Rosewater and Pistachio Cupcakes with Vegan Icing

This is probably the fourth post on rosewater cupcakes here, but it so happens that I like making rose-flavoured cakes. I like roses in their every form, including their smell and flavour.
However, this time it's worth talking about the icing.
Because it seems that I've just figured out the perfect vegan icing: it's stiff and never-melting like regular dairy and sugar-loaded icing, but at the same time it's sugar- and animal products-free.
I'm actually very proud.
But a few months ago I was very sad when all available British suppliers discontinued selling Soyatoo whippable soy cream, which I had been always using instead of icing; it was perfectly white and quite nice, but it melted quickly and was not stiff enough to hold the shapes long enough after piping. It was in the state of a "soft peak" at its best, unless I kept it in the fridge for ages and then immediately piped on and immediately served.
So when it disappeared, I had to seek for a replacement but to no avail, so I tried some recipes for vegan whipped cream from the Internet, but they were more to use in place of a cream, not icing, so not exactly what I needed. Actually I found one which promised to be good being piped, but it wasn't, and very fiddly to do - lots of ingredients and lots of preparation - cooking, melting, whipping, freezing, blending, freezing again...
My recipe requires only melting and whipping in a good mixer. Normally  vegan icings are based either on coconut milk, or vegan shortening (?), but they still have to have lots of caster sugar to reach the right stiffness. Mine doesn't! I really am happy)

So anyway, the recipe for Rosewater Cupcakes is here. To make it with pistachios, you'll need to add 1tsp freshly ground cardamom seed and half a cup chopped pistachios.

To make the icing, you'll need the product called creamed coconut by Biona, because it's so much thicker than even the fattiest part of the fattiest coconut milk you can find out there, so it whips like a dream. Actually this particular icing is not entirely perfect, because its not all-purpose - I used rosewater in it, so next time I'll still need to do some adjustments to the recipe if I want to omit the rosewater. I hope to figure out the formula for the basic icing soon.
  
Vegan coconut and rosewater icing
Makes for 10-12 cupcakes

Ingredients: 

150 ml organic creamed coconut (the yield from Biona's 200g vacuum pack)
2 Tbsp agave nectar
2 Tbsp organic rosewater
100 ml hot water
3 Tbsp coconut flour

To decorate
pinch of matcha green tea
1-2 Tbsp freeze-dried raspberry powder

Method:

Carefully melt the contents of the creamed coconut pack in a saucepan until it loses its bricky shape, but not heat it too much. Transfer to the mixer bowl. Add agave syrup first. Then add the rosewater, and whip a bit. Then add coconut flour, one spoonful at a time, looking at the consistency. If you're happy with it, you may not need all 3 tablespoons of coconut flour and hot water - I did it only because I needed more volume to cover all the cupcakes. If you think it's still too thin, add more flour; if you think its too thick - add some hot water.
To make the icing green, add a pinch of matcha green tea to the mixture in the end. After piping the icing on the cupcakes, sprinkle it with chopped pistachios or raspberry powder through fine sieve.

Vegan Rosewater Cupcakes with Whipped Rice &Coconut cream

This is just a decoration suggestion of my Vegan Rosewater Cupcakes, decorated with the whipped Rice Cream from this post 
and the roses from my garden
The cream sprinkled lightly with freeze-dried raspberry powder.

Quick and easy but pretty for some tea party :)

Vegan Cherry Clafoutis

 This is veganised version of a traditional French cherry pie. Michel Roux's Pastry book was an inspiration.

