baking – Vegans.UK

Pitxu’s Cakes and Bakes

November 18, 2016 by Tofu Temptress 3 Comments

When there’s a special occasion, the centrepiece of many parties is the cake. Whether it’s a birthday, anniversary or just having friends round for some cupcakes, everyone loves a sweet treat. When you’re vegan though, cakes can often be off the menu, which is disappointing to put it mildly.

However, help is at hand. The great news is that vegan bakeries are springing up all over the country, so if there’s not one near you, I’m sure there will be soon. See, it turns out that vegan bakeries are dedicated to making the most scrumptious, beautiful cakes so that non-vegans won’t ever notice the difference. There are so many people who are lactose intolerant (you know, those troublesome people who don’t think they’re baby cows) that it’s not just the vegans celebrating the arrival of this new wave of baking delights.

I discovered Pitxu’s Cakes and Bakes at the Scottish Vegan Festival earlier this year. The sight of the stall was enough to make my mouth water. I had a chat and discovered that this trip to the Edinburgh Corn Exchange was their first foray into the world of vegan festivals. They were really friendly and I sampled some of their wares (it would be rude not to) and found them to be super yummy.

Some weeks later I was having some friends round and thought they should sample the divine joy that is vegan baking, so I ordered some cupcakes. We got a fair few different flavours: Oreo; Double chocolate; Coconut bounty; Red velvet; Peanut butter; Biscoff; Vanilla & raspberry; Cinnamon & nutella. Now, the nutella of course is not the commercial kind, but a vegan version thereof.

Because we ordered over £25 worth we got them delivered for free (only available in the Edinburgh area). They came beautifully and practically packaged and were dropped off with a smile and a friendly word.

Peanut butter - double yum! — Peanut butter – double yum!

I can’t even describe how superb the cupcakes were. Full of flavour they not only tasted delicious but looked so attractive that it was almost a shame to bite into them (almost). Pitxu’s don’t describe themselves as vegan bakers particularly, as there seems to be some sad reputation attached to the term (no idea why). Instead they see themselves as the standard, but I must disagree. They are far, far superior to the standard bakery.

A family member got a beautiful birthday cake made for her three year old daughter by Pitxu’s recently and everyone was thrilled, as the little girl can’t tolerate dairy and is not used to having such wonderful baked delights. All the guests were very impressed and I think a few minds have been changed regarding vegan baking.

Beautifully decorated Vanilla & Raspberry

If you’re in the Edinburgh area this service comes highly recommended and if you’re not, check out your local vegan baker. They might be closer than you think.

Cinnamon & 'nutella' — Cinnamon & ‘nutella’

Perfect cupcakes for an indulgent evening

Melting Moments

October 27, 2015 by Tofu Temptress 3 Comments

This is, hands down, the most indulgent thing I make. I mean, the sugar content is pretty much off the scale. However, if you’re looking to have an incredibly rich, biscuit-y, crumbly, crunchy treat that oozes smooth sweet filling as you bite into it, this may just be the recipe for you. You don’t have to put chocolate butter icing in the middle though (as I have). This recipe works just as well with any flavour of butter icing, or if you prefer, a thick jam will do the job nicely. Happy baking!

Ingredients

Cream the marg with icing sugar to start

200g vegan margarine

125g icing sugar

155g plain, white flour

85g cornflour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

For the filling:

100g vegan margarine

320g icing sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

Some warm water, just in case

Here’s how I do it

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees or gas mark 4.

Cream the margarine and icing sugar together until they’re light and fluffy.

Sift in the flour, cornflour and baking powder and mix well. Now, as you’re mixing, it may begin to look a bit like crumbs, but that’s ok. It should eventually come together to form a dough, so keep going till it does. There’ll be a few crumby bits at the bottom of the bowl but not to worry.

Roll the dough into balls with your hands

Divide your dough evenly into 16 balls. I do this by roughly halving the dough in the bowl, then halving again so you have four blobs. Out of each of the blobs, make four balls by rolling the dough between your hands and placing on a baking tray that’s been sprayed with a bit of oil.

Once you’ve got your sixteen balls, gently flatten them off with a fork. Remember, the biscuits will spread and swell a bit while baking, so space them out with at least a couple of finger-widths between them.

Pop them in the oven to bake for 20 minutes.

Give them a minute or two out of the oven and then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Make the icing while the biscuits are cooling

(Start to make the icing and then they should be cool enough to sandwich together once you’ve done that.)

The amounts I’ve given should give you plenty of icing, so feel free to make a half to three quarters of the recipe if you don’t want to go mad.

Cream the margarine and sugar together and then gradually add icing sugar. Pop the cocoa in at this point to if you’re using it. The icing should slowly come together as your beating it, but if it really is too stiff after a while, add half a tablespoon of warm water at a time until you get the consistency you want.

Make sure your icing is the right consistency

Be warned, icing can get too runny very quickly, so if this should happen, just pop a bit more icing sugar in to firm it up again. Beat the icing until there are no lumps and it is stiff enough to sandwich the biscuits together.

