Pumpkin & Sweetcorn Soup

I'm not generally a big fan of cold weather, but when it starts to move in I try and look on the bright side. For me, there are only two pros to winter; one is climbing into a bed which has been pre-warmed by my electric blanket and the other is gorgeous soups and stews. Pumpkin is a classic which comes out every autumn. I've eaten a lot of pumpkin soup in my life and it always surprises me how often it is incredibly average. It's one of those dishes that everybody makes, but not everybody makes well.

You can make this recipe as a straight pumpkin soup, without the corn. I have to thank my partner for the addition of the corn, I had never even thought of putting corn in my pumpkin soup before but he would often cook us pumpkin and sweetcorn soup for a winter dinner. In this recipe I've combined my favourite pumpkin soup with his version to make probably the best one I've ever eaten :)

Pumpkin & Sweetcorn Soup

Ingredients
1 kg pumpkin, skin removed an chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
1 large stick celery (including leaves), chopped
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped (optional)
1 bay leaf
2 heaped tsp powdered vegetable stock
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 x 400g cans creamed corn
Salt and pepper, to taste

To serve: vegan sour cream and chopped fresh chives.

To Make:
1. Boil the kettle while you chop all your veggies up.
2. Combine the pumpkin, onion, carrot, potato, celery, parsnip, bay leaf and powdered vegetable stock in a big soup pot. Add enough hot water so that it is just below covering all the vegetables and bring to a simmer.
3. Simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Stir every now and then to ensure that the veggies on top get cooked too, as they cook down they will release their own liquids and there will be enough water in the pan to cover all the veg but if you put in too much water at the start then you'll end up with watery soup.
4. Remove the lid and add in the ground cumin and ginger. Simmer, uncovered for another five minutes. Remove from the heat and all to cool until it is cool enough to blend.
5. Blend until smooth (a few chunks are ok too) and then return to the heat. Add the 2 cans of creamed corn and stir though, leaving it on the heat until heated through. Season generously with salt and pepper.
6. Serve hot with a dollop of vegan sour cream, chopped fresh chives and warmed crusty bread.

Serves 4 (with bread).

Polenta & Pumpkin Mash

Mash is a wonderful comfort food, it speaks of curling up with a blanket on the couch and watching DVDs. Or lazy summer days when you're too lazy to want to chew food properly :) Potatoes are the classic option; I used to cook up a big bowl of mashed potato and smother it with gravy whenever I had an evening alone and just me to cook for. Sometimes I'd add some veggie sausages and peas, but often I'd just go with the big bowl of mash and gravy.

I love potato mash, but it's nice to mix it up and sometimes make your mash a but more nutrient rich! There are plenty of alternatives, and I love them all - parsnip, pumpkin, cauliflower, celeriac, swede, carrot, sweet potato - or a big amalgamation of all of them. You don't really need recipes for those though, it's not hard to figure out mash :)

This one is a little bit special, actually quite a lot special. In fact, it may be the best mash I've ever eaten.

Polenta & Pumpkin Mash

Ingredients
500g chopped pumpkin (skin removed)
3 cups vegetable stock
1 1/4 cups polenta
Salt and pepper to taste

To Make
1. Bring the vegetable stock to a simmer in a saucepan. Add the pumpkin and simmer, covered, until the pumpkin is very soft (about 15 minutes, unless you have chopped your pumpkin big in which case longer).
2. Mash up the pumpkin in the stock (or you can blend the whole lot of it if you like it very finely puréed). Check the water level and replenish it with extra stock if it has boiled down significantly while you were cooking the pumpkin.
3. Place the pan over a low heat and add the polenta, stirring as you do. Stir continuously over a low heat until the polenta absorbs all the liquid and becomes fairly thick and then remove from the heat. Taste test to make sure it is cooked, if it is grainy, add a little more hot vegetable stock and stir until it is absorbed.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper (or even a dollop of vegan margarine if you're so inclined).

Serves 4 as a side.

