The Best White Chocolate Fudge..Ever.

Rather than a cake, my lovely Pete made me white chocolate fudge. 
I'm in love with Granny Mac's fudge (Mt Tambourine Fudge) but I can say this fudge, was even better.

It's certainly not healthy, or vegan, but I had to share this sprinkle-covered baby all the same.


Ingredients

• 400g Good quality white cooking chocolate, cut or broken into small pieces (2.4 blocks - oops!)
• 250g Butter, chopped (1 stick butter)
• 3 Cups icing sugar
• 1/3 Cup cream
• 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
• Sprinkles/Hundreds & Thousands 

Method

• Place the chocolate, butter, sugar and cream into a saucepan over gentle heat
• Stir continuously until all ingredients have melted and mixture is smooth, let simmer for one minute then remove from heat.
• Beat using a hand held mixer for 3 minutes, then add vanilla essence
• Pour mixture into a 20cm square cake pan lined with baking paper
• Smooth surface & coat in sprinkles
• Refrigerate until firm - this took around an hour, although we did hurry the process by popping it in to the freezer for about 30 minutes! So about 2 hours should be enough in the fridge.
• Cut into small pieces & store in an air tight container in the fridge!

Note

• In this recipe, Pete used Milkybar white chocolate
• You could easily experiment with this recipe, perhaps using regular chocolate, baileys or caramel!
• Please let me know how you go making this!

Vegan Chai Biscuits with Cacao Coconut Butter

These biscuits were meant to be a shortbread, however I replaced the rice flour with Spelt flour, and they were just as amazing! 




Ingredients
(Makes about 20 biscuits)

• 2 1/2 Cups white spelt flour
• 3 Tbs Nuttlex (or any other vegan butter)
• 1/2 Cup caster sugar
• 3 Tsp Cinnamon
• 3 Chai teabags
• 1/4 Cup boiling water
• Extra flour for dusting

Cacao Coconut Butter

• 3-4 Tbs Coconut Butter (I use Loving Earth)
• 2 Level tsp Cacao/Cocoa powder
• 1 Tsp Agave syrup

Method

• Place the Chai teabags in a mug, add boiling water & leave to brew
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees & line a baking tray with baking paper
• Sift flour into a mixing bowl, add in Nuttlex/butter, sugar and cinnamon, bring mixture together.
• Once the Chai has brewed for about 5 minutes, dispose of tea bags and add Chai into the flour mix.
• Mix together until a smooth dough forms (it shouldn't be too sticky or wet, you can add more flour if needed)
• Turn out onto a lightly floured surface & briefly knead 
• Roll out dough using a rolling pin until you have uniform thickness (about 1cm)
• Cut out using a cookie cutter & place on baking tray
• Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until slightly golden!
• For the cacao coconut butter: Simply mix coconut butter, cacao/cocoa & agave together 
• Once the biscuits have cooled,  top with coco butter mix as desired.

Note

As these cookies do not contain eggs or baking soda/powder, they will not grow much in size; so make them close to the size you'd like them to turn out!

Homemade Vegetarian Pizza

This was a good night. Pizza, movies and teddy slippers.
The toppings I've listed below are what I used when making the pizza pictured below, however feel free to add whatever toppings you like!

Ingredients
(Makes 3 pizza bases)

• 1 1/2 Cups warm water
• 2 Tsp dried yeast (1 sachet/7g)
• Pinch of caster sugar
• 1 Tsp salt
• 600g/4 Cups plain flour
• 60ml/1/4 Cup olive oil, plus extra for brushing

Toppings

• Tomato pizza sauce or BBQ sauce
• 1 Diced tomato
• 5 sliced mushrooms
• Roast pumpkin (roast in small cubes)
• A handfull of pitted olives
• 1/2 Brown onion
• 1/4 Diced Capsicum
• 'Pizza topper' herb sprinkle
• Grated cheddar cheese
• Baby Bocconcini, finely sliced
• Rocket to serve

Method

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
• Combine the water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes or until foamy. 
• Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture and oil. Use a round-bladed knife in a cutting motion to mix until the mixture is combined. Use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl.
• Lightly brush a clean bowl with olive oil. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. 
• Place in the prepared bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes or until dough doubles in size.
• Place dough on a floured surface & roll out using a rolling pin to your desired thickness. Leave to rest whilst preparing above pizza toppings.
• Place bases on an oven or round pizza tray, spread pizza sauce over your prepared bases & top as you desire!
• Sprinkle with pizza topper herbs and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden.

Tips

• If you don't have the time to make home made dough, or simply don't trust yourself making it (which you should, it's simple) Then there is an excellent alternative! You can buy pizza base mixes from Coles & Woolies, all you need to do is follow the packet instructions. There's a few different brands but I have tried Anchor/Lion and Laucke Pizza/Foccacia mix. I've included a photo below so you know what you're looking for. These were with the flour/bread making kits. 

Chickpea and Lentil Veggie Patties

I make these at least once a week (& did so even before I was veg). They are definitely one of my favourite staples! Serve them on a burger, or with salad and chips, yum.

Ingredients

• 1 400g Can chickpeas, drained
• 1 400g Can lentils, drained and rinsed
• 1 Egg
• 1 Brown onion, finely diced
• 2 Cloves garlic, or 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 Tsp Curry powder (I use Clive of India)
• 1 Tbs Moroccan seasoning 
• 1/2 Tsp Organic 'all purpose seasoning'
• 3/4 Cup breadcrumbs (the Macro gluten free crumbs are my favourite)
• 1 Tbs Chia seeds (I use a mix of both black and white)
• Olive Oil
• 'Veggie Salt' and pepper to taste

Method

• Place drained chickpeas and egg in a food processor and blend until a smooth paste has formed - transfer to a large bowl.
• Add in onion, lentils, breadcrumbs, chia, curry powder, all purpose & Moroccan seasoning. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
• Roll handfulls of mixture into patties
• Fry the veggie patties in olive oil in a large frying pan over a moderate heat for 5 minutes each side, until crispy. Drain on kitchen paper.
• Serve with a salad (& chips) or on a burger with avocado, alfalfa, cheese, tomato, beetroot, lettuce and sweet chilli sauce - yum!

