Recipes

Smoky Baked Beans

August 21, 2019January 23, 2020 littlepieceofveganLeave a comment

A classic staple in most cupboards in Britain, pretty much every body loves a tin of baked beans. On toast, over a jacket, as part of a big Sunday fry up, they’re so versatile and really filling too!

I don’t know why, but I never ever liked them (blasphemy, right?). That is until I decided to make my own. This rich, smokey twist on the classic is a delicious treat on a lazy morning, or great for a quick dinner too.

Ingredients

A tin of beans of your choice ( I love to use butter beans)

300g Passata

1 Tablespoon paprika

1 Teaspoon garlic powder

1 Teaspoon onion powder

1 Teaspoon mixed herbs

1 Teaspoon sweetener (sugar and maple syrup both work well)

1/2 Teaspoon chilli powder

1/2 Teaspoon salt

1/2 Teaspoon black pepper

Method

Drain and rinse your tin of beans and add to a saucepan with the passata.

Bring to a boil, gently stirring and then bring the heat back down to low simmer.

Add all the seasonings and cook through until the passata thickens up and the beans are warmed through.

I like to add a couple of cooked vegan sausages to the pan a few minutes before the beans are done so that they can soak up that lovely smokey flavour. In this recipe I used some that were kindly gifted to me from Meatless Farm and they make some of the tastiest, most realistic meat substitutes on the market.

With a dollop of plain dairy free yoghurt and a few sprigs of coriander, this quick and simple meal tastes like a lot more effort went into it than it really did!

I’d love to know if you try this recipe out and enjoy it, if you do then make sure to tag me on instagram 🙂

Jas x

Recipes

Simple Fajita Seasoning

August 20, 2019August 28, 2019 littlepieceofveganLeave a comment

For years I’ve been buying those expensive branded fajita seasoning kits, it never even crossed my mind to make my own. This recipe is so simple and great because you can make it in bulk and then use as much or little as you wish in your cooking.

Ingredients

3 Teaspoons paprika

2 Teaspoons garlic powder

2 Teaspoons onion powder

1 Teaspoon cumin

1 Teaspoon chilli powder

1 Teaspoon dried coriander

1/2 Teaspoon salt

1/2 Teaspoon black pepper

Method

Mix all of the herbs and spices together and store in an airtight jar or container, easy as that! Use as much as you like depending on how much you’re cooking, this seasoning works great with mince for tacos too.

Reviews

Sponge Cakes Ltd Review

August 20, 2019August 21, 2019 littlepieceofveganLeave a comment

You may know that last week it was my birthday, and the chore of finding a yummy vegan birthday cake came around again. Luckily enough for me, the lovely people at Sponge asked if I would like to receive one of their new vegan cakes to test out, how could I say no?

Sponge have a a large range of cakes to choose from, and their two newest creations are both vegan! They have a chocolate cake and a carrot cake, I chose carrot because I haven’t actually had one in years and was not disappointed in the slightest.

“We are super proud of our Vegan Carrot Cake – It’s perfectly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and loaded with wholesome ingredients, then topped with delicate lemon icing and sprinkled with walnuts for added crunch. It’s moist and flavourful, undetectably vegan and most of all yum! Enjoy.” – Sponge

Wow did this cake exceed my expectations. Delivered to my door on my birthday, it came packaged beautifully and arrived completely unscathed from the journey to my house. The flavour was delicious, and the lemony icing was a perfect element to balance out the sweetness from the cake. The cake itself was moist and delicious, you really would not be able to tell it apart from a non vegan version (as I was told by all of my family who also thoroughly enjoyed it!)

These cakes are currently available to order at £14.75 for 8 servings, and £23 for 16 servings, which is really great value in my opinion. They can also be made gluten free which is amazing!

You can find both the new vegan carrot cake and vegan chocolate cake here – https://www.sponge.co.uk/cakes/vegan-cakes

Thankyou so much to Sponge for sending this out to me for review, I can’t wait to try the chocolate flavour next.

Have you tried cakes from Sponge? Let me know your thoughts.

Jas x

Recipes

Squidgy Banana Bread

August 19, 2019August 21, 2019 littlepieceofveganLeave a comment

Banana bread is one of my favourite things to bake because I usually buy a bunch of bananas when I food shop with very healthy intentions (obviously), but always seem to get to the weekend with them still sitting on my kitchen side, now overly ripe. I think it would be a bit of an injustice to them not to turn them into something delicious.

Ingredients

4 almost blackened bananas

2 cups oat flour (oats whizzed in a blender)

1 cup brown sugar

5 tablespoons almond butter (or any nut butter really)

1 tsp baking powder

sprinkle of salt

Method

Grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper and preheat oven to 180c

Add bananas to a mixing bowl and mash them until fairly smooth, I like a few little banana chunks left in there still.

Combine with the rest of the ingredients and mix to a smooth batter.

Add the mixture to your loaf tin and bake for around 50 minutes to an hour, use a skewer in the centre to check if the middle is cooked. I couldn’t find my loaf tin but your average cake tin will still work absolutely fine!

I like to serve it warm with a little drizzle of dairy free yoghurt or sometimes spread a slice with a little nut butter.

Walnuts are also a tasty addition into the batter, there are so many different flavour variations you can make with this simple recipe.

I would love to know if you try this out and enjoy it, please tag me on instagram if you do!

Jas

Recipes

Simple Vegan Victoria Sponge

February 28, 2019August 21, 2019 littlepieceofveganLeave a comment

This cake is so easy, minimal ingredients and tastes so delicious you wouldn’t know it’s vegan.

Ingredients

For the cake

250g self raising flour

200g caster sugar

230ml water

75ml vegetable oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

For the filling

75 grams vegan butter (vitalite is my go to)

50 grams of vegetable shortening (I used trex)

1 cup icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 jar strawberry or raspberry jam

Method

Preheat oven to 180c and grease two 8 inch cake tins.
Now the easy part, literally combine all the cake ingredients together and mix. Make sure not to over beat it and just combine all the ingredients until the batter is smooth.
Divide between the two cake tins and place into the oven to bake for around 25-30 minutes, checking the centre with a skewer to make sure the cakes are cooked through.
While your cakes are cooling you can move onto the buttercream, beat the shortening and the butter together until smooth and fluffy.
Gradually add the icing sugar into the mix, beating gently at every slight addition to avoid the icing sugar cloud.
Once the cakes have cooled to the touch, apply a generous layer of jam to one side, and then top with the buttercream before sandwiching the second cake on top.

Let me know if you try this recipe, I’d love for you to share it on instagram and tag me @littlepieceofvegan if you do!

Jas x