Making the most of the citrus season before it’s over! A mix of different oranges topped with fresh rosemary, chopped almonds and dried cranberries. This worked really well as a fruity side salad, and I loved the combination of citrus and rosemary.
I made this cake the other week, and as usual I improvised as I was whipping it up. Sometimes it fails, but this time it was a winner! It was so moist and sweet, and the pears added a very nice touch.
This photo is also my contribution to #monthlytechniquecollab by @foodcapturecollective Check out the hashtag for more dark and moody shots!
1 dl almonds, blanched
1 dl caster sugar
100 g almond paste (like a coarse marzipan but with less sugar)
75 g vegan butter
1 dl plant milk
1,5 dl almond flour
2 dl plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cardamom, coarsely ground
pinch of vanilla powder
pinch of salt
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1 ripe pear
50 g almond paste
0,5 tsp cardamom, coarsely ground
almonds
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Preheat the oven to 180 C and line a round springform (20-23 cm) with parchment paper.
In a food processor, mix the blanched almonds to a coarse flour. Add caster sugar, almond paste, butter and milk and mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, then add to the wet batter and mix until smooth. Transfer to the springform.
Cut the pear in half, remove the seeds and slice in wedges. Stick the wedges in the batter like a wheel. Grate almond paste on top, and sprinkle with cardamom and sliced almonds.
Bake at 180 C for 35-40 minutes, until the top is golden. Let cool and serve with a dollop of vegan whipped cream.
How is it that salads taste even better served in a bowl? This was a particularly good one that I made last week. Whole bulgur (my favourite grain!), roasted sweet potato wedges, sugar snaps, blueberries, avocado, green baby leaves, honeydew melon and a handful of almonds. I drizzled it with a tahini lemon dressing, and it was heavenly!
I’m excited to take part in this season’s #eatcaptureshare food photography challenge hosted by @thelittleplantation. This first week, the theme is At the Farmer’s Market, and today is citrus fruit day. (Why not switch Tuesday for Citrusday permanently? Sounds a lot more fun.)
My contribution is this orange polenta cake with an orange and thyme glaze on top. It’s a rich and moist cake with hints of olive oil and almonds. I highly recommend that you try it!
1 orange (or blood orange, which this was meant to be but it had no red colour!)
5 sprigs of thyme
0,5 dl caster sugar
2,5 dl almonds, blanched and peel removed
150 g vegan butter
2 dl caster sugar
1,5 dl aquafaba
0,5 dl plain flour (swap for GF if needed)
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of vanilla powder
a pinch of salt
2 dl polenta
1 dl olive oil
3 tbsp orange juice and orange zest
First, zest the orange and cut off the end bits and squeeze out about 2 tsp orange juice. Thinly slice the middle section of the orange. This will make the topping of the cake. Add zest, orange juice and caster sugar to a small pot. Heat it up and simmer for five minutes while stirring When it starts to reduce and thicken, add the thyme. Strain and pour into a round baking tray lined with parchment paper. Place the thin orange slices in the syrup.
Now, make the batter for the cake. Mix the peeled almonds in a food processor to a soft, moist flour. Add vegan butter, caster sugar and aquafaba and blend well.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, vanilla and salt. Add it to the food processor, and add polenta, olive oil and orange juice and zest. Blend well until the batter is smooth.
Pour the batter in the baking tray and smooth it out. Bake at 175 C for about 40 minutes. Let the cake cool for half an hour before serving.
A healthier snack, that I hadn’t made in a long time. A great way to get a bit of extra iron in, with apricots and pumpkin seeds. To boost the iron even more, you can swap half of the rolled oats for millet flakes.
1 dl pumpkin seeds
0,5 dl sunflower seeds
0,5 dl sesame seeds
0,5 dl almonds
1 tsp hemp seeds
5 dried apricots
5 dried dates
0,5 dl melted coconut oil
1,5 dl rolled oats
2 tbsp cacao
pinch of salt
cacao, beetroot powder and shredded coconut for coating
Soak the seeds, almonds, dates and apricots in cold water for an hour or more. Blend all the ingredient to a crunchy dough. Roll into balls and coat with powder, seeds or coconut.
