alessioisonfire

Last Sunday we made this tiramisu which was light and delicious!

INGREDIENTS

For the sponge:

200g plain flour
250ml soya milk
140g sugar
1 sachet baking powder


For the cream:
500g firm silken tofu
 (like this one)
500ml very strong decaf coffee
300ml soya whipping cream (this)

100g sugar

cocoa powder

shavings of dark chocolate

a pinch of curcuma

DIRECTIONS
1. first off make the sponge. sift the flour in a large bowl, add the baking powder and sugar, then stir in the soya milk little by little and whisk the batter until it’s smooth
2. grease and flour a 22cm cake tin, pour in half of the batter (this means you don’t have to worry about cutting the sponge with a knife and messing it up) and bake for about 20 mins at 200C or until a toothpick comes out clean. repeat with the second half and set the cakes aside to cool down, then soak them in the coffee and make sure they are extremely wet. don’t soak them right after taking them out of the oven as they will fall apart!
3. liquidise the tofu with the sugar and curcuma
4. whip the cream for about 5 minutes, slowly add the tofu mixture to it and put in the fridge for a couple of hours to firm up
5. now the fun part, assembling everything together! take the first layer of cake, spread cream on it, then sprinkle some of the cocoa powder and do the same with the second layer of cake, but add the shaved chocolate on top of it.

Ingredients (x3 medium sized pancakes)
50g buckwheat flour
50g plain flour
200ml soya milk (or other vegan one)
4g baking powder
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 pinch of salt

Directions
1. sift the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl
2. add the oil to the milk
3. slowly pour in the milk mixture onto the dry ingredients and whisk so that you will obtain a smooth batter, then set aside for about 5 mins
4. heat up a small-ish frying pain and when hot pour enough batter to make a pancake
5. once the bubbles that appear on the top have exploded you can flip it
6. serve with bananas drenched in lemon juice and some maple syrup

Light and fat free cake, also suitable for people with gluten allergies.

Ingredients
200ml soya milk
75g rice flour
75g buckwheat flour
75g peeled almonds
50 + 25g brown sugar
3 yellow apples or pears
1 lemon
2 tbsp corn flour
8g baking powder (half a sachet)
a pinch of salt

Directions
1. first off sift the flours, 50g of sugar, baking powder, corn flour and salt in a large bowl
2. grate the zest of the lemon and add it to the flour mix
3. chop the almonds into small pieces e add the remainder of the sugar to them
4. peel and core the apples, cut them in small chunks and soak them into the juice of the lemon
5. gradually add the soya milk to the flour mix until you obtain a smooth batter
6. pour the mixture into a pre-greased and pre-floured cake tin of about 22 centimetres
7. add the chunks of apples making sure they have sunk in nicely
8. cover them with the almond and sugar, then bake for about 40 mins in a preheated oven at 200C

Here is what it looks like once it’s been sliced:

Very creamy and simple to make!

Ingredients
ca. 65g cashew nuts (they will give you approx. 85g of rehydrated nuts)
1/2 litre of filtered water
1 tbsp agave syrup
a good pinch of salt

Directions
1. soak the nuts in cold water overnight
2. drain them and rinse them
3. blend them with the half litre of water
4. add the agave syrup and salt which are optional although i strongly recommend flavouring it

There shouldn’t be the need for straining it, although some small pieces of nuts may remain unliquidised, I would then advise sieving it before drinking it

Ingredients
6 medium sized potatoes
2 tbsp vegan margarine
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
400ml vegetable broth (done with 400ml of water and the correspondent amount of bouillon for 500ml of liquid)
100ml unsweetened soya milk
a handful of chopped parsley

Directions
1. peel the potatoes, wash them and cut them in thin round slices and then boil them in water (which i didn’t salt because of the broth, but that’s a personal choice)
2. meanwhile melt the margarine in a saucepan, sieve in the flour and whisk to prevent lumps
3. continue whisking for a bit until the flour has toasted and then start adding the broth in stages
4. once that’s all combined and lump-less, take off the heat, add the yeast flakes, soya milk and the parsley
5. place the potatoes in a cake tin with a diameter of about 28 centimetres and pour the sauce/gravy on them. make sure they are well covered and that there is liquid on the bottom of the tray
6. bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C until a nice golden crust will appear on the potatoes. let it cool for about 15 mins before serving

Et voilà! If you want it to taste and look posher you could add some sliced seitan or tempeh.