NOTES - There can be variations in quantities due to the water content of the pumpkin you use and how much liquid evaporates while you're cooking it. If the polenta is too runny and sloppy, you may need to add more polenta to soak it up. If it is too dry and the polenta is undercooked and grainy, add a bit more hot vegetable stock until you get it just right.

Sweet Potato, Pumpkin and Chickpea Soup (Guest Post by The Little Cookbook)

My lovely guest post for today comes from the wonderful Rachel from The Little Cookbook. What a perfect choice for the end of July when it's so cold and rainy and windy. Sweet potato and pumpkin make such warming and satisfying soup for winter! I hope you enjoy this while I'm catching the train from Bergen to Oslo - one of the most spectacular scenic railroad trips in Europe. Thanks Rachel!

Hello! My name Is Rachel and I am super excited to be blogging over here at Gormandize. I blog at The Little Cookbook and whilst my desserts are often wickedly sweet, my weeknight eats are always (okay mostly) yum and frequently vegan – best of both worlds right?

So this soup actually came about through a complete and utter soul destroying craving for tomato soup a few weeks ago, but I had nothing to thicken up my oven-roasted veg. What’s a girl to do?

I’ll tell you what a girl is to do. She will quickly pan fry some canned chickpeas and chuck that in the pot. Done.

So when deciding on my ultimate vegan recipe to help out Keely whilst she’s off travelling, (I’m so jealous!) my mind came back to the amazing tomato soup. But alas it’s winter. Tomatoes are pretty bland at this time of year.

We need to sweet potato and pumpkin the shiz out of this idea.

The chickpeas not only add a beautiful creaminess to the soup but also thicken it up, and add pops of unblitzed chickpea too. Texture is vital to a good soup.

The key to a good pumpkin soup? Half oven roasted; half sweated in delicious butter (vegan butter), if you haven’t got a vegan butter that you absolutely love, use olive oil. Don’t use coconut butter. Or do. You know, whatever.

Sweet Potato, Pumpkin and Chickpea Soup

1 Small pumpkin, half diced/half quartered

2 Sweet Potatoes 1 peeled and diced, one quartered

1 Brown Onion quartered

4 sprigs of rosemary

Olive oil
3 tablespoons of vegan butter (or regular butter/olive oil – see note above)

1 can of chickpeas

1 ½ cup of vegetable stock

½ cup of almond milk

¼ teaspoon of chilli flakes

salt and pepper to season

pistachio dukkah to serve

1. Pre heat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius and set the quartered veggies on a roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, place the sprigs of rosemary on the tray any which way.

Roast for 40/60 minutes, until soft, golden and browned around the edges.

2. In a large fry pan melt the vegan butter on a medium heat, once melted add the diced vegetables and turn to a low heat. Cover and leave for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. When the oven roasted veg is removed and cooled slightly, remove the skin and reserve the potato skins (for wonderful potato skin times).

4. In a large soup pot drizzle some olive oil – about a tablespoon, and set on a medium heat. Drain the can of chickpeas in the time and rinse once. Pour the chickpeas (sans any liquid) into the large soup pot and toss through until the shells pop.

5. Add both the oven roasted veg and the buttered veg to this large pot (sans skins, rosemary and butter) and stir. Pour in the vegetable stock and stir. Allow to simmer for 10/15 minutes, until it feels right. You just want the flavours to really combine.

6. Take off the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes, then blast with a stick mixer until creamy and smooth. Stir in the almond milk and chilli flakes. Blend further with the stick mixer; don’t go tooo creamy otherwise you miss those pops of chickpea!

Serve with dukkah and potato skins.

To make the potato skins just grill on a high heat both sides for a few minutes.

Pumpkin & Jalapeño Empanadas

After having such good success with my super tasty sweet corn empanadas, I wanted to have a crack at some more empanadas as part of Argentinian food month. So sink your teeth into these super tasty pumpkin and jalapeño empanadas. You can also use sweet potato in the place of pumpkin, it's equally delicious.

