Vegan Dessert Bread with Bananas and Berries

Hello,

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe here. I've been trying to keep the blog mostly about my illustration work, but since I got quite a positive response when I posted images of this dessert on my Facebook and Twitter profiles, I decided to upload the recipe. It's based on a banana bread recipe, but quite heavily modified. I'm not even sure what to to call this creation, but it was tasty, soft, and moist.

Moist Vegan Dessert Bread with Bananas and Berries

Ingredients:

Wet:

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 whole bananas)*

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup margarine (plus a little extra for greasing)

1/3 cup of almond milk*

1/3 cup of fresh blueberries

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dry:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 tablespoon ground almonds (optional)*

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

2-3 large strawberries

1 fresh fig

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 C). Grease a 9 inch diameter round pan with a little bit of margarine and sprinkle it with a little bit of sugar. Feel free to use a 9x5 inch pan instead, or any other kind that holds a similar amount of volume.

2. In a large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar together until smooth. Mash the bananas and add them to the mix, along with the almond milk and the vanilla extract. Lastly, gently stir in the blueberries.

3. In a different bowl mix together the dry ingredients. I recommend using a whisk for combining these together because it seems that with this method, baked goods turn out more soft and fluffy.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients bowl and gently blend them together, until just combined. I prefer to use a fork for this, so as not to over-mix the batter. Pour the mixture into your pan and prepare to decorate!

5. Thinly slice up the strawberries and figs, and arrange them on top of the batter in whichever way you like. You can of course use other fruits or berries (like plums, apricots, peaches, blackberries, raspberries, etc.) to fancy up your baked creation.

6. Bake at 350F (180 C) for 45-50 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean) on the middle rack of the oven. If the bread is baked through but top looks too pale to you – place the pan on to the top rack and turn on the broiler for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the bread cool for 10-15 minutes. Then, remove it from the pan and enjoy!

Notes:

*If you don’t like bananas, you can also substitute puree from a different fresh fruit.

*Any other milk you prefer will also work for this recipe

*The tablespoon of ground almonds is optional because it doesn’t significantly change the flavour of the bread, but I swear that adding a little ground almonds to my recipes gives my muffins, breads, and cakes a more pleasant texture.

 

Happy Baking!

Ptasie Mleczko / Птичье Молоко - Cake

On Wednesday I made cake! It was for my dad's birthday and it was a "bird's milk" cake - a cake inspired by a Slavic souffle/marshmallow type chocolate covered treat.
I referenced this lovely recipe, making some adjustments to it to create my cake. Yes, it was a meticulous process, but it was also very fun (for me anyway) and I was pretty happy with the results, as were the people who got to enjoy this cake=). I think in the future I'll keep working on this recipe, playing around with different flavor combinations. And I also hope some one else will give this recipe a spin and enjoy it!

Ptasie Mleczko / Птичье Молоко / “Bird Milk” Cake

Ingredients

Cake:

• 4 eggs
• 150 g sugar
• 150 g flour
• 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons of (cooled) coffee
• 2 dark chocolate squares - zested

Soufflé:

• 9 eggs
• 300 g sugar 1 ¼ cup
• 150 g butter or margarine (melted)
• 200 ml milk (3/4 cup)
• 21 g gelatin (3 small packets of Knoxx gelatin)
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Topping

• Some hazel nuts
• 250 g of dark chocolate

* Some quick notes: When I say heat-proof bowls, I recommend using glass or metal bowls, not plastic ones. I also recommend using a mixer for the majority of this recipe in order to ensure smooth even textures. 

Directions:

(Prep + Sponge)

1.       Dissolve the gelatin with 150 ml of drinking water and let it sit for an hour. (Dissolve it in a heat proof dish)

2.       Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking pan (about 7-9 inches in diameter, 3-4 inches deep) with parchment paper and grease well with some butter or margarine.

3.       For the sponge cake – beat the eggs together with sugar.

4.       Add the flour, cocoa powder, zested chocolate, and coffee, and mix well.

5.       Pour the cake batter and bake for about 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean – the cake is done!

