White Chocolate and Citrus Loaf

One of my friends gave me a bag of the vegan white chocolate chips that she uses for her business and after munching more of them than I care to admit, I decided to try out a recipe I've been contemplating for a while. If you can't get hold of chocolate chips then a chopped up chocolate bar will work as well. The chocolate does melt into the batter during baking but gives little pockets of sweetness throughout the cake. I love the freshness of the citrus in this cake which cuts through the rich sweetness of the chocolate. I made this in 2 loaf pans and gifted one to neighbours as a doorstep surprise but the recipe could easily be made in one larger tin - be careful to keep an eye on your baking times if you change the tin shapes. We have had gorgeous sunny weather the last few days and this cake feels like a little slice of summer.

Ingredients:

1 large lemon
1 lime
1/2 cup white chocolate chips or 1 chocolate bar
400g self raising flour
250g caster sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
400ml soy milk
115ml sunflower oil
2 cups icing sugar - you may need more

Method:

Preheat your oven to 160c then grease and line 2 loaf tins with baking parchment.  Zest the lime and lemon into a large bowl and set the fruit to one side. Add all of the ingredients apart from the icing sugar and chocolate chip into the bowl and mix well until everything is combined and the batter is smooth and glossy. Gently fold in the chocolate chips the divide the mixture between the 2 tins. I use a ladle for this to try and make the cakes nicely even.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the cakes are a dark golden colour and a skewer comes out clean when dipped in the middle. Leave in the tins for 15 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Once the cakes are completely cool, juice the lime and lemon. I find rolling them on a flat surface before cutting open and squeezing helps to release more juice. Strain the juice to remove and bits then place in a bowl or mixing jug. Slowly add in icing sugar, mixing all the time, until you get a paste resembling double cream. The icing should be sweet but still have a sharp freshness from the citrus.

Place a tea towel under the cakes cooling rack then spoon half of the icing over the top. Allow to set then spoon the other half of the mixture over the top to give a good layer of icing. If you add it all at once, I find most of it slides off and is wasted. The tea towel helps to catch drips and saves trying to scrub set icing off work surfaces later on.

I hope you enjoy this cake.

If you make it, please take a picture and tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife

Big love and stay safe
The Defective Housewife

Chocolate Berry Banana Bread

I'm not going to lie - I've been struggling to know if and what to post in the current situation. I know ingredients are scarce so I've been racking my wee brain cell to come up with something that takes advantage of things you probably have round the house or that can easily be swapped out for other bits. I chose this banana bread as the basic ingredients are hopefully things you will already have and bananas always seem to go black on me really suddenly. I have made this with extra spices and some dried fruit as a kind of fruit cake, and can imagine it would be fantastic with extra cinnamon and some Biscoff spread. I buy big bags of frozen berries to add to smoothies and overnight oats and threw a handful into this recipe - I did give the strawberries a miss though as they hold a lot of water and take forever to defrost. Lots of people have been posting banana bread online and I thought I'd add my version to the party. I have tried to include alternatives to help with ingredients shortages.

Ingredients:

3 large black bananas
75g sunflower oil (or vegetable oil)
100g brown sugar plus extra for sprinkling
225g self raising flour (or use plain if its what you have and add 1 extra tsp baking powder)
2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bar dark chocolate
1 cup mix frozen berries

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180c and line a loaf tin with baking parchment and oil. Chop the chocolate bar into little pieces and place 3/4 into a large mixing bowl. Mash the bananas and add to the bowl along with the flour, sugar, oil, baking powder, vanilla and cinnamon and mix well until everything is combined.

Stir in the berries and spoon into the prepared loaf tin. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate on top along with a 'healthy' dose of brown sugar. Place in the oven for 20 minutes then cover the top with tinfoil if the top of the cake is browning too quickly. Bake for a further 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Turn out onto a cooling rack and leave for at least 15 minutes to cool before cutting otherwise it risks crumbling. This cake will last a few days in an airtight tub or tin and becomes slightly gooey and browny-like with age.

Please take a picture when you make this and tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife

Enjoy and stay safe.

