Vegan Coconut Ice

A good friend recently invited me to help her prepare some vegan treats for her newly-renovated-flat warming party. We spent all morning in her beautiful new kitchen creating a banquet of delicious goodies for the high tea.

One of my favourite childhood confectioneries is coconut ice and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to veganize it, because pink coconutty goodness? Perfect for a girly high tea!

Ingredients:

1 can full fat coconut cream
3/4 cups vegan white sugar
1 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup vegan icing sugar, sifted
1/2 beetroot 

Method:

In a small non-stick saucepan, bring the coconut cream and white sugar to the boil. Reduce to simmer and stir constantly for 30-40 minutes until it has reduced to about half. It should have a thick consistency, similar to regular condensed milk. Allow to cool completely.

Add the condensed milk, icing sugar and dessicated coconut to a large mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. The mixture should resemble a firm dough. If it is too soft, add a little more coconut and icing sugar.

Remove the skin from the beetroot and cut into four slices. Add to the "dough" and knead until the pale pink colour is evenly spread through. Remove and discard the beetroot.

Line a rectangle or square dish (a large lunchbox works well) with wax paper, leaving enough excess paper at the sides to allow you to pull the mixture out once it has set. Press the coconut ice in neatly and use a metal spoon to smooth the top. The slab should be approximately 1 inch thick. Refrigerate for at least three hours.

Remove the slab from the container, place on a wooden board and using a large, sharp knife, slice into squares.

Store refrigerated for up to a week. Enjoy!

Blueberry and Vanilla Cupcakes

I was invited to lunch with some vegan friends recently, so decided to take along my zucchini falafel for a snack and these blueberry cupcakes for dessert. Lynette, who was hosting the lunch at her beautiful home, was the one who gave me her ticket to the Cupcake Richard vegan baking class. So I promised I'd bring her some cupcakes in return.
 

 These could easily pass as muffins as well, but I wanted to top them with a delicious coconut cream frosting and pretty blueberries.

 

 Ingredients:

1 ¾ cup cake flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
100ml coconut oil
120ml apple sauce
125ml warm water
15 ml lemon juice (juice of half a lemon)
3-4 vanilla pods
1/4 cup water
1 cup + 3 tbs icing sugar
250g blueberries

Begin by making a vanilla syrup. Scrape the vanilla pods and add the seeds and empty husks to the a small pot along with the icing sugar and 1/4 cup water. Boil until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is fairly thick. Remove the vanilla husks with a fork (don't touch the syrup, it's very hot!)

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line a cupcake pan with twelve paper cupcake wrappers. Sift all the dry ingredients together and mix thoroughly. Add the coconut oil, apple sauce and vanilla syrup and mix well with a metal spoon until fully combined.

Add the lemon juice to the warm water and pour half into the batter. Stir until it is completely incorporated, then add the remaining lemon water and repeat.

Pour the batter into the cupcake pan, you can fill the wrappers about 3/4 of the way as they don't rise too much. Drop about 5 blueberries into each cupcake and using a wooden skewer, gently push them into the batter.





Bake for 20 minutes, then allow to cool completely on a cake rack. Don't ice them if they are still warm, as the coconut cream will melt.

For the frosting, drain a can of coconut cream of all its water. I use my wooden skewer to poke two holes through the cream and then pour out the water that is usually trapped at the bottom. Add the cream, 1/2 cup blueberries and 3 tbs icing sugar to a bowl and combine using a stick blender. Allow to set in the fridge for about an hour.

Note: I let my frosting set overnight and the beautiful lilac colour turned a little brown from oxidation. Next time I'll try adding a little lemon juice to avoid this, although I'm not sure if that will make it curdle. It might be worth experimenting with a little bit separately. 

Once you have iced your cupcakes, sprinkle them with a few more blueberries and enjoy sharing them with your friends!

xxx

Soba Noodles with Broccoli and Peanut Sauce

I know I've been awfully quiet on the blog lately, but it seems that the Festive Season is catching up with me! I've been so busy I haven't had the time to cook anything new! Anyway, today I am sick in bed so thought I'd catch up with a little recipe or two.

