Bookmark this page, because once you’ve made this vegan salted caramel chocolate cake, you’re going to want to keep coming back for more! Delicious warm from the oven with ice cream. I might even have had some for breakfast 🙂
Ingredients
150ml soy milk for the cake, 400ml soy milk for the caramel and 150ml for the icing
60ml vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract for the cake and 1 tsp for the salted caramel
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
150g self raising flour
240g caster sugar for the cake and 100g caster sugar for the caramel
40g vegan cocoa powder (I used Green and Black’s)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp cornflour
200g vegan chocolate
2 tbsp vegan butter (I used Naturli)
Tsp flaked sea salt
Optional – vegan chocolate vermicelli.
Method
Preheat the oven to 180.
Combine the 150ml soy milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside.
Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and 1/2 tsp salt, then add the oil, vanilla, and milk and vinegar.
Bake for 30 minutes until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean.
Then make the icing by melting the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of boiling water, then combining the 150ml soy milk with the melted chocolate and the butter. Wait for the cake to cool before icing it.
Then make the caramel by adding 100g caster sugar, 400ml soy milk and the cornflour. Bring to a boil, continually whisking to keep smooth, then simmer until it’s smooth and thick. Add the sea salt and the vanilla extract.
Sprinkle with some chocolate vermicelli. Pour the caramel over the cake and serve with ice cream or cream!
Our 2020 Christmas gift guide was one of our most popular posts last year – here’s our guide for 2021. We both love Christmas (especially Caroline who always promises not to watch any Christmas movies or put up any decorations until December 1 … and always fails!) yet despair at the waste and the over-consumption this time of year brings. Here is our 2021 Christmas gift guide to inspire you, whatever your budget!
Take the Plunge!
For the swimmer in your life, or actually for anyone who loves the water whether they’re in it or not, The Art of Wild Swimming books, by our friends Anna Deacon and Vicky Allan will tempt anyone to go running for their nearest loch, lake, river or beach. These handy guides are full of beautiful photos and expert advice on local swimming spots, written by the local people who know them best – including Colin, who contributed to the sea swimming chapter and the section on his childhood haunt, the River Teith! The Art of Wild Swimming Scotland and The Art of Wild Swimming England and Wales is out now, published by Black & White.
Search Engine Optimised!
A foraging course with a local expert is an unusual and thoughtful gift for nature lovers and cooks who want to know a bit more about eating from the land, but who aren’t sure where to start and what to forage for. Wild Food UK run courses nationwide – check out their website for times and locations.
Sea buckthorn – a favourite with foragers, pictured here growing by Gullane beach in East Lothian
Christmas in focus
Hit your local charity shop to find photo frames – mine usually has a selection for 50p – £2 each, then download LaLaLab and choose your favourite photos from your phone to print – the turnaround is usually around 7 days. Fill up some frames with some wonderful memories from 2021 for a loved one. Or find a big frame, take out the picture, and make your own photo display with mini pegs and string.
Vegan wax wraps for baking gifts – Beeswax Wrap Co
Be calm
Calm is one of our favourite apps – full of brilliant exercises and meditations as well as gentle physical exercises to help bring peace to your inner self. Gift a subscription for 2022 to someone you think would love it too.
Travel is still something that feels pretty restricted, so how about an online AirBnb experience for someone who’s missing the chance to explore new cultures? You can choose anything from yoga delivered by an Indian yogi to meditation with a Buddhist monk, to a vegan cookery lesson from a New York chef. Or for the cook in your life, gift an online cooking lesson with a difference from Migrateful – the lessons are all given by UK migrants who are facing barriers to integration and finding a job due to legal and language challenges. There are lessons for a wide range of cuisines and dietary requirements – I’m looking forward to trying the veggie Syrian class.
Book a cookery lesson from a migrant chef at Migrateful and learn a completely new cuisine.
