Golden syrup potato dumplings

June 21, 2025

   

While the potato chip Florentines were fast and fun, this idea rattled around in my head for a while before I was ready to get a saucepan out. I don't have a history with golden syrup dumplings though I feel as if I should. They're surely a cousin to the self-saucing puddings I know, with the golden syrup hinting at a British-Aussie lineage, easy to imagine either of my grandmothers making even though I don't think they did! (There's a little more about golden syrup dumplings on Green Gourmet Giraffe.)

I was thinking about how gnocchi are dumplings, and initially imagined that I might simply cook gnocchi in a golden syrup sauce as a potato-themed tribute to golden syrup dumplings. Then I thought about the savoury potato dumplings we love atop this mushroom casserole and figured I could go a step further, making my own potato scone dough instead of buying vegan gnocchi. This called for a couple of test batches. The first round was pretty good, but a bit rubbery due to my use of gluten-free flour. The second wheat-flour batch was noticeably better, and I went ahead and doubled it on potluck day, preparing them at home, then microwaving them at our host's house after dinner.

As a golden syrup dumpling novice, I struggled to judge when they were ready. I was very worried that the ones I took to the potluck had completely disintegrated into the sauce and I'd just be ladling out lumpy caramel soup for dessert. Thankfully I was mistaken, there were spoonable dumplings still to be found, and everyone (non-coeliac) took them on with enthusiasm and a scoop of vanilla icecream. The mashed potato renders their texture a little less cakey and more fudgy than a traditional dumpling but it's a standard texture scale for brownies that I'm happy to transfer to another dessert.

Golden syrup potato dumplings

(a meld of this savoury potato dumpling recipe and this golden syrup dumpling recipe)

dumpling dough

1 medium potato, to make 1/2 cup mashed potato

1 1/2 tablespoons margarine

3/4 cup plain flour (can use gluten-free but the texture is more rubbery)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon brown sugar 

1/4 cup water or milk

caramel sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup golden syrup

2 tablespoons margarine

1 1/2 cups water

Fill a saucepan with water and set it over medium-high heat. Peel and roughly chop the potato, and gently drop the pieces into the saucepan. Bring it all to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes but keep them in the saucepan. Mash the potatoes until there are no lumps, and stir in the margarine. Stir in the flour, baking powder and sugar, then the water/milk to make a dough.

Fill a larger saucepan with all of the sauce ingredients, stirring them together. Set the mixture over medium-high heat and bring it to the boil. Drop generous spoonfuls of the dough into the sauce. Reduce the heat to low and place a lid on the saucepan, cooking the dumplings until they pass the skewer test, about 15-20 minutes. Serve two dumplings each to four people, accompanied by a scoop of icecream.

Potato chip Florentines

June 21, 2025

   

After the great success of my tomato potluck desserts, I enjoyed musing over the possibility of potato potluck desserts for several weeks. This idea came late and fast: substitute plain potato chips in for the usual flaked almonds in my favourite Florentine recipe. So simple to do, and still so tasty! The potato chips toasted to perfection under the syrupy binding mixture, and the dash of salt was welcome. If anything I would have liked more potato flavour here. There's definitely room to play around with different potato chip brands and thicknesses, as well as the quantity added to the recipe. What a fun, tasty process of refinement that would be.

Potato chip Florentines

(adapted from this recipe by Meera Sodha)

60g pistachios, finely chopped 

90g thick/ruffled plain salted potato chips, crushed

50g hazelnuts, chopped 

100g dried cranberries (or other sour berries) 

2 tablespoons plain flour (can be gluten-free)

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

75g margarine 

50g brown sugar 

2 1/2 tablespoons golden syrup

200g dark chocolate

Heat an oven to 200°C. Line a large baking tray with paper.

Chop and crush all the ingredients that need it. Stir together all the nuts, chips and dried fruits in a large bowl. Stir through the flour, salt and cinnamon until combined.

Place the margarine, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan and set it over medium heat. Cook the mixture, stirring, until everything has melted together and become smooth. (You can also heat in the microwave and stir together.) Take it off the heat and pour it over the nut mixture in the bowl. Stir it all together to combine, then pour the mixture out onto the baking tray. Form a large rectangle about 1 cm thick; mine was about 30 cm x 22 cm.

Bake the Florentine slab for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown - keep a close eye on it to avoid burning! Allow it to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate using your favourite method and pour it over the flattest side of the Florentine rectangle. Allow the chocolate to set completely at room temperature. Slice the Florentine slab into rectangles or diamonds to serve.  

Cherry tomato & berry crumble

May 3, 2025

   

When making these two tomato desserts, it was important to me that the tomato wouldn't be hidden away - I wanted it to be a prominent, complementary flavour. I recalled having two inspiring back-to-back meals in New Zealand in 2013 that combined tomatoes with red berries - so bright and juicy, sweet and sour! It had me thinking that I could try bringing tomatoes and berries together in a warm fruit crumble for autumn.

My formula was pretty simple: equal weights of cherry tomatoes and frozen mixed berries, giving the tomatoes extra baking time to ensure they were properly soft. Then a crumble based on the proportions I relied on as far back as 2007 (apologies for the diet talk in that post - yeesh). I used gluten-free flour and wheat-free rolled oats to accommodate our favourite coeliac.

Those test proportions were just what I was after! The fruit layer was lush with a clear tomato flavour, subtly savoury amongst the berries, and an even texture across all the fruit pieces. The crumble was nutty and biscuity, not quite as golden as I reckon a wheat-flour version would be. I scooped Billy Van Creamy vegan peach and coconut icecream on the side, and everyone dug in with curiosity and compliments.

