Strawberry Pancakes

These are tasty with some whipped cream (I used rice whip).

 

Ingredients:

1¼ cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk (I used rice milk)

1 tbsp vegetable oil plus extra for the pan

2½  cups strawberries

 

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together except the strawberries.

2. Wash, hull, and slice the strawberries. Mix 2 cups into the batter.

3. Warm some oil in the frying pan. Pour in some batter and fry the pancakes on both sides.

4. Serve with more sliced strawberries.

Rhubarb and Raspberry Flan Bars

These have a lovely custardy consistency.

 

Ingredients:

 

pastry

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

60 g icing sugar

250 g flour

 

filling

60 g flour

400 g sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

300 g rhubarb

100 g raspberries (or strawberries)

 

Instructions:

1. Mix the ingredients for the pastry together and press into the bottom and sides of an oven-safe dish. Fill with baking beans or rice and bake for 10-12 minutes at 180 C.

2. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and spices together. Beat the eggs and add, mixing well.

3. Wash and dice the rhubarb. Wash the raspberries. Add them to the egg mixture.

4. Pour the fruit mixture over the pastry and bake for 25-30 minutes at 180 C.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

1½ cups flour

¾ cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil or coconut oil

1/3 cup milk (I used rice milk)

1 egg

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup blueberries

 

Crumble topping:

½ cup sugar

½ cup flour

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

 

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the muffins except the blueberries. Once well mixed, add in the berries.

2. Place into muffin cases, filling each one about ½ to ¾ of the way up.

3. Mix the crumble ingredients and place 1-2 tbsp in each muffin cup.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 190 C.

Pear, Apple, and Raspberry Crumble

Ingredients:

4 pears

1 apple

50 g rapeseed oil, plus extra

1 tsp lemon juice

55 g sugar, plus extra

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 tbsp oats

60 g flour

30 g almonds (ground or chopped)

30 g dark chocolate, optional

50-60 g raspberries (frozen is fine)

 

Instructions:

1. Wash, peel, and chop the pears and apple.

2. Lightly oil them and toss them with lemon juice and a little sugar. Bake at 190 C for 10-15 minutes, until softened.

3. Meanwhile, mix all the other ingredients together except the dark chocolate. Grate or chop the chocolate.

4. Top the fruit with the raspberries.

5. Dot the crumble topping over the fruit and sprinkle with chocolate (or mix the chocolate into the crumble topping first).

6. Bake at 190 C for 30-40 minutes.

Chocolate Cherry Bread

A tasty treat that’s perfect with coffee or tea.

 

Ingredients:

2 tsp active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (about 200 ml)

3 cups strong white bread flour (about 400 g)

½ cup cocoa powder

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1-2 tsp cinnamon, optional

1-2 tbsp oil

¼ cup rice milk (or regular milk)

¼-½ cup chocolate pieces

½ cup cherries

 

Instructions:

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water and set aside for about 15 minutes until frothy.

2. Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the yeast and the wet ingredients. Knead well for 5-10 minutes.

3. Add the chocolate pieces. Wash and de-stone the cherries and fold them in.

4. Leave to rise for an hour.

5. Shape into a loaf or small rolls and leave to rise another 30-60 minutes.

6. Bake at 180 C for 20-40 minutes, or until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

 

Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:

1¾ cups flour (200 g)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp sugar

1¼ cups milk (about 300 ml) (I used rice milk)

1 egg

200 g blueberries (I used frozen)

oil

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients except the oil together.

2. Warm oil in a frying pan and make 2-4 pancakes at a time.

3. Serve warm with agave or honey.

Vegan and Berry Chocolate Cake

This is almost the same as the vegan chocolate cake I posted before, but I added berries. I did a combination of raspberries and cherries, but really any berry would be fine. I’ll make it with blueberries some time too.

You can double the recipe and make two cakes, then put frosting between the layers.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ cup cocoa powder
¼ cup ground almonds
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 pinch salt
3/4  cup soy milk
175 g (about 6 ounces) tofu
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for the baking tin
1 cup berries

Instructions:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl or food processor.
2. Add the soy milk to the dry ingredients and mix again.
3. Blend the tofu in a blender until creamy. Add the oil and mix again.
4. Add the tofu to the other ingredients. Mix well. Add the berries last.
5. Oil the baking tin (or line with greaseproof or parchment paper). Pour the batter in.
6. Bake at 180 C for about 20 minutes. Frost if desired.

Apple and Blackberry Crumble

I recently made an apple and blackberry crumble with a nutty crumble topping. You can vary what fruits you use and what nuts you use for the crumble topping, or you can replace the nuts with oats.

Ingredients:
5 apples
150 g blackberries
50 g butter, plus extra for the dish
¾ cup flour
½ cup almond meal
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon, if desired
1 dash lemon juice (I just sprinkled a bit of lemon juice on top of the apples so they didn’t brown)
cream or ice cream, as desired

Instructions:
1. Wash and slice the applies. Layer them and the blackberries in an oven-safe dish.
2. Mix the other ingredients into crumbs.
3. Top the fruit with the crumbs.
4. Bake at 180 C for about 25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve with cream or ice cream as desired.