Vegetarian Spaghetti 'Bolognaise'

So, you all know what 'Spag Bol' is, and I'm sure 99% of you love it. Seeing as I'm vegetarian, I had to get creative. And let me just say, I personally think my vegetarian lentil spag bol shi*ts all over the regular mince version!

This photo belongs to http://thellamamomma.blogspot.com.au. She also blogs recipes, and each one has a cute hand drawn water colour picture to show which ingredients she uses - clever!

Ingredients
(Serves 3)

• 2 Stalks celery, finely diced
• 2 Carrots, finely diced
• 1 Large zucchini, grated
• 1 Large brown onion, finely diced
• 1 Small red capsicum
• 2 Cloves of garlic (or 2 tsp minced garlic)
• 250g 1 Tin lentils (you could use dried lentils, however refer to my tips at the bottom of this page before starting!)
• 2 Tbs Organic tomato paste
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1/2 Tsp Paprika
• 1 Tsp 'Veggie Salt
• 2 Tsp sugar
• Pepper to taste
• 2 Tsp mixed herbs or bouquet garni
• 1/2 Cup red wine
• 1 Cup vegetable stock
• 1 Tin diced tomatoes
• 1 Pk Button mushrooms (250g)

Method

• Sauté the celery, carrot, capsicum and onion until translucent, add in garlic, mushroom & zucchini - cook for a few minutes more.
• Add red wine, vegetable stock, tomato paste, tinned tomato, sugar and lentils, bring to the boil then reduce to a medium heat.
• Add in all herbs (feel free to add your own favourite herbs or spices here) and allow to simmer gently for about 15 minutes.
•  If you have used a bouquet garni or bay leaves, ensure you remove these before serving!
• Serve over pasta with some crusty bread - yum!

Tips

• If you are using dry lentils, you will need to cook them before adding them to your bolognaise. Place in a pot of boiling water, and cook uncovered for about 30 minutes. Continually check the level of the water as the lentils will absorb some of the liquid - you don't want them to burn to the bottom of your pot. I use tinned lentils simply so I can skip this step, and they taste much the same.

Banana, Coconut & Choc Protein Smoothie

Lately, I've had a Choc protein smoothie every morning for breakfast as I don't usually have time to cook anything decent. This particular smoothie, is definitely my favourite.

For this recipe, I use Tony Steirs Chocolate flavoured 'Pea Protein'. I have recently changed to a vegetarian diet and have greatly reduced my intake of dairy and other animal product.
(You can use which ever brand you prefer.)

"100% Pea Protein Isolate is a Premium Vegan/Vegetarian Quality Protein Powder. 
It is pure and contains no Artificial Flavours, Colours, Preservatives or Sweeteners and is naturally free from wheat, gluten, lactose, soy, egg and animal products" 

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs Protein powder
• 300ml of Vanilla 'So Good' Soy milk (which I use) or regular soy, coconut milk, almond milk, rice milk or dairy milk.
• 1 Small banana
• 1 Tbs Pure, Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (Cold pressed)
• 3-4 Ice cubes
• 1 Tbs Raw Cacao Powder (or any other chocolate powder/milo)
• 2 Tbs Raw Rolled Oats

Method

• First up, gently heat Coconut Oil in the microwave if yours has solidified. It usually take 10 seconds in mine. In the warm months, it's usually liquid any - so in which case, skip this step!
• Add milk, protein powder, banana, cacao powder, oats and ice to a blender and blend until smooth.
• Gradually add in the coconut oil whilst blending. This step is important as if you throw it all in together, your coconut oil will solidify and leave you with a clumpy smoothie!
• Enjoy!

Gluten Free Chocolate Muffins

As my daughter Ollie is gluten intolerant, I usually make her muffins or cupcakes for kindy. Some gluten free baked goods are stale and have an almost 'gritty' texture to them which I hate. So my aim here was to make a delicious, moist muffin for Ollie! 


If you are gluten/lactose intolerant, this recipe can be easily altered; I've listed alternatives at the bottom of this page.



Ingredients

• 125g Milk or dark chocolate, chopped
• 50g Butter, chopped
• 4 Eggs, separated
• 1/2 Cup milk
• 2 Cups almond meal
• 1 Tbs Cocoa powder
• 1 Tsp vanilla essence
• 1 Tsp baking powder
• 1/2 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3/4 Cup chocolate chips

Method

• Preheat oven to 220°c
• Line a 12 hole muffin pan with muffin cases
• Melt chopped chocolate and butter in the microwave on medium heat (ensure you are using a heat proof bowl) stirring after a minute. Allow to cool slightly.
• Working quickly to prevent chocolate from solidifying, stir in egg yolks and gradually add the milk and vanilla essence.
• Combine almond meal, sifted cocoa, baking powder, sugar and choc chips
• Stir in chocolate/butter mixture
• Beat egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks begin to form
• Gently fold in egg whites into chocolate almond mixture
• Spoon into muffin cases until each is about 3/4 full
• Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of your muffins comes out clean
• Allow to cool & enjoy!

Tips

• If you are lactose intolerant, simply swap the butter for pure organic coconut oil, milk for lactose free versions or rice/almond milk, and use lactose free chocolate. Eggs can also be substituted for 1 1/2 tso xanax gum!