Ingredients
40 dried shiitake mushrooms
125ml soaking water
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp soya sauce
1 and 1/2 to 2 tbsp agave juice
1 tbsp roasted sesame seed oil

Directions
1. soak the mushrooms in cold water overnight with enough water to allow an extra 5 centimetres of water on them
2. once soaked, squeeze the excess water, remove the stems and cut them in halves
3. heat up a frying pan and add the tbsp of sunflower oil, then the mushrooms and let them sauté for about 5 mins
4. in the meantime prepare a concoction of soya sauce, agave juice and the water that the mushrooms have soaked in
5. pour it on the mushrooms and simmer until all the liquid has evaporated
6. finally add the extra tbsp of sesame oil

Important! Do not throw away the remainder of water used to soak the mushrooms as it can be used (together with some kombu seaweed) to make delicious stocks for japanese miso soups

Ingredients
240g cooked lentils (the equivalent of one tin, drained)
10 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 carrot
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
4 tbsp of the water used to rehydrate the mushrooms + some extra
6 to 8 tbsp wholemeal breadcrumbs
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp shoyu or tamari
a good pinch of salt
your favourite spices (I used a tiny bit of curry, paprika and kurkuma)

Directions
1. rehydrate the mushrooms for about 20 mins in boiled water
2. heat up a frying pan and in the meantime cut up the onion and carrot
3. add the oil to the pan and sauté the carrot, onion, garlic and mushrooms
4. when the carrot and onion are almost soft add the soya sauce and lentils. you may need to add a bit of extra water at this stage as it tends to dry quite quickly

5. then add your spices, sesame seeds and blend everything
6. once blended add the breadcrumbs and adjust the flavour by adding a bit more salt
7. shape into 4 patties and bake in the oven for about 15/20 mins at 180C. alternatively they can also be fried

Ingredients

Crust:
125g plain flour
125g wholemeal spelt flour
about 100ml cold soya milk or water
80g cane sugar
80g melted vegan margarine
zest of one lemon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of salt

Filling:
5 ripe peaches
5 to 6 tbsp cane sugar
4 to 5 tbsp cous cous
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
100ml soya milk

Directions
1. sift the flours, sugar, bic. of soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl
2. grate in the lemon zest
3. melt the margarine, add the milk to it
4. make a well in the dry ingredients, then pour slowly the wet ones in and work with your hands (should the dough be too wet, flour your hands and knead it in little by little)
5. shape into a ball and leave to cool in the fridge for about 30 mins
6. in the meantime wash the peaches, cut them and add them to a saucepan with the cous cous, sugar, lemon juice and soya milk
7. bring to a boil and let simmer until the cous cous is soft
8. add the vanilla extract and then blend until smooth
9. once the 30 mins will have passed stretch out your crust with a rolling pin and transfer into a 28cm cake tin. allow it to go off the edges to have some dough left for the stripes on top of it
10. pour in the peach mixture and stick the stripes across the sides of the dough (otherwise they will sink in)
11. bake for about half an hour at 200C and leave to set before eating

Ingredients
15g of basil leaves
60ml water
2 to 3 tbsp of good olive oil
2 tsp yeast flakes
1 to 2 tbsp white miso paste (shiro)
a handful of cashew nuts
a handful of pine kernels

Directions
1. liquidise everything and use as a sauce for pasta or on grilled vegetables like courgettes and peppers

Okay, I know I have more than one recipe for hummus already, but I got curious when a friend who’s just gone home to Israel showed me what they ate first thing as they got home to his parents’ place.
Of course, it does not necessarily look like this.. but sort of

The hummus is made with the other recipe on the blog, I grilled the aubergine in a pan.
Just cut up the aubergine and add NO oil, transfer into a very hot non-stick frying pan and towards the end when most of the pieces are brownish add some salt. That’s as easy as that. At the end I added some cherry tomatoes which went well with the aubergines, it was a nice combination.
The white fluffy sauce on the hummus is tahini prepared with water, garlic, lemon juice and parsley. At first I wouldn’t have though that it would get that thick, especially by adding the water, but it does!
The ratio tahini/water I’ve used is 1:2, so 120ml tahini, 240ml water, juice of half a lemon, a clove of garlic and chopped parsley.
Serve with some nice wholemeal pita bread