Friday 22 April 2016

Brownies (aqua faba)

Tried a new Brownie recipe today - using Black Bean aqua faba, This was based on the recipe from https://eclecticerica.com/ooey-gooey-fudgy-vegan-brownies-using-aquafaba/ These were quite crumbly - not sure if they are supposed to be or whether adding a bit of banana might be worth it next time.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup of Trex Dairy Free butter (melted)
  • 1/4 cup of white sugar
  • 1/2 cup soft light brown sugar
  • 6 tbl of aqua faba (this is equal to two eggs)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup of cocoa powder
  • 1/3 cup of (dairy free) chocolate - either drops or broken up pieces
  • 1/3 cup of nuts
  • 1 cup self raising flour
  • pinch of salt

Method

  • Use a loaf tin, line with greaseproof paper
  • Pre heat oven to 175C
  • whisk together melted "butter", aqua faba, sugar, salt and cocoa powder
  • add in the flour slowly whisking
  • use a metal spoon and fold in the choc chips &/or the nuts
  • spoon into the loaf tin
  • cook for approx 35 mins.

These were cooked at 180C for 40mins and were quite crispy on the outside and crumbly. I think dropping temp and time would help resolve this one.


Brownies (aqua faba)

Tried a new Brownie recipe today - using Black Bean aqua faba, This was based on the recipe from https://eclecticerica.com/ooey-gooey-fudgy-vegan-brownies-using-aquafaba/ These were quite crumbly - not sure if they are supposed to be or whether adding a bit of banana might be worth it next time.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup of Trex Dairy Free butter (melted)
  • 1/4 cup of white sugar
  • 1/2 cup soft light brown sugar
  • 6 tbl of aqua faba (this is equal to two eggs)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup of cocoa powder
  • 1/3 cup of (dairy free) chocolate - either drops or broken up pieces
  • 1/3 cup of nuts
  • 1 cup self raising flour
  • pinch of salt

Method

  • Use a loaf tin, line with greaseproof paper
  • Pre heat oven to 175C
  • whisk together melted "butter", aqua faba, sugar, salt and cocoa powder
  • add in the flour slowly whisking
  • use a metal spoon and fold in the choc chips &/or the nuts
  • spoon into the loaf tin
  • cook for approx 35 mins.

These were cooked at 180C for 40mins and were quite crispy on the outside and crumbly. I think dropping temp and time would help resolve this one.


Monday 18 April 2016

Vanilla Cupcakes - aqua faba style

These have been my best success for cupcakes, I am now hoping to us this recipe for a birthday cake in the next couple of weeks so will let you know how that goes. This makes 15 cup cakes (20mins) or one 8" cake (25-35mins), using the middle shelf in the oven.

Ingredients

Dry

  • 2 & 1/4 cups of self raising flour
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • Pinch salt

Wet

  • 1/2 cup sunflower oil
  • 1 & 1/4 cups unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tbsp aqua faba (chickpea straight from can)
  • 1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp lemon juice

Method

  • Pre heat oven to 180C
  • Mix together the dry ingredients in one bowl (big)
  • Mix together the wet ingredients in a second bowl (small) - lightly whisk
  • Slowly add wet to dry ingredients, mixing with a fork as you go
  • Once combined do not over mix but put into the cupcakes or tin straight away
cupcakes before going in oven
Rising in oven
 The final product

Additional Note [03/05/2016] 

I used this recipe for a 8" tin birthday cake, it worked well but took nearly 40mins to cook all the way through and even then it seemed dense in the middle, and was a bit crumbly. I did, however, stick it together with some vegan butter icing - which was brilliant and easier to make than the instructions suggested. I will post the recipe soon.


Fish Fingers

I enjoyed doing this one with the kids - and they ate them (the youngest doesn't like bought frozen fish fingers).

