Gluten Free Vegan Carrot Cake

Jess and Tom here!

We were craving carrot cake, but struggling to find a gluten free vegan recipe for one that didn't require a long list of weird ingredients we didn't have to hand, we decided to wing it and make it up using the contents of Jess' cupboard. And it worked. It worked so well we ate most of it in one night. Now, as happens quite often in our joint kitchen ventures, the exact method and quantities got blurred a little by wine (now Jess is eating clean this should happen less now!). But anyway, these ingredients make a large, gluten free, vegan carrot cake. 

1 cup ground almonds
1 cup plain gluten free flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cider vinegar
2 carrots, grated
1 apple, grated
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp brown/demerara sugar
3 tbsp agave syrup
1/2 cup raisins/nuts (optional)
1-2 tbsp dairy free milk
2 bananas, mashed
1 orange, juiced and zested

I think the general gist of the method is to combine the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients, then add them together. The mashed bananas, juiced orange and grated apple and carrots add plenty of moisture so no additional fat is needed.  Then, once this incredible smelling cake had come out of the oven, we decided it was too good not to be iced. So we made our own orange-almond frosting up:

1 cup icing sugar (probably more like 2 or 3 cups, we just kept adding til the consistency was right)
1 orange, juiced and zested
2 tsp almond butter
2 tsp dairy free butter/spread
1 tsp vanilla essence

Add orange juice and zest to the icing sugar and mix, adding the vanilla essence along the way. Then add the butters and beat them in until you have a glossy frosting. Add more icing sugar as required until you have the right consistency.

Please do let us know if you know of a better way to spend an evening than eating carrot cake, drinking red wine and watching Girls?

Anyway, sorry this isn't the most useful recipe in the world. But do give it a try and let us know if you come up with something as amazing as we did!

Dark Chocolate and Orange Truffles

Tom today,

These truffles are the final instalment of the vegan cheese and wine evening. I think these were my favourite part, but then anything rich and chocolatey generally gets my vote! The dark chocolate truffle without the orange can be used as a basic recipe to make your own adaptation with other flavours, or can be used alone for a simple truffle. I used 70% dark chocolate from lidl (because it's cheap but still tasty), but this is personal preference as I don't like dark chocolate to be too dark (more sweet than bitter always!) but you can make with with your preferred dark chocolate. The flavoured chocolates (chocolate and chili would definitely be a winner - Lindt's excellence brand is the best variety in my opinion) would make for really nice truffles in themselves I would think, or you can add flavourings as you like.

Ingredients:

300g Dark Chocolate
3/4 cup Coconut Oil
4 tbsp Water
1 Blood Orange
1 tsp Agave Syrup
Pinch Sea Salt Flakes (might seem odd but I would really recommend it for a depth of flavour)
Cocoa powder to roll in

Method:

To make the orange flavouring, zest and juice the blood orange into a pan
Reduce as much as possible (although there probably won't be a huge amount)
This will make the juice quite bitter, as there's not much I didn't want to strain it as I thought I'd just end up loosing most of the juice but if you're making larger amounts this will be an option - there was no grittiness or texture in the truffles though so it's not a problem
Sweeten the flavouring with agave syrup (or sugar or whatever sweetener you like to use) and set to one side
Melt the chocolate, oil and water in a bowl (or pan) over hot water (making sure the bowl isn't touching the water so the chocolate doesn't burn)
Take off the heat just before it is fully melted and stir together gently
Fold in the orange flavouring and sea salt
Place in a wide flat dish and cover and leave in the fridge to set for a couple of hours (don't leave it too long or it will be difficult to roll)
Cover your hands in cocoa powder to stop the chocolate from sticking
Spoon out truffle-sized lumps and roll into balls in the palm of your hand (or if you have a melon-baller this will do this job for you in one go
Roll in the cocoa powder and refrigerate for an hour
Serve and enjoy!

These should keep for up to a week in the fridge. I haven't tried making these with other chocolates so I don't know how that will work, white I think might be a problem but you can probably have reasonable success with milk, although you may need to reduce the amount of oil and reduce or omit the water.

Let us know how yours go at twocooksoneblog@gmail.com

This is the last of the vegan cheese and wine night recipes - however do let us know of any good vegan canapé or other party nibble recipes you have, we love to get mail and photos!

Maple Orange Turkey, Sweet Potato and Vegetable Bake

Obviously, due to the turkey bit, this is Jess' recipe (Tom did suggest i make this with 'furkey' but as of yet, I am unable to source this or decide if it even exists). (Tom: actually it's tofurkey http://www.tofurky.com/tofurkyproducts/holiday_products.html IT EXISTS)

So, since I'm guessing I've probably visited more states than the average American, I thought I'd make a turkey dish in celebration of thanksgiving. Yes, I made it alone, and ended up drinking half a bottle of wine with it whilst discussing my girly emotional issues with my flatmate (yay for me!). And yes, that wine is still in my system, so this may need editing in the morning. Tipsy blogging is always a good idea.

Ingredients (roughly 2 servings worth):
2 turkey breasts
2 carrots, chopped
2 mini/1 large courgette, chopped
150g mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small sweet potato, cut into wedges
1 red pepper, sliced
3 vine tomatoes, halved
1 red onion (optional)

Glaze:
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 an orange, juiced and zested
1 tbsp soy sauce
1tsp honey

Preheat oven to 190C.
Firstly, make the glaze recipe up in a cup and pour over the turkey to marinade, leaving in the fridge until ready to cook (leave longer - say an hour or two - if you're organised enough to prepare in advance). Leave about a tablespoon of glaze in the cup for the veggies.
Chop and prepare all the vegetables, potato and garlic (except the tomatoes, add these later) and place in a pyrex/baking dish. Drizzle a little oil over the vegetables, pour a tablespoon of glaze over them and roast for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add the glazed turkey on top of the veg, and pour any remaining glaze over the dish. Bake for another 15 minutes. Then add the tomatoes and bake for a further 10-15 minutes, until turkey is golden and veg are softening. Serve straightaway.

 The wine isn't essential, but a glass of white (or two or three) never hurt a turkey dish...

The glaze i made wasn't particularly thick, I'd recommend using a little more syrup and a little less juice if you want a thick sticky glaze, however I wanted something lighter that covered all the vegetables too. Obviously, as usual, you can vary the vegetables up, try it with chicken, whatever you fancy. This is just what I fancied. But it makes a really tasty, filling and nutritious gluten free meal at roughly 350-400 calories a portion (alcohol calories do not count, OK).

Enjoy. With wine. Lots and lots of wine.