Cherry tomato & berry crumble

(based on this general crumble formula)

 

fruit layer

560g cherry tomatoes

560g frozen mixed berries

1/3 cup caster sugar

crumble

100g gluten-free flour

100g wheat-free rolled oats

100g caster sugar

100g margarine

50g flaked almonds

Preheat an oven to 160°C.

Halve the cherry tomatoes, place them in a casserole dish, and bake for 30 minutes, until they're soft and concentrated. 

While the tomatoes are baking, prepare the crumble. Place the flour, oats and sugar in a food processor and pulse briefly. Add the margarine and pulse further. Add the almonds and pulse a final time.

When the tomatoes are ready, retrieve them from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 190°C. Add the berries and sugar to the tomatoes and stir them all together. Dot the crumble haphazardly over the top. Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the crumble is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Allow the crumble to cool a little before serving, with a dollop of something creamy.

Bush tomato shortbread

May 2-3, 2025

   

Some of our best Melbourne friendships were forged through veg*n blogging and potlucking more than 15 years ago. We remain in contact but life changes - any combination of moving to more distant neighbourhoods, raising kids, health issues, and busier careers mean that few of us have maintained the same time, energy and enthusiasm for elaborate cooking. 

Yet there's been a happy little resurgence this year - over a birthday banquet out, the idea was hatched to hold a tomato-themed vegan potluck. Ever the sweet tooth, I resolved to make dessert and make it good. Here's my first of two contributions: bush tomato shortbread.

I loved using the Mabu Mabu bush tomato spice mix in damper, but at some point they stopped stocking it. I looked around online on and off for months, perhaps years, and it seemed pretty scarce. With this renewed motive, I found unadulterated dried bush tomato through Native Oz Bushfoods and mail-ordered a couple of pouches.

From there I kept it simple, using a vegan shortbread base (sourced from vegan blogging mate Steph!) that I'd usually flavour with lemon myrtle and macadamias. It's easy to make in one bowl and can be mixed by hand. I thought about adding a little cinnamon to assert this as a sweet spice mix but I'm glad that I didn't. The bush tomato shone through, tangy and fruity, dessert without a doubt. Thank goodness I'm stocked with enough spice to make more.

Bush tomato shortbread

(adapted from this recipe, which is based on this one from Vegan About Town)

200g margarine

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 tablespoons bush tomato powder

Preheat an oven to 190°C. Line a baking tray with paper.

In a medium bowl, use a fork to beat together the margarine and sugar. Add the flour and mix until combined. Add the bush tomato and mix again. Roll scant tablespoons of the dough into balls and place them on the baking tray. Bake for ~15 minutes, and allow to cool before serving.

Frozen lime pie

October 10, 2021

   

This is my second vegan pie mishap of our current lockdown. The first one didn't make it to the blog - it was a lemon tart with a lovely shortcrust and a cornflour-thickened curd that absolutely would not set. 

This time I was in the mood for something involving limes and condensed milk, and key lime pie popped up during my recipe browsing. I flicked between a taste recipe that used condensed milk and an Isa recipe that didn't use eggs, picking out the ingredients and techniques that most appealed to me. I wasn't all that keen on using agar, and hoped that a larger quantity of arrowroot might do the job instead. That didn't work out, and I was stuck with my second un-set tart of the season.

I decided to fall back on a trick that worked once last year: I froze my pie. It was set within a couple of hours, and a bit strange to cut, but an excellent texture to eat. The filling remained soft and creamy, not at all icy, and with a sweet-sour balance that suited me. I've been sprinkling toasted coconut on it and considering it close enough to a success. I might even like this frozen version better than I would a room temperature lime pie. Still: I really would like to figure out a nicely set citrussy vegan tart.

Frozen lime pie

(a recipe inspired by taste's key lime pie, 

and Isa Chandra Moskowitz's latchkey lime pie) 

pie crust

150g plain sweet biscuits (I used digestives)

75g margarine

filling

1/3 cup soy milk

3 tablespoons arrowroot (would increase this to 4-5 if attempting an unfrozen pie)

320g can sweet condensed coconut milk

1/2 cup lime juice

1 tablespoon grated lime zest

garnish

toasted shredded coconut

Crush the biscuits between baking paper sheets, using a rolling pin, and pour the crumbs into a bowl. Melt the margarine in a saucepan, and stir it through the biscuit crumbs. Press the mixture into a pie dish and refrigerate.

Whisk the arrowroot into the soy milk, in a small-medium saucepan. Stir in the condensed milk and set the mixture over medium heat. Cook, stirring regularly, until thickened. The condensed milk probably already feels thick, but you'll eventually notice your spoon dragging through arrowroot thickness on the bottom of the saucepan, and then notice a similar thickness permeating through the whole mixture. Turn off the heat and stir in the lime juice and zest. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and freeze or refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours.

Serve slices with a sprinkle of toasted shredded coconut.

Macadamia & strawberry gum yo-yos

May 1, 2021

   

One of the spices I bought at Mabu Mabu is strawberry gum. It was folded into the whipped cream on my waffle plate, and in the Warndu Mai (Good Food) Cookbook, it pops up in icecream, pavlova, and chocolate truffles. Clearly it suits creamy desserts, and I figured that buttercream might also serve as a sweet, plain base and allow it to shine.