Big love
The Defective Housewife

Stollen Swirl

Christmas seems to be all to fast approaching this year with a scant 3 weeks to go. I have been trialing different traditional Christmas cakes over the last few weeks with varying degrees of success and then realised, my family don't do Christmas in the traditional sense - especially not when it comes to the food. The Stollen swirl was then born; mashing up my love for a good cinnamon swirl, my other halfs new found love of stollen (which I'm yet to find a vegan version of) and the total excess of Christmas with the finished product sizing well over the average dinner plate and stuffed with treats. You could also skip coiling the dough round to create a giant swirl and cut through the rolled dough to create a more traditional cinnamon bun look but I love seeing people's faces when presented with a slice of this. The dried fruit measurements are a rough guide - use your favourites to personalise the cake to your family. I really hope you make this giant bun and that it brings some festive cheer to your kitchen.

Ingredients:
Dough:
800g strong white flour plus extra for dusting
7g fast action yeast
1/2 tsp salt
100g caster sugar
500ml soy milk
150g plant based butter

Filling:
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp clove
2 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp cranberries
2 tbsp mixed peel
1 tbsp crystalised ginger
3 tbsp glace cherries
4 tbsp cinnamon
75g plant based butter
75g caster sugar
1 block marzipan

Icing:
6 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp water
1 tsp orange extract

Method:

Pop the butter and milk for the dough into a jug and microwave fora  couple of minutes until warm and the butter melted. Place the other dough ingredients into the bowl of your mixer and combine before adding in the warmed milk and butter. Mix for around 10 minutes until the dough is stretchy, bouncy and has a spring to it. The dough should feel like the lobe of your ear!

While the dough is mixing, chop the cherries and crystallized ginger then add to a bowl with the other dried fruit, ginger, clove and nutmeg. Stir well to ensure all of the fruit is coated. In a separate bowl, mash together the cinnamon, butter and sugar then place to one side.

Roll out the marzipan as thin as you can, around 2mm thick then place to one side. I would recommend rolling out out between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper to stop it sticking.

Once the dough is ready, flour a large sheet of baking paper and tip out the dough onto it. Roll out the dough, adding more flour as needed, to a large rectangle around 4 mm in thickness. Gently spread on the cinnamon butter - I find using my fingers gets the best results over a knife or pastry brush. Sprinkle on the dried fruit then tear of little pieces of the marzipan and lay over the top. Leave some gaps between the marzipan so its not in every bite so as not to overwhelm the cake.

Beginning at one long side, carefully fold the dough over to create the start of the roll, pulling gently to keep the dough taught and to help it release from the baking paper. Keep rolling until you reach the other side then smooth the edge of the dough onto the roll with your fingers. Create a spiral from the dough on a well floured baking sheet and leave to rest for half an hour.

Preheat your oven to 160c fan then bake the swirl for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and slightly crisp on the outside. Allow to cool for 15 minutes once baked.

Mix together the icing sugar with the orange extract then slowly add water until the mix resembles single cream, Drizzle over the still warm swirl to help the icing melt in.

Serve warm with ice cream for desert or a drizzle of plant based cream for a christmas appropriate snack!

Please make this and take a picture, tagging me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife

Enjoy!

Biscoff Blondies

It was my Other Halfs birthday and, as you should all know by now, "it's not a birthday unless theres a Saffy birthday cake". Work had been hectic and I hadn't had time to create anything elaborate and he had kept mentioning my Biscoff and Cinnamon cupcakes recently so I thought I would do something similar that I could whip up quickly after work and these blondies were the result. Soft and incredibly morish, everyone I have fed these too has instantly requested more along with the recipe for them as well. The hardest part of making these was trying not to eat all of them at once, they are rich and high in sugar but oh so worth it. I have slightly damaged my camera so apologies for the dodgy quality of some of the pictures.

Ingredients:


250g plain flour
350g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
250ml water
250ml vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 tsp raspberry jam
5 tbsp icing sugar
1 jar lotus biscoff spread 
6 lotus biscuits

Method:

Preheat your oven to 160c and grease and line a 30cm by 15 cm baking tin. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl and mix together. Take roughly half the biscoff spread and microwave for 1 minute until runny like single cream then add to the bowl along with the oil, water and vanilla. Mix thoroughly until everything is well combined then pour into the baking tin. Dollop in spoonfully of raspberry jam and swirl through the mixture with a knife then crumble the biscuits over the top.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and just set to the touch but still with a little wiggle to keep the blondies moist. Turn out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool.

Once the blondies are cool, microwave the other half of the biscoff spread and mix in the icing sugar then spread over the top of the blondies and leave to set before cutting. I would recommend popping some kitchen towel under the cooling rack before icing to prevent the biscoff icing sticking to your counters.

Slice into generous chunks and scoff with a cuppa.

Please take a picture when you make these and tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife

Enjoy!

