Hot Cross Bun Loaf [Vegan]

The recipe I’m sharing today is a twist on a traditional Easter favourite … it’s a Hot Cross Bun Loaf! This spiced fruity loaf is perfect for sharing with friends and family over the holidays. I’ve made three loaves already this week and no doubt I’ll be baking more in the lead up to the bank holiday weekend. It sure is a crowd pleaser. Happy holidays everyone!

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Vegan Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Today, I’m finally publishing my recipe for vegan carrot cake. It contains no dairy or eggs, yet tastes just as good (if not better!) than its traditional counterpart. This was the cake that I chose to bake for my mum’s and father-in-law’s birthdays this year and I’m pleased to say, it went down a treat!

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Lemon Berry Crumble Slice (Dairy-free / Egg-free / Vegan)

In today’s post, I’m sharing a recipe for a delicious baked treat – Lemon Berry Crumble Slices. These slices consist of a fluffy lemon sponge, studded with juicy berries and topped with crumble. They use basic pantry ingredients and are simple to make, yet they’re bound to impress your family and friends!

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Fresh Mint, Rose and Green Tea Popsicles (a.k.a Iced Lollies)

What do you call these iced treats? Popsicles? Lollies? I’ve always called them lollies. Maybe it’s a British thing? I’m pretty sure lollies are something else in Australia. Maybe in America too? Anyway, I hope you don’t mind me referring to them as lollies in this post as I feel a bit weird calling them anything else.  I don’t think I’ve ever said the word ‘popsicle’ out loud. What a funny word!

It might seem a little strange posting a recipe for iced treats now that we’re in September, but after a cloudy, rainy August here in Bath, I’m hoping we’ll get to experience an Indian summer. Now wouldn’t that be nice?

However regardless of the weather, I’m still enjoying *lollies* right now, especially after my hot morning run.  I especially loved home-made lollies as I find the shop-bought ones tend to be too sugary-sweet for me. Plus, when you make your own, you can be creative and experiment with all different kinds of flavour combinations.

Recently I was invited to take part in the Brita Frozen Tea Challenge. The idea was to send the participants some goodies and challenge them to create a recipe for an iced tea lolly. This is a challenge that I was definitely up for!

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Chocolate Banana Ice Cream Cups

In this month’s Vegan Life magazine, one recipe that instantly caught my eye was Niomi Smart’s Banana Mocha Ice Cream Cups.

I love chocolate banana ice cream!  It’s so simple and cheap to make (costing literally a few pence per serving), yet it feels like a real treat. It also happens to be packed full of healthy ingredients, including an array of minerals and antioxidant goodness.

Healthy, decadent, cheap and quick. No surprises why this is one of my favourite desserts to make!

I’ve been making banana ice cream for a few years now, and have learnt a few tricks along the way to make the process even quicker and easier. For example, I used to slice the bananas and arrange them in single layers in freezer bags prior to freezing, however I’ve since discovered that bananas can be sliced from frozen using a sharp knife. These days, I simply pop whole bananas in the freezer stacked in plastic containers with a layer of parchment paper in between to stop them sticking together.

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Pear and Yogurt Cake (Dairy-Free / Egg-Free / Vegan)

In today’s post, I’m sharing a recipe for a delicious Pear and Yogurt Cake. While simple to make, this cake looks pretty impressive with its glistening pear and cinnamon-speckled top. The cake itself has a beautifully moist, light and fluffy texture and is flavoured with hints of vanilla and almonds.

I know some people with gluten sensitivities are able to tolerate spelt flour and this cake works just perfectly with white spelt flour. Otherwise regular plain (all-purpose) flour or even a combination of half white/plain flour and half wholemeal or chapatti flour works great.

The inspiration for this cake was a visit during May half-term break to one of my favourite cafes in Bristol – Roll for the Soul. This community-run cafe also houses a cycle workshop and event space. It has a great atmosphere and lovely food and coffee, so I highly recommend a visit if you’re in the area [UPDATE: Sadly Roll for the Soul closed down in September 2017 ]

Roll for the Soul is in one of my favourite districts of Bristol. We often head over there to check out the street art. One of my favourite street artists is Silent Hobo and I actually bumped into him a few weeks ago at Montpelier Railway station where he was putting the finishing touches to this mural. Isn’t it beautiful?

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