Sort your biscuits into eight lots of two, trying to match similar sizes. With the best will in the world, they will not all be perfectly uniform in size, so just do your best.

Take the flatter one of each pair and put a generous dollop of icing (or jam, whatever you’re using) onto it, placing the other as a lid on top.

Repeat until you have eight melting moments.

Melt into the moment... — Melt into the moment…

Have a sit down as you’re going to have the mother of all sugar rushes…

Gingerbread

October 20, 2015 by Tofu Temptress Leave a Comment

An autumnal favourite, gingerbread is an easy, comforting treat to bake at this time of year and will make your kitchen smell fantastic. The best bit is that you probably have all the ingredients at home already.

This recipe is enough for TWO standard loaf tins, but you can do it in one 20cmX20cm cake tin if you like. If you’re feeling really indulgent you can cover your gingerbread with icing (when it’s cool!) and add some little bits of caramelised orange and lemon, but for this recipe, I’m just doing it straight up, as it were…

Ingredients

Vitalite is nice and soft and easy to cream

125g vegan marg such as Vitalite

100g caster sugar

350g golden syrup

75g applesauce

330g plain flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

250ml water

Here’s how I do it:

Line your tin (or tins) with greaseproof paper and preset your oven to 180 degrees (slightly lower for a fan assisted oven) or gas mark 4.

Cream the marg and sugar together in a bowl till they’re light and fluffy.

Heat the syrup in a pan gently until it’s runny, then add to the creamed mixture, mixing well.

Adding in the syrup to the creamed mixture

Once that’s incorporated, add your applesauce and mix again.

Sift the dry ingredients into a separate bowl

Sift the flour, salt, bicarb, ginger and cinnamon together into a separate bowl, then add them gradually to the mixture bit by bit alternating with adding the water. The resulting batter will be quite runny, but don’t worry, it’ll firm up nicely while baking.

The mixture is runny, but that's ok! — The mixture is runny, but that’s ok!

Pop the mixture into the tin (or divide it equally between loaf tins) and bake for 50 minutes. (Loafs should be ready 45-50 mins in, depending on your oven, while the cake tin may take up to an hour. Just keep an eye on things.) When you put a skewer in, it should come out dry. If it doesn’t, give it a few more minutes and try again.

When you take your gingerbread out of the oven, give it a good five minutes to reduce slightly before turning it out onto a cooling rack. Remove the paper, let it cool.

Let it cool completely if you're going to ice it — Let it cool completely if you’re going to ice it

(If you fancy doing a bit of decoration, go for it, but I prefer just to tuck straight in as it’s pretty sweet already.)

All that's missing is a cuppa — All that’s missing is a cuppa

Slice and serve!

Scones

September 9, 2015 by Tofu Temptress Leave a Comment

However you pronounce them (scowns, sconns, scoons…) these little pieces of baking magic are ever popular on the afternoon tea scene. Whether you put jam on them (as I like to) or vegan cream, olive spread, or a mixture of these, there’s something comforting about tucking into a home baked scone.

These are plain, wholemeal ones, but feel free to experiment. You can use white flour, add sultanas or chopped dates to the mixture or even try some vegan cheese in there, saving a little to sprinkle on top.

This is the basic recipe and the one thing to remember is not to roll the dough too thin. I’ll admit I went a shade on the thin side for these, so was just over the bakers’ dozen, but don’t do as I do, do as I say…

Makes 12 (if you do it properly…)

Ingredients

Soy cream is easy to get in the supermarket

115g Vitalite or other vegan buttery spread

115g Caster Sugar (unrefined if you can get it)

665g Plain wholemeal flour

35g Baking powder

(120g of dried fruit, if you’re going down that route)

250ml soy cream

150ml almond or other non-dairy milk plus a wee bit extra for brushing

Try to find unrefined caster sugar if you can

Here’s how I do it:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees or Gas mark 4 (you might want it between 150 and 160 if you have a fan oven)

Cream the Vitalite and caster sugar together until they’re totally blended and have a light consistency.

Rub in the wholemeal flour and baking powder with your hands till it looks like breadcrumbs.

(If you’re adding dried fruit or whatever, do it at this stage.)

Mix the milk and cream together in a little measuring jug and pour it into the mixture a bit at a time, working it slowly into a nice, soft dough.

If the dough isn’t coming together as you’d like, just pop in some milk, a few drops at a time, to get all the crumbs to come together.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and roll it out till it’s 2cm in thickness. (Remember what I said, don’t go too thin or you’ll end up with biscuits. 2cm is about the width of two of your fingers together, although of course it depends what size your hands are…)

Cut out twelve, or at the most thirteen scones with a 6cm pastry cutter and place them carefully on a large baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bear in mind that they will grow slightly, so be sure to give a good centimetre or so between them.

Brush the tops with a little almond (or whatever) milk and then let them rest for ten minutes before popping them in the oven.

Bake for 14-17 minutes, until they’re slightly browned on top.

Pop them onto a cooling rack and then serve with your preferred choice of preserve.

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