Ingredients
1 batch empanada dough (I just used this recipe from Global Table Adventure, but I used 1 1/2 cups white flour and 1/2 cup wholemeal flour)
Soy milk, for brushing

Filling
300g pumpkin
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
Pepita seeds, to decorate

To Make
1. Make the empanada dough and put it in the fridge while you make the filling. You'll also want to preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Peel and chop the pumpkin and place in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to the boil, simmer until the pumpkin is soft and then strain.
3. Place the pumpkin in a bowl and mash roughly with a fork or masher. Add the garlic, jalapeño and season with salt and pepper. Stir well.
4. Roll the dough out on a floured bench top quite thin. Use a cutter or a bowl with a diameter of 12-13cm to cut out circles in the dough.
5. Place about a dessert spoon of the filling in the centre of the circle. Dampen the edges with water and press them together. You can just use a fork to press the edges together or you can try the traditional repulgue edging - there is a video on Global Table Adventure.

6. Continue with remaining dough and filling - you may have some filling left over (you can use these in some store bought puff pastry to made little triangles or money bags).
7. Arrange on a tray and use a fork to poke some holes in the top. Brush with milk, decorate with pepitas and bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Makes 16 medium sized empanadas.

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Argentina!

Check out my other Argentinian recipe posts:

Vegan Dulce de Leche

Fugazza (Caramelised Onion Focaccia)

Dulce de Leche Tiramisu

Sweetcorn Empanadas

Alfajores (Dulce de Leche Sandwich Biscuits)

Vegan Pecan & Molasses Pie with Spiced Pumpkin Whipped Cream

As soon as Southern USA was requested by a reader to be my featured cuisine for a month, I immediately knew I had a prime excuse to make pecan pie! I love pecans, but sadly they're so expensive that I don't get to use them very often in my cooking. But now I had an excuse - so I went out and loaded up on expensive delicious pecans! Nuts are also very festive, so pecan pie is a perfect Christmas dessert.

This pecan pie is a bit of an "adult" version - laden with rich sticky molasses instead of sweeter alternatives such as maple syrup. I did this because I love molasses and because blackstrap molasses is so good for you that I can almost convince myself that it's something healthy! 

The perfect accompaniment is this light pumpkin whipped cream. Made from whipped coconut cream and flavoured with pumpkin and Christmas spices. Santa will surely remember you favourably next year if you leave him out a slice of this pecan pie tonight!

Pecan & Molasses Pie

Ingredients
Crust:
100g plain biscuits
10 dates, soaked
1/4 cup date soaking water
2 cups almond meal
1 cup flaxseed meal (ground flaxseeds)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Filling:
250g raw pecans
1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
1/2 cup rice malt syrup
2 tbsp arrowroot
1/2 cup soy milk
3 tbsp ground flaxseeds
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

To Make
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Place the biscuits in a food processor and blend until reduced to crumbs. Remove and set aside.
3. Place the dates in the processor and puree until they form a smooth paste. You can add some of the soaking water in to help the process. Add the almond meal, flaxseed meal, cinnamon and biscuit crumbs and pulse a few times to combine. Then add the 1/4 cup of date soaking water and process until it comes together.
4. Grease a 22cm springform cake pan (or pie dish if you prefer) well and line the bottom with baking paper. Press the crust mixture into the sides and bottom of the pan. You don't need to go very far up the sides, as it is only a shallow pie. Even it out by pressing firmly with your fist or with the bottom of a tumbler.
5. Bake the pie crust for 10 minutes, then remove and set aside while you prepare the filling.
6. Spread the pecans out on a tray and lightly toast them in the oven - should take about 7-10 minutes (this varies, depending on how hot your oven is!).
7. Whisk together then soy milk, vanilla, salt and ground flaxseeds and set aside. Place the molasses and rice malt syrup in a small saucepan and place over a low heat, stirring often, until melted. Sprinkle the arrowroot over the top and whisk it into the hot molasses. Remove from the heat and whisk in the soy milk.
8. Transfer the pecans to a bowl and stir through the molasses mixture. Spread this over your crust and bake again for about 20 minutes. It'll be bubbling hot when you take it out of the oven, so allow it to cool completely before you add your pumpkin whipped cream (otherwise the cream will melt all over it).

