Orange Drizzle Cake with Poppy Seeds (Vegan / Dairy-free / Egg-free)

Back in 2013, I shared the recipe for a Lemon Drizzle Cake that I baked for my mum for Mother’s Day. It proved to be a big hit with my readers and, four years later, it’s still one of the most popular recipes on my blog!

Though I made it specifically with my mum in mind, the Lemon Drizzle quickly became my husband’s favourite cake. It’s the one he’s requested every birthday…  even though his birthday is a week before Christmas and Lemon Drizzle feels like a Spring-time cake (well, to me anyway!) Recently, however, I made an adaptation of the Lemon Drizzle and, after tasting it, my husband declared that THIS one may just be his new favourite!

With a few little tweaks, I transformed the Lemon Drizzle into an Orange Drizzle speckled with poppy seeds  It still has the beautiful, moist consistency and light texture, but the flavour is of course orange rather than lemon. Rather than ‘zingy’ like the Lemon Drizzle, this one is more sweet and fruity. It reminds me of summer and sunshine. So maybe Lemon Drizzle will be my spring-time cake, and Orange Drizzle will be the summer-time version. But, of course, you can eat it whenever you like. I know we’ll be eating it in December 😉 Continue reading “Orange Drizzle Cake with Poppy Seeds (Vegan / Dairy-free / Egg-free)”

Easy Vegan Pecan Pie

In today’s post, I’m sharing a recipe for an easy vegan pecan pie. This dish will be perfect for serving in the upcoming festive season. It looks impressive and slices beautifully.

Pecan pie hails from the southern US states. After a google search, I discovered that it’s traditionally made with eggs, butter, refined sugar and corn syrup. I decided to ditch all of these and use some of my favourite plant-based ingredients instead.

Easy Vegan Pecan Pie

For the crust, I use my ‘go to’ sweet pastry recipe (which I first shared in my Mince Pie post). I’ve never had a fail with this pastry and I love how crisp it turns out. Unlike many pastry recipes, it’s also palm-oil free as it uses coconut butter (the aroma-free/culinary kind) instead of dairy-free spread/vegan butter.

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Easy Vegan Choc Chip Cookies

Choc Chip Cookies

For over five years now, my Wednesday Workshop children have requested these cookies as their end of term treat. Who would have thought that a vegan wholemeal cookie would be such a hit!

I must admit, the children were a little surprised when I first admitted that they were vegan, but it didn’t deter them. To be honest, I got more cautious looks when I told them they were wholemeal, but even this wasn’t enough to put them off. They enthusiastically tucked into them, then proceeded to give me lots of lovely compliments. Some even told me they were the ‘Best Choc Chip Cookies Ever!’ Now that’s an impressive accolade for a humble home-made cookie! Continue reading “Easy Vegan Choc Chip Cookies”

Cheese and Chive English Scones…. Vegan Style!

Apologies for the delay in posting this week’s recipe, but Lil’ L had the last week off school for half-term break. M managed to take four days off work so we really made the most of the family time together. We’ve been on bike rides in the beautiful Cotswold hills, forest and lake walks, a day trip to Cardiff, a couple of trips to the cinema and a visit to Hertfordshire to celebrate a family 50th wedding anniversary. It’s been one amazing, fun-packed week!

I also managed to create a tasty new recipe during the half-term break. The recipe was inspired by these beautiful chives (gifted to me by my friend Vicky ) and some tasty cheese scones that Lil’ L baked during a school cookery class.

Chive Flowers

For me, ‘cheese and chives’ is one of those classic flavour combos, and I could just imagine how well the combo could work in a savoury English scone.

Using my sweet scone recipe as a starting point, I switched the sugar and raisins for vegan cheese and fresh chives.  Since I was planning to use Violife Original (a mild tasting vegan cheese), I decided to add in some nutritional yeast to ramp up the cheesy flavour.

Continue reading “Cheese and Chive English Scones…. Vegan Style!”

Easy Vegan Mince Pies

When it comes to mince pies, for me, nothing beats home-made. Sure, my pies won’t be uniformly shaped and coloured like the factory-produced ones. And my stars are usually a little wonky. But hey, they taste REAL. Once you’ve tried home-made, I don’t think you’ll ever go back to shop-bought again.

If you’ve never baked your own mince pies before, you must give it a try. They’re incredibly easy to make. Even the pastry is a breeze.

Easy Vegan Mince Pies

The recipe I’m sharing today is for mini vegan mince pies. The size makes them perfect for serving with an ‘elevenses’ coffee or afternoon tea during the festive holidays. They’re small enough to not spoil your appetite, however, if you do fancy a second, you can tuck-in guilt-free as at least two minis is equivalent to one regular size pie.

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Salted Pistachio Rose Cookies

Here in the UK, we’ve been experiencing an Indian summer. Blue skies, sunshine, warmth, walking around in short sleeves… I’ve been enjoying it for sure. And so has the garden. Typically winding down for Winter this month, gardens have suddenly burst into colour again. June roses are back in full bloom. I’ve never known this happen before.

Pink Rose

Seeing the roses out in bloom again has been the inspiration for my latest experiments in the kitchen. Continue reading “Salted Pistachio Rose Cookies”