Summer seems so far away! This smoothie bowl reminds me of when the mornings were light and the temperatures warm. I used frozen plums from our garden and mixed it with frozen banana and a splash of oat milk. Then I topped it with granola, flaked almonds and passion fruit for that tropical summer vibe.
Today is Twelfth Night, which means that the Christmas season is officially coming to an end. So I’ll show you my last saffron bread, this one baked as a braid. I used the same dough as previously with silken tofu (you’ll find the recipe in my Saffron Wreath post).
To make the braid, I rolled out three squares of dough and spread them with vegan butter, almond paste and crushed almonds. Next, I rolled each square, and using a sharp knife I carefully cut along the top of each roll, just through the first two layers of dough. Then I pinched the three ends of the rolls together, and braided the rolls and pinched the end tightly and tucked it in underneath the braid on both sides. I brushed it with oat milk and sprinkled it with flaked almonds and caster sugar. I covered it with a tea towel to let it rise another 20 minutes before baking it at 255 C for about 17-20 minutes.
Here’s a bright shining star to get us all through the darkest week of the year.
I saw an incredibly beautiful star bread that @barbarafrenchvegan made, and I just had to make one too. I made the same saffron yeast dough as for my saffron wreath a few posts back. It’s by far the best I’ve tried, with silken tofu from @yipin.se. I filled it with vegan butter, sugar, almond paste and crushed almonds. Below or in Instsgram Stories, you can see step by step how to make the star. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it!
In Sweden, we’re mad about saffron buns for Christmas. This is the best recipe I’ve tried, hands down! The secret ingredient is silken tofu. It makes the buns really moist and fluffy, just like we want them. Here’ I’ve baked it as a large wreath filled with almond and sugar. The recipe is from @yipin which is my favourite tofu brand, and of course I used their silken tofu for this. Not sponsored, just a very happy customer!
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Dough
400 g silken tofu
150 g vegan butter
4 dl plant based cream
25 g fresh yeast
1,5 dl caster sugar
1 g saffron
a pinch of salt
16-18 dl plain flour
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Melt the butter and let it cool. Whisk together tofu, butter and cream. Crumble the yeast and add a little of the tofu blend. Stir to make the yeast dissolve. Add saffron, sugar and salt, and then add the rest of the liquid. Add the flour, start with about 10 dl. Knead the dough by hand or in a machine. Add more flour and work the dough for 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth and shiny. Cover and rise overnight.
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I made the dough the night before and let it rise in the fridge overnight. Use 50 g och yeast and warm the tofu, butter and cream to 37 C and let the dough rise for 1 hour, if you want to do it a quicker way.
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Filling
100 g vegan butter
1,5 dl caster sugar
0,75 dl almonds
2 tsp cardamom, crushed
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In a food processor, blend the ingredients to a crunchy butter cream.
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Baking
Dived the dough in half, and make two wreaths. Make a large rectangle using a rolling pin and spread the cream over the dough. Roll the rectangle up, just like if you were making cinnamon rolls. Put it on a tray and make a circle of the rolled dough. Make cuts all around the circle, about 2 cm apart, and not all the way through. Fold the cuts, one left and the next right, and so on. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for 30-60 minutes. Brush with oat milk and sprinkle with cardamom and almond flakes. Bake for about 20 minutes at 200 C until golden. If you want to, sprinkle with some caster sugar just as you take it out of the oven.
Carrot cake is one of my all time favourites. Here’s the healthier raw alternative, with the same delicious flavours but no refined sugar or flour. The original recipe comes from @maggiesskafferi and you should definitely take a look at her gorgeous stylish feed! As usual, I made a few adjustments based on what I had in my kitchen.
10 dates, pitted
2 tbsp vegan cream cheese
0,5 almonds
0,5 tsp lemon juice
a pinch of salt
0,75 tsp cinnamon
0,5 tsp cardamom
0,5 tsp ginger
2 medium sized carrots, finely grated
shredded coconut
Combine all the ingredients except for carrots and coconuts in a food processor or with a hand mixer. The dough should still be a bit crunchy from the nuts. Add the grated carrots and mix for a few seconds just to combine the dough. Shape 15-20 balls and roll them in coconut. Enjoy!
