Whiskey Soaked Fig & Apricot Banana Bread

I love it when I forget about my bananas and stumble upon them a week later deliciously brown and bursting with extra banana-y flavour. It means one thing - banana bread. It's great because it really is compulsory, otherwise the bananas will go to waste, so I have no choice but to bake a loaf. Banana bread is also wonderful for experimenting with. This time I had a bottle of whiskey that was taking up space in my booze cupboard but only had a couple of tablespoons left in it, so I decided I had better use that up too (to make more space for other things!). 

If you're a banana bread lover, make sure you check out my super special Chai Banana Bread.

Whiskey Soaked Fig & Apricot Banana Bread

Ingredients

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

1/4 cup chopped dried figs

3 tbsp whiskey (you can also use brandy or rum)

1 banana, mashed well (should make about 1/2 cup, a bit more or a bit less is fine)

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup canola oil (to make a healthier loaf you can substitute 1/3 cup apple sauce and 1 tbsp canola oil)

2/3 cup soy milk

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 1/4 cups wholemeal flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

1/4 cup almonds, halved

To Make

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (if your oven is fan forced then reduce to 170).

2. Place the chopped apricots and figs in a bowl with the whiskey and let soak for about 20 minutes.

3. Combine the banana, sugar, oil, soy milk and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

4. Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarb into the batter and mix well. You'll have lots of little wholemeal husks left in your strainer after sifting, but you can just throw those in too.

5. Stir in the soaked fruit and the almonds. If there is any whiskey left in the bottom of the bowl just throw that in too. 

6. Line a 22cm/9inch long loaf tin and line with greaseproof baking paper. Pour in the batter and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Makes 1 loaf.

I've entered this dish in the Vegan Virtual Linky Potluck.

Apple & Caramel Sago Pots

Sago is a favourite 'go to' dessert for me, it's so easy to make and so easy to create new flavour combinations. A sago parfait is always fun to make and impressive to serve, and I've posted a couple on this blog before - remember my Apple & Rhubarb Sago Parfait or my very unusual Cambodian Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Sago Parfait (Borbo Skor La-Pov). Today's recipe comes with an autumnal twists - caramel and apple. I've used the sweet grated apple in the sago itself and it's sweetness means I can cut down on the amount of sugar I add (win!). Your choice of apple will determine how sweet the end result is. If you use lovely sweet Pink Ladies or Galas then you may not need to add any sugar to the sago at all, if you use less sweet apples like Granny Smiths or Delicious then adjust the sugar to taste. There is still plenty of sugar in the caramel sauce, so you don't need to worry about it not satisfying your sweet tooth. If you can buy a pre made vegan caramel sauce then you can substitute that to save time, but I've used my home made Vegan Dulce de Leche which is absolutely incredible! The crunch from the chopped toasted almonds sprinkled on top is the proverbial icing on the cake!

Apple & Caramel Sago Pots

Ingredients
1 can coconut milk
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sago (tapioca pearls)
2 medium apples, peeled and grated
2 tbsp sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 pinch salt
1 batch Vegan Dulce de Leche
1/2 cup chopped toasted or dry roasted almonds

To Make:
1. Set the dulce de leche on to cook according to this recipe.
2. Heat the coconut milk, water and sugar in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a gentle simmer and add the cinnamon stick, sago, salt and grated apples. Stir while bringing to a simmer. Simmer, covered over a low heat for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the cinnamon stick.
3. In 5 individual dessert bowls, ramekins or glasses, spoon enough sago to just cover the bottom. Then divide the dulce de leche evenly amongst the 6 individual glasses, leaving about 6 or so tablespoons to drizzle on top.
4. Cover by dividing the remaining sago evenly amongst the glasses. Drizzle the top of each with the remaining dulce de leche and sprinkle with chopped toasted or dry roasted almonds. Eat warm in winter and autumn or chill in the fridge for a spring or summer dessert.

Makes approximately 6 individual desserts (this may vary depending on the size of your serving bowls/glasses, if you have large ones then it may only make 4).

I've submitted this recipe to the Vegan Virtual Linky Potluck - click here to see the other entries.