Lotus Biscuit Rocky Road

I was talking to the team at my work about childhood favourite treats and Rocky Road came up so I had to try making my own version. Everyone probably knows by now my love of Lotus Biscuits and my Other Half very kindly bought a box of 300 off Amazon recently so logic clearly dictated they should be the biscuit used. This recipe is beyond easy to make with the hardest part being unwrapping all the biscuits, luckily they don't need to be kept whole. I cut this into 16 pieces as it is pretty rich but just see how you feel on the day and how many you are feeding. The addition of the vanilla extract and cinnamon help to balance the dark chocolate which in turn prevents these being too sweet.
 

Ingredients:

200g dark chocolate
200g lotus biscuits
3 tbsp golden syrup
130g dairy free butter
100g Glace Cherries
1 bag marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
Icing sugar for dusting

Method:

In a large bowl, crush your Lotus biscuits into a mix of dust and small chunks. Chop the marshmallows and cherries into small pieces and set to one side. Line a square baking tray with baking paper.

In a large pan, melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup together over a low heat then stir in the cinnamon and vanilla extract. Add the biscuits, marshmallows and cherries and stir thoroughly until everything is well coated.

Tip the mixture into the baking tray and smooth out with a spatula to level off the top. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours until set or if you need it quickly place in the freezer for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the rocky road with icing sugar then cut in to chunks and serve.

When you make this, please take a picture of the results and tag me using #dairyofadefectivehousewife

Enjoy!

Chocolate Celebration Cake

I am never one to back down from a challenge and when I realised it was my chocolate loving friends birthday I knew I had to push the boat out and make a real showstopper as bake-off would call it. My OH had recently bought me an icing set complete with all the bells and whistles and I knew this would be the perfect excuse to give it a whirl. This cake is a bit of a labour of love but it's a million percent worth it, delicate and light cake with perfectly chewy cookies and a decadent buttercream coating. What more could you want?

I have since made a 4 layer version of the cake (doubling up the ingredients) without the cookies for a my friends little ones birthday and you've never seen a bigger smile or a kid air punch about a cake so hard! This will take a good chunk of your day but I promise it's worth it. This recipe makes more cookies than are needed for the cake which is obviously such a shame! A real hardship to have to eat afterwards!

Ingredients:

For the cake:
230g plain flour
260g dark brown sugar
80g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
150ml sunflower oil
360ml soy milk
1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar

For the cookies:
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 bar dark chocolate
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup and 1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup and 1 tbsp water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the icing:
2 tbsp plant based butter
8 tbsp icing sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 bar dark chocolate
1 box mint chocolate squares (after eights - tesco own brand are vegan)

Method:


Start with the cake... Preheat your oven to 180c and grease two round cake tins (15cm across). Place the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and mix then slowly add in the vanilla extract and oil. In a separate jug, mix the soy milk and vinegar until the milk curdles slightly (trust me) and then add to the batter. Mix well with a beater to remove all the lumps, the batter should be smooth, glossy and relatively liquid. Separate evenly between the 2 cake tins and bake for 30-40 minutes until a skewer or knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake. Leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack.

While the cakes are baking, make the cookies. Pop the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl and mix together. Chop the bar of chocolate into small chunks and add to the dry ingredients. Place both sugars into a seperate bowl along with a the vanilla, water and oil and whisk together. Fold in the dry ingredients until everything comes together to form a stiff batter. I took generous teaspoons of the batter for smaller cookies, ideal for topping the cake. Make balls of the batter and place them on baking sheets lined with greaseproof paper then place in the freezer for at least half an hour.

By this time, your cakes should be out of the oven and the temperature can be lowered to 160c to bake the cookies. They will take around 15 minutes and should be soft to the touch but spread out and look puffy when baked. As they cool they will collapse and crack giving them the classic cookie look. Place the cookies onto a cooling tray as soon as you can touch them.

For the icing, place the butter into a blender along with the cocoa powder and the vanilla and blitz until the butter is creamy in consistency. Slowly add the icing sugar to prevent it flying everywhere. The icing should be quite thick but still spreadable, taste it at this stage to ensure it tastes of coca and sugar rather than butter and add more icing sugar if needed. Place in a box in the fridge until the cakes are fully cooled.