Single serve biscuits suit us a bit better than cakes at the moment, so I hatched a plan to serve my strawberry gum buttercream within yo-yos. I'm thinking of yo-yos loosely and drawing from this macadamia-studded recipe - not a strict shortbread, leaving room for them to stay a little soft in the middle and lightly brown on top. (I think that's when macadamias are at their best!)

I omitted the lemon myrtle, so I could focus on the strawberry gum flavour, but got to thinking that a bit of orange might complement it. That didn't really work out in this batch: my orange rind was too bitter and I didn't want to use it, and the orange juice I added to the biscuit dough didn't carry through to the baked biscuits. I also reduced the sugar, since there's so much sweetness in the buttercream, and it was a good move. I tried flattening some biscuits with a fork to make striped or gridded patterns, but the dough's pretty soft and they just looked ragged and bobbly - I ended up preferring the ones I gently flattened in my hand.

In the jar, strawberry gum smells to me more like strawberry lollies than the fresh fruit. Its flavour in the buttercream is a touch more herbal, working nicely with the toasty macadamias. It really settled into the biscuits over the following day or two... it was just as easy to discern and enjoy, picking a yo-yo straight from the fridge a week later, as it was the day of baking.

Macadamia & strawberry gum yo-yos

(inspired by strawberry gum bought at Mabu Mabu,

the dessert ideas in Warndu Mai (Good Food) Cookbook, and

the proportions of this biscuit recipe and this buttercream recipe)

biscuits 

300g margarine 

1/2 cup caster sugar 

1 tablespoon orange rind 

pinch of salt

3 cups plain flour  

3/4 cup macadamias, roughly chopped 

buttercream 

100g margarine 

1 1/4 cups icing sugar 

generous pinch of salt 

2-3 teaspoons ground strawberry gum 

2 tablespoons soy milk

Preheat an oven to 200°C. Line 1-2 trays with baking paper.

In a large bowl, beat together the margarine and sugar until fluffy; beat in the orange rind and salt. Sift in the flour and mix until well combined. Fold in the macadamias. Spoon out a tablespoon of the dough at a time, gently rolling it into a ball, then squishing it into a thick round disc as you place it on the tray. Repeat until you've filled the trays and bake the biscuits for 10-15 minutes, until lightly golden. Give the biscuits 5 minutes to rest on the tray before transferring them to a rack to cool completely. Match up the biscuits into pairs of the closest possible shape and size.

In a medium bowl, beat the margarine until fluffy. Sift over half the icing sugar and beat it thoroughly into the margarine. Sift in the remaining icing sugar, plus the salt and strawberry gum. I retrieved some of the larger unsifted gum leaves, ground them with a mortar and pestle, and sifted them through a second time to deliver as much flavour but as little texture as possible. Finally, beat in the soy milk to loosen up the buttercream a bit.

Choose one half of each biscuit pair and place a very heaped teaspoon of buttercream in its centre, then gently sandwich the second biscuit on top. Repeat with the remaining biscuit pairs. Store the yo-yos in the fridge.

A not-so-Moroccan chickpea thing

December 30, 2018

'That chickpea thing' has evolved over the years. Its origins are a dish that the Moroccan Soup Bar has been serving forever. It's a rich, hearty bake; thick with yoghurt, tart with lemon juice and tahini, crunchy with fried flatbread and a topping of toasted almonds.

Soon enough, I tried replicating it at home. A few years later, I hit on corn chips as a convenient, gluten-free replacement for the flatbread. This summer, I took it one step further and made a vegan version. Replacing such a large quantity of yoghurt was always going to be challenging, but I pulled it off with the help of some twitter friends. Impressed brand almond milk-based natural yoghurt was a great way to subtly reinforce the almond topping, without introducing the sweet, fatty intensity of coconut-based yoghurt.

This chickpea thing's a long way from that chickpea thing. But it's still a good thing, handy for making in other people's kitchens and sharing at barbecues in summer.

A not-so-Moroccan chickpea thing
(inspired by a dish at the Moroccan Soup Bar)

2 x 400g cans chickpeas
100g slivered almonds
1/2 cup tahini
juice of 2 lemons
2 cloves garlic or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
250g vegan yoghurt (we recommend Impressed almond-based)
175g bag natural salted corn chips
salt and pepper
olive oil
cayenne pepper

Rinse and drain the chickpeas, and set them aside.

Gently toast the almonds using your preferred method. We pop them in the oven for 5 minutes if there's something else on the go, but a grill or dry frypan can also work. Set the almonds aside to cool.

In a medium-large bowl, whisk together the tahini and lemon juice. If you're using fresh garlic, crush it into a little saucepan with a glug of olive oil and fry it until golden. Add the fried or powdered garlic to the tahini-lemon mixture. Stir in the yoghurt until everything is well mixed. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Fold in the chickpeas.

To serve, arrange the corn chips over the base of a large salad bowl or platter. Spoon over the chickpea-yoghurt mixture. Swish over some optional olive oil, sprinkle with a little cayenne pepper, then scatter the almonds generously over the top.

Happy birthday to these vegan sausage rolls

December 7, 2018

About 13 years ago, a friend shared with us a recipe for 'Liz O'Brien's non-sausage sausage rolls'. These vegetarian pastries were a wonder! Simple but unexpected ingredients like rolled oats, soy sauce, pecans and cottage cheese turned out a mock-sausage roll that had all the comfort and none of the gristle-risk of the meaty ones that I'd occasionally buy from the neighbourhood bakery.

