My entry for PETA The great vegan bake off 2015 & recipe for Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake with raspberry cream ( vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free)

Hi Guys

I am so excited to enter the PETA great vegan bake off!

I have created an amazing recipe for a chocolate brownie cheesecake with a delicious raspberry coconut cream topping.  

Not only does this cake taste delicious but it is full of things that will nourish your body and make you feel great.  As well as being vegan, it is also gluten free and refined sugar free.
Not only is vegan baking good for you, it's also great for our environment ( not to mention animals).

The secret ingredient in making the brownie base is Avocado.  Avocado is so good for you, it provides nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fibre, potassium, Vitamin E, B Vitamins and folic acid.

The main ingredient of the raw cheesecake middle layer is cashew nuts.  They are really high in magnesium which is essential for bone strength and nerve/muscle function.  I am always really active and nuts are a good source of energy for me!

The cream that I am using for the top of my cake is coconut cream.  Coconut milk is highly nutritious and rich in fibre, as well as vitamins C, E, B1, B3, B5 and B6!  It also contains important minerals such as Iron, selenium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and phosphorous.

So,  ready,steady, BAKE!

For the avocado base you will need

1/4 cup coconut oil
150g dairy free chocolate ( I prefer to use dark as it has no added sugar, if you like 'milk' you may need to amend the amount of coconut sugar that you add so it isn't too sweet)
1/2 cup coconut sugar or your favourite natural sugar
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 tsp gluten free baking powder
1/2 mashed avocado
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 chia or flax seed eggs

I actually doubled this recipe to make more of the brownie mixture and made a separate tray of brownies as a snack for later!

Method

1. line the bottom of a 20 cm ( high sided with removable sides)  cake tin with baking paper.  Grease the sides with a small amount of coconut oil.
2.  Pre heat the oven at 180 C
3.  Melt the coconut oil and the chocolate together on a low heat
4.  Mix up the chia eggs
5.  Mash up the avocado with a fork
6.  Mix together the dry ingredients then add in the avocado, vanilla extract, chia egg and melted chocolate mixture.
7.  Mix them all really well until you have a smooth batter like mixture.
8.  Spoon evenly into the base of the cake tin and bake for around 13 minutes.
9. Once it is baked put it in the fridge to cool before you add the next layer.

For the  lemon 'raw cheesecake' middle layer you will need:

1 very ripe banana - sliced and FROZEN!
200g cashew nuts ( you may want to soak these in water for an hour before using)
2 tsp of vanilla extract
juice and zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
around 60 ml of apple juice or a plant based milk if you prefer
** I don't add any extra sugar to the cheesecake, as the brownie base & coconut cream are both sweetened.  You could add your favourite plant based sugar if you want to**

Tip

*You will need a food processor for this recipe.  If you are using a hand blender or smoothie maker, you will need to soak the cashew nuts for as long as possible before making.  This will make it easier to blend them, and your cheesecake layer will be nice and smooth.

Method

1. Add all ingredients to the food processor, add the apple juice a small amount at a time and "pulse"until you have a smooth and creamy mixture.
2.  Spoon the mixture evenly on to the top of the brownie base and put in the freezer until it is quite solid (about 20 minutes).

For the raspberry coconut cream you will need

2 small trays of  fresh raspberries 

1 -2 tins of coconut milk

Agave nectar or your favourite sweetener

Method

1. Open the tins of coconut milk and scoop of the thickened cream from the top.  If you don't think that this will be enough 'cream' or your milk has mixed together, you can pour the thicker part of the milk in to a mixer and whip until thickened.  You could use an electric hand mixer instead.

2. Add the raspberries (leaving some for decoration) 

3. Add 2 tbsp of agave nectar

4. Mix on high speed until the mixture is thick and creamy and the raspberries are well mixed in.

5.  Spoon the cream on top of the brownie cheesecake and put back in the freezer until set but not completely frozen.

6.  Carefully remove the cake sides by sliding a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it and decorate with the extra raspberries or any other fruit that you like!

I hope that you enjoyed this recipe and wish me lots of luck for the PETA great vegan bake off competition!  If you would like to find out more about the work that PETA does I have put the link below.

http://www.peta.org.uk/

If you make this or any of the other recipes, don't forget to tag me! you can also follow me on instagram @moosfood


love from

Moo x

What I Eat In A Day As A Vegan, Gluten Free 11 Year Old!

Hi Guys

Today I'm going to be showing you what I eat in an average day. I thought this would be helpful for people who are looking to change their diet to a more animal friendly, environmentally friendly and human body friendly one! I hope you enjoy it.

