Ground Almond Cake With Chocolate Drizzle

This delicious Italian-style almond cake is so easy to make, yet has a professional look, with its topping of flaked nuts. Almonds are a big favourite in Italian desserts, sweets and even liqueurs, and the ground almonds in this cake is an absolute dream to eat.

Ingredients:

• 225g butter, softened
• 225g soft brown sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 125g self raising flour
• 175g ground almonds
• 30g flaked almonds 
• 50g dark or milk chocolate, for decoration

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/150ºC for fan assist oven. Grease and line the base and sides of an 8" deep sided loose bottom cake tin or spring form cake pan, with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go along.

Add the eggs one at the time, adding a little flour between each one to help prevent curdling. Add the remaining flour, Almond extract along with the ground almonds, mix until well combined.

Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pan, scattering the flaked almonds on the top. 

This is a slow baked cake. Bake in the centre of the oven for 55-60 minutes or until baked a golden in colour, testing the centre of the cake with a skewer until it comes out clean.

Leave the cake in the tin for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a cake rack to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling, melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water until all the chocolate has melted and is nice and smooth with no lumps.

Using a spoon, drizzle the chocolate over the top of the cake in a zig zag fashion. If you have any left over flaked almonds, scatter them over the top of the melted chocolate before it sets.

Wait until the chocolate has set and the cake has cooled completely before slicing

The Ultimate Lemon Drizzle Cake

This is truly the zingiest, most delicious and moreish lemon drizzle cake you'll ever make. The light and zesty lemon sponge is glazed with a crunchy lemon drizzle icing, made with a simple sugar and lemon juice mixture. There are endless recipes for a lemon drizzle cake and endless variations. This is an easy & quick to make. This cake is made with "all-in-one" method in a mixer. If you don't have a mixer, then you can do it just by hand. 

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 175g butter, softened
• 175g castor sugar
• 115g self raising flour
• 75g ground almond
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 large unwaxed lemons zest

For the syrup:

• 115 g granulated sugar
• juice of 2 large lemons

Method:

Preheat oven to 180ºC/160ºC for fan assist oven. 

Lightly greased and line a 2lb loaf pan with baking paper. Put to one side.

Using a stand mixer or a hand held mixer. Sift flour and baking powder into the mixing bowl. Add in the remaining cake ingredients.

Mix in a low speed to mix all the ingredients for about 2 minutes. Then increase the speed to high and beat until all the cake ingredients are well mixed and you have a thick, smooth batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Place in the centre of the preheated oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until, when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean and dry. Place the hot cake, still in its tin, on a cooling rack.

Make the syrup by quickly mixing together the sugar and the lemon juice until the sugar is dissolved.

Using a skewer, prick the cake all over and then slowly spoon the syrup over a little at a time. Always allow the syrup to soak in before adding any more.

Let the cake cook completely in the tin. Once cold, lift the cake out and slice ready to serve. 

Lamb Rogan Josh

 Rogan josh also spelled as roghan josh or roghan ghost, is an aromatic curried meat dish of Kasmir, where the dish comes from, The dish originally from Persia where rogan means "oil" and josh means "hot". In another words, this dish is cooked with intense heat. But rogan can also mean "red". and above all this dish is red and satisfying spicy from Kashmiri  chillies. This dish usually made with red meat, traditionally lamb or goat. The yogurt marinate helps deliver the most beautifully soft and tender lamb without hiding the flavour!!

Ingredients:

• 500g lamb, diced
• 125ml natural yoghurt
• 30g ginger
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 star anise
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 4 cloves
• 1 blade mace
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 150g onion
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp tomato puree

Method:

Cut the lamb into 2-2.5cm cubes

Marinate the lamb with the yoghurt for at least 8 hours and as long as 24 hours.

Blitz together the ginger and garlic with a little water to form a paste.

Stir half of this through the lamb and yoghurt mix. Do this a couple of hours before you cook or whilst you are preparing , a couple of hours gives the best flavour.

Cut the onion into a thin half-moon shapes.

Add the cardamom pods, black peppercorns, cloves, mace and star anise to a dry pan. Toast off over a medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes. Grind these spices in a coffee grinder or a pestle and mortar.

Reduce the heat in the pan to medium and add the cooking oil. When the oil is warm add in the ground spice mix and cook for 30 seconds.

Add in the onions, ground cumin and ground cinnamon along with the remaining garlic and ginger paste. Cook until golden brown, tis should take 10-15 minutes.

Add in the lamb and the marinade to the pan along with the Kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric and ground coriander and season with half of the salt.