Within a few years I had streamlined the recipe for my own convenience, and veganised it for my friends'. Today, ten years on, this is the version that's really stuck! It's still the most visited post on this blog every month, and it's been reblogged countless times by others. Commenters tell us about the veg*ns and omnivores they've fed it to, and the alterations that work for them: using different nuts, sneaking in mushrooms, chia seeds, tomato paste, herbs, or a dash of Vegemite. (Our fave is Lisa's tip on replacing the breadcrumbs with a crumbled Weet Bix, which we always have in the house.) Vicki Vegan even figured out a gluten-free version. In 2018, perhaps all that remains is to roll them into a festive wreath shape.

For all that, we reckon this original formula might still be the best. Happy birthday to these delightful little morsels.

Oaty rhubarb muffins

September 29, 2018

I had some extra rhubarb in the fridge after making that salad, so I put it to work in these muffins. I've made something very much like them before, and blogged about it ten years ago. They were in pretty regular rotation for a while there.

This time around I made them vegan. Soy milk with a little apple cider vinegar instead of buttermilk, ground flax seed slush instead of an egg. This is actually much more pantry-friendly for us, and I didn't notice any difference in the muffins.

Let me warn you that this muffin batter is dense. It's all wholemeal flour and oats, with the brown sugar and spices not doing a lot to perk it up. It's lifted by the rhubarb strips and dots of citrus peel, so it's important to add the full quantity and get them distributed evenly through the batter.

The muffins freeze well and I've been packing one into my bag most workdays, letting it thaw through the morning and then pulling it out to break up the afternoon doldrums.

Vegan rhubarb-oat muffins
(veganised from this previously posted recipe)

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon flax seeds
3 tablespoons water
2 cups rhubarb
3 tablespoons raw sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup rolled oats
2 teaspoons of spice - I used a mix of ginger, cinnamon and Chinese five spice powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
40g candied citrus peel, diced

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a muffin tray

In a small-medium bowl, mix together the soy milk and vinegar. Set it aside to curdle.

Wash and trim the rhubarb; chop into 3cm lengths. drop them into a medium-large saucepan and add the raw sugar. Turn on a low-medium heat and cook the rhubarb, stirring regularly, until the sugar has melted and the rhubarb softens slightly. Set it aside to cool a bit.

Place the flax seeds in a spice grinder and grind to a powder. Add the water and blend until as smooth as possible. Whisk the flax mixture into the soy milk bowl. Whisk in the vegetable oil and brown sugar until well combined. When the rhubarb has cooled somewhat, stir it in too.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, oats, spices and salt. Toss through the candied peel, making sure the pieces are separated and lightly coated in flour.

Pour the soy milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Spoon the batter into the muffin tray and bake it for about 15-20 minutes, until they pass the skewer test.

DIY Golden Gaytime

November 2-14, 2017

The Golden Gaytime is a much-loved Aussie icecream that has withstood a shifting interpretation of its name. Its winking tagline is that it's hard to have a Gaytime on your own, and it's tempting to toast Australia's positive vote for marriage equality with one of these delightful popsicles.

And yet! We plan to make this a Streets Free Summer, in solidarity with the workers making Golden Gaytimes and facing pay cuts of up to 46%. So why not make a Gaytime on your own?

The easiest path is to whip it up, sundae style, with purchased icecream. A scoop of vanilla icecream, a scoop of caramel - have you noticed that there are some magnificent vegan salted caramel ones out there now? Make your own two-ingredient choc-ice magic, scatter over some crushed biscuits and you are SET.

Of course, I had to overthink this project and make my own icecream. I thought I'd mastered vegan salted caramel icecream years ago, though I've grown a little weary of overbearing coconut milk desserts since then. I worked in some macadamia milk, glucose syrup to improve the texture, and a hearty dash of dark rum in the caramel layer. My two-toned icecream tasted so, so great, but its texture completely bombed. Dense and icy, it was a pain to scoop and just barely a pleasure to eat. I kinda liked it in popsicle form, but it's not the Golden Gaytime we know and love. I assume it needs a higher fat content.

The recipe below isn't a recommendation. It's a record for myself, it's a call-out for your icecream-making ideas, it's an affirmation that I should do this again, and better.

DIY Golden Gaytime

icecream
400mL vegan milk (I used macadamia)
1 x 400mL can coconut cream
1/4 cup glucose syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
scant teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dark rum
100g caster sugar

chocolate shell
1/4 cup coconut oil
80g vegan 'milk' chocolate (I used Bonvita)
tiny pinch of salt

crumbs
100g plain vegan biscuits (I used Granita)

Place the vegan milk, coconut cream and glucose syrup in a saucepan and heat, stirring, until well mixed. Pour half of the mixture into a bowl and whip it up with a stick blender, adding 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and a pinch of the salt. Refrigerate this mixture until very cold, at least 3 hours. (You should still have the remaining unseasoned half of the milk mixture out.)

Place the caster sugar in a clean dry saucepan over moderate, even heat. Avoid stirring it, but go ahead and shift the liquid bits out of the way to encourage the solid bits to melt quicker. Continue cooking the sugar until it is all liquid and brown, until it just starts smoking. Whisk in the remaining coconut milk mixture, and allow any stiffened caramel to melt back down. When it's all smooth, turn off the heat and whisk in the remaining teaspoon of vanilla, the rum and the remaining salt. Refrigerate this mixture until very cold, at least 3 hours.

Churn the vanilla icecream in an icecream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions, then pour it into your preferred mold, and place it in the freezer. Churn the caramel icecream in the maker, then pour it over the vanilla layer. Place the mold, covered, in the freezer.