Once the cakes are fully cooled, place one on a serving plate or base. Take a mug and fill with hot water to aid the icing. I have a turntable and piping kit but if you don't just try and turn the cake around as often as possible to make the icing as smooth as you can. Place a tablespoon of the icing on top of the cake and smooth towards the edges, using either a palette knife or eating knife. If the icing starts to stick, dip the knife into the hot water to warm up as this helps to ease the icing around. Once the top of the cake is well covered, place the other cake on top. I then piped icing around the sides of the cake and smoothed with a scraper but you could also repeat the technique used for the middle of the cake although the results probably wont be as smooth. Once the sides of the cake are coated with icing, use the remainder on the top of the cake.

Take the remaining bar of chocolate and melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals until fully melted. Spoon over the top of the cake and encourage the melted chocolate to drip down the sides. Allow to set slightly before decorating with the cookies and mint chocolates. Place in the fridge to set fully before serving. Keep an eye on the cookies as one of mine kept making a nosedive off the edge of the cake.

When you make this, please take a picture and tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife.

Enjoy!

Plum-kin Spiced Cake

I was recently gifted a very large bag of plums and while some were perfect for eating just as they were, some had a little damage or were more bitter but ideal for cooking and baking with. I love plums and wanted to make something other than the classic crumble. This cake packs a punch with autumnal spicing inspired by the ever popular pumpkin spice latte. I succeeded with the OH test with this cake too, the smell brought him down 2 flights of stairs demanding to know what was making his mouth water. I was so enthusiastic to try this cake that I totally cut into it while it was still cooling on the rack, 100% worth it!

Ingredients:
400g self raising flour
250g granulated sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
3 tbsp golden syrup
400ml soy milk
115ml soy milk
10 plums
1 tsp vanilla extract
icing sugar

Method: 
Half and destone the plums and set to one side. Preheat your oven to 160c and line and grease a large rectangular baking tin.

Place all of the ingredients except the plums into a large bowl and mix together until the batter is smooth and resembles thick cream in texture. Pour into the baking tray and level out using a spatula. Gently pop the plums on top of the batter at even spacings then place in the oven for 35-40  minutes until golden brown and baked through - a skewer should come out clean when inserted into the cake. My plums sunk in the cake but I don't mind this, you still get a mouthful of joy and fruit in cakes will always defeat all my attempts to suspend it!

Once the cake is baked, carefully turn it out onto a cooling rack and remove the greaseproof paper. Leave to cool for 15 minutes then dust with icing sugar using a sifter or sieve.

Serve warm with cream or ice cream or just scoff as is at any given point of the day.

When you make this, please take a picture and tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife

Thank you and enjoy! +

Plum and Spiced Custard Tart

When we found our first home and Defective Housewife HQ, we were lucky enough to fall in love with one that has well established fruit trees in the garden. The apples and pears are still a week or two off eating but the plums have been sublime. Our tree is laden with them and while I probably will make the classic crumble and possible some jam if there are enough left, I wanted to challenge myself and create something beautiful and more unique. I had been planning to make a cheesecake but most vegan ones require nuts and I simply can't justify how much they cost so I decided to make a custard tart instead. I've been watching a lot of Chetna from the Great British Bake Off on instagram and got the inspiration for the addition of cardamon from her. I'm really proud of this bake and everyone I fed it to loved it as much as I did.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:
225g plain flour
100g butter - i use dairy free
1 tsp ground nutmeg 
4-6 tbsp cold water

For the custard:





300ml soy milk
75g icing sugar
25g corn starch
3 tsp vanilla extract
200g full fat coconut milk
5 cardamon pods

9 small plums approx 
4 tbsp granulated sugar 

Method:

In a large bowl, carefully rub together the flour, nutmeg and butter until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add the water a tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes together to form a dough. Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

While the pastry chills, take a medium sized saucepan and place over a medium heat with 200ml of the soy milk in. Bash the cardamon pods with something solid - I used the end of a spurtle - and pop into the milk. Simmer gently until the milk is reduced by around half and flavoured with the cardamon and the sieve the remove the pods and any skin that may have formed on the milk. 

Using cold milk, top up the soy milk to 200ml and place back in the saucepan along with the icing sugar and corn starch and whisk until there are no lumps. Place back on a medium high heat and add the vanilla and coconut milk. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens and becomes stiff to stir. Place the custard to one side. 

Take the dough from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface to around a 30cm circle. Take a loose bottomed tart tin and carefully drape the pastry over. Take a small piece of excess pastry and use this to push the pastry into the tin, getting into all the corners. Trim the pastry to the top of the dish.  Line the pastry with baking foil and blind bake for 10 minutes, at 160c.