Ingredients for the crust:
1/3 cup of sunflower oil
1/2 cup of maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp water
2 cups of whole spelt flour (or any wheat flour)

1 cup of almond meal (ground almonds)
pinch of sea salt

Ingredients for the filling:
100 g silken tofu
1/4 cup soy (oat) milk
1/3 cup baking oil
2/3 cup agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almont extract
1/2 cup white spelt flour
1 cup whole spelt flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of sea salt
200 g fresh cherries, pitted
2 tsp of barley malt powder to decorate


Method:
Preheat oven to 170C, brush a baking tin or flan ring with oil.
In a bowl mix oil, vanilla and  maple syrup. In a separate bowl, mix the flours and the salt, then add the liquid mixture little by little, maybe adding water if needed. Sometimes you'll need to add a bit of flour if it's too wet, but try not to do it too dry before it starts to hold together - it'll be almost impossible to fix. When the dough is stiff enough, mix it with your hands, trying not to press too much. When the dough is ready, roll it with a rolling pin and line your tin. It probably won't roll very well, so do your best, and the rest you can just add with your fingers and smooth together. Press the dough only lighlty. Once the tin is lined, put a piece of parchment paper on top and fill with baking beans and bake blind for 10 minutes. Take the tin out of the oven, remove the beans and bake for 5 minutes more.

To make the filling, put the tofu, milk, oil, agave and extracts in the blender and mix till smooth. Put the mixture in a bowl and sift in the flours, salt and leavening agents. Mix with a spatula until smooth.  Put the pitted cherries inside the baked flan, and pour the mixture on top. Put the tart in the oven and bake for 45 min. It strangely takes more time than things like that usually do, but it surely needs it, probably because cherries add some moisture. Anyway it should be checked with a toothpick after 35 minutes onwards.
Dust your clafoutis with some barley malt powder just before serving.

Fruit Kanten

Kanten is a vegan jelly, where a seaweed called agar-agar is used instead of gelatin, which is of animal origin.

The kanten is a very simple thing to do and it's a perfect dessert for hot days.

You can use any fruit as a filling and use practically any juice to make kanten jelly.

Ingredients:

1 litre of liquid (water+ apple juice, for example)
3 heaped Tbsp of agar-agar flakes (or approx. 1,5 Tbsp of agar-agar powder)
chopped fruit or berries
pinch of sea salt

Method:

Put your liquid in the saucepan, add the salt and scatter the agar flakes on the surface. Constantly stirring, bring to a boil. You need to stir, because otherwise the flakes can stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

During boiling the flakes should melt reasonably quickly in this quantity. You need to wait for them to melt. If you don't see any small transparent particles on your stirring spoon, the flakes must have melted. Once melted, take the mixture off heat and pour it into glasses or bowls. Put the fruit bits inside each glass and set aside till completely cooled and firm.

Queen's Diamond Jubilee cake

Nothing special, simple chocolate sponge with whipped rice cream (the latter was the result of some haphazard attempt)

Ingredients (for two layers):
2 cups of soy milk
2 tsp cider vinegar
2/3 cup baking oil
1 cup agave syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 cups whole spelt flour
1 cup white spelt flour
2/3 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 bicarbonate of soda
pinch of sea salt

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and oil the cake tin.
2. Put soy milk and vinegar in a big bowl and mix with the whisk. Add the oil, agave syrup and the extracts to the milk misture, beat till nice and smooth.
3. Place a fine sieve on top of the bowl and sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix with the whisk till no lumps remain, but try not to overmix.
4. This recipe is for two layers of the cake, so if you don't have two tins, divide all the ingredients in two and bake one after another. Bake the cake about 35 minutes, but it may depend on the oven. Check if ready putting a wooden toothpick in the middle of the cake, which should come out dry.  I'd like to note, that all ovens vary, so the aforementioned time and temperature are guidelines only.


Whipped rice cream was a bit of a random try, but as far as I can remember it was
1 carton of Rice Cuisine (200 ml)
4 Tbsp coconut flour
1 Tbsp corn starch
2 Tbsp agave syrup

Everything was just put in a beater one by one and mixed till stiff (about 2 mins). I wonder if it actually could do without corn starch, because this cream came out even stiffer than the regular dairy whipped cream. But it's not so bad, because it perfectly holds the rosettes for ever and ever. And it never melts or gets absorbed, like Soyatoo whippable cream does. Hooray.

