Sweetened Condensed Soy Milk

My local supermarket doesn't sell condensed soy milk. I searched online for recipes and most of them use powdered soy milk. Again, this is something I haven't been able to find in my local supermarket. I found one recipe that uses liquid soy milk and adapted it. It takes a while but the end result is pretty yummy. Store in the refrigerator. I would suggest using the condensed milk within days of making it.

Sweetened Condensed Soy Milk

3 cups soy milk. (I used Soy Milky Lite.)
1/2 cup sugar.
1 large tab margarine (I use nuttelex)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Pour soy milk into a saucepan and add sugar, stir until sugar is dissolved and the milk is on a low simmer. Stir occasionally and keep simmering until mixture thickens and condenses to one cup of liquid. It will take one and a half to two hours. Remove and add the margarine and vanilla stirring until blended.

Self-saucing Chocolate Pudding

I usually eat fruit for dessert or something relatively healthy but its cold and wintery and I felt like something warm and decadent and full of sugar and best of all...chocolate.

I adapted it from this recipe on taste.com.au however, I used oil, made extra sauce and cut down the sugar a little but it is still very sweet. It contains brown sugar which I didn't pack down at all. I just scooped it out of my brown sugar jar so it was quite loose.

Self-saucing Chocolate Pudding

1 cup self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup soy milk
Egg substitute to the value of one egg. I use Orgran No egg

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease an 8-cup capacity ovenproof baking dish. Sift flour and cocoa into a large bowl. Stir in brown sugar.

Combine oil, soy milk and No egg in a jug. Slowly add to flour mixture, whisking until well combined and smooth. Spoon into baking dish. Smooth top.

To make the sauce, combine 1 cup brown sugar and 4 tablespoons sifted cocoa powder. Sprinkle evenly over the top of pudding.

Slowly pour 2 1/2 cups boiling water over the back of a large metal spoon to cover pudding. Place dish onto a baking tray. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until pudding bounces back when pressed gently in centre.

Serve warm with custard.

Molasses Ginger Cookies

Molasses Ginger Cookies

I've been trying to not eat too many sugary things for a while but today I was overwhelmed by the desire for a sweet bikky. I didn't want chocolate or anything too naughty, so I searched the net and found these.

I used 50% whole wheat flour & 50% white flour to make them a little healthier and I used 1/3 cup canola oil instead of margarine to avoid non-hydrogenated fats. Did you know that every tablespoon of molasses contains 3.5 mg of high quality iron? Does that mean this bikkies are almost a health food? Hehehe

Jam doughnut cupcakes

This is a recipe from Veg News Magazine and the smell awesome. I've never been a fan of doughnuts, cinnamon, jam/jelly or iced but I thought these would be interesting to taste. According to the original recipe, the cakes are better if you let them cool and sit for 24 hours before eating and to use the cheapest jam possible. Well, a) there is no way my family would let any cake sit for that long before eating and b) I had blackberry jam in my fridge so that is what I used. I warmed the jam in the microwave for half a minute to make it easier to use.

Jam Doughnut Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup soymilk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons cornflour
• 1-1/2 cups plain flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/3 cup red jam

Preheat oven to 180C and line a cupcake tin with paper liners.
In a small bowl, combine the soymilk, vinegar, and cornflour and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, bicarb soda, nutmeg, and salt. Create a well in the center of the flour for the wet ingredients.

Mix the soymilk mixture with a fork to dissolve the cornstarch and pour into the flour mixture. Add the oil, sugar, and vanilla, and mix well.

Fill the liners with batter about full. Place a heaping spoonful of jam into the center of each cupcake, being careful not to overfill. The jam will sink into the bottom of the cupcake during baking.

Bake cupcakes for 20 to 23 minutes.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cold if you want to eat them immediately or wait for 24 hours to sprinkle with sugar if you can hold off that long.

Butterly cakes

The other day, someone asked me if I felt like I was eating second best, because I don't eat meat, eggs or dairy. I said that I didn't feel like I was eating second best at all. I'm eating as healthy as I can as I am trying to stop my auto immune disease getting worse or gaining more complications.

Anywho, I don't think these cakes look or taste second best. You can cook them in small patty pan tins or as I did on this occasion, cook them in a muffin tin. This recipe made a dozen grown up sized cute butterfly cakes.

Hubby came home and inhaled two of these cakes and didn't think they were second best either...lol

Golden Vanilla Cupcakes

Mock cream

2/3 cup margarine (I used nuttelix)
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
half teaspoon vanilla essence
a little soy milk

Beat the margarine until soft. A half the icing sugar and the vanilla essence and beat until smooth. Add the remainder of the icing sugar and beat again. If it is to dry, add a little soy milk. If you add too much milk, just add more icing sugar. It's pretty much foolproof.

When cup cakes are completely cool, using a sharp knife, cut a shallow v shaped circle out of the top of each cake. Cut the small round pieces of cake in half to make two semi circles. Fill the hole in the cake with a heaped teaspoon of mock cream. Position the semi circles of cake on top of the icing to make 'wings'. Sprinkle liberally with icing sugar and place a small dollop of jam between the 'wings'.

Gluten Free ANZAC Biscuits

I've been asked to supply morning tea at work on Monday. I've decided to show everyone how delicious vegan food can be. At least one of the ladies in the group is on a gluten free diet and I think a couple others are trying to reduce the amount of gluten in their diet. I've decided to bring in some bikkies and I thought ANZACs would be nice. ANZAC bikkies usually have rolled oats as one of the key ingredients but I did some research and found that rolled oats can be irritating to some celiacs, but quinoa flakes are a good substitute.

Gluten Free ANZAC Biscuits

1 cup gluten free plain flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup quinoa flakes
pinch salt
2 large tablespoons golden syrup
125 gms vegan margarine
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon boiling water


Combine all dry ingredients except bicarbinate of soda in a large bowl.

In a saucepan on low heat melt together golden syrup and margarine. When margarine is melted, combine bicarbinate of soda and boiling water in a small dish. Add to melted margarine mix and stir until the mixture froths. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well.

Roll this dough into balls and press slightly on a baking paper lined baking tray or cookie sheet. They will spread little so leave some space between the biscuits. Cook in a medium hot oven (about 150 -175C) oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

The biscuits will be soft & a bit fragile when you remove them from the oven. Allow them to cool on the trays or if need the trays for more bikkies, you can carefully remove them with an egg flip onto a rack to cool completely.

Sesame Parmesan Sprinkle

Recently I went to the doctor/specialist who was concerned that I should be drinking milk for the calcium intake. I tried to explain that I eat lots of seeds and nuts but she refused to listen. She probably didn't know that half a cup of sesame seeds contains three times the amount of calcium that is in whole dairy milk, but now you know.

Anywho, this sesame sprinkle is a pretty good substitute for parmesan cheese. I found it on the Vegfamily website.

Sesame Parmesan Sprinkle

1/2 cup sesame seeds toasted and cooled
2 tablespoons savoury yeast flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt

Coarsely grind all the ingredients in a blender and store in a covered jar. I keep it in my kitchen pantry and it doesn't go 'off' but you can always keep it in the fridge if you desire.