GBBO 2019 Week 2 - Biscuits - Vegan Fig Rolls

For biscuit week, I was tempted to bake all three challenges - the chocolate biscuit bars looked amazing and would have been technically difficult, but required a lot of research to make something delicious and vegan. The showstopper as well, the 3d biscuit sculpture would have been a great challenge but could easily have ended in disaster!
So, to play it a little safer, I baked the technical challenge of fig rolls.

Of course, I then made my life more difficult and researched how to make them vegan, and changed up a few other ingredients as well.

I've used ground flax seeds in the past as an egg replacer (there's a vegan chocolate cake recipe I'm yet to write about that used them), so I decided to use these to replace the egg in the cakey biscuit dough surrounding the fig filling.
The dough turned out well and although a little less cakey than Paul would have liked, the end fig rolls are really tasty. I spiced the filling quite heavily with cinnamon and ginger, but you could turn these spices down to your own liking.

Makes 12

Ingredients:

For the biscuit dough:

• 175g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 50g vegan margarine (e.g. vitalite)
• 40g light soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 3 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the fig filling:

• 200g dried figs, roughly chopped
• 25g light soft brown sugar
• 50ml water
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger

To finish:

• Icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

1. Cream together the margarine and brown sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (beating with a wooden spoon in a mixing bowl would also work fine), for a couple of minutes, until pale and fluffy.

2. Combine the ground flax seeds and water and stir. Leave for around 5 minutes.

3. Pour the flaxseed mixture and vanilla into the mixing bowl and stir well. Sift over the flour, baking powder and salt, and bring the dough together with a spoon or your hands. As soon as it is one ball of dough, cover in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

4. Whilst the dough is chilling, make the filling by adding the figs, sugar and water to a small saucepan - the water should just about cover the figs. Bring to a boil and simmer for around 5 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been boiled off and the figs are soft.

5. Leave the fig mixture for a few minutes to cool slightly, and then blitz in a food processor until smooth. Add the cinnamon and ginger and beat in. Place the fig paste in a bowl and chill for at least 10 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 200c (180c fan)/400f/gas mark 6. Grease and line the base of a 20x30cm baking tray.

7. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is around 20 x 25cm. Slice down the short-end, so that you end up with two 10 x 25cm rectangles.

8. Divide the fig paste into two and place on sheets of cling film. Lightly wrap the fig paste in the cling film and use this to easily roll the fig paste into 25cm cylinders. Unwrap and place along the centre of each rectangle.

9. Dab a little water along one long edge of each rectangle. Pick up the opposite end of the rectangle and fold this over the fig paste, and then continue the roll to seal against the other end of the dough. (so you end up with dough encasing the fig paste). Repeat with the other rectangle.

10. Evenly slice 6 biscuits from each roll (to end up with 12 biscuits). Transfer to the baking sheet. Use a fork to press the rolls slightly, and then lightly score each on top.

11. Bake for around 12 minutes, or until very lightly golden on the corners. Remove from the oven and after a few minutes, gently transfer to a wire rack to cool fully.

12. Dust lightly with icing sugar to serve, and store in an airtight container.

13. Enjoy!

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 :)