To make the chocolate shell, melt the coconut oil over low heat in a small saucepan. Add the chocolate and salt, and stir continuously until you have a smooth sauce. Turn off the heat and store the chocolate at room temperature.

Smash the biscuits into coarse crumbs (I used a rolling pin, with the biscuits placed between sheets of baking paper).

When it's time to serve, scoop or unmold the icecream, pour over the chocolate sauce and quickly sprinkle over the biscuit crumbs before the chocolate sets.

Mega-mallow Vovo

August 28, 2016

Our favourite Vegan About Town is headed to Singapore for several months, and as a send-off she requested Aussie foods for a potluck in her home. Michael made sausage rolls, naturally, and I put my mind to dessert. I took a gamble on recreating Iced Vovos which Steph has related some nostalgia for.

Vegan-wise, the internet turns up a couple of neat recipes on Like A Vegan. By the time I came on board, one of Steph's housemates had already tried this formulation, and they weren't a fan of the agar texture in the pink fondant layer. I gave myself a couple of options - shopping around for vegan marshmallows, and/or making my own pink marshmallow fluff using aquafaba.

From the Cruelty-Free Shop, I was able to pick up these strawberry vegan marshmallows. They're lightly pink and have a pleasant, natural strawberry flavour that I hoped would carry through. (I still held over some aquafaba from Saturday night's dinner just in case it all went horribly, horribly wrong.) 

Everything was a bit experimental, really. I made an oversized biscuit that ended up a bit cakey after I topped up my plain flour with self-raising. The dough was too sticky to shape, but I cautiously cut some Vovo crinkles into the edges after it baked.

I started getting properly nervous when I tried to melt the marshmallows - they stretched and globbed and stayed stubbornly lumpy, while the edges began turning gold. Using oiled baking paper, I was able to fashion the goo into a couple of sausage shapes and lay them onto my big biscuit. (The marshmallow saucepan looked disastrous, and I filled it up with cold water that I prayed would dissolve the sugar.) I reckoned those marshmallow logs were hiding lumpy-crunchy-sugary bits on the inside. The coconut and jam were my saviours, the final well-behaved touches that lent the perfect Vovo look.

For no reason I can fathom, the marshmallows proved to be just fine and my mega-mallow Vovo was a roaring, sugary success. I still hesitate to recommend my sticky-gooey-will-it-or-won't-it approach, though! Embark on this recipe at your own risk.

Mega-mallow Vovo
(a recipe inspired by the Iced Nono Tart and Vovo biscuits on Like a Vegan)


1/2 cup margarine
1 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup plain flour
1 cup self-raising flour
pinch of salt
1/4 cup soy milk
3 x 75g packets vegan strawberry marshmallows
spray oil
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1/3 cup berry jam

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Line a small walled baking tray with paper.

Place the margarine, sugar and vanilla into a large bowl and beat them together until fluffy. Sift in the flours and salt and slowly beat them in, gradually adding the soy milk as you go. It could all come together into a sticky dough. Press the dough into the baking tray and flatten it out as best you can. Bake it for 10 minutes, then retrieve the biscuit to flatten it out more with the back of a spoon. Bake the biscuit for a further 10-15 minutes, until it's golden and cooked through but not too thickly crusted. Allow the biscuit to cool completely. 

If you'd like to replicate the crinkled edge of a Vovo biscuit, use the baking paper to lift the biscuit out of the tray. Use a round biscuit cutter to remove small arcs of biscuit at regular intervals along the edge (see top photo).

Set a medium saucepan over low-medium heat and pour in the marshmallows. Stir them regularly as they melt into a big lump - it'll be gooey and ugly and you want to avoid the sugar browning. I did this for about 10 minutes before turning off the heat. Spray a little oil onto a sheet of baking paper and plonk half of the marshmallow goo onto the paper. Roll the marshmallow up and fashion it into a long sausage shape. When it's the same length as your biscuit, transfer it onto the biscuit and flatten it with your fingers to cover a third of the surface (see top photo). Press half of the coconut into the marshmallow. Repeat with the other half of the marshmallow goo, lining the other side of the biscuit.

Gently spoon the jam onto the middle third of the biscuit. Store it all in the fridge if you're not planning to serve it right away; it can sit at room temperature for a couple of hours if needed.

Mango & coconut splice blocks

December 18-19, 2015

On the weekend before Christmas, our friends put on a yum cha feast. I was originally planning to bring along some mango coconut splice jellies but with the temperature approaching 40 degrees I decided to put them on ice.

For a vegan and gluten-free crowd, I adapted a recipe that my grandmother and Mum both made in years gone by. The original blends canned mangoes and sugar syrup, then layers them with dairy cream. I couldn't help noticing that canned mangoes are stored in sugar syrup, and so just used that in the fruity layer. I replaced the dairy cream with coconut cream, natch.

I couldn't find a perfectly level spot in the freezer to store my splice blocks, so the ratio of mango to coconut varied from one end of the container to the other. I didn't mind in the least! They're dense and full of ice crystals, but sweet and soothing in the summer heat. You'd struggle to put a dainty spoon through them, and I've been content to eat them with sticky fingers on many afternoons.

Mango & coconut splice blocks

(adapted from a family recipe, transcribed below)

3 x 425g can mangoes including the syrup they're stored in 

juice of half a lemon

pinch of salt

1 x 400mL can coconut cream

Line a large baking tray or rectangular lidded container with foil.