Rhubarb and Blackberry Crumble

As I write this, rhubarb is still in season. As it will be posted, however, that’s not really the case. But if you thought ahead, you might have frozen some excess rhubarb, or you can get some from the grocery store. A crumble will warm you up on a cold night.

Ingredients:
400 g rhubarb
¼ cup sugar (or more if needed)
1 container blackberries (about 150 g)
70 g butter, plus extra for the dish
1½ cup flour (or 1 cup flour and ½ cup oats)
6 tbsp sugar (I used soft brown, but demerera or castor or some combination thereof will work too)
1 tsp vanilla
cream or ice cream, to serve with it

Instructions:
1. Wash and slice the rhubarb. Toss it in the ¼ cup sugar.
2. Lightly butter an oven-safe dish. Put the rhubarb in it. Wash the blackberries and add them on top.
3. Dice the butter and mix it with the flour (or flour and oats), sugar, and vanilla. Put the crumble topping on the fruit.
4. Bake at 180 C for 25-35 minutes, until golden brown.
5. Serve with cream or ice cream.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I’m still experimenting with rhubarb. Strawberry and rhubarb together is always a winning combination and here I mixed the fruits into a filling for a pie. As I was making this, I accidentally took the wrong spice out of the cupboard and managed to sprinkle onion seeds rather than cinnamon on the fruit. I had to go through and pick out as many of the seeds I could. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get all the onion seeds out (I did get most of them however), but the people I served the pie to didn’t notice. They praised the pie and its lovely filling! Still, I don’t recommend the use of nigella in strawberry rhubarb pie!

Ingredients:
400 g rhubarb
400 g strawberries
1 cup sugar (I used ¾ cup white sugar and ¼ cup demerera sugar, to add an extra rich, almost caramel tone)
½ cup flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1 portion sweet pastry dough (see previous recipe)

Instructions:
1. Wash and chop the rhubarb. Wash, hull, and halve the strawberries (quarter large ones).
2. Toss the rhubarb and strawberries with the sugar, flour, vanilla, and cinnamon. Leave to sit for 30 minutes.
3. Beat the eggs and pour over the fruit.
4. Roll out the pastry. Spread some of it in the bottom of a pie dish (or another oven-safe dish).
5. Blind-bake the pastry for 5-7 minutes at 160 C.
6. Pour the fruit into the pastry.
7. Cut the rest of the pastry into strips and layer them over the pastry in pretty pattern.
8. Bake the pie for 30-40 minutes at 160 C.

Sweet, Gluten-Free Crepes, or Swedish Pancakes

It had been a rough day at work and I was not in a good mood. The only thing that would cheer me up would be a tasty dinner that also didn’t require too much effort. Pancakes it was, but not savoury pancakes. No, only sweet pancakes would do.

So I made a batch of gluten-free crepes, basing my recipe on the standard sort of thin pancakes often referred to as Swedish. M went to the store and got fresh strawberries and cream. I whipped the cream with a touch of vanilla and sugar and we topped the pancakes with layers of that delicious Dalfour strawberry jam (which has no added sugar, so it’s much healthier than other jams), fresh strawberries, and whipped cream. It was delightful and soothing and made me think of summer. It certainly helped my day end on a high note.

Ingredients:
1 cup gluten-free flour
half a teaspoon salt
2 ¼ cups milk or cream, or some combination of the two
3 eggs
vanilla to taste
sugar to taste
2 tbsp butter
butter or oil to fry in
jam, cream, and/or fruit to serve with it

Instructions:
1. Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Add half the milk/cream and blend/whip until smooth. Add the rest of the milk/cream. Then whip in the eggs.
2. Add vanilla and sugar to taste.
3. Melt the butter and add it. Blend everything one last time.
4. Then, in the frying pan, melt a bit more butter or warm the oil to fry the pancakes in.
5. Pour in ¼ or so cup batter into the frying pan and spread it out.
6. Then make pancakes as usual, turning when they are firm and brown on the bottom side, etc.
7. Serve with jam, cream, and/or fruit.

Easy Blueberry Sauce

This sauce is based on the recipe that I saw on Epicurious. It went well with the lemon cornmeal cake I posted about yesterday, but it would also be a great topping for pancakes or served with a rich chocolate dessert.

Ingredients:
1 tsp butter
2 cups frozen or fresh blueberries
½ cup sugar
juice from ½ lemon

Instructions:
1. Melt the butter. Add the blueberries and sugar.
2. Stir and continue cooking until the blueberries begin popping slightly and the sauce thickens.
3. Add the lemon juice, then cook a bit more.
4. Serve with cake, pancakes, chocolate soufflés, or any other item.