Cook for 10 minutes making sure you keep it stirring to ensure it is not stick to the pan. This is normal and helps to build flavour.

After 10 minutes, add in the tomato puree and 75ml water and mix well. Reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for 25 minutes or until the lamb is tender, adding more salt if required.

Vegan Brioche Burger Buns

Is Brioche vegan? 

Brioche is a buttery French bread often eaten by itself or used in sweet or savoury dishes. Traditionally, brioche is not vegan as the dough is laden with eggs, dairy milk and butter. Also brioche is often glazed with an egg wash to give it a golden and shinny appearance and to trap in the moisture.

Much to my surprise, it is easy to veganise the French bread. I used simple substitutes such as vegan butter and non-dairy milk! To make the vegan brioche soft I used a Japanese method called "tongzhong"

What is tangzhong?

Tis is that magic ingredient-a paste of liquid and flour knowns as tangzhong. Tangzhng is a Japanese technique of cooking a small percentage of flour and liquid in the original recipe together until it thickens. The mix of flour and liquid is cooked together until all the moisture is absorbed into the flour and thick gelatinous mix (roux) is formed. This means that the dough made with tangzhong has higher percentage of water.

Ingredients:

Tangzhong:

• 37g flour
• 180g plant-based milk

Dough ingredients:

• 440g plain flour
• 14g dried yeast
• 25g sugar
• 165g plant-based milk, luke warm
• 9g salt
• 40g vegan butter

Vegan "egg" wash:

• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 4 tbsp plant-based milk

Method:

First, make your tangzhong. Heat a pan on medium-heat and add the flour and milk. Whisk until the mixture thickens and forms a consistence paste. Set aside to cool.

Add the remaining flour, salt and sugar to a bowl. In a jug, mix the remaining milk and yeast. Allow the yeast to sit in the warm milk for 10 minutes until it goes foamy.

Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of flour and add the tangzhong and vegan butter. Incorporate all the ingredients and hand knead for around 10-15 minutes. Once you have a nice shinny ball of dough, leave it to rise in a greased bowl for 1 hour or until it doubled in size. You may also use your electric mixer to mix the dough.

Once the dough has doubled in size, place it on your work surface and push out the air. Check the weigh and divide into 6-8 balls (6 for largerbuns and 8 for small to medium-sized buns). Place them on a tray with some baking paper, cover and leave them to rise for another hour.

Preheat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC for fan assist oven. Apply the vegan "egg" wash to the buns and add sesame seeds, poppy seeds or any kind of seeds if you wish. Place the buns inside the over and bake for 10-15 minutes. Keep a close watch on them and remove if they are browning too much.

Serve with your favourite burger and topping. Enjoy!!

Pearl Barley, Parsnip & Preserved Lemon Tagine

This colourful tagine is an easy veggie meal to make. With pearl barley, parsnips and sweet potatoes, it is a great winter dish to fill you up.

Barley is a great ancient grain that's been used in Mediterranean cooking for many years. It is not as popular as say quinoa, but it has a lot of great health benefits-it provides a good range of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. And because it is so fibre-rich, barley is a great ingredients to use if you are looking to add volume to augment a meal

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp ras el hanout
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 3 parsnips, cut into chunks
• 3 carrots, cut into chunks
• 2 preserved lemon, chopped
• 200g pearl barley
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• a handful of parsley, leaves picked
• handful of mint, leaves picked
• 150g green olives, chopped
•  ½ lemon, juiced
• pomegranate seed, to serve

For the tahini yogurt 

• 160g thick vegan Greek yogurt
• 2-3 tbsp tahini
• ½ lemon, juiced

Method:

Heat the oil in a casserole dish. Add onion and a pinch of salt, cook for 5 minutes until beginning to colour and soften, then stir in the garlic and spices. Cook for a minute more until fragrant, then add the sweet potato, parsnips, carrots, preserved lemon and pearl barley.

Give everything a good mix and cook for a minute or so until the vegetables and barley are coated in the spices. Pour in the stock and some seasoning, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45-50 minutes or until the vegetables and barley are tender.

To make the dressing, mix the yogurt with the tahini, lemon juice and some seasoning, then add a splash of water to make it spoonable. Chop most of the mint and parsley leaves. Taste the stew for seasoning, then stir through the chopped herbs, olives and lemon juice. 

Scatter over the pomegranate seeds and the remaining herbs to add colour and texture. Serve with tahini yogurt

Semi-naked Vegan Chocolate Cake

Another celebration cake fit for a 30th birthday! As the birthday girl is intolerance to eggs, I therefore decided to make a vegan chocolate cake. However, I used the normal frosting for the cake and also which chocolate ganache for the drip. I add a teal colour to the ganache as it's her favourite colour.  I finished the cake with assortment of chocolates and fresh roses.