Pumpkin Spice Whipped Cream

Ingredients
1 can coconut cream, refrigerated for at least 24 hours
3 tbsp pureed cooked pumpkin, cold
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

To Make
1. When you open the tin of coconut cream you will notice that the top is a very solid thick cream. Scoop out all of the solid thick cream on top (you can reserve the liquid to use in another meal – like a curry or a smoothie).

2. Put the thick cream into a bowl and mix well using a hand held electric mixer. Move the beaters up and down to try and get as much air into the cream as possible. Add the cold cooked pumpkin, vanilla and the spices and continue to beat until it forms a thick cream.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Southern USA!

Check out my other recipe posts:

Mint Julep

Peach and Bourbon Cobbler

Vegan Chili Pone (Chili Cornbread Casserole)

Succotash

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Mushroom and Bean Jambalaya

Vegan "Fried Chicken" and Waffles

Home Made Smoky BBQ Sauce

Lemon Rosemary Popcorn Cupcakes with Pumpkin Apricot Glaze (Chopped/Vegan Challenge)

Yes, this is actually my second entry for the Vegan/Chopped Brunch challenge. Initially when I read the challenge and the four theme ingredients (butternut pumpkin, fresh rosemary, popcorn and apricot jam) I couldn't think of anything and decided that I might not enter. But then as I pottered about my day my brain was set to thinking about the possibilities and I actually came up with quite a few things that I wanted to try! So yesterday I set about cooking two of them up and they both worked out beautifully. So I'm entering them both!

If you haven't already checked out my first entry then it's here: Pumpkin Rosemary Popcorn Crumble. You can also jump onto the Vegan Mofo page to see all the other entries, I think that there will be some interesting ones!

Cooking with popcorn is new to me! In fact I don't really like popcorn that much. I always think it smells so delicious but then the taste is a let down! So cooking with it was challenging, but I was adamant when I decided to enter that I didn't want to do any dishes which just incorporated the popcorn by sprinkling it on top - it had to be integral to the dish. Popcorn cupcakes are a beautiful way to do this. However, because of German Food Month on this blog, we have been eating a lot of cake lately. I really didn't feel like eating more cake! So I made a half batch of cupcakes - to save our waistlines! You can turn this into a full batch by doubling the recipe if you like.

Ingredients

1/2 cup soy milk

Zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

2/3 cup wholemeal flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

1 1/2 cups popped popcorn (pop according to the packet instructions)

For the Glaze

50g butternut pumpkin (you can sub other pumpkin if you like), boiled and finely mashed/pureed, cold

2 tsp apricot jam*

2 heaped tbsp soft icing mixture

1 tsp lemon jucie

*For this recipe you want to try and use an apricot jam that doesn't have big chunks of fruit in it - if yours does then just try to pick around them 

To Make:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. 

2. Combine the soy milk, rosemary and lemon zest in a bowl and mix to combine.

3. Add the flour, baking powder, bicarb and popcorn and mix through.

4. Prepare cupcake baking tray with six paper cupcake pans. Fill the pans almost to the top with the mix (a lot of the bulk of them is the popcorn, so they won't rise too much).

5. Bake for 18 minutes (note: this time may increase if you make a full batch).

6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before adding the glaze.

7. To make the glaze: combine the cold pureed pumpkin with the jam, icing mixture and lemon juice in a bowl. Mix with a hand held electric mixer or you can do it with a whisk if you don't have a mixer. 

8. When cupcakes are cooled spoon the glaze on top and decorate with sprigs of fresh rosemary.

Makes 6 cupcakes. 

