Meal Type: Dessert

Instant Vegan Gooey Chocolate Cake

It’s winter, and we were looking for something warm and gooey, like a chocolate lava cake, that we could make with readily available ingredients and isn’t too bad for you. Wifey found this recipe on Veggieful for a 2-minute microwave chocolate muffin which we had most of the ingredients to make. I decided to give it a go and make a few adaptations based on what we had to see if it worked.

It came out pretty awesome. It’s soft, warm, gooey, chocolate goodness that comes together in no time at all from pantry staples. Continue reading Instant Vegan Gooey Chocolate Cake

Coconut Apricot Bread and Butter Pudding

Wifey absolutely loves bread and butter pudding, so I’ve been trying to find a way to make it a bit healthier for us.

A standard bread and butter pudding contains a lot of cholesterol, a lot of butter, milk and cream. There has to be a better way to make it though.

I’ve been doing some hunting around and I found a Thermomix recipe here that I really liked the sound of called a Coconut Caramel Bread and Butter Pudding. I don’t have a Thermomix so that’s a no go, but I thought I’d try adapting it.

The result?

Amazing. Continue reading Coconut Apricot Bread and Butter Pudding

Coconut Whipped Cream

Cream is one of those reasons I have often said I could never be vegan, that and cheese. I can give or take meat, eggs, milk and so on, but cream and cheese always get me.

Then I decided to try whipping coconut cream up to see if it would whip like normal cream. Turns out while it’s not exactly like normal cream it is very close, and frankly, it is amazing! With cream like this, I can definitely do without normal cream. Not only is it cholesterol free and marginally better for me (still a bit on the fatty side though), but it actually tastes better too in my opinion. It also doesn’t have the side effect of phlegm build up in my throat that I get whenever I have regular dairy cream (too much info?).

All I can say is make it, it will blow your mind. Continue reading Coconut Whipped Cream

Frozen Raw Strawberry Macadamia Cake (Dairy and Gluten-Free)

I was looking for a good dessert recipe to use for Christmas lunch that is also healthy, after all, what’s the point of a healthy lunch only to have a very bad for you dessert?

Mum actually sent me this recipe a few weeks before hand and I had kind of forgotten about it until I happened across it again going through recipes I had set aside that looked interesting. This one fit the bill perfect, it would be nice and cool if Christmas day turned out to be a scorcher, it’s a little bit different to the typical vegan, gluten-free cake, and the flavours sounded amazing. So I went for it. Unfortunately I realised part way through that the original recipe called for a 6″ springform pan and I was using a 9.5″ one, but fortunately I was able to adapt from there on to work. The cake is a little smaller than it should have been if all the ingredients were directly proportional to the original, but frankly I think it is a pretty good balance and it would actually be too big if it were any bigger.

So, make sure you use a 9.5″ springform pan with these ingredient quantities.

That aside, I was surprised how easy it was to make for an amateur cook like me and the cake was a hit, the family all loved it and raved about it. This is definitely one to go in the “things to make again” collection. Continue reading Frozen Raw Strawberry Macadamia Cake (Dairy and Gluten-Free)

Coconut Rough Balls (Gluten-Free)

I love my home made chocolate, but I’ve been looking for some new sweets that I can make without too much effort. Ideally, something raw and something that is not too bad for me.

Wifey came across this recipe on Sweet As Honey and suggested I give it a try. They looked and sounded great so I thought, why not.

The recipe is very simple and the balls are quite quick to make. The longest part is waiting for them to firm up in the fridge, but if you stagger the decoration it doesn’t feel like you are sitting around waiting. Eg, roll one plate of coconut balls and put them in the fridge. Roll another plate and put them in the fridge then pull out the first plate and decorate etc.

I found that the mix makes between 50 and 60 coconut balls depending on how big you roll them, so it can serve quite a few! Continue reading Coconut Rough Balls (Gluten-Free)

Raw Cashew Chocolate

As much as I love macadamia’s and my macadamia chocolate, they tend to be a bit expensive compared to other nuts, so I thought I’d try and change it up a bit using cashew nuts instead.

After processing the cashews on their own I wasn’t quite sure how it would come out as they become a fine powder rather than a butter.

It works though, the result came out very similar to the macadamia version. The big difference though is besides a slightly different flavour, the cashews leave small cashew pieces through the chocolate where the macadamia version just disappears into the chocolate.

Yum.

Now of note, if you don’t have raw honey, you can use processed honey. I’ve found though that processed honey does not mix through properly and ends up clumping together at the bottom of the bowl. This results in some pieces being much sweeter and softer than other pieces. If you choose to use processed honey I would probably use less honey and make sure you mix it through well. I also found when using processed honey that overall the chocolate tends to melt faster than when using raw honey.
Continue reading Raw Cashew Chocolate

Vegan Tropical Ice Blocks – Perfect for Summer

I came across this recipe on Facebook for a simple ice block that is absolutely perfect for summer, and very easy to make.

I found though that it also makes a great smoothie base. Just freeze it in ice cube size chunks and add as many to your smoothie as you need to get the desired flavour. Continue reading Vegan Tropical Ice Blocks – Perfect for Summer

Raw Macadamia Chocolate

I’ve made chocolate before using another recipe that included cacao butter. I love it, but wifey finds it is too oily for her liking so I’ve been looking for alternative ways to make it.

Wifey actually found this recipe to make “choco-nut butter cups” which she liked the sound of. When I read through it I thought it was remarkably similar to the chocolate recipe I used, but replaces the cacao butter with a nut butter.

Thus I decided to give it a go and use a chocolate mould instead, and it worked. Even better (or worse depending on how you look at it), wifey loves it! It seems to be less oily than the cacao butter based versions, and it doesn’t melt as quickly. Continue reading Raw Macadamia Chocolate

Watermelon and Basil Ice Block

I bought a massive watermelon a couple of days ago. Wifey loves the stuff. I don’t mind it, but I can’t sit down to a bowl full of it like her.

Since we had so much of it, I wanted to see what simple dessert I could make around watermelon that would make it a bit more appealing to me.

Wifey came across this recipe on Forks over Knives for a simple ice dessert that uses primarily watermelon and not much else, making it very healthy not to mention completely gluten-free, lactose-free and vegan.

Frankly, it is deliciously good for something so simple. Somehow the basil seems to make the watermelon sweeter than it would be on it’s own, but at the same time it isn’t overwhelmingly sweet.

In hindsight, I personally think it would work better in ice block form using ice block moulds, rather than freezing it in a tub. I only made a quarter batch, but even so it takes quite a while to thaw out enough to be scooped, so next time I will use the ice block moulds instead. Continue reading Watermelon and Basil Ice Block

Carrot Cake with Nut Frosting (Gluten-Free)

Wifey and I had a slice of carrot cake at a cafe the other day, and have been wanting more since. Carrot cake shouldn’t be too bad for you right?

Well, looking at what goes into one normally, it’s not that brilliant really. A carrot cake normally has eggs in it to start with, so automatically we’ve got a good dose of cholesterol in there without considering anything else.

So I went on a hunt for a healthy carrot cake recipe. I found this one on Love and Lemons and decided to give it a try. It is a vegan, gluten-free, and lactose free carrot cake, so it should cater to most diets, and I can attest to how good it tastes as well.

I adapted it based on the ingredients I had on hand and thought that the overall result was very enjoyable and adds a strong nutty flavour to the cake. Give it a try. Continue reading Carrot Cake with Nut Frosting (Gluten-Free)