Vegan Almond Jewel Biscuits

I use maple syrup in these biscuits, which kinda makes them macrobiotic, doesn't it :)
I learned this recipe from my dear friend Angela. There are not many ingredients which makes these cute things even better.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup of sunflower oil
1/2 cup of maple syrup
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 cup of whole spelt flour (or any wheat flour)
1 cup of oat flour
1 cup of almond meal (ground almonds)
pinch of sea salt
couple of tablespoons of good quality fruit spread.

Method:
Preheat oven to 170C, line a tray with a parchment paper.
In a bowl mix oil, maple syrup and the almond extract with a fork. In a separate bowl, mix the flours and the salt, then add the liquid mixture little by little. Sometimes you'll need to add a bit of flour if it's too wet, but try not to do it too dry before it starts to hold together - it'll be almost impossible to fix. When the dough is stiff enough, mix it with your hands, trying not to press too much. When the dough is ready, nip a little piece off it and form a little ball, then flatten it with your palms in a thick round, place it in onto the tray. Now poke the middle of the round with your index finger. This will be a well for a little dash of a jam. Continue with the rest of the dough until your tray is full or the dough is finished.
Before putting it in the oven, place a little of jam into each well with a tiny spoon.
Bake for 12 minutes.

 These biscuits are easily made gluten-free, if you substitute 1 cup of wheat/spelt flour with a cup of rice flour or any gluten-free mixture.

Vegan Brownies with fresh raspberry

Just a raspberry version of my macro sugarless brownies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of silken tofu
1/4 cup soy milk
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 cup whole spelt flour
1/2 cup white spelt flour (or wheat)
1 Tbsp arrowroot
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
100g of fresh raspberry (2/3 of 150g raspberry punnet)

Method:
Preheat oven to 170C. Line a small oven tray with parchment paper, covering the sides of the tray too.
Cream the tofu, milk and oil in a blender. Put the mixture in a bowl, mix in the maple syrup and the extracts.
Sift in the flours, arrowroot, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. The batter will be quite thick so mix it with a plastic spatula. When smooth, transfer it to the tray and even it out, smoothing the top. It may take only a part of your tray, depending on its size, but that's ok, you shouldn't spread it too thinly.
Bake for 30 minutes. Take the tray out of the oven and let it cool down a little before cutting the brownies' squares.

Vegan Almond butter Blondies

Almond is one of my favourite flavours. I love all the things almondy.
I came up with the idea of this almond butter blondie cake couple of days ago and had a comment that it tastes  like marzipan.
Almond butter is quite pricey but you won't need much.

 Ingredients:
1/2 cup silken tofu
1/4 cup rice milk
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1/3 cup almond butter
2/3 cup agave syrup
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup white spelt flour
1/2 cup whole spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
generous pinch of sea salt

Decoration:
a handful of almond flakes

Method:
Preheat oven to 170C. Line a small oven tray with parchment paper, covering the sides of the tray.
Put the tofu, milk, oil, agave syrup and almond butter in a blender and blend until smooth. Put the mixture in a bowl, mix in the extracts.
Sift in the flours, baking powder and salt, mix with a wooden spoon and then with a plastic spatula. When smooth, transfer it to the tray and even it out, smoothing the top with the spatula. Scatter the almond flakes on the surface of the cake.
Bake for 30 minutes. Take the tray out of the oven and let it cool down a little before cutting the squares.

Vegan Sugar-free Cherry Cake

A very simple cake with basic ingredients.

