Vegetarian Foods Archive

The past month, I have been making, baking and eating some variation of Plum Cake, but this is one  of the most delicious cakes I have made in a while.  As much as D likes chocolate, he is not really a fan of chocolate flavoured things but he also adored this too. The sponge was almost fondant like, perhaps my whipping and whisking made a difference this time. I am sharing this follow the recipe here , but reduce the flour by 50grams and replace it with 50grams cocoa powder. 

Chocolate Beetroot Brownies were all the rage and quite popular four - five years ago.   In fact hidden vegetables in cakes, vegetables in desserts, vegetables in pudding  and vegetables in sweets because quite trendy.   Chefs, experimental home cooks and food bloggers started throwing in different vegetables and then it was made out to be 'oh my goodness this is so original and a new concept and discovery', when in fact the idea of putting vegetables in cakes, desserts and puddings had been around many, many years.  People have been eating carrot cake, parsnip cake and sweet potato pies for years , but hey we food bloggers  and I do not exclude myself from this like to some times think we created something unique when we throw in a cauliflower, a bit of spinach or even beetroot, when its actually quite an old idea.  One thing you can guarantee someone, somewhere has already done it, not everything appears on websites.  Many of these delicious hidden...

I have a number of food bloggers recipes bookmarked , as well as those from cookbooks. I have been making an attempt to cook them, not just drool over them and admire them. Today's bookmarked recipe comes from I am hosting MLLA this month, so please join in if you can .   I have a thing for fudge at the moment, vegetarian fudge , vegan fudge and raw fudg e.  I only made one change to Lisa's No Bake Cocoa and Peanut Butter recipe.  I substituted the coconut butter for edible cocoa butter as I did not have any coconut butter at the time since then I have found some coconut butter and keep it for for future recipe experiments.   The Cocoa and Peanut Butter Fudge flavour  somewhat reminded me a  little of my raw chocolate  that I made a few years ago, but unlike those these were not an acquired taste and quite enjoyable.  These  were much better in both flavour and consistency was a little fudgy and a little truffle like.  Sayi...

Even though I have my own tasty moreish chocolate Brownie recipe, I do like to experiment with other flavours, including fruit and vegetables, as well as try other peoples recipes in my home.  This Black Treacle Chocolate Brownie comes courtesy of Ruby Tandoh from her new cookbook   Flavour.     It was after having made her Banana Thyme Cake with Lemon Glaze that I decided to give her Cocoa Brownies a go.  My interest was  peaked further when I saw the addition of Black Treacle and also the fact that I have a jar of  Black Treacle  to crack open.  Black Treacle is a dark syrup, some of you may also know it as Blackstrap Molasses. This is unmistakeably a Black Treacle brownie, the pronounced but pleasant burnt caramel flavour  is there.  Good with cream or ice-cream.    You can find Ruby Tandoh's recipe for  Black Treacle Cocoa Brownies here  on her website and also here on The Guardian Food and Drin...

I am not joking when I write that I have made cocoa and chocolate brownies (minus the fruit topping) at least four times this month.   Three times in one week, that I had to go out and get more fairtrade cocoa brownies.   First lot of brownies were for us, second for family, third time for friends and more recently for  some work colleagues. One of my cute nieces and she is rather cute describes these as lush, and I have to concur, these were lush and proper squidgy.  She was even more delighted that her brownies were not topped with fruit, unlike these that are topped with luscious, fat juicy tayberries.     I do like tayberries, but don't come across them that often.  In fact the last time I had a Karaka Blackberry . These  tayberries  come from a little place called the Fruit Machine, though it does sell vegetables too.   Fellow blogger who likes to call herself Matron at  Down on The Allotment  describ...

One of my nephews has been calling me my little courgette because of my moss green rain coat, its term of endearment and affection, but its also a cheeky little request to make him  a Courgette Cake , I promised to when courgettes were in season and indeed they are now.  Courgette brownies are not new and nor are courgette cakes, they have been around a while - in fact throwing vegetables in sweet recipes including cakes, biscuits and rice pudding is not a new idea at all, even if some people think and convince themselves and those around them that they were the first to introduce the social media generation to this idea. Sadly I think its the same people who fall for fake news, which also is not new.  The world is indeed shrinking and everything according to them can be answered by google.  One of my lecturers at Glasgow University, now a Professor Greg Philo  teachings impacted and completely changed the way I viewed the mass media a.  I still have ...

One of my cute nieces and she is rather cute came over for a visit and stayed most of the afternoon. I had picked up some ready made mini meringues from the supermarket for a speedy dessert with fruit and whipped cream, but the niece hinted for brownies. I couldn't say no to that beautiful face.     We topped the Brownies with some mini meringues dubbed as snow.   She normally likes her brownies plain and pure, without fruit or any other fancy toppings, but was rather forgiving of these mini meringues.  D thought it was a slightly odd combination, but welcomed them with a dollop of whipped cream.  I am sharing these with Tin and Thyme for  We Should Cocoa  . Snow Capped Meringue Brownie Bites Makes 1 x 8 inch square tin, cut about 9, even more if you cut them into smaller bites! Ingredients   115g butter 45g cocoa powder 2 eggs, lightly beaten 225g caster sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 55g self-raising flour 50grams ...

Regular blog readers may recognise this  Cacao Nibs, Dark Chocolate and Cocoa Muesli  has featured on my blog before, but I decided to make and showcase it again, as its one cereal I am happy tucking into.   Its really a muesli base enhanced with organic  cacao nibs, cocoa powder and grated raw dark chocolate. I have to admit cacao nibs are not to everyones taste, its very distinct in flavour - a tad bitter, but before dismissing it all together, give it a try, you just never know.  I acquired a taste for cacao nibs since making some raw chocolate  four years ago and its been making an appearance in my kitchen slowly but surely. Actually the last recipe I made with it was  Sweet Potato Fudge from  Bite Sized Thoughts.    I am sharing this with the last ever The Chocolate Chili Round Up The Chocolate Mango Round Up Chili Chocolate Salsa White Chocolate Banoffee Roulade Red Dragon Chili Brownies Parsnip and White Cho...