Georgian Oyster Mushroom & Rice Pastries

Oyster mushrooms are common in Georgian woodlands and are popular in Georgian cuisine. These delicious mushroom pastries are supposed to be just made with oyster mushrooms, but they can be quite pricey so I've used a mixture. If you're feeling flush then use just oyster mushrooms, if you're not then you can make these with any mushrooms or any mixture of mushrooms. The recipe is adapted from this Georgian Recipe website.

Georgian Oyster Mushroom & Rice Pastries
Adapted from georgianrecipes.net

Ingredients
Pastry:
700g flour
1 cup warm water
1 tbsp dried active yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Filling:
800g oyster mushrooms (or a mixture of any mushrooms)
5 tbsp oil
1 cup cooked white rice (this will require 1/2 cup uncooked rice)
1 large white onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bunch fresh continental parsley, finely chopped

To Make:
1. Whisk the warm water, yeast and sugar together in a small bowl and set aside for 10 minutes until it becomes frothy. Place the flour and salt in a bowl and make a depression in the middle. Pour the frothy yeast mixture in and combine well until you have a thick ball of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot for 2 hours, to rise.
2. Finely chop your mushrooms and onion. Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the mushrooms and onion until soft and cooked. In a large mixing bowl combine the cooked mushrooms, cooked rice, crushed garlic and chopped parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. After 2 hours the dough should have about doubled in size. Turn out onto a floured bench top and knead into a smooth ball. If the dough is took sticky, add a touch more flour, if it's too crumbly add a touch more water. Divide your ball of dough into 6 balls. Roll out each ball into a long rectangle shape and divide the filling equally amongst each one.
4. Fold the dough over the filling and pinch together with your fingertips, if the dough is too floury to stick properly, wet the edge with a little water to make it stick. Gently flatten each pastry so that the seam where it is joined is along the top of each one. 
5. Heat a little oil in a non stick fry pan and fry each pastry for 6-8 minutes, turning half way. Serve immediately or you can make in advance an keep warm in a warm oven. 

Makes 6.

This month I'm featuring recipes from Georgia.

Check out my other Georgian recipe posts:

Lobio (Kidney Bean Salad)

Lobiani (Kidney Bean Bread)

Nigvzis Torti (Walnut Raisin Torte)

Fennel & Cabbage Tahini Slaw with Chickpeas and Cashews

I call this little creation a 'tahini slaw' - it's essentially a coleslaw but the bulk of the creamy dressing is made from delicious nutritious tahini rather than lots of gluggy and nutritionally deficient mayonnaise. It's versatile, of course, so feel free to make your own adaptations. In this recipe I've used not just cabbage but thinly sliced fennel which gives it a wonderful crisp flavour and I've added a can of chickpeas to bulk it up a bit and turn it into a main event dish rather than a side. If you're just bringing it along to a bbq then you can choose to omit the chickpeas.

This recipe makes enough for 2-3 people to have a big bowl of it for lunch or dinner, or for 4-6 people to have as a side salad.

Fennel & Cabbage Tahini Slaw with Chickpeas and Cashews

Ingredients
1/4 medium green cabbage (you can substitute purple cabbage or a mixture of both)
1/2 large fennel bulb
1 small Spanish onion
1 small granny smith apple
1 400g can of chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup roasted cashews
2 tbsp unhulled tahini
1 tsp mayonniase
1 tsp soy sauce
Juice of small 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
Cracked pepper, to taste
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, washed and halved.

To Make
1. Very thinly slice the cabbage, fennel bulb and Spanish onion and toss together in a bowl. Cut the core out of the apple and cut into thin matchsticks. Add to the salad along with the chickpeas. Once you've added the apple, sprinkle a bit of the lemon juice over the salad to stop the apple going brown while you make the dressing.
2. Combine the tahini, mayonnaise, soy sauce, remaining lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl or jar. Mix well to combine. It may be very thick at this stage, but don't worry it will thin out as you mix it through the salad. Season to taste with cracked pepper.
3. Add the tahini dressing to the salad and mix thoroughly until the salad is evenly coated with the dressing. Break up the cashews a bit with your hands and toss them in along with the halved cherry tomatoes. Mix well and serve garnished with extra cashews (optional).