Seek and ye shall find
The best gifts are often the ones that don’t cost money but that the giver has spent time and love preparing. What about designing a nature walk for your loved one and giving them a voucher on the day? Research and plan your route first, choosing somewhere you know relatively well where you think you’ll find plenty of interesting wildlife. Download the Seek app so you can identify what to see along the way – then turn nature guide for the day and take your gift recipient on a walk to discover the flowers, plants, birds, trees and animals on their doorstep.
A well-planned nature walk costs nothing and could be the perfect gift this Christmas.
We were lucky enough to spend the weekend in the Cairngorms, in celebration of Colin’s auntie Sheila’s 70th birthday. As tourism season in the Highlands was coming to an end, auntie had booked the entire Cairngorm Lodge Youth Hostel for the festivities, which saw hordes of family from all corners of the UK and beyond descending on Glenmore one wet Friday in October.
Although time was short and we only had two nights and a full day, we made sure that we packed plenty in, including swimming in Loch Morlich, climbing a mountain, eating enough chilli and pizza to sink a ship and even bumping into some friends at a quiet lochan high up in the mountains!
Ryvoan Bothy on Meall a Buichaille
Where we stayed We stayed at the Cairngorm Lodge Youth Hostel – seven miles from Aviemore and just a two minute walk from the shores of Loch Morlich. It offers a range of rooms, from singles, twins and doubles to dormitories, with clean, modern showers and a large kitchen. There’s also a refectory, a conservatory with spectacular views of the mountains to enjoy over breakfast, and a large living room with a pool table.
What we did As well as ceilidhing the night away, eating our body weight in pizza, catching up over coffee and French toast made by Colin, and enjoying a few games of pool, we wanted to make the most of the stunning surroundings of the hostel.
Loch Morlich is one of our favourite Scottish lochs, where we’ve spent summers kayaking and swimming and winters walking round the beautiful Rothiemurchus forest that fringes the loch …. and swimming! It’s just across the road from the hostel, and with its wide golden sandy beach, views of the majestic Cairngorms and still, clear waters, it would have been rude not to (although I did just watch from the shore!) The temperature was a brisk 6.5 degrees, so no one stayed in for long. There were also paddle boarders and kayaks on the loch, undeterred by the chilly temperatures and rain.
Meall a’ Bhuachaille is a four hour circuit from the foot of the hostel, through pretty woodland and then on to the slopes of the 543m high mountain, leading to incredible views across to Loch Morlich and the Cairngorms. The last ten minutes of the ascent are steep, with steps instead of a path for much of it, so you’ll definitely feel you’ve earned a rest at the top. We sat in the sheltered cairn and replenished our energy with some sugared almonds from House of Bruar, where we’d stopped on the way up the road to Aviemore.
The way down leads you past an Lochan Uaine, where to our delight we encountered the Wardie Bay wild swimmers of Edinburgh, who’d taken a trip up to the Cairngorms for the weekend and had just enjoyed a dip in the green lochan. We also passed the Ryvoan bothy, which was kitted out for walkers with a fireplace, candles, table and cooking equipment – the hiker we met there looked very cosy enjoying some biscuits while his socks dried outside!
An Lochan Uaine
What we ate We all sat down to dinner on the Friday night in the large refectory, where Colin’s cousin Jenny was a total superstar and made three types of chilli, including this vegan chilli. She kindly shared the recipe, which serves 4.
Ingredients
1 stick celery, chopped
1 large white onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced or chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
Splash of balsamic vinegar
1 tsp veg stock
2 tins chopped tomatoes
2 tins kidney beans
2 tins black beans
1-2 tsp chilli flakes depending on how spicy you like your chilli!
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
Lime to season
Method
Heat a tbsp oil in a large wok and fry the onions over a medium heat for five minutes.
Add the garlic and spices and fry for another minute, then add the tomatoes, vinegar, beans, celery, stock and nutritional yeast.
Bring the mixture to the boil then leave to simmer on a low heat for 40 minutes.