Pumpkin and Rosemary Popcorn Crumble (Chopped/Vegan Challenge)

Vegan/Chopped is a competition hosted and judged by the queen of vegan cooking herself, Isa Chandra Moskowitz. This time around it is a brunch theme, and the challenge is to create dishes which use Butternut pumpkin, fresh rosemary, popcorn and apricot jam. Man, she surely knows how to throw down a challenge. Those 4 ingredients are ones that I could never ever have imagined that I would cook together if it weren't for this! So, I have to give a thank you to Isa for this - because these little crumbles were delicious and I would never have made them if not for Vegan/Chopped. 

Ingredients

700g Butternut pumpkin (or you can substitute other pumpkin varieties)

3 tbsp sugar

2/3 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 cups popped popcorn (popped according to the directions on the packet)

1 tbsp pepitas

1 tbsp sunflower seeds

1/4 cup almonds, chopped up

2 tbsp vegan margarine

2 heaped tbsp sugar

1/2 cup apricot jam

To Make

1. Remove the skin and seeds from the pumpkin and chop up. Place in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer until the pumpkin is well cooked. Drain.

2. Put the cooked pumpkin back in the saucepan and add the sugar, rosemary and nutmeg. Mash with a potato masher until fairly smooth. Place back on a low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often.

3. Divide the pumpkin amongst 4 ramekins.

4. Combine the popcorn, pepitas, sunflower seeds and almonds in a bowl.

5. Put a small saucepan over a low heat and add the sugar, margarine and jam. Stir well and keep over the low heat until the it has all melted. Pour over the popcorn mixture in the bowl and mix to coat it all over. 

6. Spread this sticky topping over the pumpkin mixture in the ramekins. Place on a baking tray and put under the grill (at about 180 degrees) for 2-3 minutes, or until browned on the top.

7. Remove from grill and let stand for 15 minutes before eating. 

Makes 4 individual crumbles.

Roast Pumpkin & Chickpea Salad with Nasturtiums

The weather has really started to warm up during the day here lately, which has been so lovely! It's almost enough to lull you into the notion that spring has arrived (cue sudden cold snap). It's also made me really start to feel like eating salads again! This coincides nicely with the Eat The Alphabet blog challenge - which this month is featuring vegetables and grains which start with the letters M, N and O.

There are a lot of choices for M, N and O - so I'm sure we're going to see a great variety of recipes. I wanted to take the opportunity to share an ingredient that I've always loved, but many people don't even know about - Nasturtiums. I always remember having nasturtiums in the garden as a kid, it was fun to know that some of the plants were edible and that we could use them when we were playing and actually eat them!

I've never seen nasturtiums for sale at any green grocers, but they are incredibly easy to grow and they thrive on neglect. You can buy seeds at any garden centre or from many places online - they are a great addition to your salads especially since they're not readily available - so are a great thing to serve for guests. You'll probably want to plant them somewhere contained, otherwise they will spread all over your garden. Here is a picture of them in my veggie garden:

The best thing about nasturtiums is that you can eat the leaves and the flowers - so they make your salad very pretty. Nasturtium leaves have a slightly peppery taste, so start with a few and add them to your own taste. If you can't buy or grow nasturtiums then you can use baby spinach in this salad instead, it won't taste the same - but it will still be nice!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas (soaked for 24 hours, rinsed, boiled and drained OR a tin of chickpeas which has been drained and rinsed)

400g pumpkin, peeled, chopped and roasted for about 20 minutes (will vary depending on how big you chopped it)

150g penne pasta

4 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup pepitas

Generous amount of nasturtium leaves and flowers

2 tbsp grapeseed oil

1 tsp agave nectar

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)

1 tbsp soy sauce (or more to taste)

Cracked black pepper to taste

To Make

1. If you haven't already done so, cook the pre-soaked (for 24 hours) chickpeas (unless using canned) until tender, drain and rinse under cold water. If using canned, drain and rinse well. Similarly, roast the pumpkin as above and allow to cool (or use warm).