Notes: You can use the cherry tomatoes to decorate the top instead of mixing them through if you like. 

Serves 2-3 as a main or 4-6 as a side salad.

Nigvzis Torti (Georgian Walnut Raisin Torte)

This dessert is translated as a torte, generally a torte is a multi layered cake, layered with icing or cream. This is a bit of a different type of torte! It's still multi layered.... but almost all the rest of it is different :) The layers instead of light sweet cake are made of a denser pastry type dough. It's rolled out and layered with crunchy walnuts and super sweet raisins tossed in sugar and cinnamon. The whole thing is wrapped up in the top later of dough like a pie and then glazed with a grape juice syrup. The result is a delicious, crumby tea-cake like dessert which is not too sweet but with bursts of sweetness from the raisins. It was unlike anything that I have ever made or eaten before, truly! Even after years of writing for this blog and experimenting with different cuisines from all over the world - I still stumble upon things which are unlike any other I've made. It's one of the things I love about blogging.

In the end I took to calling it a pie instead of a torte, because of the cute way it's all wrapped up in the pastry. The traditional recipes use green grape juice for sweetener, which is commonly used as a sweetener in Georgian cuisine. In Australia though, I wasn't able to find it. The only grape juice available was red grape juice, which would have had a very different taste and appearance. So, I just blended some green grapes and strained the skins out.

Unless you're a Georgian, this might be quite unlike any recipe you've ever made either - but it's worth it. I thought it was delicious and went a treat with a hot cup of tea. It makes quite a big pie so invite a group of friends around for afternoon tea, or else just halve the recipe :)

Nigvzis Torti (Georgian Walnut Raisin Torte....Pie)

Ingredients
225g vegan margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup plain or vanilla vegan yoghourt
3 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup green grape juice (I used fresh)

Filling:
2 cups shelled walnuts
2 cups raisins
1/2 cup of sugar
1 generous tsp ground cinnamon

To Make:
1. Cream together the margarine and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a bowl and then beat in the yoghourt. Add the flour and stir well. Form into a ball of firm dough and then chill for about 5 hours (or overnight).
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Toast the walnuts in the oven for 5-8 minutes, or until lightly browned (keep your eyes on them!), chop up the walnut and allow them to cool.
3. Toss the cooled walnuts with the remaining filling ingredients until the raisins and walnuts are coated in the cinnamon sugar.
4. Divide the dough into four even pieces (keeping the unused dough in the fridge until you're ready to use it). Roll the first piece into a disc about 20 inches in diameter and place it on a paper lined baking tray. Spread 1/3 of the filling mixture over it, leaving about an inch free around the edges.
5. Do the same with the next 2 portions of dough, and the remaining 2/3 of filling. When you roll out the last portion make it a little larger than the others, as it has to wrap around the whole thing. Place it over the top and tuck the edges in all around the pie, making a neat little dome. Cut five slits in the top to let the steam escape as it cooks. Cook the pie in the oven for 50 minutes. When done, remove from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes while you make the syrup.
6. Combine the grape juice and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan and place over a medium heat. Simmer for 4-5 minutes, until a thickish syrup forms. Brush all over the cooked pie and let the whole thing cool to room temperature. 

Makes 1 large pie. Serve with tea!

This month I'm featuring recipes from Georgia.

Check out my other Georgian recipe posts:

Lobio (Kidney Bean Salad)

Lobiani (Kidney Bean Bread)

Oyster Mushroom & Rice Pastries

Georgian Lobiani (Kidney Bean Bread)

Since in my last post I was chatting away about Georgia and Eurovision, let's chat about it some more. Since now Eurovision 2014 has been broadcast live around the world from the beautiful city of Copenhagen. Sadly, Georgia's entry this year was a little bit too 'unusual' to do very well, and didn't even make it through to the finals. They've never had an entry as their first every entry (Sopho! I loved her!), so we don't need to talk about their entry. But I will mention this year's winner, Conchitta Wurst, because I'm so happy for her right now. Here she is:

I think she is absolutely beautiful, what a stunner! She took Eurovision by storm with her Bond-style ballad "Rise Like a Phoenix". Her inclusion was somewhat controversial, as it was heavily opposed by conservatives Russia, Armerna and Belarus. But she took every piece of criticism and vitriol with elegance and good grace and behaved so much better than all those who abused her. Wonderfully, so many other countries in Europe rallied around to support her, giving her a clear win on the night. I wouldn't say that it was necessarily the best song of the night, but further proof that the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 is not really about the songs, but about the politics and it was wonderful to see most of Europe rally around and show their support for this exquisite 'gender neutral' drag queen. 