Makes one layer for 8" cake tin

Ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1/2 cup agave syrup
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract
2 cups spelt flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
generous pinch of sea salt
2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup dried cherries, soaked in warm water

 Decoration:
approx 150g fresh cherries (one punnet)
barley malt powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C and oil your cake tin.
In a large mixing bowl, mix soy milk with the vinegar and leave for couple of minutes. Add oil, agave and extracts and mix everything together with a whisk. Sift in flour, leavening agents and salt and mix untik smooth. Drain the cherries and fold in the mixture alongside with the lemon zest. Pour in the cake tin, place it in the oven immediately and bake for 35-40 minutes, depending on the oven  - check with a wooden toothpick, placed in the middle of the cake - it should come out dry. I'd like to note that all ovens vary, so the aforementioned time and temperature are guidelines only.


When cooled down, smooth some barley malt or rice syrup on the top of the cake and arrange halved fresh cherries. Dust the cherries with some barley malt powder, sifted through a small fine sieve just before serving (otherwise it will melt and disappear).

Vegan Simple Rosewater cupcakes

These vegan cupcakes are easy to make. All you need is natural rose water. I also use Uncle Roy's rose water extract, which contains rose oil and sunflower oil. It gives more pronounced rose flavour, than just rose water. I normally use freshly ground spelt flour, but all-purpose flour is ok to use too.

Makes about 12 regular size cupcakes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy yogurt
2/3 cup rice milk
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp natural rose water
1 tsp rose water extract
1 cup whole spelt flour
1 cup white spelt flour

1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder

pinch of sea salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 170C and line your cupcake tray with paper cases.

In a large bowl, mix all the liquid ingredients. Put a fine sieve ot top of the bowl and sieve in the flours, soda, baking powder and salt.
Pour the mixture in the liners, and bake for 26-30 minutes (depending on the oven and the size of the cupcakes). Check with a wooden toothpick, placed in the middle of a cupcake, which should come out dry.  I'd like to note that all ovens vary, so the aforementioned time and temperature are guidelines only.


These cupcakes were topped with the Soyatoo whippable soy cream, coloured with a pinch of beetrot powder and with a dash of rosewater added to it. I decorated them with some petals of the roses which grow in our garden.I didn't do anything to them, just rinsed with water. They're not supposed to be eaten.

Macro gingerbread men

These are less spicy and more wholesome than traditional gingerbread biscuits. Decorated just with currants 'cause it's one of the natural alternatives to the conventional piped decorations, made of sugar and colourings.

These gingerbread men are better than just vegan. With agave syrup (you can use maple syrup if you want) and barley malt they're totally guilt-free. I make them for my little boy.

The ingredients list is very simple, and I don't use any leavening agents because I don't think there is a need for them.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup baking oil (sunflower, grapeseed)

1/4 cup agave syrup

1/2 cup barley malt

2 1/3 cup whole spelt flour

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground ginger

pinch of sea salt

Method:

1.In a mixing bowl, mix together oil, agave and barley syrup. Sift in the flour and spices, add salt.  Mix with a wooden spoon, then your hands until the dough start to stiffen. Make a ball and wrap it in a cling film and put it in the fridge for half an hour.

2. Preheat the oven to 180C and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Roll a piece of the dough on a slightly floured surface, until smooth and not too thick. The thickness you'll need depends on the size of your biscuit cutter. Mine are huge (about 12 cm H) so I have to do them about 0,7 cm thick, otherwise it won't be possible to lift them off the surface. Cut the shapes out, lift them carefully with a spatula or wide knife and place them on the parchment paper 2 cm apart. Decorate with the currants or raisins. Bake for 8-10 mins (depending on the size again).

here's my little boy :)

Vegan Coconut macaroons

These are very easy and quick to make.

Coconut macaroons from Eric Lechasseur's "Love, Eric" book of macrobiotic desserts.

Ingredients:

300 g dry coconut flakes
2 Tbsp soy milk
2/3 cup rice syrup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a tray with the parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients, mix with a spoon (I do it with my hands afterwards).
You can form little balls or triangles with your hands; I prefer using little round spoon (stuffing it with tthe mixture and then carefully sliding it out) to form these pretty semispheres.
Bake for 12-14 minutes. They may be still very soft straight out of the oven, but they will harden in a while.