I made this delicious soba noodle dish over the weekend. Soba noodes are made from buckwheat flour and have many great health benefits. They are naturally gluten free, low GI, low in fat and cholesterol and fairly high in protein compared to other grains.

 I buy my soba noodles at the local Chinese supermarket, but I have also seen them at Pick 'n Pay. If you are following a gluten free diet, be sure to check that they are 100% buckwheat, as some do contain wheat.

Ingredients:

2 blocks soft tofu, cut into bite size pieces (squares about 1cm thick)
1/2 pack soba noodles
1 medium head broccoli, cleaned and cut into florets
1 tbs coconut oil
1 large spring onion, white part thinly sliced - set green part aside for garnish
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 handful peanuts
1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
1/4 cup mirin
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp corn flour
1 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs crunchy peanut butter
1/8 cup boiling water
5-6 radishes
pinch salt

Bring a medium pot of water to boil and add your noodles and a pinch of salt. Boil for 5-6 minutes. If you have a bamboo steamer, use it to cook the broccoli atop the pot of water. Otherwise, put the broccoli in the boiling water 2 minutes before the noodles are done and then drain the whole lot through a colander and rinse with cold water.

In a large saucepan on medium to high heat, fry the tofu pieces in coconut oil until they are crispy. Turn the tofu and repeat on the other side. Once the tofu is done, add the sliced garlic, spring onion and chilli and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.

For the sauce, use a fork to dissolve the peanut butter into the boiling water. Add the soy sauce/tamari, mirin, corn flour, sugar and sesame oil and stir.

Return the saucepan with the tofu to the heat, add the noodles, broccoli and the sauce and stir fry for 3-4 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and coated all the ingredients.

Serve with thinly sliced radish, chopped spring onion greens and a sprinkling of peanuts.

Makes about 4 servings. Enjoy!

Black Forest Cupcakes

I recently did a vegan baking course with the wonderful Wida from Cupcake Richard (@cupcakerichard on Instagram) and my sweet tooth has been feeling inspired ever since. I have always wanted to give vegan baking a try, but I tend to sway from recipes and make them up as I go, which doesn't always cut it with baked goods. So, it was fantastic to do a hands-on class and learn from someone with many years experience. Plus, her course is so beautifully presented in her very pretty home, and the gift bags and champagne made it all the more exciting!

In the course, Wida teaches you how to make a basic cake batter, which can then be adapted to various cupcake flavours, cakes and muffins. In the class we made two delicious cupcake variations and were given a recipe guide with an additional three flavours.

I found some cherries at a very good price this weekend, so decided to give the recipe my own Black Forest spin. They are decadently chocolatey and would make a wonderful vegan Christmas dessert.

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cup cake flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup cocoa powder
175ml agave nectar or xylitol syrup
100ml coconut oil
120ml apple sauce
½ tsp vanilla extract
125ml warm water
15 ml lemon juice (juice of half a lemon)
24-30 fresh cherries, pitted and halved (keep 12 whole for topping)

For the topping:

80g dark chocolate
1/4 cup coconut cream
30ml agave nectar/xylitol syrup (only if you are using unsweetened dark chocolate)

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line a cupcake pan with twelve paper cupcake wrappers. Sift all the dry ingredients together and mix thoroughly. Add the coconut oil, apple sauce, vanilla extract and agave nectar/xylitol syrup (if you have xylitol granules, dissolve 1 cup granules in 1/2 cup water in a small pan) and mix well with a metal spoon until fully combined.

Add the lemon juice to the warm water and pour half into the batter. Stir until it is completely incorporated, then add the remaining lemon water and repeat.

Pour the batter into the cupcake pan, you can fill the wrappers about 3/4 of the way as they don't rise too much. Drop about 3 cherry halves into each cupcake and using a wooden skewer, gently push them into the batter.

Bake for 20 minutes, then allow to cool completely on a cake rack.

Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler, or in the microwave and stir the coconut cream and syrup in until it is completely smooth. If it is a little lumpy, pop it back in the microwave for a few seconds and stir a little more.