Congratulations Conchitta on your amazing win and I'm looking forward to seeing you again in Vienna in 2015. 

Enough about Eurovision until next year, when I'm sure you'll be hearing from me again about it :) 

Continuing in the Georgian theme, here is another delicious dish - also featuring kidney beans! It's a pan fried flatbread filled with kidney beans, but really has the potential to be filled with whatever you like. My partner keeps asking me to make him one filled with "pizza" (i.e. tomato paste, pizza toppings and gooey cheese). It really does have a lot of potential.

Georgian Lobiani (Kidney Bean Bread)

Ingredients

1 cup kidney beans, soaked for 48 hours

3 bay leaves

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp vegan margarine

500g plain flour

14g dried yeast

1/4 tsp salt

200ml warm water

To Make

1. Drain the soaked beans, place in a saucepan and cover with plenty of water and the bay leaves. Boil for 45-60 minutes, or until cooked through. When cooked remove the bay leaves and then drain and transfer to a bowl. While still hot add the crushed garlic and the margarine. Mash up until it has the consistency of mashed potatoes. I left my beans a little chunky but you can make them as smooth as you like.

2. Mix the yeast with the warm water and set aside for 10 minutes, until frothy. Combine 400g flour, salt and yeast mixture in a bowl. Mix by hand until you form a smooth dough, you may need to add more flour if it is too sticky (it shouldn't be sticking to your hands as you knead) or more water if it is too dry (not able to come together in a smooth ball). Place in an oiled mixing bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place for 1 hour to rise. 

3. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead in the remaining 100g flour. Knead until you have a firm dough. Divide into 2 equal parts and form each into a ball. Flatten each ball out with your fingers (or a rolling pin) to make a 1cm thick circular disk. 

4. Place half of the bean mixture in the middle of each disk. Wrap the edges of the dough around the bean mix and pinch the edges together to seal it in (be careful not to trap any air inside as you do this). Gently flatten out the ball of dough, spreading the bean mixture inside as you do so. You'll end up with two flat disks 2-3cm thick.

5. Gently score the top of each one with a knife. Heat a non stick pan on a medium heat and cook each lobiani for 5-7 minutes on each side, they should be just slightly golden but still pale. Remove from the pan and brush immediately with a little vegan margarine. Serve immediately. Allowing them to cool down and then reheating them can cause them to go very hard and crunchy (which isn't always a bad thing, but not what you're going for!).

Makes 2.

This month I'm featuring recipes from Georgia.

Check out my other Georgian recipe posts:

Lobio (Kidney Bean Salad)

Nigvzis Torti (Walnut Raisin Torte)

Oyster Mushroom & Rice Pastries

I entered this dish into the Vegan Virtual Linky Potluck.

Lobio (Georgian Kidney Bean Salad)

I've had a strange fascination with Georgia for some time. Why strange? Because really I don't know anything about the country at all! But, in 2007 they entered Eurovision for the first time with this incredible song (watch it!) by Sopho. I love the Eurovision meets Bjork style, I loved her stunning red dress (which continues it's detail on her back and arm!) and, hey, you can't go wrong when there are men dancing with swords. I loved this song so much that I immediately decided that I loved Georgia and wanted to go there. Such is the powder of Eurovision! So, Georgia has a special place in my heart - even though I know next to nothing about it except that the capital Tbilisi. Sadly, I haven't yet had the chance to travel there to find out more, but recently I got an email from a reader requesting Georgia as a featured country on my world food challenge. I couldn't have been happier, in fact I was so excited by the idea that I moved it up the list in front of some other countries which had been requested earlier (sorry, other countries but the heart wants what the heart wants!).

