My Week According To My Camera!

1, 2 &3) Woodland Wedding Cake. Two tier Certosino Cake with hand made sugar paste decorations.
4) Lemon and Pine Nut Cake available at Waterstones Cafe W and Apple Rose Tarts available at Biddy's Tea Room.
5) Teaching my nephew to make vegan pizza's for my sisters birthday.
6) Weekend walk at Whitlingham and then vegan ice creams made with vegan teddy ice cream cones and chocolate Swedish Glacé ice cream.
7) A trip with Aggi to meet Daisy Dog at The Window Coffee shop!They sell yummy soya lattes!  

Virtual Vegan Pot Luck Voting Time!

It's now time to vote for the best dishes of the Virtual Vegan Pot Luck! There are 8 courses to pick your favourite from! So get voting!
If you enjoyed my recipe for my Crème Brûlée‎ you can now vote for it in the 'Best Dessert' category on the Virtual Vegan Pot Luck Website!
Follow this link: http://virtualveganpotluck.com/may-2013/get-out-the-vote/
Thank you! X

Apple, Hazelnut and Cinnamon Hand-Pies Recipe

The apple blossom is out in all it's glory on the apple trees in our back garden, and Aggi our baby puppy has had so much fun chasing the falling flower confetti as it's danced about the garden in the cold wind and rain we have been having over the weekend! You can see our big apple tree from the kitchen window and it got me thinking about warm late summer, when we have more apples than we know what to do with, and how my little kitchen is full of the smells of apple butter, crumbles, and tarts and how we go to bed full of apple goodness and sometimes a tummy ache!
I wanted a taste of those summer days for breakfast so I decided to make some yummy Apple, Hazelnut and Cinnamon Hand-Pies. You can make the pastry from scratch and a lot of times I do, but who wants to be making puff pastry when you are hungry for breakfast? So I used bought puff pastry and the it worked just great.

Ingredients: (Makes 5 heart shaped hand-pies)
1 Pack Puff Pastry
2 Apples Diced Small
1/4 Cup Hazelnuts Roughly Chopped
2 Tbsp of unrefined Golden Sugar
1/2 Tsp of Cinnamon
1/2 Cup of Soya or Hazelnut Milk
3 Tbsp of Flour to roll out the dough
Heart Shaped Cutter and Mini Bluebird Cutter Optional

Preheat your oven to 190c. In a bowl place the sliced apple, hazelnuts, sugar and cinnamon and mix until everything is evenly coated in sugar and cinnamon.
On a floured surface roll out your puff pastry. You don't want to roll it too thin as it will not seal the pies properly, but too thick will yield a soggy dough inside the pie, so roll to around a 50p piece thickness. Cut out 10 hearts with your cutter.
Place a tablespoon of apple mixture into the centre of 5 of your hearts, and using a pastry brush, wet the edges of the heart with the soya milk. Place another cut out heart over the top and gently seal all the way round. Take a knife and gently crimp the edge by pressing gently with the side of the blade all the way round the edge. Use the pastry brush to milk wash the top of the pie, this will ensure a lovely even golden bake.
With the left over trimmings cut out some little bluebirds or any decorations you would like. Press them gently onto the top of the pie. They should stick as you have milk washed the top of the pie. Brush the tops of your decorations with a little more milk.
When you have done this to all 5 pies, place them on a baking sheet which has been covered in baking paper and bake in an oven for 15mins at 190c.
The apple will be gently steamed and cooked and the cinnamon and sugar will have created a sticky sauce, yum! Serve straight from the oven. Enjoy!

Virtual Vegan Pot Luck Dessert: Crème Brûlée

Deerly Beloved is so excited to be part of the Virtual Vegan Potluck 2013! Hopefully you will have just virtually enjoyed a wonderful dessert from the lovely The Vegan Kat and are ready to read about my delicious Crème Brûlée rich with vanilla and with a sugar topping waiting to be cracked with a spoon, this yummy dessert is just the thing to celebrate this wonderful potluck!


Ingredients:

1 Tbsp of plain flour
2 Tbsp of margarine
3 Tbsp of golden sugar
1/4 Cup of Soya Milk
1 Tbsp of Vanilla bean paste
1/2 Tub of Vanilla Alpro Yoghurt
1/2 carton of Mori Nu Tofu

1/2 Cup of Sugar (depending on the size of your dish you may need more or less to make the burnt caramel topping)

In a food processor add the yoghurt, tofu, vanilla bean paste and sugar and combine until smooth. In a pan melt the margarine and add the flour mix to make a thick roux. Then add the soya milk to form a thick paste. Add the yoghurt mix slowly, mixing constantly until a thick custard is made. Cook on a medium heat for 2- 5 mins to cook out the flour and then pour into an oven and grill proof dish. Chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours until set. Then when ready to serve, sprinkle the custard liberally with the extra sugar and place under a hot grill until in turns a dark golden colour and is bubbling. You can use a blow torch if you have one! Then leave to set. The sugar will harden to give the iconic crack when hit with a spoon! Enjoy!

