whilst my colleagues served up their puddings and gateaux. I served my pudding with a drizzle of Alpro vegan vanilla pouring yoghurt. I'd not come across it before but found it in the supermarket yesterday and was very excited to try it, whilst I can't say its healthy since it does contain quite a lot of sugar, it was great for a little treat and for a change to regular vegan yoghurt or cream and the lovely vanilla flavour gave a real festive feel.

Instagram Christmas pud!

As promised here you have my Christmas pudding recipe, I found my notes! Most Christmas puddings require preparation way in advance and also need hours of steaming- not this one... here is a pudding in a day!

Recipe: Mini Christmas pudding (quick, easy and gluten free)

(Makes 2 mini puddings or one slightly larger. serve 2-4 altogether)

Ingredients:

50g each of raisins, sultanas and dried apricots
50g oatmeal or GF flour mix of choice (note: rice flour may give a slightly grainy texture though barely noticeable)
1/2 tsp baking powder
3tbs ground almonds
1 tsp each orange and lemon zest and a small squeeze of juice (or 1 tbs sugar-free marmalade)
1 small grated apple
1/2 tsp mixed spice (cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves)
1 tbs brandy (or omit for non alcoholic)
10g rapadura/fruit sugar or other unrefined granulated sugar

Method:

In a food processor pulse the dried apricots to chop very roughly and then add the sultanas and raisins and pulse a few times to achieve a very coarse paste (the raisins should still be mostly whole).

Transfer to a small bowl and mix through the grated apple. Add all remaining ingredients and mix well.

You can either prepare this mix the night before and let to sit overnight to 'mature' or you can use it straight away (I tried both ways and did not notice a significant difference to flavour).

Spoon the mixture into two silicone egg poachers (similar to this method) or one slightly larger domed bowl (silicone or glass). I really recommend silicone since its so much easier to remove once cooked. Make sure you cover the tops very well, I used baking parchment and then foil over folded tightly to the rim.  Steam the puddings with the bowl half submerged in simmering water with the covered top well out of the water. Steam for 90 minutes for 2 mini puddings or slightly longer for a larger pudding (I only tried making two smaller ones).

Allow to cool with the tops still fully covered, and uncover when ready to serve.  If you are serving these at a later time, they can be re-steamed or simply microwaved for 1 minute each to warm through.

P.s this recipe is actually much simpler than it sounds in these steps!!

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.

Speedy Christmas pudding for one!

I did not think this post was going to happen. Seriously. But i'm a determined girl and I was not going to let 'a situation' stop me in my tracks!

It's been a crazy 24 hours and I do not wish to repeat it!

Yesterday evening I had my car broken into and my laptop and DSRL camera stolen. Along with my notebook which I jot down all my recipe ideas, experiments, website resources, inspirations and anything else that randomly crops up in my head...which it does on regular occasions!

It felt like a lead weight. I was gutted. Today has been a chaotic mix of phone calls, glass repair, laptop borrowing (thanks mum!) BUT there is a silver lining to this story. Two good things happened:

1- they found my bag, minus all the valuables of course, but with my notebooks! It had been raining but my holdall was waterproof. I have to just wait until the police have finished their investigations to get it back. Fingers crossed its ok.

2 - I was forced to use a different camera and a different lense to take these shots. These photos have been taken with my old Nikon camera body and a 50mm prime lense which i'd bought s few months back but had never actualy used. I love it! Even in low light the images rendered well, huge depth of field- maybe too much!  These photos have not been retouched in anyway as I simply have no software on the borrowed laptop to do it, they haven't even been cropped....this is literally straight from camera. I'm pretty happy with the results.

Ok, so I may have got your mouth watering, but you will have to wait for the recipe as it was written in my notebook...doh! ;-) will try and recall it and rewrite it tomorrow- I may have notes lying around the house (I am organised really!). But I will tell you this mini Christmas pud is a 'pud in a day'- super fast, gluten free, and sugar free.  Oh and it is super yummy!

I'm off to my work Christmas party now, in amongst the chaos I've been preparing food all day...more on that tomorrow and I will do my best to bring you this recipe.

Oh and just for a final laugh- all my make up and hair straighteners were in that bag too! The one evening in recent weeks that I actually want to make a effort to look half decent. So I guess this will be the second 'au naturel' look of the day!

Enjoy!

(Edit: you can now find the recipe here!)

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.

Angel delight

I know the name of this dessert will confused many of you...because Angel Delight is simply a British phenomenon. I did a little search to see what the US equivalent was and there didn’t seem to be one (feel free to correct me if I am wrong!)

Angel Delight is an instant powdered pudding mix whisked with milk to create a mousse-like custardy sweet dessert. It comes in various flavours and is something of a childhood staple in the memories of most of the UK population.

So, I wanted to create a healthy vegan equivalent that cuts out the dairy, the sugar and all the scary 'unknows’ of the powdered packet mix. I think I’ve cracked it…well it certainly went down well for dessert when I layered it up in little glass bowls and served it up for my family at the weekend.

‘Angel delight’ makes your perfect creamy moussey parfait.

Give it a try, I know you are curious now!