Just in case you've never heard of this tiny country, here is what it looks like:



So what did I learn about Georgia? Well, one thing was that finding vegetarian dishes was a piece of cake, there was loads of them. So I had a really fun and easy time putting together a savoury menu for Georgia and it was all really delicious. The sweets I found harder, I only found one or two at all on the internet so had a much more limited sweets menu. I'd love to hear from some Georgians if you have a wonderful traditional dessert that I missed!

I also learned that the cornerstone of many of their dishes was walnuts! There were walnuts in everything, sweet and savoury! There also seems to be a lot of kidney beans in the savoury dishes, so I ate my fair share of them this month.

This first recipe I'm sharing with you brings both of those ingredients together, it's a typical Georgian salad called Lobio. It makes a great cold weather salad as well as warm weather, because of the lovely cooked beans and the warming hint of chilli. It's perfect for a potluck but is also great spooned into a salad wrap or piled on your veggie burger, it's just very versatile and a great source of protein.

Lobio (Georgian Kidney Bean Salad)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups dried kidney beans, soaked for 48 hours and drained
1/2 Spanish onion, finely diced
1 jalapeño chilli, finely minced (you can remove the insides if you want it milder)
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander
1/3 cup walnuts, broken into small pieces
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

To Make
1. Place the kidney beans in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the beans are just tender. Once cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside to cool and dry out.
2. While the beans are drying you can prepare all your other ingredients. Combine the Spanish onion, chilli, garlic, coriander, walnuts and kidney beans in a bowl.
3. Place the vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper in a jar, put the lid on and shake until well combined. Pour this dressing over the bean salad and stir well to combine. Adjust seasoning to taste (add more salt, pepper, coriander or garlic to taste).
4. Serve garnished with walnuts and fresh coriander (optional).

Serves 4-6.

This month I'm featuring recipes from Georgia.

Check out my other Georgian recipe posts:

Lobiani (Kidney Bean Bread)

Nigvzis Torti (Walnut Raisin Torte)

Oyster Mushroom & Rice Pastries

Kale Pesto & Sun-dried Tomato Toasts

Things have been a bit quiet around here you may have noticed. I hope you haven't minded the lack of recipe posts, but I've had some big things happening being the scenes. Firstly, you may have noticed that the blog design is in the process of changing around a bit. I felt it was due an update, but it is currently a work in progress and will get a few more tweaks - what do you think? You can be honest, is it too blocky and black?

Secondly I've been squirrelling away recipes here and there for my upcoming cookbook, which will be released later this year. Thirdly, I may have been caught up in organising a rather large event in which I'll get to wear a spectacular dress.

But I'll get back on track posting recipe soon, and in the meantime have this lovely recipe. It's a simple and easy finger food recipe which is never the less bursting with flavour and will have people going back for another one straight away. It's a very easy to prepare recipe, you can make the pesto the night before and even toast the bread in advance too. So that all you have to do when you want to serve them is spread some pesto on and place a sundried tomato on top - too easy!

I reccommed using a home made pesto on these, but if you're really not keen to make your own then you can also use a good quality store bought pesto. However, it won't have the same fresh taste or the bright green colour. I've used my home made kale and macadamia pesto, but you can use any pesto you like. For a bit more of a kick, try my rocket and chilli pesto, or if you're a traditionalist you can just stick with good old basil and pine nuts. Or for a different take on basil pesto - try my broad bean pesto.

Enough chat, though! Here is the recipe:

Kale Pesto & Sun-dried Tomato Toasts

Ingredients
1 jar kale & macadamia pesto
1 baguette (French stick)
1 jar sun dried tomato slices

To Make
1. Make the pesto first, you can do this up to a week in advance.
2. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celcius and have it on the 'grill' setting (meaning the oven is hottest at the top).
3. Slice the baguette as thin as you can without it starting to break up (about 1 cm thick is usually about right). Arrange your slices on a tray and place in the oven. Keep watch over them, as they won't take very long to cook. Once they are slightly golden on one side, remove the tray and flip all the pieces over. Return to the oven for another couple of minutes, or until that side is a nice golden brown too. Remove and cool. You may have to do this in batches.
4. Once the toasts cool, they should have hardened up nice and crispy. No more than 20 minutes before you want to serve it, you can assemble them. Do so by spreading a generous layer of kale pesto on each of the toasts and topping with a slice of sun dried tomato. Serve and watch them disappear in minutes!

