GBBO 2019 Week 1 - Cake - Vegan Glazed Fruit Cake Filled with Homemade Marzipan

GBBO is back and yet again, I'm going to try and make at least one bake from each episode every week :) This time, a bit of a twist, in that I'm going to make every recipe vegan.

Week 1 was a nice warm-up episode - the signature challenge of fruit cake really made us see what the bakers were made of. My partner is not a big cake fan, let alone fruit cake, and I knew the only way to win him around was to make sure the cake packed flavour and moistness. So, when Phil's spiced rum cake with a homemade marzipan filling was described as both of these things (if a bit too rummy), I thought I'd have a go at that cake.

Phil's cake in a bundt tin, but I don't own any cake tins so fancy. Instead, I have a much simpler 23cm fluted cake ring tin, which I liberally greased and used instead.

To make this cake vegan was very straightforward. Just a few simple switches, none of which were too pricey. I adapted a few other bits in the recipe as well, for example, I switched to light brown sugar as I thought the lighter flavour would work well.

Another change I made was in the glaze. I had no rum in my cupboard, but I did purchase a bottle of "Rumless", an alcohol-free rum last week. So, using that, I made a glaze, and it worked a treat :)

The cake turned out really well and is still lovely and moist half a week later - store it at room temperature in a cake tin and it should last a week or so.

Makes 1 23cm cake

Ingredients:

For the marzipan:

• 200g (2 cups) ground almonds
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 75g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 130g (1 & 1/3 cup) sifted icing sugar
• 1 tsp almond extract

For the spice mix:

• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp allspice

For the cake:

• 375g (3 cups) plain flour
• 1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 & 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp spice mix
• 190g (1 cup) vegan margarine,
• 190g (1 cup and 2 tsp) light soft brown sugar
• 225g (1 & 1/2 cup) mixed dried fruit
• 150g (1 cup) dried cranberries
• 225ml soy milk
• Pinch of salt

For the syrup:

• 100ml alcohol-free dark rum (or normal rum)
• 115g (1/2 cup) caster sugar

For the icing:

• 125g (1 & 1/4 cup) icing sugar, sifted
• 1-2 tbsp soy milk
• 1/2 tsp orange extract (to taste)

Method:

1. Make the marzipan by pouring the sugar, maple syrup and 2 tbsp of water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and leave until the sugar has dissolved.

2. Pour the ground almonds and icing sugar into a mixing bowl and pour over the hot sugar mixture. Beat until smooth. Roll into a long 50cm sausage, cover in clingfilm, and set aside.

3. Prepare the spice mix by mixing together all of the spices in a small bowl.

4. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan)/355f/gas mark 4. Grease your bundt tin/ring cake tin well.

5. Mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and 2 tsp of the spice mixture. Into this, rub the margarine until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

6. Stir in the sugar, followed by the dried fruit and cranberries. Finally, add the soy milk and salt and stir until well combined.

7. Spoon half of the cake mix into the prepared cake tin and level. Place the marzipan sausage on top, and cover with the remaining cake mixture.

8. Bake for 45-50 minutes. After 30 minutes, check on the cake and if it is browning too quickly, cover with foil. To be sure it's done, check with a cake thermometer - it will read 99c/210f when the cake is fully cooked. 

9. Make the syrup a few minutes before the cake comes out of the oven. Pour the sugar and rum into a saucepan and boil for 2-3 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup has reduced slightly. 

10. Once the cake is out of the oven, poke it all over with a skewer and brush over half of the syrup. Leave the cake to cool for 10 minutes, and then turn the cake out onto a wire rack and brush over the remaining syrup. Leave to cool fully at room temperature (this took my cake about 40 minutes).

11. Make the icing by beating together the icing sugar, soy milk and orange extract, until thick enough to pipe and hold it's shape. Spoon into a piping bag.

12. Once the cake has cooled, pipe lines of icing down each ridge. Leave to set.

13. Enjoy!

Vegan Caramelized Biscuit and Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

It's been a while - 8 months in fact since my last blog post. Balancing work with study and training for ultramarathons - I've been very busy. However, my exams are nearly over, and work is a bit less crazy, so I'm going to try and start writing posts again. There are a few recipes I really want to share with everyone!
I decided to try out this cheesecake as a complete experiment. I based it off the extremely simple chocolate Nutella cheesecake I've posted about before (LINK) - and wondered whether I could make it vegan.
The answer was a categorical yes, and it's so easy!! There are only 5 ingredients, and the hardest part is crushing the biscuits. No baking is required, and it will keep for around a week in the fridge.
Silky, chocolate decadence - you wouldn't know it was dairy-free and totally vegan-friendly!

Makes one 20cm cheesecake (serves 10-12)

Ingredients:

• 250g caramelized biscuits (Lotus, or Aldi do an own-branded version)*
• 60g vegan margarine (I used Vitalite)
• 400g dairy-free soft cheese (I used Asda's own brand)
• 300g dairy-free chocolate hazelnut spread (I used Nature's Store Free From Hazelnut and Chocolate Spread )
• 50g sifted icing sugar

*If you can't get hold of caramelized biscuits, digestives or another type of non-filled biscuit will work just fine.

Method:

1. Grease and line the base of a springform 20cm circular cake tin.

2. Crush the biscuits using a rolling pin, or for speed, in a food processor, until light crumbs.

3. Melt the margarine in the microwave, and then pour over the crushed biscuits. Stir to combine and then press into the base of the cake tin.

4. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the soft "cheese", chocolate hazelnut spread and icing sugar until smooth.

5. Pour the "cheesy" filling onto the biscuit base and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or to be safe, overnight. At this point if you release the cheesecake, the filling will hold it's shape.

6. Slice and devour :) 

Speculoos Traybake (Three Ingredients)

It's been a while since my last post - Christmas baked me out so to speak, and with a lot of running training to do, I've not been able to bake much. In the last week or so, however, I've got a bit of my baking spirit back and made this ridiculously easy but delicious traybake.
I came across Biscoff spread a year or so ago - I never would have thought crushed biscoff biscuits (which are very similar to Speculoos biscuits) turned into a spread would be so tasty! I found a recipe that turned the biscoff into a traybake and needed to try it out for myself.
And...it works! It tastes like a lovely sponge pudding with a deep flavour of the cinnamon/spice notes of speculoos biscuits. I now think that whenever there's a good deal on Biscoff spread, I'll be buying some to make this :)
Even better, this recipe is dairy free (which as someone who is becoming more and more sensitive to dairy every day is very nice)!

Makes around 24

Ingredients:

• 1 large jar of crunchy Lotus Biscoff spread (380g)
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan)/355f/gas mark 4, and then grease and line the base of a 20cm square cake tin.

2. Whisk together the spread, eggs and baking powder until well combined.

3. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 16-18 minutes, until golden on top and does not wobble when the tin is moved. Leave to cool, cut into squares and enjoy!