Place the mangoes and their syrup and the lemon juice in a food processor or blender. Blend them until very smooth. Place 1 cup of the mango puree in a bowl; stir the salt and coconut cream into this puree. Pour the coconut mixture into the foil-lined tray and freeze it until firm, around 4 hours.

Pour the remaining mango puree over the frozen coconut layer and freeze again until firm, at least 4 more hours. Cut the slice into blocks and serve on a saucer or wrapped in paper.

Frozen mango bars
(a recipe inherited from my grandmother and Mum)

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/4 cups water
3 x 425g cans sliced mangoes, drained
300mL thickened cream

Combine sugar and water, stir over low heat until dissolved. Boil for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Cool.

Blend mangoes, syrup and juice until smooth. Combine 1 cup mango mixture with cream. Line lamington pan with foil, pour in cream mixture. Freeze until firm. Pour remaining mixture over frozen cream. Freeze several hours until firm. Cut into squares.

Steamed custard buns

June 8, 2015

We had a somewhat underwhelming experience at Buddha's Day last month, with the steamed custard buns least whelming of all. They were packaged ones, took half an hour to receive, and weren't vegan. Our friend Bec reminisced that custard bao were a pre-vegan favourite of hers, and I got to wondering whether I might be able to make them myself.

A few weeks later, we invited Bec and her family over for lunch and I embarked on a bun-steaming bonanza. I pulled some home-made seitan out of the freezer, sauteing it with onion and spices to make a mock-BBQ pork filling. Then I set about making a thick vegan-friendly custard filling, taking inspiration from China Sichuan Food. I made a double batch of yeasted bun dough, fashioning massive BBQ bao and slightly daintier dessert buns, and Michael stir-fried some Chinese broccoli while I supervised the bamboo steamers.

We took on the buns with gusto, and I had to remind everyone (myself included) to leave room for the custard ones. They were a worthy first effort, with hot, tearable white dough and a sweet, yellow centre. I couldn't help wishing that they were just a little sweeter outside, and a little fluffier, with a less floury flavour inside. But all that cornflour is what has the thick custard filling behaving so well, and I'll be reluctant to reduce it. Best of all, Bec seemed to get a kick out of them - mission accomplished.

Steamed custard buns
(based on this BBQ bun recipe by ErinWiko,
and a custard filling recipe on China Sichuan Food)

bun dough
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 x 7g packet instant dry yeast
1 cup warm water
3 cups plain flour
spray oil

custard filling
1 1/2 tablespoons custard powder
1/2 cup cornflour
100mL soy milk
1/3 cup caster sugar
3 tablespoons margarine

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar and dry yeast into the warm water. Give it a minute or two to check that it's foaming and live. Pour the yeasty water into the flour bowl and mix it all together thoroughly to form a dough. Knead the dough inside the bowl or on a clean lightly floured bench for 5-10 minutes, until smooth. Spray a clean bowl with oil, place the dough in it and roll it around to coat it in the oil, then cover the bowl with a tea towel. Leave the dough in a warm place to rise to double the size, about an hour.

In a small-medium saucepan, stir together the custard powder, cornflour and sugar. Whisk in the soy milk until it's as smooth as you can achieve. Set the saucepan over low-medium heat and add the margarine, stirring it as it melts. Gently cook and stir the custard, scraping the bottom and sides of the saucepan to prevent it from burning. Continue until the custard is thick and gluey, about 10 minutes, and turn off the heat. Beat out any lumps with some vigorous stirring, then set the custard aside to cool.

When the dough is ready, divide it into 12 equal portions. Lay out some baking paper to work on. Use a rolling pin to roll each portion into a circle, slightly thinner around the edge than in the middle. Spoon a rounded tablespoons of custard into the centre, then gather up the dough edges to fold it around the filling, pinching it together to close. Cut a small square of baking paper and set the bun seam side down on it and score a cross on the top, transferring the bun to a steamer. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Steam the buns for 10 minutes and serve them immediately.

PB potatohead icecream

March 15-16, 2015

You might remember that I experienced my Gelato Messina epiphany over a scoop of Mr Potatohead icecream, a daring and expertly rendered combination of peanut butter gelato, white chocolate and potato chips. Given my imminent departure from Sydney and the icecream's imminent departure from the specials board, I set my mind to making some more.... and making it more vegan, so as to share it around.

My last batch of peanut butter icecream set like a rock, so I needed a new formula. Serious Eats, on their annual month-long vegan kick, came through within days, discussing vegan ice-cream making in general and a salted peanut butter flavour in particular. Like me, they choose coconut milk and cream as a dairy substitute. Unlike me of the past, they use light corn syrup as one of their sweeteners - I wondered if this would have a similar effect to the liquid glucose that Eliza Metcalfe recommended to me last year.

And what of the chips - how to prevent them getting soggy? I suspected that Gelato Messina was coating them in the white chocolate in order to insulate them from the gelato mixture. I bought the thickest kettle chips I could find and used an equal weight of rice milk-base white chocolate for the experiment ahead.

The final result was a respectable tribute to Gelato Messina's original triumph. It had a clear creamy peanut butter base - much improved on my past effort, but still requiring 20 minutes to soften and scoop. It was dense where Messina's is fluffy. The potato chips kept just enough of their crunch and melded as they should. I shared most of the batch with friends, and quietly converted them to the magic of potato chips in icecream. One of them was junk-drunk enough to claim it was the best icecream they've ever eaten. Presumably they haven't been to Gelato Messina yet.