I've entered this dish in the Vegan Virtual Linky Potluck.

Avocado, Rocket and Almond Salad

I made this salad as an accompaniment to some fried tofu a while back and I couldn't believe how special it was with so simple a set of ingredients. The key is, of course, beautiful fresh ingredients. It's a very quick and easy to make and it's texture is fantastic, chewy & bitter rocket with fresh crisp cucumber, creamy avocado and crunchy flavourful almonds and pepitas. Use fresh lime juice for the dressing, bottled stuff just really doesn't cut it!

Avocado, Rocket & Almond Salad

Ingredients
2-3 cups fresh rocket (you can sub baby spinach, if you prefer)
1 large lebanese cucumber
2 ripe avocados
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup dry roasted almonds
2-3 tbsp pepitas
Cracked pepper, to taste

To Make
1. Arrange the rocket in a wide serving bowl. Roughly chop the cucumber and spread over the rocket. Dice the avocados and arrange on top of the cucumber.
2. Combine the lime juice, soy sauce and olive oil and then shake or whisk to combine well. Sprinkle over the top of the chopped avocado.
3. If the almonds are already dry roasted, simply sprinkle them on top. If they're not, dry roast them in a pan for a minute or two until just golden, shaking the pan often to ensure they don't get burn't spots. Sprinkle on the salad.
4. Dry roast the pepitas over a medium to low heat until they start to pop, shaking the pan regularly to prevent burning. Once they start to pop you can remove from the heat and sprinkle on the salad.
5. Garnish with cracked pepper if you like.

Serves 2 to 4, depending on what you're serving it with.

Chocolate & Grapefruit Marmalade Vegan Cupcakes

Today I'm baking. It's a big, big baking day involving loads of cupcakes. Why? Because I'm donating my time and my delicious cupcakes to the wonderful Swopera. Swopera is a great event created by best friend to raise money for promoting equal marriage rights in Australia. It's a really fun night in which singers choose arias from opposite gender roles to perform. You can get all the details on the Swopera facebook page. I'm really excited about it and am thrilled to donate my time to a cause I feel so passionate about.

If you're in Sydney this weekend & not doing anything on Saturday night then come on down to Paddington Uniting Church (Oxford St) for a really fun night. You can also get one of these badass cupcakes to go with your bitchin' cup of tea. You know you want to!

I used my own homemade grapefruit marmalade for this, but you can use store bought (if you can find it anywhere). If you can't get it anywhere I recommend making your own, it's very easy and the grapefruit marmalade gives the cupcakes a delicious depth. The hint of bitterness of the grapefruit rind compliments the chocolate beautifully and makes a really sohpisticated flavour. If you don't want to make the grapefruit marmalade you can try substituting 1/2 cup grapefruit juice instead of half of the oat milk.

These can also be made with other marmalades - try it with orange, lemon & lime, or even ginger marmalade (yum!). I've iced mine with orange buttercream icing, but you can use chocolate icing if you want to make them even more chocolatey.

Chocolate & Grapefruit Marmalade Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup oat milk (or soy milk)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup grapefruit marmalade
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder

To Make
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the oat milk, sugar, canola oil, vanilla extract and grapefruit marmalade.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until all combined.
4. Fill your cupcake baking tray with liners and fill them 3/4 full of batter.
5. Bake for 23 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool. To serve, dust with icing sugar or ice with orange buttercream icing (recipe below) or chocolate buttercream icing.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Orange Buttercream Icing

The Icing:

1/2 cup nuttelex (or other vegan margarine)

2 2/3 cups soft icing mixture

1 tsp vanilla extracty

The zest of 1 orange

1. Mix the nuttelex, lemon juice, zest and icing mixture together in a bowl using either an electric mixer or a knife and some good old elbow grease (nice workout).
2. Once the cupcakes are cool, pipe the icing on in a spiral generously on the top of the cakes and decorate as you like (I used fresh blueberries).

I've entered this dish in the Vegan Virtual Linky Potluck.