2. Bring a pot of water to the boil and boil the pasta until al dente - this is usually 1-2 minutes less than what the packet says. Drain and rinse with cold water.

3. Combine the pumpkin, chickpeas, pasta, chopped tomatoes and nasturtium leaves in a bowl. Toss.

4. Heat a small frypan over a high heat. Add the pepitas to the dry saucepan and toast for 2-3 minutes, stirring/tossing often. They will puff our slightly and start to brown. Keep your eye on them at all times, as they burn quickly. Once toasted take of the heat and allow to cool.

5. Combine all the remaining ingredients in a small bowl or jar and mix/shake well to make the dressing.

6. Add the cooled pepitas and the dressing to the salad and mix well. Serve immediately, placing the nasturtium flowers on top before serving.

Serves 4

Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Sago Parfait (Cambodian Borbo Skor La-Pov)

As with most Asian countries, Cambodia has a list of typical desserts which Westerners may deem "exotic". They pair things based on sweetness rather than classification. Whereas in the West we understand that basically vegetables and legumes go in savoury dishes and typically fruit is for sweet dishes. There are some obvious exceptions, such as carrot cake, pumpkin pie and duck al'orange, however, this rule is generally held true. In Asian cultures, however, these barriers don't exist. Fruit is freely added to savoury dishes and curries throughout Thailand, Cambodia, India and Sri Lanka. Whilst desserts use anything that has a sweet taste, including carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, corn, cassava, taro, red beans (also called adzuki beans) and mung beans. 

Mostly, as I've observed before, the main crossovers are orange vegetables. This is because orange vegetables are generally often sweet (carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato) whilst orange fruits are often naturally tart and sour (oranges, mandarines, tangerines etc). However, in Cambodia (as in other Asian countries) beans such as mung beans are also classified as sweets and used in desserts.

My Cambodian inspired dessert for you today is based on a recipe which involves mixing pumpkin, sweet potato, cassava and taro into sago. I've changed it up a bit by simplifying it and serving it parfait style - in layers! It's a very easy dessert and quite healthy (except for the sugar) and makes a nice change from the same old desserts we're used to serving up to guests.

Ingredients

Orange Layer

400g pumpkin (I used Jap), peeled and cubed

400g sweet potato, peeled and cubed

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract 

1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional - not traditionally used)

Sago Layer

1 can coconut milk
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sago (tapioca pearls)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean, sliced open - remove before serving if using)

Chopped peanuts, to garnish.

To Make:
1. Cover the pumpkin and sweet potato with water and bring to a simmer. Simmer, covered for about 30-40 minutes, or until very soft.
2. Bring the coconut milk, water, (vanilla bean), and sugar to a simmer in a different saucepan. Add the sago and simmer over a very low heat, partly covered for about 30 minutes. Stir frequently to make sure it isn't sticking to the bottom too much (it probably will a little bit anyway). After 30 minutes remove from heat, stir through the vanilla extract and allow to cool.
3. Strain the pumpkin and sweet potato, reserving the water. Add back 1-2 tbsp of the reserved water and then either mash or puree in a food processor until smooth (I was able to just mash mine pretty smooth because they were quite over cooked, which is what you want!).
4. Pass the purée through a sieve to make it extra smooth and smash out any remaining lumps (this is optional, it just makes sure that your purée is nice and smooth and even consistency). Stir the vanilla extract and cinnamon through and allow to cool completely.
5. Start with a layer of the purée in the bottom of your parfait glasses (using about half the purée across six parfait glasses). Follow with a layer of the sago (once again, using about half the sago) and then the remaining purée and sago in layers. Top with chopped peanuts and serve.

Serves 6.

This month I'm featuring lots of amazing recipes from Cambodia!

Check out my other Cambodian recipe posts:

Hot and Sour Mushroom Soup

Kho Manor Nung To Hu (Pineapple and Tofu)

Cambodian Spiced Eggplant

Num Chet Chien (Banana Nuggets!)

