Chocolate fudgy brownies - don't tell them it has tofu!!!

Well last night one of Nat's high school friends was down from South Australia as his fiancée was at a conference. They came to stay at our place for the night. The last time we had seen Nat's friend it was at the wedding and we really hadn't been able to spend too much time with anyone that day.

So I thought that I would let Nat pick what I made for dessert. Of course he went for something chocolaty... and so I thought brownies would be something that could be had for dessert and also for snacks if the boys got hungry.

I used the ppk recipe and it was good - you have to give this plenty of time as you have to chill te tofu mixture.
I used sweet william chocolate buds for the chocolate chips and Loving Earth Raw cacao powder**
Well they went down a treat!! Until Nat said (halfway through their first piece) that it was made of tofu!! His friend looked at it (and I thought that he wasn't going to eat it) but said "cool" and kept on eating. I informed nat that usually when a dessert is made out of tofu - don't tell the omnis until after they have finished eating.

Anyway - a sucessful (yet not very healthy) recipe and I think that Nat will be requestion this one again some time.

Tonight my cousin and her husband are coming for dinner - also haven't seen them since the wedding so I can't wait to catch up.

** Loving Earth is an awesome company - you should check out their website which shows their products, their projects and their philosophy. I met the guy who started it and helped him to make his chocolate when dad was wondering whether they should distribute the products - its my favourite chocolate in the whole world!! If you live in Australia I would highly reccomend you try some - its worth it!!

Chocoloate Thumbprint Cookies

Thanks for all your well wishes yesterday - Nat is feeling a lot better. However now I am the poorly one. Yesterday I got my first exam out of the way - this afternoon I have my second one (which makes me annoyed because Nat has the day off and will be sitting at home watching the election coverage and I will be slaving unknowingly in my own little world for a few hours). Yesterday's exam was ok - but after I walked home (about 40mins) I was hot and fairly dehydrated and felt really ill - so instead of studying or going to a farewell party for a fellow committee member of Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania, I was lying on the couch with the most excruciating stomach pain ever. When Nathan came home he covered me with a blanket and went to the chemist and got this herbal stomach relaxant. Then, because I was not able to study on the computer - he got my notes and tested me and read through them with me - I hope some of it stuck - I am rather nervous and will be studying pretty hard for the next few hours.

Anyway, for the farewell party that I didn't end up going to, I needed to take something that was very quick and easy to make - as I was also trying to study. I found the Chocolate Thumbprint Cookie recipe in VWaV and decided to make that.

I didn't make many changes (as I was going to be serving them to other people) but I did replace the peanut oil with tasteless coconut oil and used a little bit less sugar.

They turned out really well. They were soft but not fudgy. I will be making these again - however I will start to experiment with agave syrup and spelt flour. I will let you know how it goes when I ever get round to it.

Now off to study *groan*

Finding the perfect moist Vegan wedding cake.

The awesome cake - decorated with flowers from a friends garden.

Nat and I got married in July this year. The wedding was pretty much vegan. Mum and I decided that we would design the cake ourselves. The fruit layer was not hard at all as mum has an AMAZING fruit cake recipe that is just awesome. The Chocolate Mud Cake (Nat's request) was a lot harder. I hate to think how many chocolate cakes I baked and how many samples my family and friends were presented with. (Do you know how hard this is when you are desperately trying to not put on weight before the wedding!!!) In the end I found the most incredible cake ever. It is NOT healthy - it is decadent and moist and chocolaty and fantastic. The whole cake was SOOOOO heavy - It was incredible!!

So without further ado - here are the recipes for our vegan wedding cake. I will slowly add other recipes from the wedding.

My Dark Rich Chocolate Wedding Cake.

Makes 30cm square cake - prep time 20mins - cooking time 4 1/2 hours

1.68kg - Dark Vegan Cooking Chocolate (I used Sweet William)
1kg - Margarine (I used Nuttalex - use one that has no transfat)
1/3 cup - dry instant coffee
3 cups - water
3 cups - brown sugar
4 cups - plain flour
1 cup - self-raising flour
egg replacer equivalent for 8 eggs (I used Organ No Egg mixed with required amount of water)
1 cup - coffee liqueur

1. Grease and line baking pan with one thickness of baking paper, bringing the paper 5 cm above the rim.
2. Combine chopped chocolate, margarine, coffee, water and sugar in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate is melted and sugar is dissolved. Transfer mixture into a bowl - cool for 15 mins
3. Stir in sifted flours, egg replacer and liqueur.Pour mixture into prepared pan.
4. Bake in moderately slow oven for 4 1/2 hours. Cover with foil halfway through baking if cake starts to become dark and crusty.
5. Cake will develop a thick sugary crust during baking: test for doneness by touching with fingers about 5 mins before the end of the baking time. Then test with skewer.
6. Cool cake in pan.
7. This cake will keep for one week in an airtight container or can be frozen for 3 months.

No - I am not going to stab him...

Wedding Fruit Cake - Sugar Free

Makes one large cake (2kg) - 20cm pan

INGREDIENTS
150g natural currants*
200g natural sultanas*
200g sun-dried diced peaches*
1 cup wholemeal flour
1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
200g sun-dried pitted dates, diced
200g dehydrated pineapple pieces*
2 cups pure water
¾ cup cold-pressed vegetable oil
2 large very ripe bananas
80g almond kernels

METHOD

1. Pre-soak the currants, sultanas, and peaches in the water overnight for best result (or for at least 2 hours).
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the flours with the dates, pineapple and two thirds of the almonds chopped.
3. Drain the excess water from the pre-soaked fruit; retain 3/4 cup for use.
4. Add the pre-soaked fruit to the mixture in the mixing bowl.
5. Blend together the water, oil and bananas until smooth (half full speed for a quarter of a minute).
6. Pour the blended liquid into the mixing bowl with the fruit and flour and thoroughly mix in.
7. Line a 20cm-square cake tin with baking paper (or brush a little oil over the inside surfaces).
8. Pack the mixture into the tin, ensuring that no air pockets remain.
9. Decorate the top of the mixture with the rest of almonds halved.
10. Lightly brush a little oil over top of mixture.
11. Cover top with baking paper.
12. Bake at 135ºC (275ºF) in a pre-heated oven until cooked through (about 2 to 3 hours, depending on depth of tin).

*You can vary the dried fruit. Possible alternatives include figs, sun-dried apricots, nectarines, cherries, crystallised ginger, mango, pawpaw, and apples (all diced).