Breakfast: For breakfast I normally have something quick. Today I whipped up a batch of nutella pancakes, these are really quick and easy to make (they take under 10 minutes) you just put everything in a food processor. You could also make these, cook them and then freeze them ready to be popped in the toaster if you're really in a rush! The recipe is below.

Nutella Pancakes (serves 1):

• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup chocolate plant milk (either almond, coconut or hazelnut)

Simply put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and combine! Then fry in a teaspoon of coconut oil until browned on both sides. I top mine with chunks of raw chocolate, hazlenuts, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, goji berries and a squirt of agave nectar.

Lunch: We often use up leftovers for weekday lunches. Today I had potato, leek and courgette tray bake with stir fried kale, quinoa and lentils, with a side of spicy chilli mushy peas! I use Hot Smoky Bastard sauce to make the peas so I will share the recipe with you!

Spicy Chilli Peas:

• 3 cups frozen peas
• 1 tbsp chilli oil (or you can use chilli flakes mixed with olive or coconut oil)
• 1 tbsp Hot Smoky Bastard Original sauce (buy from www.hotsmokybastard.com)
• 1/2 lemon (juice and zest)
• handful mint leaves
• salt and pepper

Heat some water until boiling, then add your peas. Cook until they're soft (about 5 minutes). Then drain off all of the water. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for a further 2 minutes until bubbling slightly. At this point, take the pan off the heat and use either a food processor (if you want them really smooth) or a hand blender (if you like them chunky like me) to blend the into mushy peas! It's so easy and they're AMAZING!

Dinner: For dinner we had cauliflower rice from A Modern Way To Cook by Anna Jones, this is one of my favourite quick teas! I'm not going to say too much about it, you'll have to buy the book to find out!

Snacks: I always snack LOADS throughout the day as if you're vegan you have to eat a lot seeing as you aren't getting your calories from meat/dairy, and plant foods are lower in calories! Today I had some conscious chocolate (orange flavour) and a booja booja ice cream cookie sandwich made out of booja booja ice cream and vegan gluten free digestives! I also eat lots of fruit throughout the day every day.

Cinnamon Rolls (Vegan, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free!)

Hi guys!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I'm hoping to make it up to you with this recipe for vegan, gluten free and refined sugar free cinnamon rolls! This was the first time I attempted these, as I'm wary of making gluten free dough. However this recipe worked our perfectly, they were soft and moist just like regular cinnamon rolls!

I use coconut sugar instead of normal sugar here, coconut sugar is made from coconut palm sap which is then dehydrated to form small crystals. It has a caramelly taste so works perfectly with the cinnamon here. It also has a very low GI compared to cane sugar so will not affect your blood sugar levels. You can find coconut sugar in any health food shop, on amazon or even some supermarkets stock it now! You can also use it in baking other things, I just follow a normal recipe and replace the caster or granulated sugar with coconut sugar. 

You Will Need:

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (I use rude health)
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 tbsp instant yeast
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup nuts (I used hazelnuts but almonds, peanuts or walnuts would work fine too)
• 1 cup buckwheat flour (you can use any gluten free flour i.e rice, buckwheat etc)
• 1 cup gluten free flour
• 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp flax seed mixed with 6 tbsp water)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

First, form your flax eggs by placing the flax in a dish and mixing with the water. Leave this for at least 10 minutes until it forms a gel. Then, in a saucepan melt 3 tbsp of the coconut oil, and add the almond milk to heat it gently. Mix this with the yeast and 1 tbsp of the coconut sugar and leave for 10 minutes to activate. Meanwhile, place your nuts in a food processor and blitz them into a fine flour, then add your gluten free flour and buckwheat flour. After the flax has gelled and the yeast has activated, add these and the flours into a mixing bowl and combine to form a sticky dough. Knead this for at least 10 minutes, keeping in mind that as there is no gluten it won't become stretchy like normal dough. 

Leave the dough in the mixing bowl, covered in oiled cling film in a warm place until its doubled in size.

After the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 160 degrees and place a sheet of baking paper on your counter top. Roll out the dough into a rectangle of about 1cm thickness. Spread the remaining coconut oil over it and sprinkle on your coconut sugar and cinnamon evenly. Then, starting carefully at one end, roll the dough into a long fat swirly sausage. Slice into 8-10 pieces and put each slice on your baking tray, with the swirl facing up. Brush the tops with a little bit of coconut oil to brown them and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Be careful not to over bake, as they will try out and go quite hard if they're baked too much!

You can keep them for up to 3 days in an airtight container, but they're best enjoyed fresh out of the oven with a little bit of icing drizzled over (to make icing I combine coconut oil, coconut sugar and vanilla extract).

Hope you enjoyed this recipe.

Love Moo x

@MoosFood