Khmer Lemongrass Vegetable Curry

Nem To-hu Sap (Vegetarian Summer Rolls)

Tirk Salouk Swai (Mango Chilli Salsa)

Cucumber & Vermicelli Salad

Vegan Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes with Lemony Cream Cheese Icing

These delicate little cakes are something I created to celebrate the end of an era - the end of my 6 year double degree!! That's right I have finally finished my first 2 degrees and now I am free to a) earn proper money (a concept very foreign to me) and b) spend more time cooking and blogging! Hurray! 

Nothing could taste sweeter than freedom but these cupcakes come pretty close.

Ingredients

The Cupcakes:

1/4 cup soy milk (or almond milk)

1 cup raw sugar

1/3 cup canola or rice bran oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup cooked pumpkin, mashed finely

1 1/4 cups plain wholemeal flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lemon zest

Extra cinnamon, to sprinkle on top

The Icing:

1/4 cup nuttelex (or other vegan margarine)

1/4 cup vegan cream cheese

2 2/3 cups soft icing mixture

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp lemon zest

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

2. Combine the soy milk, sugar, oil and vanilla essence in a bowl and use a whisk to combine. Add the pumpkin and mix well.

3. Sift in the flour, bicarb, baking soda, lemon juice, zest and spices. Mix well to combine.

4. Fill a cupcake pan with paper liners. Fill liners just over half way full and bake for 17 minutes. Test that they are done by ensuring a knife comes out clean when stuck into the middle of them.

5. Mix the cream cheese, nuttelex, lemon juice and zest and icing mixture together in a bowl using either an electric mixer or a knife and some good old elbow grease (nice bicep workout).

6. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before icing. To ice, pipe the icing on in a spiral on the top of the cakes and sprinkle with cinnamon to prettify.

Makes 18 small cupcakes or 10 large cupcakes.

Vegan Pumpkin, Maple and Walnut Scones

If only Autumn was edible...wait, it is edible! In the form of these delicious nutty, pumpkiny, maple syrupy scones. To make the most of these scones, serve them warm with vegan margarine and a generous drizzle of maple syrup. Better yet, mix it up a little and serve some with K-bobo’s homemade tangelo and goji berry jam (as in the picture above)!

Note: these scones don’t rise as much as others, so don’t worry if they aren’t as tall as usual.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups of wholemeal flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder
3/4 cup of soy milk (or any milk you like!)
1/4 cup of ricebran oil
1/3 cup of grated pumpkin
2 Tbsp of maple syrup
1/3 cup of finely chopped walnut(or pecans)
Nuts for garnishing (we used almonds)

How to Make:
1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees celcius.

2. In a large bowl, combine the milk, oil, maple syrup and pumpkin.
3. Add all dry ingredients (other than your garnishing nuts!) and mix with a butterknife until well combined.
4. Dust your scone making surface (e.g bench, chopping board, a large book you never really liked...) with a generous amount of flour.
5. Place the scone dough on the floured surface and knead gently for about a minute.
6. Flatten the dough and cut out circles (or any shape) with either a cutter or a glass, and adorn with nuts.
7. Place your freshly cut scones on a tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15-17mins.
8. Serve warm with vegan margarine, jam and maple syrup.

Makes 10-12 scones.

Homemade Spinach, Pine nut and Fenugreek Ravioli with Roast Pumpkin and Tomato

That's right I said home made ravioli! Now before you get into a bit of a panic because it is all just too hard let me assure you that actually it is very easy and once you have tried it once the next time you will whip it up so quick you won't even notice. Home made ravioli is ridiculously rewarding because sadly when you buy ravioli ready made it only seems to come in two kinds - beef and spinach and cheese. That's all very well but what about all the other things you can put in ravioli? Think pumpkin! Think mushrooms! Think eggplant! Maybe even zuccini! How great does that sound??