Confit Tandoori Chickpeas

This dish is my take on Yotam Ottolenghi confit tandoori chickpeas. This confit tandoori chickpea dish is the perfect way to spice up your chickpeas. It make the perfect appetizer, or meal. Feel free to enjoy them with some flat bread and fresh vegetables or enjoy over rice as well. As you can see from my photo I enjoy it will flat bread, fresh vegetables, rice and deep fried tofu !!!

I thought this tandoori version add some nice warming spice to them, especially what I carve in the winter months. This vegan chickpea tandoori recipe really hits the spot and I recommend trying it out- it's really simple and easy to make, requires few ingredients to create this flavourful dish.

Confit simply means to slow cook in fat. Baking chickpeas low and slow in extra virgin olive oil with all the tandoori spices and tomatoes renders them creamy and flavourful. Serve with a herby yoghurt dressing.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 2x 400g tins chickpeas, drained
• 10 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 30g fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
• 300g cherry tomatoes
• 3 red chillies, to taste, slit open lengthways
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tbsp tandoori curry powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 200ml olive oil
• 1 tsp salt

For the yoghurt dressing:

• 2-3 limes, 1 juice and the others cut into wedges
• 10 tbsp roughly chopped fresh mint leaves
• 10 tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander leaves
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 180g Greek-style yoghurt
• ½ tsp salt
• pitta bread or rice for serving, optional

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/150ºC for fan assist oven.

Roughly crush the cumin and coriander seed in a pestle and mortar. Combine the crushed spices with the drained chickpeas, whole garlic, ginger, tomatoes, chillies, tomato puree, turmeric, tandoori curry powder, sugar, oil and salt in a large, ovenproof sauté pan for which you have a lid. Stir to combine, then cover and cook in the oven for 1¼ hours or until the aromatics have softened and tomatoes have broken down. Stir once halfway through the cooking time.

To make the yoghurt dressing: Combine 1 tbsp lime juice with the mint, coriander, crushed garlic, yoghurt and salt in a small bowl of a food processor. Blend until smooth.

Serve the chickpeas directly from the pan or transfer them to a shallow serving platter, with yoghurt and lime wedges. Or you can serve as how I serve in a large platter with fresh vegetables, pitta bread and rice.

Bubur Cha-Cha

Bubur cha-cha is a coconut milk dessert which commonly contains a medley of sweet potatoes ( in yellow, orange and purple colour), yam or known as taro, sago pearls, bananas and tapioca jelly. Sometimes black eye pea is also added. Bubur means porridge in Malay and Cha Cha is a type of dancing, so literally Bubur Cha Cha means dancing porridge. In Malaysia and Singapore, bubur cha-cha is usually served as a dessert or sometimes for supper. This is one of the more popular Nyonya/Peranakan desserts which is colourful yet delicious. It is served either hot or cold.

Peranakan are the descendants from intermarriages between the early Chinese immigrants and the local Malay women in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Peranakan cuisine or Nyonya cuisine is the fusion of Chinese and Malay cuisines. 

This recipes is also vegan, dairy-free, soy free, nut free, egg free and refines sugar free !!!

Ingredients:

• 100g purple sweet potatoes
• 100g orange sweet potatoes
• 100g yellow sweet potatoes
• 150g yam/taro
• 15g sago/tapioca pearls
• 75g black eye pea, optional

Tapioca Flour Jelly:

• 100g tapioca flour
• ½ cup boiling water
• red and green colouring

Coconut milk base:

• 2.5 liters water (about 10 cups)
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• 120g sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 pandan/screwpine leaves
• 3 bananas, cut into ½ inches thick

Method:

Soak sago for 30 minutes, then boil until translucent and cooked.

Peel and cut all potatoes and yam into cubes or desired shapes. Steam, separately, until cooked.

To make the tapioca flour jelly, place the flour in a mixing bowl. Pour in boiling water. Mix the flour and water until well incorporated. When the dough is cool enough to handle, roll it out evenly on a well floured surface and cut into cubes or desired shapes.

Bring a pot of water, add 1 tbsp sugar, pour in banana and boiled for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In another pot, boil 2.5 liters water. When the water boiled, add in thick coconut milk, sugar, salt and pandan leaves and cook over low heat about 10-20 minutes. Pour in the sweet potatoes, yam, banana, black eye pea if uses

In another pot, bring the water to a boil, then add in the shaped tapioca jelly. Cook until the jelly floats then transfer into the coconut milk base. Mix well.  Serve hot or cold, as you like.