Muffins can be quite hit or miss for me – from giant dry, crumbly, tasteless things wrapped in cellophane and bought in service stations, to light, fluffy, moist delicacies like this! The courgette means that they aren’t dry, but we like them split and slathered in something delicious too – in the picture, we had them with beetroot houmus made with roasted beetroot, tahini, chickpeas and garlic.
This recipe makes about ten muffins.
This makes about ten large muffins.
Ingredients
140g plain flour
16 oz soya milk
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 grated courgette
2 tbsp vegan butter, soft or melted
50g grated cheese
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Combine the flour, paprika, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
Then fold in the milk, courgette, butter, cheese and mustard to form a batter.
Spoon the mixture into a muffin tray and bake for 20-25 minutes till golden.
This vegan smoky cheeze sauce is a bit Marmite in that you’ll either love it or hate it – it has a VERY strong cheesy, smoky taste! Colin isn’t a fan and nor are the kids, which means when I make a batch I know it’s ALL FOR ME 🙂 I am obsessed with it and use it for everything from dressing a salad, spreading on crackers, stirring through pasta and drizzling over a buddha bowl. It keeps well in a tupperware in the fridge, or frozen, if you don’t use it all at once.
Ingredients
100g cashews, soaked overnight
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp liquid smoke
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup plant milk
Method
This is the easy part – just put all of the ingredients in a blender and whizz them together for 30 seconds – 1 minute till creamy! Add a little more water or plant milk if you like the sauce runnier.
We love this vegan jambalaya recipe for camping – it does take a bit of time to cook, but the smell of it cooking over a fire is amazing, and it can be made using the tomato tin for measurement, so no extra equipment required. It’s also one of those recipes that improves with age – it seems to taste even better once you reheat it.
Once you throw everything into the pan, you just need to keep an eye on it to ensure that the rice doesn’t boil dry – so it’s a great excuse to sit by the campfire and do nothing as you ‘watch dinner’!
It’s also delicious with potatoes and broccoli roasted in a little olive oil and salt.
This serves 6.
Ingredients
6 chopped vegan sausages – we used Richmond’s.
2 tins chopped tomatoes
2 tins water
Half tin red wine
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp oregano
1 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 celery sticks, chopped finely
1 red pepper, chopped
1 tbsp vegan stock (we used Bouillon)
120g brown basmati rice
400g butter beans, rinsed and drained
Parsley to garnish
Olive oil to cook
Method
Heat a large pan with 2 tbsp olive oil and fry the onion and garlic for a couple of minutes.
Add the celery, chopped tomatoes, pepper, 1/2 can of stock, beans, paprika, oregano, sausages and rice the cover the pan and simmer, adding more stock and wine until the rice is cooked and stirring every so often.
I first made this vegan lentil dhal when I was ill with the dreaded coronavirus, so wasn’t fully able to appreciate how good it smells and tastes! It’s such a comforting dish and really easy to put together, as well as being full of nutrition and goodness.
Ingredients
500g red lentils
1 litre vegetable stock
1 can (400g) chopped tomatoes
2 white onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
1 tsp dried turmeric
1 tsp dried coriander
1 tsp dried paprika
1 tsp dried cumin
2 tsp dried ginger
Vegetable oil for frying
Fresh coriander to garnish
3 chopped cherry tomatoes to garnish
1 tbsp lime to season
Salt and pepper to season
Method
Heat a large pan with the vegetable oil and brown the chopped onions.
Add the garlic and spices and fry for another minute or two.
Add the vegetable stock and lentils and simmer for 10 minutes till the lentils have absorbed the liquid.
Then add the can of chopped tomatoes and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Season with salt, pepper and lime and garnish with fresh coriander and the fresh chopped cherry tomatoes.
Buddha bowls are such a perfect way to have lunch as you can have a little bit of everything. you fancy in them. They’re apparently named for their big round belly shape and usually contain grains, vegetables, a dressing and some protein. I like mine as colourful as possible, and usually some tofu ends up being in there somewhere – this lemon and sage tofu buddha bowl is one of our favourites.