PB Potatohead icecream
(inspired by the Mr Potatohead icecream at Gelato Messina,
adapting a vegan-friendly recipe from Serious Eats)

1 cup canned coconut milk
1 cup canned coconut cream
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup smooth, cheap'n'nasty peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
up to 1 teaspoon salt
50g vegan white chocolate
50g plain salted potato chips

In a medium saucepan, stir together the coconut milk, coconut cream, corn syrup and brown sugar. Set them over medium heat, stirring regularly as the sugar dissolves, until they're up to a simmer. Turn off the heat, add the peanut butter, and use a stick blender to combine until completely smooth. Stir in the vanilla and salt, cover, and refrigerate until very cold, preferably overnight.

Gently melt the chocolate in a small saucepan and take it off the heat. Roughly crush the potato chips - but just roughly, you don't want potato powder! - and add them to the chocolate. Stir the chips and chocolate together until the potato chips are thinly but thoroughly coated in chocolate. Transfer the chips to an airtight container and allow them to cool and set - you might even like to refrigerate them.

When the peanut butter mixture is very cold, pour it into an icecream maker and churn it according to the manufacturer's instructions. While it is churning, break the choc-coated chips into large chunks. Pour the peanut butter icecream into an airtight container a couple of large spoonfuls at a time, scattering them with the chips as you go. Freeze the icecream until you're ready to scoop and serve - it will probably be at its peak in 4 hours.

Seitan chops with apple sauce

March 9, 2015

I was so taken by the chops from Bryant Terry's recipe that I immediately started scheming about a crisper, less gravy-drenched way to enjoy them. I hit on apple sauce, which triggered vague associations with suburban USAmerican home cooking. While pork and apple have long gone together, a bit of googling suggests that pork chops and apple sauce are a Brady Brunch-era trend; actually I'm more familiar with them from The Simpsons.

I took inspiration from a couple of online recipes, most notably this one on Epicurious, and made use of some apple puree in the pantry. The process is almost embarrassingly simple, and with this particularly good batch of seitan, the results were impressive. The chops were lightly seasoned and golden crusted, but held their moisture and tasted tender.

On the side, Michael prepared blanched broccoli and Bryant Terry's slightly more effortful and always delectable mashed potatoes. Neither of us feel major nostalgia for meat-and-three-veg meals, but this one might enter our regular repertoire regardless.

Seitan chops with apple sauce
(inspired by an Epicurious recipe
... and a third-hand experience of USAmerican cuisine)

chops
2 tablespoons arrowroot/tapioca flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 seitan 'chops', 1cm thick
1 tablespoon oil

sauce
140g tub apple puree
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon ground allspice
salt and pepper

In a small bowl, stir together the arrowroot, salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary and garlic powder. Dredge each seitan chop through the seasoned flour to lightly coat it all over. Heat the oil in a frypan and fry the dredged chops on both sides until golden.

To make the sauce, heat all the ingredients together in a small saucepan. When it's time to serve, place one chop on each plate. Remove the bay leaf from the sauce and spoon the sauce over the seitan chops.

Cherry-pistachio icecream slices

February 11-March 21, 2014

This recipe has been waiting more than a month for its moment on our blog. The dessert was intended for lunch with friends at our house; a lunch I had to cancel due to illness. Some of this dessert made its way to our friends' table a week or two later and now, finally, here's the rest. 

It's nothing mind-boggling, just gussied-up vanilla icecream set in a loaf tin. I whisked in some rosewater, then layered it with small spoonfuls of black cherry jam and pistachios. I probably would have served it with a little chocolate Persian fairy floss, after a meal of roasted eggplants and green quinoa, but it's a very nice nice little diversion on its own too.

Cherry-pistachio icecream slices
(using this recipe as an icecream guide)

250mL milk
2 eggs
80g castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
300mL single cream
2 teaspoons rosewater
2 tablespoons cherry jam
3 tablespoons pistachios

In a saucepan over low to medium heat, bring the milk not quite to the boil and then set it aside. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add the hot milk, still whisking.

Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and set it over low heat, whisking, until it thickens a little. Turn off the heat and add the cream, still whisking continually. Cool the mixture and then store it in the fridge until completely cold, at least an hour.

Whisk the rosewater into the icecream mixture and then churn it in an icecream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Line a small loaf tin with baking paper. Drop in a couple spatulas-worth of whipped icecream into it, then dot it with small spoons of cherry jam and a few pistachios. Continue layering icecream, jam and pistachios until they're all used up. Cover the tin with foil and freeze the icecream until firm, at least four hours.

When you want to serve the icecream, retrieve it from the freezer and pull the loaf and paper out of the tin. Wet a large sharp knife and slice thick pieces, placing them on plates or in bowls.

Syrupy grilled peaches with cashew cream

March 9, 2014

So happy was I with our grilled figs and cashew cream that I tried another version for a picnic with Another Outspoken Female and the Significant Eater. This time I picked up late season just-starting-to-wrinkle peaches, slathered them in a syrup based on apple-raspberry juice, and spiked my cashew cream with lemon zest.

I didn't quite achieve the deep berry flavour I'd envisaged and the lemon zest faded into the background, but the peaches were golden and tender while the cream was fluffy and flecked with vanilla. I can definitely recommend grilled fruit and cashew cream as a light dessert that's simple to prepare and difficult to ruin, infinitely adaptable and handily bike-transportable.

