Vegetarian Archives - Page 2 of 13

Raspberry Ganache Tart

8|02|2020

Of course, it is the season of hearts and pretty, pink desserts. I make them round the year anyway so coming up with another pink dessert is not that hard. I actually enjoy it! This raspberry ganache tart is made with real raspberries that add a lovely tart flavour and a beautiful pastel pink colour to the tart.

It’s summer in Australia so a no-bake dessert is perfect for us plus being egg free , it’s a great option for vegetarians too. If you don’t want to use gelatine, you can swap it with agar that’s a plant based setting agent. The taste is unique, berry like and also sweet and I definitely recommend, you give it a go for flavour alone.

What are your favourite Valentine’s day treats? If you like to bake, check out this easy Raspberry and Yoghurt Cake or this Neapolitan Cake topped with buttercream roses.

Raspberry Ganache Tart
Makes an 8 inch round tart

200 g digestive biscuits or cookies of your choice
100 g unsalted butter, melted
1 cup raspberries
2 tbps castor sugar
1 tsp powdered gelatine
200 ml thickened cream
250 g white chocolate buttons
25 g unsalted butter
pink food colour (optional)

Place the biscuits in a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Add the melted butter into the processor and pulse again to combine. Press the biscuit mixture onto the base and sides of a 8 inch fluted tart pan until uniform. Place the tart pan on a baking tray for ease of movement and store the tray with the pan in the fridge for the base to firm up.

Meanwhile make the raspberry ganache filling. Place the raspberries, sugar and 3 tbsp water in a medium saucepan and cook till raspberries cook down and mixture is slightly reduced. Add the gelatine, stir and simmer for further 5 minutes. Strain the mixture into a bowl.

In a separate saucepan, over low heat, bring the cream to a boil (do not boil). Remove from heat, add the white chocolate buttons. Leave aside for 5 minutes, then stir until buttons have fully melted and mixture is smooth. Add the unsalted butter, raspberry puree and food colour, if using. Stir to combine.

Cool mixture to room temperature, then pour onto prepared crust. Place tray in the fridge for at least 4-5 hours or until filling has set. Decorate with fresh raspberries, heart sprinkles and sugar flowers. Enjoy chilled.

Eggless Chocolate and Coconut Cake

26|11|2019

An eggless chocolate and coconut cake that can be easily made vegan and dairy- free by swapping with vegan chocolate. Easy to make and delicious.

I get a lot of requests for egg-less and dairy free recipes so I was really keen to come up with one. Well, if you’re able to swap the chocolate with dairy free chocolate in this recipe, then this cake can be made entirely dairy free as well.

It has a soft, moist crumb and subtle taste of coconut. Very delicious if I can say so! The ganache is simple too and I don’t recommend you skip it because it gives the otherwise light cake a rich finish which is what we all want in a chocolate cake. Or is it just me?
Top it with the freshest berries and you have a perfect summer treat!

If you like cakes like these you can also check out my eggless chocolate ricotta cake.

Chocolate Coconut Cake
Makes an 8 inch round cake

150 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
2 and 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar
2 and 1/4 cups self raising flour
1/4 cup fine desiccated coconut
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder

For the ganache frosting
100 g dark chocolate
1/4 cup coconut milk

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Grease the base and sides of an 8 inch baking pan and line the base with baking paper.
In a medium saucepan over low heat melt the chocolate with coconut milk and vanilla extract. Continue to stir until smooth. Remove from heat and leave aside. When the mixture cools slightly (just warm to touch) add the sugar and mix,
In a separate bowl, mix together flour, coconut, baking powder and cocoa powder. Add the dry ingredients to the saucepan and mix well until batter is smooth.
Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 mins or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven. Lightly loosened the edges with a blunt knife, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, drizzle with chocolate ganache. Top with fresh raspberries. Add an extra drizzle of icing sugar.
To make the ganache, in a microwaveable cup or bowl, place the chocolate and coconut milk and cook in short bursts until chocolate starts to melt. Stir until smooth.

Eggless Vanilla Cake

20|02|2019

Eggless recipes are constantly requested on this blog. Whether you are vegetarian or allergic to eggs or just want to keep an eggless recipe handy for those days when you’re running short of just one egg (yeah, it happens to me all the time), this cake recipe is for everyone. It is not only simple with no fancy ingredients, the cake is moist, light and delicious. In other words, you’re not going to miss the eggs.

If you want to have fun with the recipe, try adding nuts, berries or chocolate chips to the batter. It’s basically a blank canvas for you to paint on. I’m planning to make it again this week with apples. The weather is inching towards Autumn and apples are filling up the fruit aisles of the markets.

Eggless Vanilla Cake
Makes a 6 inch round cake

1 and 1/2 cups self raising flour
3/4 cup castor sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup greek yoghurt
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Grease the base and sides of a 6 inch round cake pan and line the base with baking paper.

In a large bowl place the flour, sugar and baking soda and stir together to mix. In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients, yoghurt, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold in gently (do not over-mix).
Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through (a skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean). Remove from oven. Leave aside for 5 minutes. Gently loosen the sides with a blunt knife bu running it around the sides. Turn the cake over onto a cooling rack.
When ready to serve, dust with icing sugar. Decorate with fresh berries.

Banana, Peanut Butter And Oat Smoothie

5|03|2016

If there was one thing on my cooking bucket list that I most definitely wanted to tick off in 2016, it was to try out oats in a smoothie. I’ve been fascinated all the while with the idea of a on-the-go drinkable breakfast and what better than chilled, nutritious and filling glasses of oat smoothie on hot summer days. So now my packet of rolled oats is sitting in a jar, ground and ready to be added to my latest obsession, every morning. To tell you the truth, I am hooked!

There are various ways of including oats in your drink. You could use the overnight soaked oats or add the oats along with other ingredients directly into the blender. The process I like to use is to grind the oats first either in a coffee grinder or a food processor to a coarse powder. Then I can use it whenever I want to. That saves time and gives the smoothie a creamier yet thick consistency with some texture. After I shot this first combo, I made 2 other combinations with stone fruits, coconut milk, herbs, chia seeds and lots of other things. It’s fun to watch all the great ingredients disappear into the liquid with a few whirls of the blender.

Banana, Peanut Butter and Oat Smoothie
Makes 2 large glasses

1 banana, (peeled then chopped and frozen)
1 cup almond milk (or coconut milk or regular milk)
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup rolled oats, powdered
2 tbsp sugar (or any other sweeter of your choice)

Dip a spoon in peanut butter and run the back of the spoon inside serving glasses to create a random swirl.
Combine all the ingredients in your blender until smooth. Serve immediately.