Pour the chocolate topping over the cool cupcakes and top each one with a whole cherry.

xxx

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings

Let me just say, I am a HUGE fan of dim sum! I have it almost every week at our local fresh food market, but have never actually made it myself. So I decided to give it a go this weekend, and it was so much fun!

I decided to go the simple route for my first try, so I just did a basic mixed vegetable filling. Next, I'd like to try some more exciting flavour combinations and introduce fresh herbs, spices and nuts.

I used a pasta maker to roll out my dough. I bought it online for only R120 about 5 years ago and completely forgot about it when we moved house. It made it super quick and easy, but if you don't have one a rolling pin will do just fine. Have some cornstarch available to dust the dough. It is the best flour to use to prevent the dumpling skins from sticking to surfaces and one another.

This recipe makes just over 30 dumplings. You can freeze them for later use, or you can steam them straight away because who can wait, really?

For the skins:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup hot water
1/4 tsp salt
cornstarch for dusting

Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and create a well in the middle. Use a spoon to incorporate the water as you slowly pour it into the flour. Once the flour and water are combined, form a ball with the dough and knead it for about 3-4 minutes on a clean surface. Wrap with plastic or a clean dishcloth and allow to sit for 30 minutes (you can make the filling in this time).

After allowing the dough to rest, divide it into 4 manageable balls, dust with cornflour and roll to about 2 mm thick with either your rolling pin or pasta maker. Keep the dough you aren't busy with covered so that it doesn't dry out.

Cut the thin sheets of dough into circles with a cookie cutter or a glass. Make sure they are well dusted before stacking them. The remaining dough can be rolled into a ball again to make more sheets. If it seems a bit dry from the cornflour, quickly run the ball under the tap and knead the water through.

Once you have got as many circles as possible (I got 33 exactly and had only a tiny bit of dough left over), you can begin to fill them.

For the filling:

Ingredients:

2 carrots
2 courgettes
1/2 baby Savoy cabbage
6 button mushrooms
handful baby spinach
1/2 purple onion
1 clove garlic
1 small knob ginger
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tbs coconut oil
1 tsp salt

Clean all your veggies and chop them as finely as possible. I cheated and used the chopping function on my food processor, which made it way quicker and easier!

Begin by sauteing the onions, ginger, garlic, chilli, salt and coriander powder in the coconut oil for about 5 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and continue for 5 minutes. Then add all the other ingredients and stir fry for 10 minutes. Taste the mixture, if you feel it needs more seasoning go ahead and add some more salt, a little soy sauce, pepper or spices.

Place the filling in a bowl and allow to cool before you begin your dim sum production line!

Make sure your hands are clean and create a little work space on a large cutting board with your bowl of filling, your pile of dumpling skins and a little bowl of water.

Dip your finger in the water and run around the edge of the skin to allow it to stick together when closing. Place the filling in the middle of the skin (I used about a teaspoon and a half each) and pinch the edges together to create a little half moon. 

Once you have created all your beautiful dumplings, place them in a bamboo steamer on some wax or rice paper. I used wax paper and learned the hard way that it's very important to pierce holes in the paper before steaming, as this helps to prevent the dumplings from sticking.

If you don't own a bamboo steamer (I can highly recommend buying one, I use mine daily), you could use a colander over a pot of water.

Serve with a homemade dipping sauce (I have a great recipe for one here) and a side of fresh coriander or salad. As you can see below, I had none of these things in the house on a late Sunday afternoon, so had them as is with some sweet chilli sauce and they were AWESOME!!

Follow Miso Coco on social media for daily inspiration and recipe ideas! xxx

Baked Zucchini Falafel with Garlic Aioli Dressing

I felt like making something fun for Sunday lunch today, so tweaked one of my favourite nibbles and turned it into a very healthy and uber delicious meal. Falafel, as much as I love it, is usually deep fried and full of unhealthy oil. My version is packed with fresh, nutritious ingredients and is baked to a golden crisp, and the lightly toasted pumpkin, cumin and sunflower seeds give these falafel balls their traditional nutty crunch.

My garlic aioli dressing is made using aquafaba (brine from a can of chickpeas) and is creamy, tangy and super easy to make.

For the Zucchini Falafel

 

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained (keep the liquid aside)

8 baby zucchinis (400g)

1 clove garlic, finely crushed

1/2 small purple onion, finely chopped

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 heaped tbs pumpkin seeds

2 heaped tbs sunflower seeds

2 tbs chia seeds

4 tbs chickpea brine

1 tsp Himalayan salt

1 tbs olive oil

Black pepper

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Clean the zucchini thoroughly and grate them all into a bowl. Place the grated zucchini into a sieve or muslin nut bag if you have one, and squeeze as much of the water out of them as possible. Try to catch the liquid in a bowl, it is full of green goodness and you can drink it as a shot or add it to a glass of ice water with lemon for a healthy drink. 

In a small bowl, mix the 4 tbs chickpea brine and 2 tbs chia seeds and set aside. This will be your egg replacement.  

Toast the pumpkin, sunflower and cumin seeds in a dry pan until they are lightly golden. Transfer to a blender and blitz for a few seconds so that they are roughly chopped, but not too fine. You want to retain their crunchiness. 

Place all of the ingredients, i.e. zucchini, chickpeas, seed mix, onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, olive oil, spices and chia egg in a large mixing bowl and, using a potato masher, mix them all together. Using the potato masher helps to break the chickpeas and get all the ingredients to more of a doughy consistency. 

Line a large oven tray with wax paper and roll the "dough" into balls. I made them palm sized and got about twelve out. Bake for about 40 minutes, and in the last few minutes place the tray closer to the top grill and turn the heat up to 250 degrees to give them a golden crisp on top.

For the Garlic Aioli Dressing

Ingredients: 

Brine from 1 can of chickpeas (minus the two tbs you used for the falafel)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp Himalayan salt

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp cream of tartar

Place the brine, crushed garlic, lemon juice, salt and cream of tartar in a blender and blend at high speed for a minute. The liquid should be a whitish colour and slightly frothy. Slowly add the olive oil while blending and once it is fully incorporated, keep blending for another minute.

Serve the falafel with a simple salad of baby spinach,  julienne carrots and beetroot and drizzle with copious amounts of the delicous garlic dressing. Enjoy! xxx 

 

 

Butternut and Chickpea Curry with Crunchy Peanut Butter

This isn't a recipe of my own, but I absolutely have to share it. My friend Michelle had this curry for lunch at work last week and I was blown away when she gave me a little taste. It was funny because I had actually been craving a butternut curry and it was purely coincidental that she was having it that day.

This is a dish I will be repeating. Often.

Ingredients:

3 generous tbs natural crunchy peanut butter
1 tsp tomato paste
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 medium bunch coriander with stems
3-4 red chillies, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 cm piece fresh ginger
3 tbs coconut oil
2 red onions thinly sliced
1 large butternut, peeled and cubed
1 can light coconut milk
200ml boiling water
1 tsp Himalayan salt
2 tins chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup coconut shavings, toasted in a dry pan

Dissolve the peanut butter in a jug with the boiling water. Add the tomato paste, sugar, soy sauce and lime zest and juice and combine. Set aside.

Remove the leaves from the coriander and keep in a separate bowl. Chop the stems as finely as possible, along with the ginger, garlic and chillies.

Heat the coconut oil in a large pot and fry the onions and salt on medium to high heat for about 5 minutes. Add the butternut cubes and chick peas and stir fry for a further 5 minutes. Then add the chopped coriander stems, ginger, garlic and chilli and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Add the coconut milk and peanut butter mix and stir. Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the butternut is tender. Stir occasionally while simmering to allow some of the butternut to break and thicken the sauce. Add more soy sauce or salt to taste.

Serve with basmati rice and garnish with the coriander leaves and toasted coconut shavings.

Makes about 6 servings. 

Follow Miso Coco on social media for more delicious inspiration! xx