Sunday 3 November 2013

Add This To Your Strawberry And Banana Smoothie And Drink It!


Oh so yummy and much healthier than peanut butter :)

Ingredients

Almonds
Pinch of salt

THAT IS ALL!

How you make the butter...

Use as many almonds as you like, that little pot you see in the picture was made from a large handful of almonds. Although once made it keeps in the fridge for a few months, so you can make a large batch if you want (I only make it in small quantities because otherwise I will sit in the kitchen with a spoon and gobble the lot).
Lay your almonds onto a baking tray and roast them in the oven at 180c for a few minuets, until you start to smell them becoming all delicious.
Now simply put them into a food blender with a pinch of salt and keep on blending until they turn into a smooth peanut butter type of consistency.
And that's all there is to it! :) 
If you're making a small batch like me, I found using a hand blender better. Just pop the roasted almonds into a tall jug and as long as you cover the top with a tea towel it won't make a mess.  

Happy eating!
Love and all that jazz x



Friday 1 November 2013

You Boy, You Punch My Heart Out

Party Rings are so damn cute why should we leave them for the kids? That's not the way it should be, we've had to deal with the down right pain in the rather curvaceous bottom of growing up, so hell yeah we deserve the biscuits.

So to celebrate this rather marvelous Friday, for no other reason than WE CAN, I give you the delightfully sweet, and by no means innocent Party Ring, hold on to your bow ties, it's going to get wild.



For these lovelies I've kept the recipe really simple, nothing too fancy, just good old vanilla biscuits with a glossy icing :)

Makes 12-15 round biscuits and 12-15 little hearts.
Ingredients
For the Biscuits...
3 1/2 oz (100g) Plain Flour
1 1/2 oz (45g) Vegan Butter 
2 oz (50g) Caster Sugar
Equivalent of 1 Egg (use your favourite vegan egg replacer, or if you don't have any you can just leave the egg out and add a little splash of soya milk instead.)
Few drops of vanilla extract
Small pinch of Baking Powder (1/4 Tsp)
Pinch of Salt

For the Decoration...
I iced half my batch in white icing and half in chocolate, but the possibilities are endless! Choose any colour icing that takes your fancy and edible glitter works well too! 

4-5 Tbs Icing Sugar
I put 2 Tbs in one bowl and simply added a few splashes of water and mixed until smooth and glossy.
With the other 2 Tbs in a different bowl I added 1 Tsp of cocoa powder to make it chocolatey :)

Asda do a range of baking supplies at good value, and their Hundreds And Thousands are vegan :)

Lets Get Baking!

Grab your favourite mixing bowl and cream together your v.butter and sugar.
Add in the vanilla and 'egg' (or splash of soya milk).
Now sift in your flour, baking powder and salt.
Keep mixing with your trusty wooden spoon until the mixture starts to cling together, now get your hands involved to make it form a dough.
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and let it chill out in the fridge for at least 30 minuets. I tend to make my dough in the morning and then use it in the afternoon, or chill it overnight. Chilling the dough just makes it easier to work with, and it doesn't seem to spread as much so you won't loose any pretty details.

Now, roll the dough out quite thinly, only a couple of millimeters. Remember Party Rings are so very sweet, which is of course why we love them, however you don't want to get toothache now do you? 
What shapes you cut out is up to you, of course the traditional is a round doughnut shape, but you can put your own twist on and see how they boogie.

Bake them at 180c for about 10 minuets, but KEEP CHECKING ON THEM. In fact, don't leave your oven, just stay hovering like a mad woman. You want them to be that perfect pale shade of golden, much paler than a normal biscuit.

Let them cool and smoother them in icing, hundreds and thousands and glitter!



Happy Friday!
Love and all that jazz x