Strawberry Oat Bakes with Chocolate - Recipe

Hey there,

It's been a long time. Most of my days now are spent running our vegan streetfood business - The Vegan Grindhouse. If you don't know who we are, click on the link and go and find out! We travel the UK selling handmade vegan burgers at markets, festivals, concerts, weddings, parties, events and more. We are available to hire as well.

Well today, I had a very rare day off, due to an event being cancelled and so I thought I'd do a new recipe for the blog as it has been too long.

A few days ago, I was sent a hamper of Free From items from the lovely people at Sainsbury's to try out and let them know what I thought, so I decided the best way to use them would be bake something, as baking is one of my favourite things to do!

Here are the items Sainsbury's sent me to try:

All of the items were clearly labelled vegan which was great and the almond milk is fortified with calcium and vitamin D. I decided to make a strawberry oat bake with chocolate and have a slice with a glass of the milk. Perfect afternoon treat. This item is gluten free also.

Here is my recipe (Makes 6-8 slices):

50g light brown soft sugar

125g gluten free plain flour (I used Dove's Farm plain flour)

1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda

100g gluten free oats (I used Deliciously Free From Pure Oats by Sainsbury's)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon golden syrup

125g vegan butter alternative (I used Pure)

1/2 jar jam (I used Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Strawberry Conserve)

100g vegan chocolate (I used Deliciously Free From Choc Bar by Sainsbury's)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C (Fan)/Gas Mark 4

Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin

In a mixing bowl stir together the sugar, flour, bicarb, and oats until combined.

Then add the vanilla extract and golden syrup and stir through the dry mixture.

Rub the butter alternative into the dry mixture with your finger tips until the mixture resembles crumble.

Pour three quarters of the crumble mix into your prepared tin and press down into the tin with the back of a metal spoon.

Spoon the jam onto the base and spread all over with a pallet knife.

Sprinkle the remaining crumble on top of the jam and press in lightly.

Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and leave in the tin on a wire rack for an hour to completely cool.

Next, break the chocolate into pieces and place into a glass bowl over a saucepan of just boiled water. Stir until the chocolate has melted. 

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the strawberry bake and pop in the fridge for 20 minutes until set.

Slice the bake into 6-8 slices and enjoy with an ice cold glass of almond milk.

Put your feet up and relax, you've earned it!

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Vive Soy

A couple of weeks ago the lovely people at Vive Soy sent me a mixed crate to sample and review. The range of soy milks is great with Vanilla, Unsweetened, Chocolate, Light, Sweetened and Cappuccino flavours available. The milks are fortified with calcium and vitamins A & D and are suitable for vegans.

I decided to experiment with the different milks so I could recommend the perfect partner for the milk.

Here are my findings:

Vanilla

The Vanilla flavour is a perfect partner to coffee, cereal, smoothies and for baking cupcakes, Victoria sponge and rock cakes. I also used to make custard.

Unsweetened

The unsweetened is great for savoury dishes, such as creamy soups, curries, cheese-style sauces, pie fillings and for brushing on pastry before baking.

Chocolate

The chocolate is delicious straight from the carton in a tall glass with ice, but is also nice with cookies, for baking chocolate cakes and biscuits and in a hot chocolate.

Light

The light is great in tea and coffee, in smoothies and on cereal. Also good in soups and sauces.

Sweetened 

This is perfect in tea and coffee, milkshakes, smoothies and baking any desserts. Also tastes delicious on cereal.

Cappuccino

This is milky iced coffee in a carton. Just pour over ice and drink or add to coffee and walnut cake batter.

If you haven't tried any of the Vive Soy range, then give them a whirl. Hopefully I have given you some inspiration for different ways to use soy milk in your kitchen.

Vive Soy is available in most major supermarkets and health food stores and retails for around £1.25.

What is your favourite soy milk brand and you most inventive way of adding it into your cooking and meals?

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week- Breakfast Ideas

This week is a slightly different version of the VROTW feature. So many people ask me what vegans can eat for breakfast other than porridge or cereal with soy milk, that I thought I'd do a breakfast feature to offer some inspiration.

Monday

Start the week off with a delicious Oat Bagel served with dairy-free butter, jam and a banana.

Tuesday

Bake some delicious fruit muffins with banana, nuts or cranberries and have a muffin and coffee.

Wednesday

Grab some delicious fresh organic fruit and a Nakd bar for breakfast on the run.

Thursday

Keep it simple with fresh granary toast and baked beans with a little brown sauce.

Friday

Make some Jus-Rol Croissants and take them in for your colleagues - Friday treat time!

Saturday

Try a vegan sausage and hash brown roll or VBites Bacon and hash brown roll with a glass of chocolate almond milk.

Sunday

Make it a Sunday Brunch with a full English, vegan sausage and bacon, mushrooms, hash browns, granary toast and baked beans.

Special Days - Anniversaries, Birthdays, Valentine's Day etc.

Treat the loved one in your life to delicious iced cinnamon rolls freshly baked and served in bed with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Perfect!