Syrupy grilled peaches with cashew cream
(the next iteration of this grilled fig recipe)

1/2 cup cashews
1/3 cup soymilk
zest of 1 lemon (I only used half and wished for more)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
350mL apple & raspberry juice
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 tablespoons Cointreau
4 large peaches

Cover the cashews in water and soak them overnight. Drain the cashews and blend them with the soymilk, lemon zest, vanilla and salt, until they're completely smooth.

In a small saucepan, stir together the fruit juice, sugar and Cointreau over medium heat. Continue to simmer this sauce until it has reduced by half, around 5-10 minutes.

Slice the peaches in half and remove their stones. Arrange the peach halves in a heat-proof flat dish (I used a pie dish) and gently pour over the syrup. Place the dish under a grill until the peaches are warm and starting to brown; turn them over and give them a couple of extra minutes on their second side. Serve two halves per person with a spoonful of syrup and big dollop of cashew cream.

Grilled figs with orange cashew cream

March 3, 2014

We've got a little spice grinder attachment for our blender blade, and it's helped me turn out some really smooth cashew-based cream sauces in the last year. With figs currently, briefly in season I figured I'd transfer this trick to dessert and tinker with the ricotta-stuffed fig recipe I made this time last year.

It took more soy milk than I expected to form the cashew cream - I think the blender just needed a larger volume of ingredients to reach the blades, and thankfully the cream was still thick enough to dollop onto the fig halves. It even coloured up a little under the grill, just like the ricotta I'd used previously.

I think the star of this recipe is the Cointreau-spiked orange syrup, and I didn't make quite enough this time around. I'd recommend doubling the orange juice for sure; double the Cointreau too if you dare.

Grilled figs with orange cashew cream
(adapted from this recipe)

1/2 cup cashews, soaked overnight
1/3 cup soymilk
juice and zest of 1 orange (I'd juice two oranges next time)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon Cointreau
4 fresh figs

Cover the cashews in water and soak them overnight. Drain the cashews and blend them with the soymilk, orange zest, vanilla and salt, until they're completely smooth.

In a small saucepan, stir together the orange juice, sugar and Cointreau over medium heat. Continue to simmer this sauce until it has reduced by half, around 5-10 minutes.

Slice the figs in half and spoon the cashew mixture onto their cut sides. Arrange the figs cream-side-up in a heat-proof flat dish (I use a pie dish) and gently pour over the orange syrup. Place the dish under a grill until the figs are warm and the cream is a little golden, then serve two or more halves per person with a spoonful of syrup.

Christmas shortcuts

December 25, 2013

This year we hit the one of the more traditional points in our Christmas cycle, sharing lunch with Michael's extended family on the Sunshine Coast. Everyone else tends to focus on chicken, ham and prawns so we always make sure to bring a vego dish or two. This time around we streamlined a couple of recipes from the archives, so as not to take too much time or create excessive mess in someone else's kitchen. 

Zucchini ribbons in pesto are even quicker when you buy a tub of ready-made pesto - just shred up the greens, pour over the pesto, add a squeeze of lemon and toss it all together. It's light and refeshing, and lasts well into the next day without getting wilted or slimey.

For something more substantial, we revisited the Moroccan Soup Bar-inspired chickpea thing. Since we were serving it at room temperature, we only needed heat to toast the almonds and fry some garlic, whisking together the yoghurt dressing and folding in canned chickpeas in a bowl. Rather than frying pita bread, I hatched the idea of substituting plain corn chips. They had the right crunchy, slightly grainy texture and were gluten-free as a bonus. The salad gave our lunch a little heft, though the leftovers were notably soggier come dinner time.

Catering for twenty-five, the table also boasted mini pumpkin quiches, potatoes and a couple more fresh green salads so we weren't left wanting for food or company.

Creamy pea pasta

December 1, 2013

I've had a minor pea epiphany lately. I've been hating on the frozen ones all my life, and it seems probable that I've just been eating them seriously overcooked. It turns out that they don't have to be all squishy inside - with the quickest of boils they retain much of their bite. They're still not quite the equal of freshly podded specimens but you couldn't make pea prep quicker or easier than popping the frozen fellers into your pasta water.

I pulled this trick for dinner last week. I'd flicked through cookbooks while Michael made brunch,  and liked the simple springtime look of Deb Perelman's sweet peas and shells alfredo in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. I simplified a little further with my frozen peas instead of fresh, and then struck out on my own when it came to the sauce. 

Perelman's alfredo consisted largely of butter, cream and parmesan but I decided to cook up my own vegan alternative. Lots of cashews, a little nooch and miso, plus an extra shot of lemon. Taste-testing from the blender, I was very pleased with myself - it was smooth, very creamy and arguably cheesy. The effect was a little blander once mixed with the pasta and parsley, so there's room for more savoury flavouring (I think I might include some garlic powder next time). My plate got the small boost it needed from a tomato salad.

Creamy pea pasta
(inspired by a recipe in Deb Perelman's
The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook)

1 cup raw cashews
250g small pasta shapes
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
3 teaspoons white miso
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
zest and juice of a lemon
salt, to taste
pinch of white pepper
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Cover the cashews in water and soak them for at least 4 hours.

Resume cooking when the cashews are ready. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta as directed on its packaging, adding the frozen peas to the pot for the last 4 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, blend the cashews with 1/2 cup of their soaking water until creamy. Add the miso, nooch, lemon juice, salt and pepper and blend thoroughly. Taste and adjust the flavours to your liking.

Drain the pasta and peas, then return them to the pot. Stir in the cashew sauce and parsley. Serve the pasta in bowls, sprinkled with lemon zest.