Indulgent Banana-Chocolate Crumbles

I don't think banana is used enough in desserts. Yes, cakes and breads, but not so much in the actual dessert category. Mixing the banana with dark chocolate makes a really smooth filling that sets well. I think it would be delicious used to sandwich layer cakes together.

The base crumble isn't overly sweet - you could add sugar if you like, but the banana contributes such a lovely sweetness (very important to use a really ripe one) that I really don't think sugar is necessary.

For how naughty these taste, they are actually rather healthy.

Ingredients:

75g wholemeal flour

75g rolled oats

40g dairy free margarine

1/4 c barley malt

1 large banana, mashed

60g dairy free dark chocolate, melted

To make:

1) Turn the oven to 180°c, gas mark 4 and prepare 5 silicone muffin moulds or small ramekins.

2) Combine the flour and oats in a bowl and rub the margarine in so it is evenly distributed. Spoon in the barley malt and mix initially with a spoon, but then with your hands to ensure it's well mixed in.

3) Use 2/3 of the mix to press into the bottom of each mould as the base.

4) Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave on medium low (keep an eye on it, but about 2-3 minutes) and while it's melting, mash the banana. When the chocolate is smooth, add the banana to it and mix well with a fork. Spoon an even amount of this mix over each base and level it gently with the spoon. Sprinkle some of the remaining oat mix over each one.

5) Bake for 15 minutes then remove from the oven and leave to cool completely. Serve with dairy free vanilla yoghurt or ice cream.

Note: Kept in the fridge, these make a delicious cereal bar substitute. Just make sure you keep them cool until eating or the chocolate and banana will melt everwhere...mmmm

Strawberry and Almond Divine

I planned on this recipe coming out like the frangipani tarts I have made before, but the creme patisserie that I made from a fairly distant memory didn't set as I had remembered. As I result I ended up folding it into whipped soy cream for a smooth, indulgent dessert. It was licked clean from the plates.

This makes 1 smallish tart, for 2-3 people (or would make 2 individual small tarts). The recipe would be easily doubled to make a larger dessert. The soy whipping cream was fairly hard to get hold of, I ordered it especially in from my local health food shop. The brand is Soya Too.

Ingredients:

For the almond pastry...

75g plain flour

50g ground almonds

25g vegetable margarine (the firm kind, like Stork)

40g caster sugar

1 egg yolk

1/2 Tbs cold water

For the creme patisserie filling...

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsb vanilla essence

50g caster sugar

1 Tbs cornflour

300ml non-dairy milk (I used oat milk)

150ml soy whipping cream

To top it off...

4 large, ripe strawberries

a little honey, melted

To make:

1) Turn the oven to 200°c or gas mark 6 and grease the pie dish/ramekins you want to use.

2) Combine the flour, ground almonds, sugar and margarine in a bowl, and either rub together or whizz in a food processor until it has the appearance of fine crumbs. Add the egg yolk, mix well, then add the water and mix until well combined. Put the mix in the fridge for at least half an hour.

3) Roll the pastry out on a clean, floured surface and line the pie dish. Cut some greaseproof paper to fit in the bottom of the dish, lay it over the pastry and then cover with some raw beans, or ceramic baking beans for the posh option. Bake it blind it in the oven for 20 minutes until lightly golden. Remove the beans and baking paper and return to the oven for a final 5 minutes. Set aside to cool completely and turn off the oven.

4) Put the milk in a small saucepan over a medium/low heat and to warm.

5) In a medium sized bowl, beat the egg yolks well, then gradually add the sugar and beat until really thick. Add the vanilla.

6) Spoon about a tablespoon of the warm milk into the egg mix and mix together well, then add it all to the pan with the cornflour, heating the mix and stirring continuously for about 10 minutes.

7) Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl and leave to cool completely in the fridge.

8) Whip the soy cream with electric beaters for about 2 minutes until stiff. Gently fold this, a spoonful at a time, into the creme patisserie. Put this mix in the fridge.

9) Cut the strawberries in half lengthwise and melt the honey.

10) Spoon the creme patisserie into the pastry shell, arrange strawberry halves on top and brush a little honey over the strawberries. Refrigerate until you are ready to eat.

Black Forest Tofu Cheesecake

Before I adopted a dairy free diet, I'd never given even the slightest thought to vegan desserts, why would I? So when I said no to milk, I got curious about the illusive tofu cheesecake. After tasting a few VERY bland examples, I have come up with a recipe that is delicious, SO easy to make, and produced a product that has been licked from the plate by unsuspecting tasters, always shocked when I tell them it's tofu. Now I am not saying this is healthy, but without the presence of cream, cream cheese etc, it is a healthier alternative and exceptionally indulgent.

One thing I would point out, is that you need to beat the tofu really well to get a smooth consistency and get rid of any white flecks.

It's best made the the day before you want to serve it.

Ingredients:

For the base

200g dairy free ginger nuts, broken

2 Tbs dairy free margarine, melted

For the cheesecake

1 400g pkt of silken tofu (hard variety)

1/4 c soft brown sugar

1/4 c caster sugar

1/4 cup cocoa, sifted

1 tsp vanilla essence

100g dark, dairy free chocolate. Set aside about 20g to serve, then grate half of the remaining chocolate and finely chop the other half

200g fresh cherries, halved and stoned. Finely chop half, and reserve half for serving

Icing sugar to dust

To make:

1) Lightly grease a lose based 20cm cake tin, line the bottom with some baking parchment and turn the oven to 180°c or gas mark 4.