What are your favourite breakfast ideas? Share in the comments below. For more recipe ideas click here.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Apple and Peach Cinnamon Crumble

                                  

There is nothing like a warm fruity crumble with custard or ice cream to make everything seem better. This one combines the tartness of apples with the sweetness of peaches for the perfect combo!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Topping:
225g Plain Flour
90g Caster Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
115g Vegan Butter (I use hard Stork)
2 Tbsp Demerara Sugar

Filling:
3 Red Apples
2 Peaches or Nectarines
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Vanilla Paste
100g Soft Brown Sugar
100ml Water
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

To Serve:

Vegan custard or ice-cream

Method:

Peel, core and chop the red apples into small chunks.

Peel the peaches and cut off the flesh into small pieces.

Put the rest of the filling ingredients without the fruit into a saucepan on a medium heat and stir until combined and the sugar has dissolved. Then add the fruit and very gently simmer for around 5 minutes until the apples are soft.

Put a lid on the saucepan and remove from the heat. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan. Meanwhile make the topping.

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, then add the caster sugar, salt and cinnamon. Stir to combine.

Cut the cold vegan butter into chunks and rub them into the dry mixture until you have a breadcrumb consistency.

Spoon your fruit filling into an oven dish and then sprinkle liberally with the crumble topping. Sprinkle the demerara sugar over the top on and bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve hot with vegan custard or ice cream.

Eat and Enjoy!

What are your favourite pie and crumble fillings? Let me know in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Mr Kipling Pies and Tarts

This week on TOV, I am looking at shop-bought bakery. It is so hard to find vegan items in the bakery aisle at supermarkets as this is traditionally where most of the products contain some kind of dairy or eggs. I mainly bake my own but if you are out and about or need something in for unexpected guests, Mr Kipling comes to the rescue as two of the main line of products are vegan-friendly.

The first is the Apple & Blackcurrant Pies. Strangely, the Apple Pies contain dairy, but the Apple & Blackcurrant do not! There are often other seasonal pies, mainly around Christmas, which sometimes are vegan too, last year they had a winter fruit pie selection which was vegan-friendly.

In addition to the pies, the Mr Kipling Jam Tart selection is also vegan-friendly and quite often both packets are on offer for 2 for £2 in the supermarkets. The regular price is around £1.49.

They don't taste as nice as home-made but they are tasty and they are good to have in the cupboard for times when you don't have time to bake.

If you prefer to make your own vegan food, come back tomorrow for the Vegan Recipe of the Week.

What are you vegan-friendly supermarket bakery finds? Let me know in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Linda McCartney Sausage Rolls

Hi, Vegan Vox is back from a week off and raring to go! For this week's TOV I'm sharing a great quick baked snack, ideal for lunchboxes, parties and a quick easy lunch.

Linda McCartney vegetarian sausage rolls are sold in the frozen section of many supermarkets and Holland & Barrett. They are priced at around £2 for 6 rolls. They are free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives and are labelled as vegan-friendly on the front of the box too. 

They are so simple to make, just place on a baking tray, brush with a little vegan milk and bake in a preheated oven until browned.

They colour well and puff up nicely when baked. They can be cut into quarters to make mini sausage rolls for children or for finger buffets.

What is your favourite Linda McCartney vegan-friendly product? Let me know in the comments below.

If home cooking from scratch is more your thing, please pop back tomorrow for a brand new Vegan Recipe of the Week!

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Meridian Nut Butters

Recently, I was lucky enough to be sent some delicious jars of Meridian nut butters to sample for my blog and I couldn't wait to share them with you. I love the range Meridian have, they do not use any palm oil in their nut and seed butters, they only contain natural ingredients and they have an organic range available as well. I was sent a jar of their Smooth Cashew Butter, Smooth Peanut Butter and Smooth Almond Butter. 

My favourite was the almond butter, it was delicious spread on crackers, bagels and as an ingredient in my homemade almond and oat cookies. It uses roasted almonds and this really brings out the flavour of the nuts.

The peanut butter was salty and smooth, just right for toast and I used some a in stir fry sauce with tahini, soy sauce, chilli and ginger.

And finally the cashew butter, which I used in some flapjacks, on bagels, and in some protein balls. It was lovely. Mild taste and a lovely natural sweetness. Goes really well with coconut flavours in baking.

Meridian's butters only use nuts and seeds and contain no added ingredients, they are high in protein and they never use palm oil. They are suitable for vegans, vegetarians and are gluten-free, soya-free and GMO-free. They come in smooth and crunchy varieties and are perfect on their own or as an ingredient in vegan recipes, savoury and sweet. Meridian nut and seed butters are available at selected Sainsbury's, Ocado, Holland and Barrett, Tesco, Morrisons and independent health food shops and start at around £2.30 a jar. There is a link to stockists on their website.

Have you tried any of the Meridian Foods Nut and Seed Butters? What are your favourites? What recipes do you use them in? Let me know in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx