Going vegan......old style?!

Justamum

weezl74 wrote: »

I made a puree of apples and cinnamon and added 2 cups of it, then used vinegar in lieu of the cup of orange juice as you suggested It's really good. I might up the sugar a little next time because the bramleys and vinegar are both more of a sour flavour than is in your original (and I had no vanilla essence!)

Thanks again

Sounds yummy - I might try that. Sounds like it would be nice as a pudding with custard. I've made it with a couple of mashed bananas in it before now, which was not bad.

Justamum

I don't know if anyone is interested, but this cake is delicious. The original is from Rose Elliot's Vegan Feasts. I've altered it slightly because I found the original one a bit too oily for me.

DARK STICKY GINGER CAKE


8oz/250g plain flour (white or wholemeal, or a mixture)
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp bicarb
4oz/125g soft brown sugar (light or dark)
5oz/150g treacle or molasses
5oz/150g syrup
3fl oz/90ml oil (or even a bit less - but make up the difference with soya milk)
5fl oz/150ml soya milk

Heat the oven to 150c/300f/gas 2. Grease and line a 9" square tin.

Sieve the flour, ginger and bicarb together. Melt treacle, syrup and sugar gently together, then add oil and milk, mixing well. Pour onto the dry ingredients then pour into the tin and bake for 50-60 minutes. Leave in the tin to cool for 1 hour.

The original recipe also has 4oz chopped dates and 4oz stem ginger added in, but I don't usually use them (I've made it with the dates before and it's nice).

Also, I usually double the ingredients and cook it in a 10"x8" tin. It rises up to the very top, but doesn't spill over. (Obviously if you used the dates and stem ginger you couldn't do this). It obviously takes longer to cook, but I'm not sure exactly how long - maybe half an hour, I just tested it every 10 minutes after the hour.

If you wrap it in greaseproof paper and leave it for a few days it gets even stickier - if your family can keep their mitts off it! I made one at the weekend, and it's all gone now, so I'll have to make another one when I've bought some more flour.

Kittikins

Wow, that sounds divine, I love ginger cake We made the cupcakes this morning and haven't tasted yet as they were too hot before school, but they look and smell gorgeous - I can't wait to try one, or two....DD was most surprised that we weren't putting eggs into the mixture and did put vinegar in (as we didn't have any juice).

tryingtoruletheworld

For making sponges I use quite a lot of the old ministry of food war time recipes, as they offer quite a lot of egg-free sponges when they were rationed. They tend to use milk, but work well with soya milk or sometimes just water!

Murrell

Kittikins wrote: »

I've finally decided to make the switch from vegetarianism to veganism after reading about the planned horrific dairy factory yesterday, my conscience won't allow me to 'put it off' any longer. I've ordered a "new vegan" pack from V!va which I hope will give me good information and took out some great vegan/dairy-free cookbooks from the library yesterday.

(However, I think I may start off being a bit vegan-lite as I think there will be a few things in the cupboard containing dairy ingredients, so I need to use them up for financial reasons and because I've already bought them so have already committed the 'crime'......does that sound half-hearted of me? Hope not....)

I think this sounds like a good plan. Like you say, you have already purchased them anyway. In the vegan magazine this months someones talks about doing it in stages to get used to it and make it easier. He suggests swapping breakfast first for a few weeks and then once used to it, swap lunches and then finally evening meals.

Don't forget we are here if you need any support or info on vegan products. I also have a blog with some vegan recipes on if you are a blog follower!

Sandra
x
online vegan mentor!

Murrell

Kittikins wrote: »

I've finally decided to make the switch from vegetarianism to veganism after reading about the planned horrific dairy factory yesterday, my conscience won't allow me to 'put it off' any longer.

If you haven't heard about this, the info is here: http://www.viva.org.uk/

You can help by signing the petition which is here: http://planningonline.n-kesteven.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=KUSYLLLLX0000

Lets hope they aren't allowed to build this 'battery cow' farm

Sandra
x

Murrell

I spotted in Aldi yesterday some marzipan mini eggs. These (as shown on there .com site) appear to be vegan and taste good.
http://www.aldi.com.au/au/html/offers/58_12300.htm
In fact they are not actually egg shaped, so a bit of a easter marketing thing really. They are half egg shaped, but would make a nice easter gift. You could also take two out and rewrap if you wanted a egg shape! They taste like any other chocolate coated marzipan product really, with minimum 57% cocoa. They cost £1.39 a bag.

They also sell moser-roth chocolate which is made for aldi, they do a orange and almond (yum!) and a mint one, haven't tried this one yet. They cost 99p each. It’s a paperboard box/sleeve that holds a five smaller single portion bars.

UPDATE: Have tried the mint now and like that one too. There is also a chilli one in the 52% cocoa range and a 70% dark chocolate one.

Oh and there hot cross buns are the best i've ever had at 45p for a pack of 6! I am a hot cross bun addict. I used to favour m & s mini ones, but these are much better in my oppinion! I love them on there own as is or with crunchy peanut butter.

Kittikins

Hi Sue - blog duly bookmarked Thank you!

I think I need to make up a little wallet card to be able to quickly tell friends who ask oh but how will you get calcium / vitamin whatever and whatever?! When I've been talking about it, people have been saying oh but you won't get enough calcium without milk.......and you'll be lacking in whatever in a week or so...yawn.

It annoys me as until recently I have been hugely overweight and noone said oh, you're obviously overdosing on calcium in all that chocolate, yet now I'm making my own personal conscious decision to change my lifestyle, everyone feels they can stick their oar in and be rude to me!!

S*d 'em, I'm not asking anyone else to join me, and it will be entirely up to DD if she wants to put soya milk on her cereal, she doesn't realise but she's been having a mixture of the soya/cow's milk all week, so she's quietly on her way...

Justamum

Murrell wrote: »

I love them on there own as is or with crunchy peanut butter.

Hot cross buns with peanut butter? :eek:_pale_

Kittikins

Mmmmm, sound delicious to me. DD and I are HXB fans too and I'm so happy that the ones we have in the bread bin are friendly! Luckily I've been using non dairy margarine for ages, so haven't had to make a change there.

I think quite a lot of my cooking is nearly vegan as I've never been a fan of milk, so don't make cheesy sauces. I tried the vegan parmesan sprinkles and they were vile, so will enjoy soups etc without it.

I also love marmite and that's packed full of good stuff isn't it (shame about all the salt but you can't have everything, lol).

DD's dance friends loved the cupcakes yay, thanks for posting the recipe JustaMum