2) Put the biscuits in a food processor and whizz until they are fine crumbs. Add the softened margarine and pulse again so the crumbs bond together when pressed. Firmly press the crumbs into the bottom of the tin and cook for 5 minutes. Take out of the oven and leave to cool completely.

3) Discard any excess liquid from the tofu and put it into a large bowl. Beat well with an electric whisk.

4) Add in both sugars and cocoa and blend until smooth with the whisk. Add the vanilla essence and mix.

5) With a wooden spoon, stir in the grated and chopped chocolate and the chopped cherries. Mix together well, pour over the cold base and use a spatula to smooth the surface.

6) Bake for 25 -30 minutes, take out of the oven and cool in the tin. The top will crack a little and should be coming away from the edges. Refrigerate (still in the tin) for at least 2 hours until thoroughly set.

7) Remove from the tin and serve topped with the remaining cherry halves and the rest of the chocolate, grated, then dust with icing sugar.

It tastes best if you take it out of the fridge and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Delicious with plain soy (or dairy) yogurt.

Vanilla and Chocolate Cupcake Morsels

At this time of year people go nuts with Christmas cards, giving them to everyone and anyone, or so it seems. Unless it's someone who takes the time to write a personal message to each and every card recipient, they normally contain the standard 'to' and 'from' fields. To me, this is a massive waste of paper, especially when they get binned a couple of weeks down the line. So instead, I take edible Christmas treats to work, and this year it was mini cupcakes.

The below recipe is a halved version of a classic cupcake recipe from (yes, you guessed it) the Edmond's Cookery Book. I make 2 batches, one while the other is cooking. You can double the below to make one big batch if you want to, but I like making 1/2 chocolate and 1/2 vanilla.

The icing is my own recipe, but pretty standard, I am sure it's in a million recipe books.

For the cakes:

Ingredients:

65g dairy free spread

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 c caster sugar

1 egg

1/2 c self raising flour, sifted,

1 Tbs cocoa, sifted (leave out for the vanilla cakes)

1/2 tsp baking powder, sifted

2 Tbs soy milk

To make:

1) Prepare a mini cupcake tin with mini paper cases. Heat the oven to 190°c, gas mark 5.

2) Cream the spread and sugar, then mix in vanilla.

3) Add egg and mix well.

4) Sift in flour and other dry ingredients, then add milk.

5) 1/2 fill cupcake cases, and bake for about 10 minutes until risen and lightly golden.

6) Cool on a wire rack.

For the icing:

Ingredients:

25g dairy free spread, softened

2 c icing sugar, sifted

1 heaped Tbs cocoa, sifted

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Hot water to mix

To make:

1) Mix the spread and icing sugar then divide into 2 bowls.

2) To one bowl, add the cocoa, then half the essence and a little hot water. Mix vigorously until you achieve a smooth consistency.

3) In the other bowl just add the other half of the essence and a little water. Mix as above. Ice the chocolate cakes with the vanilla icing, and the vanilla cakes with the chocolate.

4) Ice with a piping bag or a knife, dipping it in warm water as you go for a smooth finish.

5) Decorate with festive sprinkles.

Makes about 40 mini cupcakes.

Note: If you don't have a piping bag, you can use a sandwich bag - just put the icing in one corner of the bag and snip the corner off. Twist the top of the bag and twist as you go to push the icing out.

Pear and Chocolate Muffins

I was inspired to make these after watching an old episode of Nigella (oh how I love her), where she made a pear and chocolate dessert. I have always loved the combination of pears and chocolate, and am on a mission to find the perfect muffin recipe, so combined the two ideas.

I find that muffing recipes are normally too wet and have had issues finding a really good one, so I have merged a few different recipes as well as some of my own ideas to come up with the below.

Ingredients:
150g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 Tbs golden castor sugar

2 heaped Tbs cocoa

pinch salt

2 pears, peeled an cored. One finely chopped and the other grated

30g melted margarine

2 Tbs brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg, beaten

3 Tbs soy milk

To make:

1) Turn the oven to 190 degrees, gas mark 5. Put 10 paper cases in a muffin tray.

2) In a large bowl, sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa. Add the castor sugar and stir to mix.

3) In a smaller bowl, whisk the brown sugar and margarine together, then add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix well.

4) Add the pears to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Fold together, stirring as few times as possible, until JUST combines (can still be some slightly dry patches).

5) Spoon into the paper cases and cook for 25-3o minutes until they have risen. They should spring back when gently pushed.

6) Cool on a wire rack. For an indulgent dessert, serve with chocolate sauce.

To make the chocolate sauce:

Heat 2 Tbs soft brown sugar and 1 Tbs golden syrup in a small pan. Stir occasionally, and add 2 Tbs cocoa when the sugar has dissolved. Next add 3 Tbs of soy milk and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Stir all together until really bubbling and add 1 tsp cornflour. Mix well, take off the heat and set aside until you are ready to eat.