Vegan Chocolate Brownies

I think, the key to the perfect vegan brownies is silken tofu. There're many recipes for the egg- and dairy free brownies on the Web, but these are the simplest to make of all of them. I took the original recipe from Isa and Terry's book and made some adjustments as I wanted to use agave syrup instead of sugar.

The batter must be thick and very gooey. You'll need a silicon (or plastic) spatula to deal with it.

The brownies on the photo are made with walnuts and raisins - you can add 1/2 cup each of chopped walnuts and raisins to the batter in the very end. 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of silken tofu
1/4 cup soy milk
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 cup whole spelt flour
1/2 cup white spelt flour (or wheat)
1 Tbsp arrowroot
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 170C. Line a small oven tray with parchment paper, covering the sides of the tray too.
Cream the tofu, milk and oil in a blender. Put the mixture in a bowl, mix in the maple syrup and the extracts.
Sift in the flours, arrowroot, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. The batter will be very thick so mix it with a plastic spatula. When smooth, transfer it to the tray and even it out, smoothing the top. It may take only a part of your tray, depending on its size, but that's ok, you shouldn't spread it too thinly.
Bake for 30 minutes. Take the tray out of the oven and let it cool down a little before cutting the brownies' squares.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Biscuits

They're classic biscuits and easy to make. Enough said :) I used Dairy free chocolate chips  and freshly ground spelt flour.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sunflower or grapeseed oil
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup soy or rice milk
2 Tbsp arrowroot
2 1/4 cups spelt flour or whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

 pinch of salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 190C and prepare a baking tray or sheet lined with greaseproof paper.
In a large bowl, mix togetrher oil, agave and milk, mix and add arrowroot. Mix thoroughly until smooth.
Add the flour (you can do it in a few batches to make your mixing better), salt and the baking soda, mix well. Finally fold in chocolate chips.
Take a bit of the dough with a middle-sized spoon and drop on the baking sheet, making sure that there's at least 6 cm/2 inches between your biscuits.
Bake for 12 minutes, and leave them on the sheet for a little while before transferring them onto a plate.

Gluten-free Pistachio Rosewater cupcakes

This recipe is a gluten free and sugar free version of pistachio rosewater cupcakes from Isa and Terry's Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I also skipped flax seed and used arrowroot  instead of tapioca flour - works perfectly.

 Makes about 20 small cupcakes (Dr Oetker papercases)
(didn't try to use regular muffin cases but must be around 10 maybe)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy yogurt
2/3 cup soy milk
1/3 cup oil
2/3 cup agave nectar
2 Tbsp pure rose water
2 Tbsp arrowroot
1/3 cup maize flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp freshly ground cardamom seed
pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Method:
Preheat oven to 170C and line your cupcake tray with paper cases.
First chop pistachio nuts and crush cardamom seeds with a mortar with a pestle.
In a large bowl, mix all the liquid ingredients and add arrowroot. Mix with the electric handmixer for 1 minute. Put a fine sieve ot top of the bowl and sieve in the flours, soda, baking powder, ground cardamom and salt. Mix with the handmixer for 2 minutes. Then fold in the pistachios.
Pour the mixture in the liners, and bake for 26-30 minutes (depending on the oven and the size of the cupcakes). Check with a wooden toothpick, placed in the middle of a cupcake, which should come out dry or with just a couple of tiny crumbs on it.

These cupcakes were topped with the Soyatoo whippable soy cream, coloured with a very small amount of dry beetroot powder and sprinkled with some crushed pistachios. I added a dash of rosewater in the cream while whipping too.

Of course, these cupcakes can be made with normal flour too: just omit arrowroot in the recipe and swap the gluten-free flour mix for 1 1/3 cup of whole wheat or spelt flour.