If you like my recipe you can now vote for it in the 'Best Dessert' category on the Virtual Vegan Pot Luck Website! Follow this link: http://virtualveganpotluck.com/may-2013/get-out-the-vote/ Thank you! X

Now I will hand you over to my lovely friend and amazing vegan and gluten free wonder, Kittee Bee Berns of Cake Makers To The Stars! Just Click 'Go Forward'

To see the lovely The Vegan Kats potluck recipe again you can skip back by clicking 'Go Back'

Sweet Potato and Blueberry Dog Treats. Soy Free/Gluten Free/Vegan

Tonight I made Aggi some Sweet Potato and Blueberry dog treats and they have been thoroughly  taste tested by the little girl herself! By the way she has been whining for more of them, I would say they are totally yummy! They are really simple to make and are Soy Free, Gluten Free and of course Vegan perfect for fur babies that have allergies! I added a little flax for their omega fats and some VegeDog supplement to make this a nutritious dog treat. However you can still make the recipe with out these things so don't panic if you don't have them to hand.

Benefits:
Sweet Potato: Easily digested and soothing to the dogs stomach and is high in beta carotene.
Flax Seed: High is Omega 3 fatty acids so great for your dogs skin and coat.
Blueberries: High in antioxidants, manganese and vit c that helps with immune function and healthy gums.

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 Cups of Gluten Free Flour (I used Doves Farm Plain Flour)
1 Cup of Mashed Sweet Potato
3 Tbsp of Olive Oil
1/4 Cup of Blueberries chopped into small pieces
1 Level Tbsp of Milled Flaxseed
VegeDog Supplement (Please read the packet to determine how much you need for the size and weight of your dog)
1 Tbsp of Cold Water

In a bowl mix the flour, oil, blueberries, flaxseed and VegeDog. Mix well, breaking up the blueberries into the flour to help dehydrate them.

Then add the mashed sweet potato and water and use your hands to knead it into a smooth dough.

Roll out on to a gluten free floured surface and use a cutter or a knife to shape the dough into bite size biscuits.

Lay them out on a tray and cook in a hot oven at 200c for 8-10 minutes until puffed and brown. Keep an eye on them as they turn golden pretty quick depending on how small or big you make them!  Leave to cool completely and then use them as doggy treats! They keep for at least a week in a dry cool place. Now your best four legged friend can enjoy yummy home cooked treats too! 

A Deerly Beloved Wedding Part Two

So on Friday I got our wedding photos back from the lovely Joanna Millington and we are so, so pleased with them! Here are a selection of our favourites! Thank you so much again Joanna for capturing our memories. We had the perfect vegan wedding day!  X

You can find out more about Joanna's Photography here:
http://joannamillingtonphotography.com

Miso, Ginger and Coriander Glazed Tofu with Shiitake Mushrooms and Asparagus.

Everyone needs a good glazed crispy tofu recipe up their sleeve so they can impress their tofu doubting friends! This tofu is crispy and satisfying, full of spice, sweet agave, umami saltiness from the miso and earthiness from the mushrooms and asparagus and is also great cold in sandwiches (if there is any left!)


Ingredients:
1 Block of Firm Tofu Drained and Pressed with Kitchen Paper to Remove Excess Water
2 Tbsp of Agave
1 Tbsp of Dark Miso
1/2 Tsp of Ginger Powder
1/2 Red Chilli Chopped Finely
2 Tbsp of Sesame Oil
1/4 Cup of Coriander Chopped Fine
1/2 Tbsp of Tamari
1 Small Clove of Garlic Grated Finely
1/4 Cup of Water
1 Cup of Shiitake Mushrooms Washed
6 Stems of Asparagus Chopped in Half
Glug of Olive Oil

Slice your Tofu block into long slices of about pound coin thickness. In a good non-stick pan heat the olive oil and add the tofu slices. You want to cook these for around 15 minutes, turning occasionally and building up a nice crispy skin and a deep golden colour.
In a bowl add the agave, miso, ginger, chilli, sesame oil, coriander, tamari, garlic and water and mix well. Give it a taste and see if it needs more salt/agave/chilli and season to your taste. Once the tofu is golden and crisp transfer it to the bowl of sauce and allow the tofu to soak up the flavours while you stir fry the shiitake mushrooms and asparagus. It the same frying pan add a little more olive oil and stir fry the mushrooms and asparagus until slightly wilted and the mushrooms start to soften (around 5-8 mins) When the veg is at this stage add the sauce and tofu back to the pan and cook until the sauce is heated through and bubbling. The sauce should turn very shiny and thick. It is ready to serve! I like to serve it with plain boiled rice, delicious!