Ingredients:

Ravioli:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 teaspoon whole fenugreek seeds

¼ cup pine nuts

4 leaves spinach (silverbeet), chopped very finely

2 button mushrooms, finely diced

Small handful of fresh basil, finely chopped (or substitute 1 tsp fresh basil paste)

1 ½ cups fine semolina

½ cup plain flour

1 tbsp olive oil (extra)

½ cup water

Roasted Vegies:

Olive Oil (yeah, more of it.)

400g pumpkin

500g Roma tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Fresh rocket, to serve

To Make:
1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees celcius.

2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a heavy based saucepan or frypan and fry the fenugreek seeds until slightly golden – only a few minutes. Remove from the saucepan and grind to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle, food processor or spice grinder. Put the powder aside.

3. With the oil left in the pan toast the pine nuts until slightly browned and then either chop roughly with a knife or smash lightly in the mortar and pestle.

4. Now using the same saucepan lightly fry the chopped mushrooms and then add the spinach and basil and sauté until wilted. Take off the heat and mix through the pine nuts and 1/2 teaspoon of the fenugreek powder. Set aside.

5. Chop the pumpkin into small (1.5-2cm) pieces and the tomato into 8ths.  Drizzle a baking dish with oil and mix the vegies around in it to coat. Chop the cloves of garlic in half (just leave the skins on) and chuck them in as well. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or so or until the pumpkin is tender (the tomato will cook a lot faster so it will disintegrate a little and become saucy). When it has 5 minutes left to cook add the soy sauce and balsamic vinegar and mix through, return to the oven.

6. While those are baking away make the pasta: combine the flour and semolina in a food processor and pulse to combine. With the food processor still on drizzle in the olive oil and gradually add the water. The mix should become sticky and clump together on one side, so if it seems to dry add some more water.

7. Turn out onto a well floured bench and knead very briefly to coat in flour until it is no longer sticky. Cut into 6 equal pieces. Put each the first piece though your pasta roller according to its instructions and roll to about a size 4 sheet of pasta. Put aside on the floured bench (keep everything well floured people, otherwise it will stick to your bench). Do the same with the next piece of dough.

8. So now you have two lasagne sheets lying next to each other on the bench.  Put a teaspoon full of the spinach mix in two rows along the sheet (Ok I explained that badly so just look at the picture:)

9. With a pastry brush or your finger brush a line of water around the edge of each box (remembering to do the outer edges of the sheet). Place the second lasagne sheet over the top of the first and press down gently to get the air out and to flatten the mix slightly. Then if you have one of those great zig zaggy cutters use that to cut the ravioli into squares (your pasta roller will probably come with one as an accessory), if you don’t have one just cut neatly with a knife. Put each piece aside while you do the same with the rest of the dough and mix.

10. When they are all done your vegies are most likely cooked so take them out. Bring a generous amount of water  to the boil in a big saucepan and gently add each piece of ravioli. Boil for 2 minutes or so and then drain.

11. Mix the vegies through the ravioli and serve on a bed of fresh rocket.

Serves 3-4.  

Pumpkin, Leek and Garlic Soup

This one has a bit of a difference with the addition of the garlic right at the end so that the garlicy flavour really comes out.

Pumpkin, Leek and Garlic Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1 leek, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

7 cups of vegetable stock

500g Butternut pumpkin, chopped

500g Jap pumpkin, chopped

300g cauliflower, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

3 tsp cumin

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp lemon juice

Cracked pepper, to garnish

To Make:

1. Heat some olive oil in a soup pot and saute the onion, leek and one of the garlic cloves until soft and transparent.

2. Add the vegetable stock, vegetables and spices and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 20 minutes or until all the vegies are well cooked (this will vary depending on how big you chopped your vegies). 

3. When the vegies are cooked transfer the soup to a blender with the remaining clove of raw garlic and purée in batches. Add back to the rinsed soup pot and heat gently.

4. Stir through the soy sauce and lemon juice. 

5. Eat! (Tastes great with fresh bread rolls!)