While the pastry case bakes, cut the plums in half and remove the stones. Once the case is lightly golden, remove from the oven and take out the foil. Pour in the custard and smooth out to the edges using a spatula. Place the plums cut side up over the top of the custard and then sprinkle with the granulated sugar before returning to the oven. 

Bake for a further 20 minutes or until the plums have softened and the sugar has started the melt and caramelise. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before carefully removing and popping on a serving plate. 

We ate this as is but I imagine it would be lovely with a side of ice cream or drizzled with cream for an extra spot of indulgence. 

Please make this as I know you will love it. When you do, take a picture and tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife

Thank you 

Jaffa Fakes

One thing I've really missed since going vegan/dairy-free is Jaffa Cakes. A friend of mine recently created her own wagon wheels and tea cakes and so I decided to follow suit and create a me-suitable version of everyone's favourite treat. I genuinely don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't love a Jaffa Cake. I used a lemon marmalade and dark chocolate in mine for a slight twist on the classic - I found the lemon balances the chocolate more evenly. This bake is a little more labour intensive than some of my others but I think it's worth it and hope you do to.

Ingredients:

400g self raising flour

250g caster sugar
1 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
400ml soy milk
115ml sunflower oil

5 lemons (500g)
500g caster sugar
1 1/2 pints water
2 tsp lemon extract

9 bars dark chocolate
3 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Preheat your oven to 160C and grease your muffin trays. Mix together the caster sugar, self-raising flour, bicarb, vanilla extract, soy milk, oil and golden syrup to create a loose cake batter. Place a tablespoon of the mix into the bottom of each of the muffin tins. Bake for 10-15 minutes until springy to touch and golden brown. Set to one side in the tins.

While the cakes are baking, place a large pan over a medium heat with the water and whole lemons in and boil for 15 - 20 minutes until the lemons are soft. Take the lemons out of the water and measure out 1 pint, discarding the rest. Place the water back in the pan along with the sugar. Scoop the insides out of the lemons and pass through a sieve over the pan to release all of the juice. Finely chop half of the rinds and add to the pan along with the lemon extract.

Place the pan over a low heat until all of the sugar has dissolved then bring the pan to a rolling boil where the bubbles can't be calmed with stirring. Keep at a rolling boil until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. This can also be tested by placing a little on a cold plate and leaving for a minute then pushing with a finger. If it wrinkles then the marmalade is ready.

Spoon 1-2 tbsp of the marmalade over each of the cooled cakes and leave to set.

Once the marmalade has set, melt the chocolate - I used the microwave in 1 minute increments and stir in the vanilla extract. Spoon over the marmalade and cake making sure each has a good layer, I found 1 tbsp was about enough for each cake.

Allow the chocolate to set on the cakes then carefully remove from the tins - some of mine did crack a little but as this doesn't affect the taste I wasn't too worried!

Please try making these - its worth the effort. When you do, take a picture and tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife

Enjoy!

Mocha Cupcakes

I've never really been a fan of chocolate cake but surprised myself with this one. I was asked to bake a cake for a friends birthday and she loves both chocolate and coffee so I had to try combining these classic flavours with a me-style twist to make the perfect cake. These cakes are light and fluffy on the inside and topped with a soft disc of chocolate coffee heaven. You could skip the coffee if your not keen but I love the depth of flavour it adds to these cakes.

Ingredients:
400g self-raising flour
250g brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp coffee extract
4 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp golden syrup
400ml soy milk
115ml sunflower oil
1 tsp cinnamon

3 bars dark chocolate
6 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp coffee extract

Method:
Preheat your oven to 160c and lay out 24 muffin cases in trays. Place the flour, brown sugar, bicarb, cocoa powder and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk together then add the vanilla, coffee, milk, oil and golden syrup and mix until everything is well combined and the mixture is glossy and smooth.

Spoon even amounts of the mixture into the cases - I like to use an ice cream scoop for more even amounts. Make sure to scrape the bowl well as this batter likes to cling on.

Place the trays in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the trays and place on baking racks to cool.

Once the cakes are cool, melt the chocolate in a large bowl, do not use a soup bowl like I did as you end up with icing all over the place! I melted the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second blasts but you could also use a bain-marie if you have one.

Mix the coffee extract with the chocolate and sift in the icing sugar a little at a time until the chocolate starts to stiffen but remains glossy. Either spoon onto the cupcakes or place in a piping bag and swirl onto the cakes.

I had one of the cakes before the icing was set and it was gorgeous and oozy and a total mess to eat but they are equally lovely once set.

Please make these and take a picture, tagging me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife

Thank you