Ingredients

  • 2 pieces of bread (I used the crusts)
  • rind of a small lemon (zest and juice)
  • 1/2 tablespoon of paprika
  • 3 tablespoons of plain flour
  • pinch salt and pepper
  • 250g Frozen or Fresh Fish
  • 3 tablespoons of aqua faba (I used straight from tin chickpea water)

Method

  • Preheat oven to 180C
  • Whiz up the breadcrumbs and put on a plate
  • Zest lemon then juice. I forgot to do it that way round - made zesting interesting.
  • Mix the flour, paprika, salt, pepper and lemon zest in one bowl
  • Whisk aqua faba for 30 seconds in another bowl
  • Cut fish into 2cm strips (mine didn't stay as strips but close enough)
  • Spray some oil on a baking tray
  • Dip fish in the flour mix, then the aqua faba, and finally the breadcrumbs.
  • Place fish on the baking tray and spray a bit of oil on them again.
  • Cook for approx 15 - 18mins
I served these with some crinkled chips and peas, with my peas I mashed lightly with a fork, added some chopped mint and a bit of lemon juice. Yum. 

Friday 15 April 2016

I love Aqua Faba - Meringues and Coconut Macaroons

Over the last few weeks I have discovered Aqua faba, the magic ingredient that has popped out of the woodwork allowing sufferers of egg allergies to enjoy things with egg as the key ingredient, like meringues.

At first I was sceptical, I was horrified, to use chickpea water wasn't something I had tried.

Sorry, anyway having joined a Vegan Meringue ~Facebook group  I did my research and thought, why not me too? Now we haven't eaten chickpeas much in our house, as quiet frankly I hate the taste. This taste somehow leaves the water once it is whipped up. Both these recipes use water straight from the tin. I have also made a boat load of houmous (thanks Jamie), the one chickpea thing I can cope with.

Meringues

Ingredients


¾ cup aquafaba (what comes out of one tin)
1 cup sugar,
½ tbsp vanilla essence

Method

  • Preheat Oven to 100C
  • Use a machine to whisk aqua faba until it has peaks (use an electric mixer, on maximum, it takes a while)
  • Slowly add sugar and vanilla essence whilst the whisk is still moving
  • I used a spoon to scoop it onto the tray - it can be piped though
  • Cook for approx 1.5 hours. Then open door, leave meringue to cool in oven
To store these keep them in an airtight container and leave in a cupboard. I managed to keep them for a round 4 days. On top I used whipped coconut cream with icing sugar in it and strawberries.

Out of the oven


Coconut Macaroons

This is a variation (very small ones, just no salt and cup measurement of aqua faba) to this: http://theblenderist.com/coconut-macaroons-vegan-and-gluten-free/. I also didn't bother with the chocolate drizzle either, but that's because that is always a mess when I try and the wee girl is dairy intolerant. These can be made by hand rather than using a machine.

Ingredients

¼ cup of aqua faba
2 and ¼ cups of shredded coconut
½ tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup sugar

Method

  • Preheat oven to 160C (approx 325F)
  • Whisk aqua faba  and the vanilla extract for 30 secs so it is frothy
  • Add the coconut and sugar, make sure the coconut is all covered in the aqua faba
  • At this point it doesn't really look like it should stick together. Don't panic (I did I was going to add extra aqua faba)
After mixing all together
  • I used two spoons to make little "balls" of the mix which I then put on a baking tray. I did have to squish some back together once on the tray
  • Put in the oven for approx 20 mins - I would suggest using the bottom level of the oven, as they didn't stick to the bottom of the tray and could come out whilst still a little white (see photo below)
  • I found if they stuck to the bottom of the tray (as the ones in the middle of the oven did for me) they needed to go back in again. Mine ended up brown all over. Nice and crunchy on outside and still soft in the middle. I think if you used greaseproof paper you could take them out earlier as they wouldn't stick to that.
  • At this point let them cool and eat - or drizzle some melted chocolate on top
top four were from the bottom tray in oven and could come out at 18 mins and unstuck without going brown all over. The others all had to go back in.