The first rule of tofu – and I can’t stress this enough – is to press it – and then marinade it for AT LEAST 24 hours, if not more. I always wince when I see recipes that tell you to take some pressed tofu, wave some dressing at it then fry it or bake it. It’s not enough – your tofu will end up tasting bland and nothingy and might even put you or the person you’re serving it to off tofu for life! Patience is a virtue with tofu. The more you marinade it the better it will taste.
Ingredients
1 block firm tofu
Juice of two lemons
2 teaspoons sage
Salt
Pepper
Method
First press the tofu, using a tofu press or by wrapping it in a tea towel, putting it in a sieve, then putting the sieve over a bowl with heavy books on top of the wrapped tofu. Press for minimum one hour.
Prepare the marinade. I usually marinade in my tofu press but you can also do in a bowl. Add the lemon juice, sage, a pinch of salt and pepper to the bowl or press. Chop the tofu in cubes and marinade in the lemon juice mixture. Add warm water to ensure the tofu is completely covered and marinade for 24-76 hours.
Then heat your oven to 180C (fan) and bake the tofu in its marinade in an oven dish for 20-30 minutes, until it’s golden.
I had this with roasted dill potatoes, roasted tomatoes with thyme, and roasted carrots marinaded in miso. It’s delicious drizzled with our smoky cheeze sauce. Other suggestions to add to the tofu in a buddha bowl –
This vegan pasta arrabbiata is one of those staple recipes that’s great for days when you’re too busy to think about what to make for dinner and just need something you can throw together now. ‘Arrabbiata’ means ‘angry’ in Italian, and this chilli-spiked tomato sauce does have a kick, but not one that will blow your head off. Native to Rome, it’s something I used to eat a lot when I lived in Italy many years ago.
These days, we have a lovely Italian neighbour who often brings us fresh tomatoes from his greenhouse that I use to make this sauce. Make a batch for now, and a batch to freeze, so you’ve always got some of this zingy sauce ready to go.
Ingredients
4 tbsp olive oil
1 kg fresh tomatoes
1-2 tsp chilli flakes, depending on how hot you like it.
Handful basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 white onion, chopped finely
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Handful sliced black olives
You’ll also need a blender.
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees(fan)
Place the tomatoes in a baking dish and toss in 2 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and oregano. Roast for 15-20 minutes.
Once the tomatoes are ready, heat the other 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan or wok over a medium heat and fry the onions and garlic for five minutes.
Then blend the tomatoes with the onion and garlic, plus the balsamic vinegar, in your blender, to make a sauce. Serve with your favourite pasta – we like this with penne or rigatoni – and garnish with the fresh basil and sliced black olives.
The other day I noticed some amazing looking, but not vegan, pecan Danish pastries in the supermarket and was overcome by a craving to have some for breakfast. This is what I came up with – vegan Danish pecan plaits. The pecans toasted in maple syrup are to die for – enjoy!
Ingredients (makes six plaits)
375g sheet of vegan puff pastry
5 fl oz maple syrup plus 3 tbsp for frying the pecans
300g pecans
80g soft or melted vegan butter
2 tbsp warm water
1tsp cinnamon
Method
Put 250g of the pecans, butter, water and maple syrup in a blender and blend to form a smooth paste.
Roll out the pastry sheet and cut into six equal rectangles.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
On the long side of each rectangle, cut a ‘fringe’ on each side, making four cuts on each long side. Leave a central strip in the middle of each rectangle.
Take a teaspoon and spread the pecan paste over the central strip of each rectangle, then fold the side strips into the centre of the rectangle.
Bake the pecan plaits in the oven for around 15 minutes until golden.
While the plaits are baking, fry the remaining pecans on a low heat in the 3 tbsp of maple syrup, stirring often so the syrup doesn’t harden.
Top the plaits with the fried pecans, sprinkle with the cinnamon and eat! They’re also delicious cold for breakfast or a snack the next day.