(Soufflé)

6.       Separate the egg yolks and whites (into separate bowls) of all 9 eggs.

7.       Beat the egg yolks with 150 g of sugar in a heat proof bowl.

8.       Add milk and mix together.

9.       Add flour and mix well.

10.   Heat the mixture by putting your heat-proof bowl on top of a pot of boiling water. Heat and periodically mix until the mixture thickens, becoming dense and creamy. Take the bowl off the boiler and let it cool for a few minutes (5-10 minutes). (Also, don’t worry if it’s sort of lumpy. Those lumps can get smoothed out later.)  

11.   Add melted butter or margarine to this cooled mixture and mix well with the mixer. Add the vanilla extract and give everything another good mix.

12.   Heat the gelatine mixture until it’s completely melted and no longer grainy. Set aside to cool for a bit.

13.   Take your egg whites and with a pinch of salt, whip them up until they’re slightly frothy.

14.   Add the remaining 150g or sugar and whip the mixture until it is big, white, and puffy.

15.   Add the liquefied gelatin and mix well together.

16.   Add the egg white mixture to the egg yolk mixture and mix the two thoroughly together. Put the soufflé in the refrigerator, until you’re done completing the next step.

17.   Take your cooled sponge cake and dissect it horizontally into two layers. Put one half back in the parchment lined pan.

18.   Now we’re going to make our layers. The way I did it was to pour all of the soufflé mixture over the first layer of the sponge cake, and then top it with the second layer of cake – like a sandwich. You could also pour half of the soufflé mixture over the first cake layer, add the second layer, and pour the remaining soufflé on top of that. It’s up to you!

19.   Leave the cake in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours to set.

(Topping)

20.   After the cake is set, take it out of the pan and transfer it to a large enough plate.

21.   Melt about 250g of chocolate and carefully pour or brush it over the cake.

22.   Crush and zest some hazelnuts to use as a nice decoration. Or feel free to use any other kinds of nuts you like, or even chop up some dried fruit, or whatever you like as your finishing touch.

23.   Put the cake back in the fridge for a few more hours, until the chocolate sets.

Enjoy!

Autumn Inspired Oatmeal Cookies

I'm sharing a recipe today!
I came up with it this afternoon and I thought it was pretty good - so why not post it, right?
My inspiration came from the abundance of dried berries and fruit in my kitchen. They remind me of autumn and I think they're a perfect match for oatmeal cookies=)

Autumn Feast Oatmeal Cookies

Makes: 20-24 cookies

(Dry ingredients bowl)

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

2 cups oats

1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¼ cup diced dried apricots

¼ cup dried cranberries

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup dried black cherries

1/8 cup diced dates

(Wet ingredients bowl)

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup of margarine

1/3 - ½ ripe banana (or 1/3 cup of apple puree)

2 eggs

Directions:

 

1.       Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.       Dice and measure your dried fruits and berries into a small bowl.

(The following is an optional, but recommend step: rehydrate the dried fruit by pouring boiling water into the bowl, enough to slightly submerge them. Let the fruits stand and absorb the water for at least 5 minutes. Afterward, drain the excess water and give the diced fruit a slight squeeze – ridding them of more excess water.)

3.       Preheat oven to 350F.

4.       In a large bowl, using a fork mash up about 1/3 or ½ of a ripe, peeled banana. The reason I do this is to help keep the cookies moist, without using more margarine. Next, add about 1/3 cup of margarine, though I think even ¼ cup will be just fine. Add the brown sugar and cream all three ingredients together with a wooden spoon until they’re nice and smooth.

5.       Add the eggs to the creamed mixture and continue to mix until smooth again.

6.       In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Once those are well mixed, toss in the diced fruits and berries and mix until all are well incorporated.

7.       Add the oatmeal mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until the ingredients are well combined. At this point the dough shouldn’t be too dry and floury, but rather moist and sticky.

8.       Using two teaspoons, carefully drop dough on to the parchment lined baking sheet, giving them some space in between. Or, you can also mold the cookies with your hands. (Works best if the hands are damp. I have a bowl of water next to me and dip my hands in occasionally to moisten them.)

9.       Bake for 11-14 minutes. Remove and let the cookies cool and set for a few minutes. They should be a little crisp on the outside but soft inside. Enjoy!