Vegan Pancake Goodness

This is what I made for my lunch on pancake day (Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras). I know that celebrating the start of Lent by using up all the dairy in the house doesn't really apply when you're an atheist vegan eating soya milk pancakes, but I wasn't about to miss out.


Mock duck and mushroom hoi sin pancakes with spring onions and peppers (I usually do cucumber instead of peppers, I didn't have any, it would be good with both though).


A traditional British lemon juice and sugar one for dessert. We had pancakes again on Sunday, I filled them with canned pie cherries.

Basic vegan pancake recipe:

50g/ 2oz. self-raising flour (cake flour)
125ml/ 1/2 US cup soya milk
1 level tsp. gram flour (chickpea/besan)
pinch of salt

Whisk everything together then let it stand for a few minutes as it will thicken a little.

This serves one person (makes three 20cm/approx 7.5" pancakes or two 25cm/10"), just multiply it to serve more. I use a flat-bottomed wok to cook mine in as I find it easier to get a spatula in to loosen them before flipping. I also use plain sunflower oil in a spray container (bottle of 1-cal cooking spray refilled with oil) instead of a pool of it from the bottle, this way they're almost fat free. You'll need more oil if you're not using a non-stick pan.

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Brandy Basket Peach Melba!

We have just enjoyed these for our dessert! Makes 2, but you can easily multiply the recipe.


Brandy Snap Baskets:

1tbsp. Golden syrup
25g / 1oz. vegan spread (or butter, if you eat dairy)
25g / 1oz. vanilla sugar (made by adding a split vanilla pod to a jar of sugar, or you can just use plain sugar and add 1/2tsp of vanilla extract)
2tsp. Brandy
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
25g / 1oz. plain flour, plus 1 heaped tsp.
Small pinch of salt

Melt the first three ingredients together over a medium heat and simmer for a few minutes to combine, then remove from the heat and stir in the brandy. Sift in the flour, ground ginger and salt, and mix. Leave to cool for about ten minutes, the mixture will be a thick golden liquid. Preheat the oven to 180C while you're waiting for the mixture to cool, and line a baking tray with baking parchment / greaseproof paper.

Drop two blobs of mixture onto the tray, dividing it equally between them. Leave about four inches between the blobs as they spread considerably during cooking. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, keep checking after the first 5-7 mins as they can burn and cooking time will depend on your oven. They are done when they're bubbly, spread out and chestnut brown.

After removing them from the oven, let them cool for a minute, and as soon as you can stand to pick them up, peel them off the baking paper and form the baskets. You can either press them over an upturned ramekin or push them into the bottom of a mug, and they will set firm within a minute. If they harden too quickly, pop them back into the oven to soften for a minute.

For the Peach Melba:

50g/2oz. Raspberries
1 heaped tbsp. icing (confectioner's) sugar
2 peaches, not over ripe or they will turn to mush when you skin them
2 scoops vanilla ice cream (I used Swedish Glace vegan ice cream)

To skin the peaches, place them in a pan or heatproof bowl, and cover with just-boiled water. Leave for one minute, then drain and rinse under a cold tap. Slice them in half, remove the stones and slip off the skins.

For the raspberry sauce, simply push the raspberries through a sieve to remove the seeds, and sift the icing sugar into the puréed berries. If there are any lumps, just leave it a few minutes and they will dissolve.

To assemble, place a brandy snap basket onto a plate, add two peach halves, a scoop of ice cream and drizzle with raspberry sauce. Sprinkle with toasted flaked almonds, if you like. Devour!

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What's for dinner?

A massive vegan pizza!


Fresh dough and garlicky tomato sauce, olives, mushrooms, onions, capers, spicy tofu bits and Sunblush tomatoes, topped with Cheezly melting mozzarella style fake cheese and fresh basil. Mmm!

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Halloween Pumpkin Soup!

At the weekend, we went to Unicorn Grocery in Chorlton, a workers' co-operative selling gorgeous produce, deli items and vegan foods. As well as a massive haul of tofu and faux meat treats, we picked up some lovely fresh vegetables including a big slice of bright orange pumpkin. The produce section is well stocked with seasonal fruits and vegetables, and they grow many items themselves including the squash, cabbages and some fantastic looking Romanesco cauliflowers that Fibonacci would be proud of.




I made this recipe up when we got home, and it was so easy and tasty I thought I would share it with you. This creamy, slightly smoky soup feeds four as a starter, or two as a hearty supper.



Ingredients:

1 tbsp. sunflower or light olive oil
1 medium-sized onion
2 large shallots (or another onion)
3 cloves of garlic
2 medium-sized carrots
600g deseeded Pumpkin
Hot vegetable stock
2 tbsp. chopped fresh herbs (I used oregano and dill)
1 tsp. smoked paprika

Herb drizzle:

2 tbsp. Tofutti vegan cream cheese, or regular cream cheese if you eat dairy.
1 tbsp. chopped fresh herbs
1 tsp. lemon or lime juice
A small amount of soya milk

To serve:

Crusty bread or sliced pittas

The Recipe!

Cut the onion, shallot and carrot into small dice and sauté gently in a large pan with the oil until the onions become translucent. Meanwhile, crush the garlic, and peel and cut the pumpkin into one inch cubes. Add these to the pan and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.

Add the smoked paprika and enough hot stock to cover the vegetables, and simmer until a sharp knife can pass easily through the pumpkin cubes. Keep topping up the stock if the vegetables are above the surface, and stir occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.

Let it cool for a few minutes, then add in batches to a blender. Pulse a few times, the soup should still have some texture and shouldn't be totally smooth (unless you prefer it that way).

Pour back into the pan, stir in the fresh herbs and taste the soup before seasoning with salt and pepper if you think it needs it. If you think the soup is a little thick, you can add a little more stock, but mine didn't need it.

To make the creamy herb drizzle, place your cream cheese into a small bowl and mix in the lemon or lime juice. Add the soya milk a little at a time so no lumps are left, until you reach a pourable consistency. Stir in the fresh herbs with a pinch of salt, and add a little more liquid if necessary. Drizzle over your soup, or use as a dip for your bread! Add Some croutons if you like, and enjoy!

We also got some lovely olives from the deli counter... mmm, tasty olives.

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