VEGAN CHRISTMAS CAKE

Vegan Christmas cake

I finally got around to making my cake yesterday. This is my favourite cake in the world - moist, boozy, delicious. I am amazed we haven't cut it yet...This year I bought whiskey not brandy and I am worried it will taste different. If it does, I am going out for brandy pronto and I will douse the cake.

Juno studying the ingredients

As there are a lot of ingredients it is best to get everything ready before you start. We don't like icing but you can easily find vegan marzipan and royal icing.

The dry ingredients mixed with treacle

Juno helping me

This is a powerful cake - my wishes always seem to come true from it, so fingers crossed for this year's wish :) Happy Christmas!

INGREDIENTS:
350 gr wholegrain spelt flour
175gr vegan marg
175gr light muscovado sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
150gr sultanas
200gr raisins
150gr dates
50 gr flaked almonds
1 tblsp treacle
100gr glacé cherries, halved
grated zest of an orange
2 tblsps ground almonds
120ml soya milk
2 tblsps red wine vinegar
¾ tsp of bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)
6 tblsps (90ml) brandy/whiskey

METHOD:
• Preheat oven to 150˚C
• Grease an 8” cake tin and line with greaseproof paper
• Sieve the flour and spice
• Rub in the marg until the mix is like breadcrumbs
• Stir in the flaked almonds and treacle
• Add the sugar, dried fruit, cherries, orange zest and ground almonds and mix
• Warm half the soya milk in a small pot and add the vinegar
• Dissolve the bread soda in the rest of the soya milk, then add
this to the milk and vinegar mix
• Stir this into flour and fruit mix until well combined
• Spoon mix into greased tin and smooth the top
• Bake for 2 hours, until a skewer/cocktail stick comes out clean
• Leave cake in tin to cool, then turn out and peel off greaseproof
• Prick cake with a cocktail stick and feed with a third of the brandy
• Wrap cake in greaseproof and store in a tin
• Feed with the rest of the brandy/whiskey at weekly intervals
• Will keep for 4 weeks or so

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

Vegan choc cake

 I woke up this morning wanting to bake a chocolate cake and got started only to discover I had no eggs. (When Mammy goes away, nobody else shops...) Determined to make a cake, however, I googled egg-free chocolate cakes and found this simple, quick recipe on All Recipes.

The woman who posted this lives on the Falkland Islands where her parents own a traditional sheep farm. Cruise-ship tourists go to visit the farm and she makes this cake for her parents to serve to their visitors. Sweet :) I have adapted it slightly (more cocoa, less flour; I used soya milk, vegan marg etc.)

Juno enjoying the cake at our picnic

We brought the cake on a picnic to Glasson, Westmeath. It is delicious - really moist and chocolatey. I'm thrilled with how it turned out. A keeper recipe, for sure. (I also made salads for our picnic - will post on them anon.)

INGREDIENTS

170g vegan marg (or butter)

110g light brown sugar

2 tablespoons golden syrup

250ml soya milk (or cow’s milk)

2 drops of vanilla extract

150g plain flour

75g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

METHOD

- Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line the bottom of an 8" round cake tin.

- Melt the butter, sugar, syrup, vanilla extract and milk over a low heat. Stir to bring together. Pour into a bowl.

- Sieve the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarb of soda into the wet mix. Stir well and pour into the tin.

- Cook for 40 minutes.

VEGAN SPELT XMAS CAKE

It's vegan Christmas cake time - woo! I love this boozy, fruity cake which I adapted from a recipe of Rose Elliott's. I made it yesterday with help from the two youngest. Each year I feel like trying a new recipe but I've been making this cake for years and it is utterly delish. It's a 'work' cake but if you can't put the work in for Christmas, when can you? I always get comments from people who've made this cake and loved it, so please comment!

It's a good idea to get all your ingredients weighed and ready in advance - it makes it all go smoothly.

Juno mixing, Finn waiting his turn

This recipe makes a lovely moist cake; we used it as our wedding cake in 2010. We eat it plain but you can buy vegan marzipan and icing to decorate it if you like.

Nollaig shona! Happy Christmas!

Leaving a collar of paper above the tin stops the top of the cake burning

INGREDIENTS

350 gr wholegrain spelt flour (I use Doves Farm Organic)
175gr vegan marg
175gr light muscovado sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
150gr sultanas
200gr raisins
150gr dates
50 gr flaked almonds
1 tblsp treacle
100gr glacé cherries, halved
grated zest of an orange
2 tblsps ground almonds
120ml soya milk
2 tblsps red wine vinegar
¾ tsp of bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)
6 tblsps (90ml) brandy

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 150˚C
• Grease an 8" cake tin and line with a layer of greased greaseproof; leave a ridge of paper at the top
• Sieve the flour and spice
• Rub in the marg until the mix is like breadcrumbs
• Stir in the flaked almonds and treacle
• Add the sugar, dried fruit, cherries, orange zest and ground almonds and mix
• Warm half the soya milk in a small pot and add the vinegar
• Dissolve the bread soda in the rest of the soya milk, then add
this to the milk and vinegar mix (it will puff up nicely!)
• Stir this into flour and fruit mix until well combined
• Spoon mix into greased tin and smooth the top
• Bake for 2 hours, until a skewer/cocktail stick comes out clean
• Leave cake in tin to cool, then turn out and peel off greaseproof
• Prick cake with a cocktail stick and feed with a third of the brandy
• Wrap cake in greaseproof and store in a tin
• Feed with the rest of the brandy at weekly intervals (if the cake lasts that long!)

The cake fresh from the oven

The finished cake

VEGAN PRUNE AND BRANDY CAKE

Juno enjoying some cake

I have been experimenting again. I put on weight in May which is always a party month in our house with all the birthdays that fall in that month. This year we also had our first wedding anniversary, one son's communion and a holiday in NY. So I am trying to eat more sensibly and because I simply can't give up goodies, I needed a healthy cake. This delivers a moist, delicious loaf that just oozes goodness. It is even more gorgeous slathered in soy yogurt.

RECIPE
410 g can of prunes, pitted
120ml prune juice (the juice left in the can)
30ml tea
30ml brandy
50g brown sugar
1 portion of No Egg (or 1 beaten egg for non-vegans)
25 g melted vegan marg
255g wholegrain spelt flour
1tsp bread soda
1 tsp mixed spice

METHOD
- Pit the prunes, then soak them with the prune juice, sugar, brandy and tea in a bowl
- Preheat the oven to 160C
- Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin (ready-made liners are great and no greasing needed!)
- Add the NoEgg mix and melted marg to the fruit mix. Stir through.
- Fold in the flour, bread soda and spice
- Pour into the lined tin
- Bake for one hour, until a skewer comes out clean
- Cool in the tin for 10 mins then turn onto a wire rack