There are so many flavour combos you could try, here I went for strawberry and mango (I preferred the strawberry out the of two), but you could also go for other berries, banana, chocolate or maybe even orange although I think fruits with a higher level of natural pectin would work best as they would give the creamiest result when combined with the tofu.  I made my dessert by mixing the ‘base’ i.e everything but the fruit, then divided it into two before mixing in the fruit separately. The key is to blend really well.

Chill first (to allow the cashew and coconut butters to thicken slightly), then either serve it straight or with fruit and granola crumbs as I did here…basically layer up your own parfait. So pretty!

Recipe: Angel delight

Serves 1-2 (can easily be doubled)

Ingredients

½ cup silken tofu

½ cup fruit (mango/strawberries)

1 tbs cashew butter

1tbs coconut oil melted

1tbs agave plus a pinch stevia if needed

1 tsp vanilla extract

1tbs tapioca flour (or alternative thickener)

Method

Mix all ingredients together in a high powered blender (ideally with whisk attachment) until smooth. Pour into serving bowls and chill for min. 30 mins prior to serving.

Seving suggestion: Layer up different flavours with nuts/granola in between and chunks of fruit on top.

This will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

This recipe is shared at Slightly Indulgent Tuesday and Hearth and Soul Blog Hop 

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.

Chocolate banana sponge pudding

What do you get if you cross a mug cake with chocolate cashew custard?

…This dish of indulgence!

Can you believe that this rich, smooth, chocolatey dessert full of globs of choc chip sponge cake is actually healthy?

…well now is the time to start believing.

You may remember my love for the super simple choco-banana cashew custard, and so I couldn’t resist taking it that little bit further and adding another level of fun.

This is another recipe where the ingredients and method would appear much more complicated that in reality. To give you a quick summary… you make an ‘oversized’ mug cake in the microwave (total 5 mins) then blend up some cashews and add in the other custard ingredients (total 5 mins). Cut the cake into cubes and pile into an oven dish then pour the custard over the top (total 5 mins). Bake in the oven for about 15 mins…see, super simple! I prepped the dish ready and then baked it whilst we ate first course, perfectly timed for dessert.

I say this dessert is healthy, but I warn you now it is also very filling. I definitely overestimated the portion sizes!! I made this dessert for my family after Sunday lunch last weekend, there were four of us and although we managed to polish it off between us, I would definitely suggest that this makes a dessert more suitable for 6 of even 8. But hey, I’m not stopping you from hogging it (I wouldn’t blame you!) I’m simply warning you that it will fill ya right up! This would easily store in the fridge for a day or two.

My inspiration for this pudd originally came from vegan bread pudding recipes I’d come across but just didn’t jump out at me enough. I also wanted a gluten free spin on things if I could…so the result was a cakey-saucy combo. Another level of comforting pudding indulgence that most certainly ticked all the boxes, knocking bread pudding to the floor! Note that although I have used spelt flour here (it’s what I had to hand at the time) you could easily opt for a GF combo along the lines of this recipe.

Recipe: Chocolate banana pudding cake

Serves 6

Ingredients- choc chunk cake

Makes one 7” round cake pan (thin layer) or approx. 4 cupcakes

½ cup white spelt (or sub GF mix)

3tbs agave syrup and a few grains of stevia!

Tiny pinch salt

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

Approx. ¼ cup soy milk

1 small banana- mashed well

½ tsp vanilla extract

Handful of chocolate chunks

Method

Mix all dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and then add wet ingredients. Mix together well adding the chocolate chunks last.  

Spoon the batter into a smallish approx. 7” round or square cake pan, or cupcake trays.

Either cook the cake for approx. 2 ½ mins in the microwave (use a sillicone cake pan) or oven bake for approx. 15-20 mins until cooked through and slightly golden.

Once cooked, allow to cool for a couple of minutes before cutting into rough 2cm cubes. Pile the cubes into a small (approx. 7”) but deep oven dish.

Note: I used the microwave method as I was using the cake as a base for a chocolate pudding. The microwave gives a slightly chewier texture which worked well for my needs but oven baking would be superior for serving as a regular cake.

Ingredients- choc cashew custard

Makes 4 small bowls

250 g cashews (soaked in water for min. 4 hours, then drained) *
220g water for blending
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
2 tbs agave syrup (more to taste)

1 large ripe banana

¼ cup cocoa powder

Extra agave to taste as necessary

Rapadura/coconut sugar for glaze

Method

Drain cashews and discard the soaking water. Blend cashews with remaining cream ingredients in a powerful blender for approx.1 minute until smooth.  *note: if you have a very powerful blender such as a Thermomix or Vitamix, you could blend the cashews without soaking first as I did..

Add the cocoa powder and banana and blend for another 30 seconds until thick and smooth. Add a little more agave if you prefer a sweeter custard.

Pour the chocolate custard mixture over the cake cubes in the oven dish, ensuring a full coverage.

Sprinkle a little rapadura or coconut sugar over the top before placing in a pre-heated oven at 200C for approx. 15 mins until the surface browns and the sauce fully heats through.

Serve immediately.

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.