Lemon Cake Bars

Featured thelittleredpinnyLeave a comment

Ingredients

250g Self raising flour
150g Caster sugar (plus 2 tablespoons for glaze)
Zest and Juice of 2 lemons
1tsp Baking powder
70ml Sunflower or vegetable oil
200ml Oat milk (or any milk you fancy)

Method

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5/180c.
In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, lemon zest and juice of 1 of the lemons, baking powder, oil and milk.
Beat until smooth. I use a whisk but you can use a wooden spoon.
Line 2 loaf tins (or use the same tin twice!) with baking paper.
Pour half the mixture in to each tin. You can pour it all in to 1 tin if you want a thicker bar.
Place into the hot oven for 25- 30 minutes until golden brown on top.
Whilst the cake cooks mix 2 tbsp of caster sugar with the juice of 1 lemon.
Once the cakes come out of the oven, whilst still in their tins, prick all over the top with a cocktail stick (about 20 times).
Drizzle over the glaze (half over each cake or all over 1 cake).
Leave to cool in the tin and then remove and slice in to bars. You should get about 6 bar from each tin.

Tips and Cheats

You can make this mix any flavour you want. If you want chocolate remove 30g of flour and add in 30g of cocoa. Just mix the cocoa to a paste with some of the milk before adding to the cake and remove the lemon! You can swap the lemons out for 1 orange or you can use vanilla or almond essence instead of the lemon. You want about 1-2tsp of essence! I wrap the cakes in a little baking paper and pop them in the children’s lunch boxes. Enjoy!

Recipes · Sweets

Poached Pear Tart

February 16, 2020 thelittleredpinnyLeave a comment

Ingredients

3 large conference pears
1/2 cup maple syrup
6 Vegan Caramel/toffee sweets
1 pack of ready rolled puff pastry

Method

Pre heat the oven to Gm 6 or 200c
Peel the pears and slice them in half. scoop out the core leaving enough room for the caramel.
Pop the pears in to a pan with the maple syrup and cover with boiling water.
Cook the pears until they just start to soften, this should take less than 5 minutes but will vary depending on how ripe the pears are.
Remove from the heat and drain from the liquid.
Roll out the pastry and lay the pears on top leaving enough room to cut them out.
Cut around each pear leaving a 1cm edge.
Pop the caramel in the hole where the core was.
Lay the pastry pears on a baking tray
With the scraps of pastry cut out leaf shapes and adore the pears (get as fancy as you like!)
Place into the hot oven for 12-15 minutes until the pastry is puffy and golden.
Serve warm with either vegan cream or vegan ice cream!

Tips and Cheats

If you can’t get hold of vegan caramels you can either make your own caramel sauce and spoon that in (Just melted brown sugar, vanilla and coconut cream!) or you can swap out for a spoon of vegan chocolate spread or lotus biscoff! My mum made me these as a child after seeing the recipe in a mother and baby magazine and they are still a firm favourite with my own children! They look so fancy yet are so easy to make. If you have ripe pears you don’t need to poach them first!

Recipes · Sweets

Lemon Cheese Cake

February 16, 2020 thelittleredpinnyLeave a comment

Ingredients

1 1/2 pack of plain hobnob biscuits (I use Aldi ones)
1/2 cup melted vegan butter
2 packs of vegan cream cheese at room temperature (I use Sainsbury’s which is 170g each pack)
2/3 cup of icing sugar (check it is vegan!)
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 bag of frozen forest fruits – defrosted (Aldi)
7 inch tin – ideally spring form or with a pop out bottom

Method

Crush the biscuits in a food processor and add the melted butter
Use this to line your tin, a spring form tin is best as it makes getting it out a the end easier. work the mix up the sides pressing hard.
Put it in the fridge to set.
In a clean food processor add the cream cheese, icing sugar and coconut oil and blend until smooth.
Slowly add in the lemon juice.
Pour the batter into the tin with the base in it and leave it for 5 hours in the fridge to set.
Once it is set drain the defrosted fruit and adorn the top. Serve immediately.

Tips and Cheats

I used to make this dish when I wasn’t vegan and it was always a winner. If you can’t get forest or frozen fruit you can use fresh raspberries or any soft fruit. I like the tartness of the fruit against the richness of the cheese cake. You can swap the lemon juice for lime too if you want a key lime pie type flavour!

Recipes · Sweets

Vegan Crumble

January 1, 2020 thelittleredpinnyLeave a comment

Ingredients

150g self raising flour
50g rolled oats
100g sugar (brown or white or half and half)
100g vegan butter (I love Vitalite)

Method

Set oven to gas mark 5/ 180c
Prepare your fruit filling (see note below)
Put all the ingredients in to a bowl
Rub the butter in to the dry by rubbing your thumb and fingers together.
Put the fruit in to a pie dish and put the crumble mix on top (thickly!)
Cook for 25 min or until golden brown.

Tips and cheats

Who doesn’t love a crumble? You can use any fruit you like in this, just make sure you cook it a little first.

Apples – use twice as many apples as the size of your pie dish. Peal and core them and cook them in a little water with a table spoon of sugar until they start to soften.
Apples and blackberry – As above but chuck in two cups of blackberries.
Rhubarb – use twice as much as your pie dish will hold. Chop in to inch size pieces taking off any thick skin. Bring to the boil in a small amount of water with 2 tbsp sugar.
Rhubarb and strawberry – half and half but don’t pre-cook the strawberries toss them in once the rhubarb has cooked.
Poached pear – use twice as many pears as the pie dish holds and peal and half them. Put in to a pan of water with a thumb of ginger and 1/2 cup of maple syrup. Poach until soft.

There are so many more options to play around with! you can add some orange zest into the crumble mix too or even some ginger and cinnamon.